A fence rarely fails all at once — it fails at a few posts, a rail, and a section the last storm took down. RKC is the Kansas City fence contractor that diagnoses a repair post by post, repairs before it replaces, and re-sets what actually failed 36 inches deep in poured concrete — below the 30–36 inch KC frost line the shallow original posts never reached. Storm sections documented for your insurance, and the same crew that repairs your fence also stains and rebuilds it.
The short answer
Kansas City fence repair almost always starts underground. The leaning, the rot, and the storm failures nearly all trace back to posts set shallower than the 30–36 inch metro frost line. RKC diagnoses each post, repairs before it replaces, and re-sets only what failed to 36 inches in the dense KC clay — the same company that installs, stains, and maintains the fence.
RKC installs and repairs every type of fence — wood, vinyl, chain link, ornamental iron, aluminum, and commercial security — plus in-house staining. When a repair is really a rebuild, the same crew handles the wood fence installation; when the boards are sound but grey, that is fence staining and sealing.
The decision nobody frames for you
Most contractors answer this with whatever they would rather sell. We answer it with the fence. Repair is the default and usually the cheaper spend — but there is a point where patching a failing run is throwing money at it. Here is how to tell which side of the line your fence is on, tied to what actually fails in Kansas City clay.
The fence is fundamentally sound — the failures are isolated.
Repair is the cheaper spend and buys another 8–15 years. We replace only the failed components and match them to the existing run.
Between a big repair and a rebuild — this is the honest judgment call.
We walk the math with you on site. Once a repair runs past about 60% of a replacement, the rebuild is the smarter long-term number.
The fence is at end-of-life — repair money is propping up a failing system.
A fresh run on 36-inch posts gives you 15–25 years — start at wood fence installation when replacement is the right call.
No competitor in the metro puts this in writing, because it sometimes points away from the bigger job. We would rather quote the honest repair and earn the rebuild later.
Diagnose it yourself first
Four structural failures cover almost every repair call in the metro, and each one reads differently. Work down the table before anyone quotes you — knowing whether it is a post problem or a fastener problem is most of the negotiation.
| What you see | What caused it | How to read it |
|---|---|---|
| The run leans one way and post bases sit above the soil | Frost heave — posts set shallower than the 30–36 inch KC frost line lift 2–3 inches with each freeze-thaw cycle, and the metro logs 80+ a winter | Structural. The post has to come out and be re-set to 36 inches; shimming or re-plumbing it only buys a season |
| A post is soft or crumbling right where the wood meets the ground | Ground-line rot — moisture sits at the soil-to-air transition, and untreated wood, spent pressure-treatment, or cedar past its oils fails there first | Probe it. Surface weathering can be repaired and sealed; soft through the body means that post is done and gets replaced |
| Rails cracked at the post, pickets loose or missing, the line no longer solid | Fastener fatigue — smooth-shank nails loosen in a few years and even ring-shank works loose over decades as the wood cycles wet and dry | Component repair. Re-attach with galvanized structural screws or hangers, swap the broken members, and the section is solid again |
| A section is flat on the ground or racked 20 degrees after a storm | Wind load — a privacy panel is a 48-square-foot sail, and the KC metro sees 25+ mph wind days routinely plus straight-line events that fail the weakest joint | Repairable in place if the posts held. We rebuild the failed sections, match the material, and document it for an insurance claim |
The through-line: the expensive failures are underground and the cheap ones are not. A re-set post goes back to 36 inches with a bell-bottom footing and drainage gravel, because the frost line and the clay do not care which contractor set it the first time. When new boards go in next to weathered ones, matching them is a staining job, not a lumber job.
How a repair runs
A repair is scoped before it is priced, and priced before anything comes apart. No hourly meter, no crew upsells on the day, no surprises on the invoice.
We walk the fence with you, probe the posts, and identify every failure point and its cause — frost heave, ground-line rot, fastener fatigue, or storm. You leave the visit knowing what is structural and what is cosmetic.
Before we order material, you get a scope that lists every post, rail, panel, and piece of hardware we plan to replace — and everything we are leaving in place. If it is storm damage, that scope doubles as the itemized packet your insurance adjuster needs.
Failed posts come out and go back 36 inches in fresh concrete. Broken members are replaced and material-matched. New boards are tied into the existing run with galvanized hardware so the repair reads as one fence, not a patch.
We check every new post and re-hung panel with you before you sign off. If a repair we made moves under normal use, we come back — the same crew, the same company, on record.
What repairs cost here
Installation is priced by the linear foot. Repair is not — any quote that prices it that way is guessing. Your number is built from what actually failed and what it takes to reach it.
Roughly $150–$300 per post: pull the old post, break out the footing, dig to 36 inches, pour fresh concrete, re-attach the panels. Corner and end posts run higher; several posts at once run lower each.
About $80–$180 per panel installed — a few swapped pickets at the low end, a full panel with new rails at the high end. Sourced to match your material, profile, and color so it blends into the run.
From several hundred dollars into the low thousands, set by linear footage and material. Includes the dated-photo scope your adjuster expects and a post-by-post rebuild of only the failed sections.
The biggest single driver. Three posts and thirty posts are different jobs on an identical-looking fence — which is exactly why the diagnostic walk comes before the number.
Every repair estimate is free, written, and itemized. If the honest answer is that a rebuild costs less over five years than the repair you asked for, that comparison is in the same document — priced against a fresh wood fence installation.
Recent repair work
Every photo is a real RKC repair. Post-by-post resets, wind-section rebuilds, and material-matched panels — captioned by build type across the metro.
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Read all 85 reviews on GoogleKansas City fence repair questions
The questions that come up most on repair calls across the metro. If yours isn’t here, call (913) 286-1091 — Josh usually picks up.
Two sides of the same lifecycle: when a repair becomes a rebuild, see wood fence installation; when the fence is sound but weathered, see fence staining and sealing.
Ready when you are
