The Fence Installation Process in St. Louis, MO

A fence is a much faster job than a deck, but it has one problem a deck doesn’t: it sits on a line, and lines have two sides. Most of what can go wrong with a fence project goes wrong before anybody digs a hole. Here is the whole process, including the parts people don’t think about until they’re standing in the yard with a neighbor.

Step by step

1. The first phone call

10 minutes

Style, rough footage, and where you are. We’ll give you a ballpark per foot so you know immediately whether we’re in range.

2. On-site visit and measure

About an hour, no charge

We walk the line with you, measure it, look at the grade, note where gates need to go, and flag anything that changes the job — a steep slope, tree roots, an old fence that has to come out, a retaining wall, a drainage swale.

3. The property line conversation

Do this now, not later

We build the fence where you tell us to build it. That means you need to be right. If the line is marked and everyone agrees, great. If you are going off “the old fence was about here” or a neighbor’s memory, get a survey first. A survey costs a few hundred dollars. Moving a finished fence costs the whole fence.

4. HOA or subdivision approval

A few days to a few weeks

A lot of St. Louis and St. Charles County subdivisions restrict fence height, style, material, and color, and some require trustee approval in writing before anything goes up. Trustees meet when they meet. Start this early.

5. Permit, if your city requires one

1 to 3 weeks when needed

Requirements vary a lot across the metro, and pool fences are their own category with their own code — height, gap, self-closing and self-latching gates. We’ll tell you which bucket you’re in.

6. Utility locates

3 business days, required by law, no exceptions

Before we dig, Missouri One Call goes out and marks gas, electric, water, cable, and fiber. This is free, it is legally required, and it cannot be skipped or rushed. Anyone who offers to dig without it is putting your gas line and your wallet at risk. You’ll see paint and little flags in your yard for a few days.

7. Contract, material order, and scheduling

Overlaps the waiting above

Standard cedar, vinyl, and chain link move fast. Ornamental aluminum, steel, and specific colors can be a lead-time item.

8. Old fence removal, if there is one

Half a day to a day

Panels, posts, and old concrete footings out and hauled off. Old concrete is heavier and slower than people expect and it is worth asking whether it’s in your quote.

9. Post setting and concrete

1 to 2 days, then a cure

We set the line, dig, plumb every post, and set them in concrete. Then we stop. Posts have to cure before panels hang on them — usually 24 to 48 hours. Hanging panels on green posts is how a fence ends up wavy in year one.

10. Panels, pickets, and gates

1 to 3 days

Panels go up, gates get hung and adjusted. Gates are the part that gets used ten times a day for twenty years, so they get the most attention.

11. Walkthrough and cleanup

1 day

We walk the whole line with you, check every gate swing and latch, haul off the debris, and magnet-sweep for hardware. Anything you flag goes on a list and gets fixed.

What actually slows fence jobs down

• Utility locates. Three business days, every time. Plan for it.
• HOA approval. The most common surprise delay on a fence, and the easiest one to start early.
• Rain. You cannot set posts properly in saturated ground. A wet week pushes the whole schedule.
• Property line uncertainty. If it’s unresolved when we arrive, we stop. That is the right call every time.
• Grade. A sloped yard means the fence either steps down or racks to follow the ground. That’s a look decision, it affects gaps at the bottom, and it’s better made standing in the yard than after.

About your neighbors

You are not required to get a neighbor’s permission to fence your own property, but a fence is the one improvement that shows up in someone else’s yard too. A conversation before the crew arrives prevents most of the problems we see. Worth deciding up front: which way the finished side faces, whether you’re building right on the line or set inside it, and who maintains what. If you and a neighbor are splitting the cost, get that in writing between you before we start.

What we need from you

• Gate access and a clear path along the fence line — move what you can
• Dogs inside while we’re working, and be aware the yard is not secure until the fence and gates are finished
• Sprinkler heads, invisible fence wire, and low-voltage lighting flagged — One Call marks utilities, not the things you installed
• Your HOA or trustee contact if approval is required
• Certainty about where your line is

Where we work

Maryland Heights, St. Charles, O’Fallon, St. Peters, Ballwin, Chesterfield, Wentzville, Dardenne Prairie, Wildwood, Creve Coeur, and the rest of the St. Louis metro.