Fence Installation in Walterboro, SC

Choosing a fence material in Walterboro

• Wood (usually pressure-treated pine): typically the least expensive way to get a solid privacy or picket fence. It needs stain or sealer every few years in the Lowcountry heat and humidity, and boards at ground level are the first to rot.
• Chain link: usually the lowest cost per foot overall, and a practical pick for dogs, property lines and garden runs. Black or green vinyl-coated chain link blends in better than bare galvanized.
• Vinyl: costs more up front than wood but never needs paint or stain, just an occasional wash. Panels come in fixed lengths, so slopes need stepped sections or a rackable style.
• Aluminum: the look of wrought iron without the rust. Common around pools and front yards; it's open, so it isn't a privacy fence. Many styles rack to follow a slope.
• Field and farm fence: woven or welded wire on wood or steel posts for livestock, gardens and acreage. See farm and field fence.

Before the first post goes in

• Property line. Find the corner pins from your survey. Fences are usually set a little inside the line so the whole fence is on your side.
• Permits and HOA rules. Who to ask in Walterboro: City of Walterboro Planning & Development, 843-782-1000 (in the city) or Colleton County (outside it). The Walterboro fence permit guide lists what the local offices say. HOA rules are often stricter than the town's on height, style and color.
• Buried utilities. South Carolina law requires you to contact SC811 at least three business days before you start digging, not counting the day you file, weekends or holidays, and fence post holes count as digging (SC811). The request is free. Private lines, like power to a shop or a well line, aren't marked, so point them out.
• Clearing. Brush, roots and low limbs along the line have to be cleared before the line can be measured and dug.

What affects the price of a fence

Two quotes for what sounds like the same fence in Colleton County can be far apart. These are the things that move the number:

• Total length and height
• Material and style (for example, board-on-board privacy versus a simple picket)
• How many gates, and how wide; a drive gate costs more than a walk gate
• Slope, rock or roots that slow down digging
• Clearing brush or tearing out and hauling away an old fence
• How easy it is to get materials and equipment to the line

Ask for an itemized, written quote so you can compare installers line by line.

Questions to ask any fence installer

• Can you show proof of insurance, and any contractor license South Carolina or the locality requires for this job?
• Is the quote itemized: posts, post depth and concrete, gates and hardware, old fence removal and cleanup?
• Who requests the SC811 locate and pulls any permit?
• How will you handle the slope, rock or wet spots on this line?
• What does the warranty cover, for how long, and is it in writing?
• How much is the deposit, and when is the rest due?

How a fence installation usually goes

• Walk the line. Corners, gates, slope, trees and wet spots are marked and measured.
• Paperwork. Any permit or HOA approval comes first, then the SC811 request.
• Layout and post holes. Corner and gate posts go in first, then line posts between them.
• Rails, panels or wire. These go on once the posts are set and any concrete has cured enough to hold them.
• Gates and cleanup. Gates are hung and adjusted last, followed by a walk of the finished line with you.

Homes, land and business property

A backyard fence is usually about privacy, pets or a pool. On acreage, the choice is about length, gates and what the fence has to hold. On business property, it is often about security, a clear view and how trucks get in and out. Say which one you need, because each calls for different posts, height and gates.

Problems a new fence can solve

• A rotting wood fence: how to tell when repairs stop making sense
• Leaning fence posts: what causes them, and how a new fence avoids it