Why is my fence leaning after a storm?

A storm pushes on a fence harder than any ordinary day, and the weakest part gives first. On most fences that is the posts, at or just below the ground: wood that has been rotting quietly for years, footings that were too small for soaked soil, or a tree or limb that landed on the run. Before you prop anything, find out which of those you have, because it decides whether the fence can be straightened or has to be rebuilt.

First, make it safe

Look up before you walk over. If a power line is down on or near the fence, stay at least 35 feet from the line and from anything touching it, treat the line as energized, and report it to the utility or 911.^[1]

If a trunk or a large limb is lying on the fence, leave it there. Cutting a tree free of a fence is work for a tree service, not a fence repair.

Read the lean

Walk the whole run and look at each leaning post where it enters the ground.

• The post and its concrete collar have tipped together, and the wood is hard. The footing moved in wet soil. The post can usually be dug out on one side, pushed plumb and reset.
• The post snapped or bent at the soil line. That is rot, not wind alone. The post has to be replaced.
• The post rocks inside a concrete collar that stayed put. The wood has shrunk or rotted inside the concrete. Probe it: soft wood means replacement.
• One section is crushed or pushed over and the posts on either side are fine. Something hit it, usually a limb. The panel and perhaps one post need replacing.
• Only the gate post leans. Post strength is especially important for corner and gate posts,^[4] and a gate levers on its post in every gust. How to fix a sagging fence gate covers the gate once the post is sound.

Why storms find weak posts

Rot at the ground line. Decay fungi need mild temperatures, moisture and air,^[2] and serious decay happens only when wood is wetter than its fiber saturation point, which averages 30% moisture.^[2] The few inches of post just below the soil sit at that wetness for months. A post that is half rotted there still holds a fence on a calm day and breaks in the first big wind. For replacements, the Forest Products Laboratory recommends pressure-treated wood for the high hazard of ground contact.^[2] Why a wood fence rots at the bottom explains the pattern in more detail.

Soaked soil. Long rain before and during a storm turns clay soft, and a footing that held in dry ground lets go. Low spots, downspouts that empty toward the fence and sprinkler-soaked beds make it worse.

Footings too small for the fence. The usual concrete-post method calls for a post hole three times the post's width and one-third to one-half of the post's above-ground length deep, plus 6 inches.^[3] For loose or sandy soil, a tube form is recommended.^[3] Posts set shallower than that often stand for years and then go over together in one storm.

Wind on a solid fence. A solid privacy fence catches wind like a sail, while a picket or open board fence lets much of it through. Board fences typically have posts every 8 feet,^[4] and a wider span puts more of that load on each post.

If several neighbouring posts all lean the same way, the cause is the footings or the soil along the whole run, and resetting the run at once usually beats chasing single posts. Why new fence posts lean covers that pattern on newer fences.

Insurance and a fallen tree

Photograph the damage before anything is moved. Then read your policy or call your insurer, because fence coverage varies. The Bureau of Insurance's summary of the common HO-3 policy lists, among the usual exclusions, damage to fences by freezing, thawing, or the pressure or weight of ice or water.^[5] Many insurers have a separate deductible for wind, hail or named storms, written either as a flat amount or as a percentage of the dwelling coverage,^[5] and a wind deductible can apply after a thunderstorm or a tropical storm, not only a hurricane.^[6] For a short run, the repair may cost less than the deductible.

When a tree comes down, most policies pay for the reasonable cost of cleaning up and removing a tree that falls and damages your fence.^[6] If it was the neighbor's tree, unless negligence can be proven, the neighbor's policy covers the neighbor's property and yours covers yours, and if the tree came down in a storm, the owner generally would not be considered negligent.^[6] For a fence on the boundary, who is responsible for a fence between neighbors covers how Virginia splits the repair.

Fixing it

Resetting or replacing posts means digging, and Virginia law requires a locate request to the notification center before any excavation.^[7] Virginia 811 asks homeowners to contact it three days before any digging project, fences included, and the service is free.^[8] How to fix a leaning fence post walks through straightening a sound post, and how to set a fence post in concrete covers a replacement.

Stop and call a pro if

• A power line is down, sagging or touching the fence, or a tree is lying on it.
• Several posts or a whole run are down, or the fence is leaning over a sidewalk, driveway or a neighbor's yard.
• The fence is a swimming pool barrier, sits on a retaining wall, or holds back soil.
• The posts are close to utility marks, or you have not had a Virginia 811 locate.
• You are filing an insurance claim and need a written repair estimate.

A Class C contractor's licence covers jobs where a single contract is over $1,000 and under $30,000,^[9] so check the business on DPOR's licence lookup before you sign. Browse fence repair businesses, all exterior answers, or exterior businesses around Blacksburg. To get it fixed, describe the storm damage once and local businesses send written quotes.