Finished jobs from our crew.
+2 photosRose City Park, Portland
September 2026
Cedar fence along the side and back of a corner lot, with a clear sealer so the wood keeps its color.
★★★★★Homeowner rated our work 5 out of 5
★★★★★Nina R.“Smells and looks amazing. They answered every question we had.”
Good reasons to choose cedar
The Northwest's go-to fence wood, built to handle a wet climate — privacy, horizontal, picket and good-neighbor styles across Portland, Lake Oswego, Tualatin, and surrounding communities.
Walk any Portland neighborhood and most of the backyard fences you see are cedar. Western red cedar grows in the Pacific Northwest, it is light and easy to work, and it holds up to damp weather better than most softwoods. It also stays fairly straight as it dries, so the fence keeps clean lines.
Cedar's natural oils help it resist rot and insects, but it is not rot-proof. The weak spots are the same on every cedar fence: the posts at the ground line, and the bottom edge of the boards where moss, leaves and splash-back keep wood wet. Building around those two spots is what makes a cedar fence last.
We build cedar fences in the styles people ask for most: solid privacy with a top cap and trim, good-neighbor fences that look finished from both sides, horizontal board fences with a modern look, lattice or slat toppers for a little extra height and light, and lower picket fences for front yards.
Most failures start at the posts. Cedar boards are often paired with ground-contact rated posts or galvanized steel posts, because the post is the one part that lives in wet soil year round. Each post hole gets gravel in the bottom for drainage, and the concrete is shaped to slope away from the post so rain runs off.
At the bottom of the fence, a kickboard (sometimes called a rot board) runs along the ground so the boards above it stay out of the dirt. When the kickboard eventually weathers, it can be swapped out without touching the rest of the fence. A top cap and trim board help shed rain off the top edge of the boards, too.
Hardware matters in a wet climate. We use exterior-rated, corrosion-resistant fasteners so they don't streak the wood or rust through. Cheap nails are one of the reasons an old fence starts dropping boards.
Bare cedar starts out warm reddish-tan and weathers to silver-gray within a few seasons. Some people love the silver look and leave it alone. Others want to keep the warm color, which means a penetrating stain or sealer.
New cedar boards should dry out before they are stained, and in Portland that usually means waiting for a dry stretch in the warmer months. After that, a re-coat every few years keeps the color and slows moss and mildew. Stain is not required for the fence to do its job — but it does help the boards shed water and stay nicer looking longer.
One advantage of cedar is that a fence can be fixed in pieces. A rotted post, a split board, a broken rail or a sagging gate can each be repaired without tearing out the whole run. New cedar starts lighter than old boards, but it weathers toward the same color over time.
When the posts are failing all down the line, though, rebuilding usually makes more sense than chasing one post at a time. We'll look at the whole fence and tell you which way we'd go.
Privacy, good-neighbor, horizontal, picket or a topper
Height, layout, gates and post type in writing first
Utilities marked, fence line strung and checked
Gravel base, concrete sloped away from the wood
Rails, boards, cap and gates; final walk with you
Every yard is a little different. These are the choices and conditions that change the price.
Taller and longer fences need more posts, rails and boards.
Good-neighbor, horizontal, cap-and-trim and lattice toppers use more lumber and labor than a plain dog-ear fence.
Clearer cedar with fewer knots looks cleaner and costs more than standard grades.
Galvanized steel posts cost more up front but don't rot in wet soil.
Each gate adds framing, hardware and heavier posts.
Adding stain or sealer once the wood has dried is a separate step.
Taking out and hauling away an old fence adds time.
Every cedar fence starts with a free written estimate, before any work begins.
Style, height and posts spelled out first
Covers every fence we build
Protection for you and your property
From homeowners across the metro
Written estimate before any work begins.