Free written scope consultation - allowances, timeline, and change-order rules on paper before a single trade is scheduled
Wellborn Fence Installation: The Dallas Owner’s Guide
A Wellborn fence installation in Dallas typically runs $3,500 to $9,000, depending on fence length, terrain, and whether we’re pulling an old fence or starting from bare ground. We stock Wellborn-compatible materials and can usually schedule an install within a week of your written estimate. Most Dallas homeowners discover they need this work after a storm or a few years of North Texas sun and clay soil have taken their toll: posts leaning, pickets cracking, gates binding against the latch, or sections that just won’t stay plumb anymore.
Wellborn has made its name in cabinets, and the same manufacturing discipline carries into their fencing products: the boards come pre-primed and routed, the posts are engineered to a consistent wall thickness, and the hardware is designed to work together as a system rather than a bin of mixed parts. That matters when you’re installing in Dallas, where the soil swells in spring and shrinks hard in late summer. A fence that starts square but gets set in shallow concrete will look like a wave after two seasons. We handle that with deeper post holes and proper drainage, which is where a lot of Dallas fence installs go wrong.
If you’re replacing part of an existing Wellborn fence rather than building new, take a few measurements before you call: post height, picket width, and the distance between rails. Wellborn’s fencing line changed slightly over the years, and a picket from 2018 isn’t always a clean match to a picket from last year’s run. We’ll get it right, but knowing your existing dimensions saves time on the quote.
One thing worth saying plainly: Mason Remodeling Co Dallas is an independent service provider. We’re not affiliated with Wellborn, and we don’t claim to be. We do stock their parts, know their specs, and install them every week across Dallas, from Oak Cliff out to Lakewood.
Which Wellborn Models This Applies To
Wellborn’s fence product line, sold through their dealer network and through builders here in Dallas, spans three main categories: the standard picket series, the estate panel series, and the ornamental top-rail line. Each uses the same structural post system, but the picket and panel dimensions change between series. Here’s what to check on your fence before you call:
- Picket width: Standard Wellborn pickets run 5.5 inches wide in the main series. The estate panel line uses a wider 7.25-inch picket that people sometimes confuse with generic big-box boards.
- Rail spacing: Most Wellborn fences are built on a two-rail design with rails sized at 2×3. If you’re seeing three rails or 2×4 rails, the fence may have been modified after initial install.
- Post size: Wellborn posts are typically 4×4 for standard panels and 5×5 for gates. A lot of local contractors substitute 4x4s on the gate, which is why Dallas gates sag so often.
The compatibility gotcha with Wellborn fencing is the post cap. Wellborn caps have a specific interior dimension, and generic caps from a lumber yard often clip the post top or leave an exposed edge that collects water. We always recommend an aftermarket cap that matches the Wellborn profile, because a poorly fit cap is the leading cause of post rot in Dallas’ wet springs. Aftermarket rails and pickets are fine when they’re built to the same dimensions, and they usually cost 15% to 20% less than the OEM pieces with the same performance. OEM matters most when you’re matching an existing fence mid-row, not when you’re building a new stretch.
Our recommendation for most Dallas homeowners: use OEM Wellborn for spot repairs on a fence less than five years old, and use quality aftermarket equivalents for anything older where a slight color or grain difference won’t show.
Styles & brands we work with
Signs Your Wellborn Fence Installation Is Failing
- Posts leaning at the base, especially after rain. Dallas’ clay soil expands when wet and pulls away when dry. Shallow-set posts, or posts set without gravel drainage, will gradually drift from vertical. A two-degree lean won’t fix itself, and in most North Dallas neighborhoods we see this within three to five years of a standard install.
- Pickets cracked along the grain lines, mostly on the sun-facing side. Dallas summers hit 100 degrees regularly, and fences without a stain or seal coat will dry out and split. Once a picket cracks through, water gets in, and rot accelerates from the inside.
- Gates that bind on the bottom corner or won’t latch at all. The hinge side of a Wellborn gate carries the full weight of the panel. When the post flexes or the ground settles, the latch falls out of line. Forcing the gate eventually strips the hinge screws from the post.
- Rails that have dropped an inch or more, with gaps opening above the pickets. This almost always means the rail end has pulled free of the post bracket, or the post itself has split along the grain. The hardware is fine. The structure isn’t.
- White chalky residue on pickets and rails, with soft spots when pressed. That’s the start of water-driven rot, especially on fences where the bottom picket is in contact with soil or lawn irrigation spray. Dallas’ freeze-thaw cycles in January and February speed this up.
The good news is that well-caught fence failures are usually local to a section, not the whole line. The bad news is that when a post rots below ground, you can’t tell from the surface until it moves. If your gate post moves more than a quarter inch when you push it, have it looked at before the gate tears itself down.
See the difference
Before
After
Before
After
Before
AfterReplacement Cost & What’s Included
For a Wellborn fence installation in Dallas, plan on $3,500 to $9,000 installed. The range comes down to three things:
- Linear feet of fence: Most Dallas backyards run 80 to 150 linear feet. Shorter runs cost less overall but more per foot, because you still have to set the corners and install a gate. We build gates properly, with post fill and a steel frame where the existing post can’t be reused.
- Site conditions: Fences on flat ground in places like Carrollton or Farmers Branch install faster than fences on sloped lots in East Dallas or Kessler Park, where every rail needs stepping. If we’re pulling an old fence, concrete removal and disposal add cost in direct proportion to how well the previous installer did their job, which is sometimes not well at all.
- Material choice: Standard Wellborn-compatible pickets and pressure-treated posts sit at the lower end. Upgraded estate panels, ornamental caps, or premium stains push it toward $9,000. On a typical 100-foot backyard fence, the material cost is roughly a third of the total.
Every written estimate includes materials, labor, haul-away, and disposal as separate line items, so you see exactly where the money goes before we touch anything. There’s no separate charge for the quote, and the written price is binding: if it changes by a dollar during the work, that’s on us. The work is covered by the 365-Day Done Right Promise from the completion date. If a post shifts, a picket warps, or a gate binds within that year, we come back and we fix it at no charge. Isaac walks every fence line before the first post hole goes in, and he writes the quote to match the site, not a catalog.
DIY or Call Us?
You can absolutely diagnose a failing fence yourself. Walk the line with a level, check for leaning posts, push on the gate, and look at the picket bottoms. That’s useful, and it helps us quote faster when you know what you’re seeing. Where DIY goes sideways is in the install itself. Post holes in Dallas clay need to be set at the right depth below the frost line, with gravel drainage and concrete that’s allowed to cure before rails go on. Get it wrong and you’ll have a fence that looks straight on day one and drifts by Labor Day. If you’re pulling an old concrete-set post, use proper equipment or you’ll spend a weekend fighting the ground and lose.
The honest split: checking the fence is a Saturday morning job. Installing one, especially around gates, corners, and sloped Dallas lots, is a crew job. We stock Wellborn-compatible parts on our trucks, keep the jobsite tidy, and most installs finish in one to three days depending on fence length. Call (432) 302-8761 and we’ll come walk the line, write you a fixed price, and tell you what is worth fixing and what is worth replacing.
FAQs
A properly installed Wellborn fence in Dallas lasts 15 to 20 years, provided the posts are set below the frost line in concrete and the pickets are sealed or stained every two to three years. The post is what fails first, usually from water entering through a cracked cap or a post set with no drainage. Call (432) 302-8761 to have us look at your current fence and tell you how much life is left in it.
Usually, yes, if it’s one post and the surrounding structure is sound. We dig out around the bad post, set a new one in concrete, and reattach the existing rails and pickets. When three or more posts are bad, replacement is often cheaper than piecemeal repair, because you’re paying for labor either way. We’ll give you both numbers in the written estimate.
Most residential Wellborn fence installations in Dallas take one to three days from first post hole to final gate adjustment. Larger lots with old concrete removal can stretch to four days. Concrete needs time to cure before we stress the posts with rails and pickets, so we don’t rush that step. We schedule the work and give you a firm completion date before we start.
We stock Wellborn-compatible pickets, post caps, gate hardware, and the common rail dimensions on our service trucks, so most repairs and installs don’t wait on a parts order. For odd-sized estate panels or a specific OEM piece, we can usually have it from our supplier within a week. If you’re unsure what series your fence is, text us a photo and we’ll identify it before we come out.
Written by Isaac Pruett, Owner, Mason Remodeling Co Dallas at Mason Remodeling Co Dallas, serving Dallas and nearby areas.
