Tyler fence company
Cedar costs more than pine and earns it in a humid climate: it has natural oils that resist rot and insects, and it shrinks and twists less as it dries. We build board-on-board fences where the boards overlap so no gaps open up as the wood moves, and horizontal slat fences on steel or wood posts for a cleaner, modern look.
The rot resistance cedar is known for lives in the heartwood, the darker reddish core of the log. Sapwood, the pale outer band, has far less of the natural oils and behaves more like untreated softwood. Most fence-grade cedar has some of both, and knots are normal. When we pick boards, the ones with the most heartwood go low on the fence where splash and damp soil hit, and boards with wide pale edges go higher up or get cut for trim.
A board-on-board fence is built in two layers. The first row of pickets is fastened to the rails with a gap between each one, and a second row is fastened over the gaps so each board laps the two beside it by an inch or more. Because each seam sits behind a solid board, the fence stays private as the wood shrinks through a dry August. It takes noticeably more pickets per foot than a single-layer fence, and a cap and trim on top finish it and keep rain off the end grain. The same overlap works in pine, but cedar moves less, so the lines stay tighter.
Horizontal cedar fences read as modern and suit brick ranch houses and newer builds on the south side of Tyler. The boards run long between posts, so the posts have to be dead plumb and evenly spaced, and a middle stiffener keeps long spans from bowing. Many horizontal fences use black steel posts with the cedar screwed to brackets, which avoids a wood post that twists and pulls the slats out of line. Slat spacing is a choice: tight for privacy, or a small reveal for a lighter look.
Left bare, cedar fades from orange-red to a silver gray, fastest on the sides that face full East Texas sun. Some owners want that gray. If you would rather keep the color, a penetrating stain has to go on before the surface grays, and it needs renewing as it fades; our stain and seal service covers both new and weathered cedar. Cedar can also show dark streaks where steel fasteners react with the wood, which is why we use stainless or coated screws and nails.
Cedar posts are rarely the best choice for Smith County ground. Many cedar fences here are built with cedar pickets and rails on ground-contact treated pine or steel posts, which puts the cheaper, tougher material where rot starts. If the budget is close, pricing the same line against a treated pine privacy fence shows exactly what the upgrade costs.
What sets the timeline? The style, the height, whether posts are wood or steel, and the number of gates.
These often come up on the same property, and can be quoted from the same visit:
Pressure-treated pine privacy fences, 6 or 8 feet tall, in dog-ear, flat-top or shadowbox styles, on posts set in concrete.
Read more →Cleaning, staining and sealing pine and cedar fences, new or weathered, to slow graying, rot and warping in East Texas sun and humidity.
Read more →Walk gates, single and double drive gates on steel frames, and automatic gate openers for driveways and acreage.
Read more →Free estimate
Tell us where the fence goes and what you have in mind. We’ll call back to set a time to measure.
We’ll call to set up a time to measure. To talk sooner, call (903) 560-4422
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