Cedar Fence Installation in Seattle
Cedar fencing is a natural fit for many Seattle-area homes because it offers a warm residential appearance and works well for privacy, boundary, and custom fence designs. The important part is not simply choosing cedar; it is detailing the fence so posts, rails, boards, caps, and gates work together as one system.
Our cedar fence projects can be designed for full privacy, more open layouts, or a clean contemporary look. Cedar can also be coordinated with matching gates and compared with vinyl fencing when lower routine maintenance is a priority.
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Why Cedar Works Well in the Seattle Area
Cedar is valued for its natural appearance and flexibility in custom layouts. Performance still depends on how the fence is detailed, installed, kept clear of chronic soil contact, and maintained over time.
Appearance and Warmth
Western red cedar has a warm reddish-brown color when new and a straight, even grain that suits Craftsman, farmhouse and modern houses alike. Left unfinished it weathers to a soft silver-gray within a year or two; a semi-transparent stain keeps the original tone.
Practicality for Privacy Fences
Cedar is light, stable and easy to cut on site, so a privacy fence can step down a slope, wrap around a tree or change height without special parts. When a board cracks or a rail fails, that one piece is replaced — something a panel system cannot always offer.
Performance in Pacific Northwest Conditions
Cedar's natural oils help it resist decay and insects, which is why it has long been the local fence wood. It still stays wet through a Seattle winter, so the details matter: boards kept an inch or two off the soil, posts set in concrete over gravel, a cap to shed water, and a stain to slow weathering.
Cedar Fence Styles for Privacy and Backyard Use
Cedar can be built as a solid wall of boards, an airy picket, or a clean horizontal screen. The style changes the look, the amount of privacy and the price per foot.
Full Privacy Cedar Fences
The standard backyard fence: 6-foot cedar boards, dog-ear or flat-top, on two or three rails between posts set in concrete. Board-on-board or shadowbox layouts avoid gaps as the wood shrinks. Installed, a cedar privacy fence starts around $58 a foot on level ground.
Horizontal Cedar Fence Looks
Horizontal boards with a narrow, even reveal give a contemporary look that suits modern houses and landscaped yards. The boards need posts closer together to stay straight, which is why horizontal cedar starts higher, around $78 a foot installed.
Boundary and Decorative Cedar Layouts
Spaced pickets, from around $45 a foot, mark a front yard or garden without closing it in and fit the lower height limits that usually apply near the street. Lattice tops, arbors over a gate and decorative post caps dress up a plain run.
Cedar Fence Repair, Replacement, and Maintenance
Individual cedar boards, rails, posts, and gate components can often be repaired when the surrounding structure is sound. For broader deterioration, compare repair with replacement.
Repairing Boards, Rails, and Posts
Loose or split boards are refastened or replaced with new cedar that weathers in to match within a season or two. Broken rails are sistered or replaced. A leaning post is dug out and reset in concrete, or replaced with a steel post if the old one has rotted at ground level.
When Replacement Is Smarter
When many posts are soft at the base, the boards are cupped and cracked along whole runs, and the fence leans in several places, repairing it piece by piece costs more than a new fence. The repair vs replacement guide explains the test.
Care and Maintenance Expectations
Plan on a penetrating stain a few months after installation, once the wood has dried, and then every three to five years depending on sun. Wash off moss and mildew in shady areas, keep soil and mulch away from the boards, and cut plants back from the fence so it can dry.
Cedar Gates and Matching Fence Design
A matching cedar gate can continue the same board pattern and trim while using dedicated posts and hardware for movement. The gate should be designed as a structural component, not simply a loose fence panel on hinges.
Matching Walk Gates
A cedar walk gate uses the same boards, top profile and cap as the fence, framed with a diagonal brace so it does not drop. Hung on a heavier hinge post, it keeps the line unbroken when closed.
Matching Driveway Access
Wide cedar gates get heavy, so a driveway opening is usually two leaves, often on a hidden steel frame with cedar boards on the face. That keeps the look of the fence while stopping the sag that a wide all-wood gate develops.
Hardware and Finish Considerations
Use galvanized or stainless fasteners — plain steel stains cedar black in wet weather. Black powder-coated strap hinges and a thumb latch suit traditional fences; slimmer hardware suits horizontal designs. Stain the gate at the same time as the fence so they age together.
Cedar Fence Cost Considerations
Cedar pricing changes with board style, height, total length, grade, demolition, and gates. See the cost guide for the full list of variables.
Material and Labor Factors
Installed cedar starts around $45 a foot for picket, $58 for a 6-foot privacy fence and $78 for horizontal, on level ground with standard 4×4 posts. Steel posts behind a cedar face add about $11 a foot; 6×6 posts about $7; stain about $7; post caps and a top cap about $6.
Height and Layout Impacts
Height changes the price in steps: a 4-foot fence runs about 80 percent of the 6-foot price, a 5-foot about 90 percent, and an 8-foot about 135 percent, subject to local height limits. Every corner, change of direction and gate adds posts.
Site Conditions and Access
A rolling slope typically adds about 8 percent, steep or rocky ground with roots about 20 percent, and a line the truck cannot reach about 10 percent. Taking out an old fence adds about $15 a foot. Run your own numbers in the fence cost calculator.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why is cedar fencing popular in Seattle?
It looks natural, suits most house styles, resists decay better than most other woods, and is easy to build and repair on uneven Seattle lots. It is also a local material, grown and milled in the Pacific Northwest.
How long does a cedar fence last in Western Washington?
A well-built cedar fence commonly lasts 15 to 20 years here. The boards often outlive the posts: wood posts are what usually fail at ground level, so steel posts or careful post setting can add years.
Can a cedar fence be repaired or stained later?
Yes to both. Individual boards, rails and posts can be replaced, and a cedar fence can be cleaned and stained at any age, though a gray fence needs a cleaner or brightener first to take stain evenly.
Is cedar a good choice for privacy fencing?
Yes — it is the most common privacy fence around Seattle. Board-on-board or shadowbox layouts keep the screening even as the boards shrink and swell through the year. See privacy fences.
How does cedar compare with vinyl fencing?
Cedar costs slightly more at the same height, looks natural and is repairable board by board, but needs staining. Vinyl needs no finish and keeps its color, but damaged panels have to be matched to the system. See vinyl fences.
Further Reading
Independent references on how cedar performs and how to build and finish it.
- Wood Handbook, Chapter 14: Biodeterioration of Wood (FPL-GTR-282) USDA Forest Products Laboratory, 2021 Decay resistance of western redcedar heartwood and why posts in the ground are the weak point.
- Cedar fence construction Western Red Cedar Lumber Association
- Outdoor finishing choices Western Red Cedar Lumber Association
Links and figures last checked against these sources: .