Wood Fence Installation in Fort Myers
Wood remains the most requested fence material in Fort Myers for one simple reason: nothing else looks like it. The trade-off is that Southwest Florida is close to the hardest climate in the country for a wood fence — intense UV, months of daily rain, persistent humidity, and one of the highest termite pressures in the United States. The difference between a wood fence that lasts 8 years here and one that lasts 20 comes down almost entirely to material selection and how the posts are set.
What’s typically included
- Pressure-treated pine or cedar pickets, rails, and posts rated for ground contact
- Hot-dipped galvanized or stainless fasteners (standard fasteners corrode quickly in coastal humidity)
- Concrete post footings sized for wind load in sandy Lee County soil
- Gate framing with diagonal bracing to prevent sag in humid conditions
Choosing the right wood for Southwest Florida
- Pressure-treated pine — the workhorse choice locally. Modern treatment (MCA) resists both rot and Florida’s subterranean termites. It’s the most economical option and takes stain well after it dries out for a few months.
- Cedar — naturally rot-resistant, dimensionally stable, and the best-looking option, but it costs meaningfully more here than in northern markets because it’s shipped in. Cedar pickets over pressure-treated posts is a common hybrid that puts the premium wood where you see it and the treated wood where the ground contact happens.
- What we don’t recommend — untreated spruce or fir “stockade” panels from big-box stores. In this climate they typically show rot at the rail connections within a few years.
Styles we install
Solid board privacy (the most common backyard request), board-on-board for a finished look on both sides, shadowbox for airflow on windy lots, picket for front yards, and post-and-rail for larger property lines.
Our installation process
- Site walk and layout — property line confirmation, Sunshine 811 utility marking, and HOA style check before any digging.
- Post setting — posts are the failure point of every wood fence in Florida. We set them in concrete below grade with the footing sized for wind load, and crown the concrete so water sheds away from the post instead of pooling against it.
- Rails and pickets — pickets are gapped slightly to allow for the expansion and contraction that Florida’s wet/dry cycle causes; butting them tight causes buckling by the first summer.
- Gates and walkthrough — gates get diagonal bracing and hinges rated for the weight, and we walk the finished line with you before we call it done.
Maintenance and care
A wood fence in Fort Myers needs more attention than vinyl or aluminum, and it’s worth being honest about that up front. Plan on cleaning and re-sealing or re-staining every 2–3 years — sun and rain strip finishes faster here than in most of the country. Keep sprinkler heads aimed away from the fence line, and trim vegetation off the pickets so the wood can dry between rains. Check the base of posts yearly; soft wood at grade level is the early warning sign that a post is going.
What affects your price
The $20–$45 per linear foot range depends mainly on wood species (pressure-treated pine at the low end, cedar at the high end), fence height and style (board-on-board uses roughly a third more lumber than standard privacy), number of gates, and site conditions like grade changes or old-fence teardown.
Permits, termites, and HOA rules
Lee County requires a permit for most fence installations over 6 feet. Because subterranean termites are active across Lee County year-round, we use ground-contact-rated treated wood for anything below grade — it’s also worth telling your pest-control company where the new fence line runs so they can extend coverage. HOA communities frequently restrict wood fence styles and require specific stain colors; confirm before ordering material.
The photo above is a style example illustrating this type of wood fencing, not a completed project at a Fort Myers address. Real project photos will be added as local jobs are completed.
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