Is it worth repairing a 15-year-old cedar fence in Vancouver or should I just replace the whole thing?

At 15 years old, a cedar fence in Metro Vancouver is at a genuine crossroads — and the right answer depends almost entirely on the condition of your posts, not the boards.

Here's the key insight most homeowners miss: boards and rails are cheap and easy to replace, but posts are the foundation of the entire structure. If your posts are solid, a repair or partial rebuild can absolutely be worth it. If the posts are rotted at or below the ground line, you're essentially rebuilding the fence anyway — and at that point, full replacement usually makes more financial sense.

How to Assess Your Fence Before Deciding

Walk the fence line and do a simple post test: push firmly on each post from the side and probe the base with a screwdriver. A solid post resists movement and the screwdriver won't penetrate the wood easily. A rotted post will rock, feel spongy, or let the screwdriver sink in with minimal pressure. In Metro Vancouver's wet climate, post rot almost always starts below grade — the wood looks fine above ground while the base is completely compromised. If more than 30-40% of your posts are failing, replacement is almost certainly the better investment.

Also check the rails (the horizontal 2x4s connecting the posts). Rails that have gone soft, are pulling away from posts, or show significant cracking are a sign of systemic moisture damage. Individual boards and pickets that are cracked, warped, or greying are largely cosmetic — those are easy and inexpensive to swap out.

The Repair vs. Replace Math

Individual post replacement runs $150-$400 per post in Metro Vancouver, including extracting the old concrete footing, setting a new post, and reattaching rails and boards. If you have 2-3 bad posts on an otherwise sound fence, repair is clearly the right call. If you have 8-10 bad posts on a 100-foot run, you're looking at $1,500-$4,000 in post work alone — at which point a full replacement at $4,000-$8,000 for cedar gives you a brand-new fence with a fresh 15-20 year lifespan rather than an extended life on an aging structure.

Board and rail replacement is much more forgiving. Replacing individual cedar boards runs $5-$15 per board in materials, and a contractor can refresh a significant section of fencing for a few hundred dollars. If your posts and rails are sound and you're just dealing with weathered or damaged boards, a targeted repair plus a professional stain and seal job ($2-$5 per linear foot) can make a 15-year-old fence look and perform like new.

Metro Vancouver Context

Fifteen years is right at the expected midpoint for a cedar fence in Vancouver's climate — well-maintained cedar fences here typically last 20-25 years, while neglected ones can fail in 10-12. The big variable is whether the fence was ever properly stained or sealed. Cedar that was sealed every 2-3 years will be in dramatically better shape than cedar that was left bare. If your fence has never been sealed, the posts and rails have been absorbing moisture for 15 years straight, and the structural damage is likely more extensive than the surface appearance suggests.

Also worth considering: if you're replacing, now is the time to upgrade. Many Metro Vancouver homeowners are moving from traditional vertical board fences to modern horizontal cedar slat designs, which run $60-$150 per linear foot installed but significantly increase curb appeal and property value. Board-on-board (shadowbox) construction is another excellent upgrade — it looks good from both sides and handles the North Shore wind exposure far better than solid panel designs.

The honest bottom line: have a fence contractor walk the line with you before committing to either path. A good contractor will tell you exactly which posts are salvageable and give you a side-by-side repair vs. replace estimate. Vancouver Fence Builders can match you with a local professional for a free assessment — it's the best $0 you'll spend before making a decision on a project that could run anywhere from $500 to $15,000 depending on what you actually need.