Cedar fencing built one board at a time.
Board-on-board, picket, horizontal slat, shadow-box. Hand-set posts on frost-line concrete piers. No big-box panels, no chain-link, no PVC. Fences proportioned to your house, not the lumberyard’s standard.
— Why most fences look wrong
A fence-panel kit is a temporary fence.
Pre-fab fence sections from the big-box are standardized to 8 ft on center and 6 ft tall. Real properties don’t run on 8-ft spacing, and 6 ft is the wrong height for almost every actual fencing problem.
Posts set in dirt, not concrete.
The fence stands up the first season. By year three, posts have rotted at grade and the whole run leans. Standard with most fence-installer crews.
Panel kits forced onto irregular ground.
Pre-fab panels can’t follow grade — they either step weirdly or leave gaps at the bottom. The line never looks intentional.
Wrong proportions for the house.
Standard 6-ft pickets on a 14-ft farmhouse wall look stunted. A modest 4-ft picket on a 30-ft contemporary fence runs too short. Proportion matters.
Overdone hardware.
Hex-head bolts, galvanized straps, gate hardware that looks like it came off a barn door — on a refined garden fence. Visual noise.
— Cedar fencing, by the numbers
— What’s included
A fence built right, end to end.
Whether 30 linear feet of garden enclosure or 400 ft of property-line fencing, every cedar fence follows the same construction standard.
Site survey + grade plan
Property line confirmed (we coordinate with surveyor when needed). Grade noted for stepped vs. raked rail design.
48″ concrete pier footings
Below frost line, with stand-off post base. Cedar post never touches concrete or soil.
Custom-milled cedar stock
From Vermont mills. Posts (4×4 or 6×6), rails (2×4 or 2×6), pickets/boards/slats specified to design.
Hand-fit to grade
Each rail and board cut to fit the actual grade. Stepped designs (formal) or raked designs (following the slope) — your choice.
Stainless or galvanized fasteners
Stainless for premium installs (leaves no rust streaks). Hot-dip galvanized as standard. Never electroplated.
Custom gate(s)
Built to match the fence design. Mortised hinges, traditional latch hardware, or smart-lock integration if requested.
Two-winter inspection
We come back in spring of years one and two, re-tighten any hardware, re-set if any post has shifted.
— How a fence gets built
Four steps. Three to ten weeks.
A 30-ft garden fence installs in 3–5 working days. A 400-ft property-line fence runs 4–6 weeks. Total project timeline: 3–10 weeks depending on length and complexity.
Site visit
Two-hour walk of the property with the architect. We listen, you talk. We measure light, slope, drainage, and existing material. No PowerPoint.
Design
Hand-drawn schematic on tracing paper, then full construction drawings — material specs, sections, footing detail. Two reviews built in.
Quote
Fixed-price proposal, line-itemed by trade. Stone, timber, plants, labor, equipment, drainage. You see the math. Change orders signed before any change happens.
Build
Our in-house crew, on site every working day. Weekly progress photos. The architect walks the site at every major milestone. We don’t leave until the punch list is empty.
— Recent fencing
Three recent cedar fence projects.
Lakefront master plan, 2½ acres.
Three terraced rooms stepping down to Lake Champlain. 240 ft of dry-laid stone wall, cedar pavilion, native pollinator beds.
Read project →
Seven-terrace hilltop garden.
Re-grading a north-facing slope into seven dry-stone-walled terraces of perennials, fruit trees, and a 60-foot meditation walk.
Read project →
1,400 sq ft contemporary courtyard.
Bluestone paving, cedar slat screening, a small reflecting pool, and three Japanese maples for autumn color.
Read project →Under 80 ft, decorative or enclosure
$8K–$24Ktypical install
Most short-run garden fences price at $80–$140 per linear foot installed (based on style, height, and gate count).
80+ ft, full perimeter or runs
$22K–$80Kbased on length
Property-line fencing prices at $90–$160 per linear foot. Volume discount on runs over 200 ft. Custom gates priced separately.
— Cedar fence questions
Common questions before we start.
Do I need to stain or seal the cedar?
No. Eastern white cedar weathers to a beautiful silver-gray over about two years and stays there. Stains seal moisture in at the joints and accelerate rot. The unstained, weathered fence lasts longer than the stained one. (Some clients still want the warm color preserved — we’ll point you to a UV-blocking clear oil that needs reapplication every 18 months.)
Will it sag or warp?
Properly milled, kiln-dried cedar with 48″ concrete pier footings doesn’t sag. The fence ages straight if it was built straight. We use Vermont-milled stock that’s already been through a Vermont winter, not warm-climate kiln-dried lumber that warps when it hits our humidity.
Can you match neighboring fencing?
Often yes. Send photos during the site visit and we’ll match the style. We won’t match poorly built work — if your neighbor’s fence is a panel-kit job, we’ll build something better and let the line transition gracefully.
Can you do mixed material — cedar with stone columns?
Absolutely. Cedar fence between stone columns is one of our favorite combinations — the stone provides visual rhythm and lasts forever; the cedar fills the spans economically. We design and build both elements.
What about deer pressure?
If deer are a real concern, we’ll spec a higher fence (8 ft minimum for full deer exclusion). For partial deterrence, a 6-ft fence with strategic plant choice on the inside works well. We’ll also discuss double-fence strategies for kitchen gardens.
Do you handle gate automation?
Standard hardware is manual (lever latch, gravity hinge). For automation (driveway gates, smart-lock garden gates), we coordinate with a low-voltage installer for the electronics; we build the cedar gate and frame to spec.