Ask around Acadiana and you’ll hear everything from “eight years” to “twenty-five.” Both can be true. A wood fence here doesn’t wear out on a schedule. It wears out at its weakest point, and in south Louisiana that point is almost always the bottom of the posts.
The short answer
A pressure-treated pine fence that’s built right and kept stained commonly lasts 10 to 15 years here. Cedar often goes longer. A fence with posts set in standing water and pickets that never see a coat of stain can start leaning and rotting in well under ten.
Why posts go first
The few inches where a post enters the ground stay wet longer than any other part of the fence. Our clay holds water, rain comes in bursts, and many yards drain toward the fence line. That wet-dry cycle at the ground line is where rot starts. Once a post softens there, wind does the rest.
- Use posts rated for ground contact. Not every treated board is rated to sit in the dirt.
- Set them deep and in concrete, with the concrete crowned so water sheds away from the post instead of pooling against it.
- Keep the bottom of the pickets off the ground. A small gap keeps them out of standing water and away from mulch and grass clippings.
- Consider steel posts behind the wood. Galvanized steel posts with wood pickets give you the look of wood and a frame that outlasts it.
Stain is the cheapest insurance you can buy
Sun and rain pull the oils out of bare wood. It grays, checks and cracks, and every crack lets more water in. We recommend an oil-based stain on every wood fence. It soaks into the wood instead of sitting on top, so it doesn’t peel the way paint does.
- Let new pressure-treated wood dry out for a few weeks before the first coat.
- Re-coat every few years, or when water stops beading on the boards.
- Stain both sides if you can reach them, plus the cut ends of pickets.
Small habits that add years
- Aim sprinklers away from the fence.
- Keep vines, shrubs and soil from piling against the boards.
- Fix a loose picket or a leaning post early, before it pulls the sections next to it.
- After a big storm, walk the line and check for posts that moved.
Pine or cedar?
Pressure-treated pine is the common choice and holds up well when it’s set right and stained. Cedar costs more, resists rot and insects on its own, and tends to stay straighter. Either way, the posts and the stain matter more than the picket species.
Planning a new wood fence?
Tell us the footage and whether you want it installed or materials only, and a local pro or supplier will follow up with current pricing. See our wood privacy fence page for styles and what goes into a materials order.