Boral Fence Installation Nationwide | Barrett & Sons Construction

Boral Fence Installation: The Los Angeles Owner’s Guide

Boral fence installation in Los Angeles typically runs $4,130 to $10,620 for a full run of posts, rails, and pickets, and we can usually have a crew on your street within a few days. Most owners call us because a single post snapped at ground level after years of holding back heavy clay soil, or because a gate sagged until the latch stopped catching. You should not have to replace the whole fence because one component gave out, and in most cases you won’t. But matching Boral’s modular dimensions matters more than people expect, and that’s where this page will save you money.

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We’re an independent Los Angeles contractor. We install and stock Boral-compatible components, but we’re not a Boral dealer or factory outlet. We carry their boards because we think they hold up better than most pressure-treated lumber in our dry summers and heavy winter rains, not because anyone pays us to say so.

Which Boral Models This Applies To

Boral manufactures engineered composite fence boards and rails under a few product lines that all share the same core profile system. The boards, sometimes called pickets or slats, come in widths of 3-1/2, 5-1/2, and 7-1/4 inches. The rails, sometimes sold as stringers, are designed as U-channels that the boards slip into vertically. Posts are structural, either steel or aluminum depending on the line, and they anchor the whole assembly.

Here’s the compatibility gotcha we keep seeing: Boral’s boards are not interchangeable with generic composite pickets from another manufacturer, even if the width is the same. The board’s lip profile and thickness, generally 5/8 to 3/4 inch depending on the line, have to match the rail channel or the board rattles and works loose. If you have a Boral gate or a Boral privacy screen, you need to check whether it’s the Classic line or the Estate line. Classic uses a center-slot board. Estate uses a tongue-and-groove edge. Mixing those two is the most common ordering mistake we correct after homeowners try to buy boards themselves.

For OEM parts versus aftermarket equivalents, our honest position is this: for boards and rails, OEM Boral is worth the extra ten to fifteen percent because the fit is exact. For posts, a quality powder-coated steel post from any reputable mill supply works fine, as long as the mount bracket matches. We won’t charge you OEM markup on a post when the aftermarket version does the same job with the same lifespan. We will tell you which is which before you spend a dollar.

Signs Your Boral Fence Installation Is Failing

• Post lean with a visible crack at the soil line. This is the classic Los Angeles failure: winter rain saturates clay soil, the soil expands, and the post, especially if concrete was piled around it instead of a proper pier, starts listing. The crack means water got inside and rusted the post from within.
• Rails sagging or pulling away from the posts. The U-channel rail clips were undersized or corroded. You’ll usually see this on the side of the fence that faces the prevailing afternoon wind, which, depending on your neighborhood, means the west or south side.
• Boards cupping or bowing out of the rail channel. Boral boards are engineered to resist this, so when it happens, the cause is usually incorrect installation, like the boards were forced in with no expansion gap. Los Angeles heat cycles of 60-degree nights and 90-degree afternoons make that gap non-negotiable.
• Gate latch failing to catch, or gate dragging on one corner. This is almost always a hinge-post problem, not a latch problem. The post has moved and taken the gate geometry with it. Replacing the latch is a band-aid.
• Black streaking or chalky residue on boards. This is cosmetic and usually cleanable with a mild detergent, but if the chalkiness has pitted the surface, the UV coating is spent and the boards are past their useful life. In direct Los Angeles sun, that happens faster on south-facing runs.

Replacement Cost & What’s Included

For a 50- to 80-foot Boral fence section in Los Angeles, you’re looking at $4,130 to $6,500 for board and rail replacement with existing posts, and $7,500 to $10,620 if posts need to be re-set or replaced. The biggest driver is post condition. If we’re pulling old steel posts out of concrete in hard-packed LA clay, that’s labor, and it’s labor we won’t fake with an allowance that goes over budget later.

Our line-item wrote quote includes the following: removal and haul-away of the failed components, all new boards and rails in your existing Boral profile, post work as needed, hardware, and a workmanship warranty on the installation. Every allowance and scope change arrives as a written change order before we order materials. If the price moves, you’ll see it on paper first. That’s been our rule since 1998.

We also stock KraftMaid, Cambria, and Silestone for kitchen and bath work, but this page is about your fence, and we’ll keep it that way.

DIY or Call Us?

You can safely inspect your own Boral fence. Walk the line with a level, look for cracks at the post base, and push gently on each post to feel for movement. Check that boards have a consistent gap at the rail channel. All of that is fine, and it’ll help you have a better conversation with whichever contractor you call.

Where we draw the line is pulling posts. Digging out a post set in concrete means working around gas, water, and irrigation lines that are often shallower than they should be in older Los Angeles neighborhoods. We do this work with a tool that won’t sever a utility line and a plan for what happens if we find one anyway. A home warranty claim won’t cover a severed gas line caused by hand tools. Call us before you dig. The estimate is free, and we’ll tell you if it’s a job you can honestly handle yourself. We’ll do it right the first time, or we’ll come back and make it right.

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