Free written scope consultation - allowances, timeline, and change-order rules on paper before a single trade is scheduled
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AfterFast, Reliable Fence Installation Across Martinez
A new fence in Martinez typically runs $3,500-$9,000 for a standard residential lot, with wood and vinyl on the lower end and aluminum or custom gate work pushing toward the top of that range. Most installations take two to four working days once permits clear, which in Martinez means accounting for Contra Costa County’s review window and the older property lines that slow things down near the historic district. If you’re pricing a fence, call (877) 610-1318 for a written, line-by-line estimate before you commit to anything. We’re Barrett & Sons Construction, founded in 1998, and we’ve worked on enough hillside lots and downtown Victorians to know that Martinez fencing is its own animal.
Why Barrett & Sons Construction Is Martinez’s Preferred Fence Installation Company
Tom Barrett puts his name, address, and license number on every contract we write in Martinez. That matters on a street where the house was built in 1910 and the neighbor remembers who built the fence that just fell over. We’re owner-operated, not a franchise, and the crew that shows up in the 94553 is typically Tom’s sons running the job with experienced local labor who know the difference between sandy loam and the adobe clay that dominates Martinez hillsides.
We answer our own phone. You call (877) 610-1318 and a live person picks up, 24 hours a day. No call center, no voicemail maze that sends you to someone in another state who has never heard of the Carquinez Strait. We also publish a 90-Day Done Right Promise on every job, written into the contract word for word. If a gate post settles or a picket warps, one call brings Tom back to make it right.
Our reputation in Martinez comes from the older neighborhoods, where fence work often means more than just fresh boards. It means locating original survey pins, dealing with clay that moves, and matching the look of a fence that has stood since before the city was the county seat. That’s local work, and we treat it that way.
Our Fence Installation Services in Martinez
Wood Fence
Wood remains the most common fence we install in Martinez, especially cedar and redwood privacy fencing for homes along Alhambra Avenue and the hillside streets above downtown. Martinez’s marine air and daily wind off the Carquinez Strait put real stress on wood, so we use pressure-treated posts, galvanized hardware, and pickets sized for sustained wind uplift rather than the lighter spec you’d see in Concord or Walnut Creek. A typical wood privacy fence in Martinez runs $3,500-$9,000, depending on the linear footage and whether we’re reusing a property line that an old survey pin confirms.
Chain Link Fence
For homeowners east of downtown on flatter post-war lots, chain link is still the practical workhorse. We install galvanized and vinyl-coated chain link, and we set terminal posts deeper than the minimum because we know what Martinez clay does in a wet winter followed by a dry summer. Gates get diagonal bracing from day one. The goal is a fence that stays plumb ten years from now, not one that looks fine for two seasons and then leans toward the sidewalk.
Vinyl Fence
Vinyl is a good fit for Martinez properties where the owner wants the privacy of wood without the annual maintenance. The catch with vinyl in this town is the wind. We set vinyl posts in concrete footings below the expansive clay layer and add internal post stiffeners so the rails don’t rack under Carquinez Strait gusts. Prices for a vinyl privacy fence in Martinez start around $3,500 and can run higher with the heavier post specifications local conditions demand. It’s a premium material, but it holds color well in the fog and salt air.
Aluminum Fence
Aluminum fencing gets specified a lot on Martinez lots where the owner wants to keep a view open while marking the boundary. The Carquinez Strait is part of the appeal of living here, and an aluminum fence at 4 feet tall doesn’t block it the way a 6-foot cedar wall does. We install aluminum fence in the $4,000-$10,000 range, powder-coated panels with concrete-set posts and wind-rated hardware. It’s also the material we recommend most often for poolsides and steep grades where wood posts would heave within two seasons.
What happens when you call
- 1
A real person answersNo phone trees - you reach a local pro.
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You get an upfront price rangeHonest numbers before anyone is dispatched.
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A background-checked tech heads outLicensed & insured, dispatched right away.
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You approve before work beginsNothing starts until you say go.
Trusted Brands We Service in Martinez
We stock and install Ply Gem and Simonton fence and railing systems, along with PGT aluminum for wind-rated applications near the water. These are brands you can look up and verify, not mystery stock off a distributor’s pallet. Because we keep inventory in the San Francisco Bay Area and crews dispatch local to Martinez, we can source replacement panels and hardware quickly when a repair can’t wait. If you want a brand-specific quote, call (877) 610-1318 and ask. We’ll tell you exactly what we’re installing and why.
Common Fence Installation Problems We See in Martinez Homes
- Posts set in shallow footings that heave and tilt. Martinez’s adobe clay expands far more in wet seasons than the sandy loam common in nearby Concord. A post set 18 inches deep in this soil can lift two inches in one winter, leaving a fence line that looks like a smile.
- Old concrete or unreinforced masonry retaining walls used as fence lines. Many hillside properties above downtown have 1950s-era concrete walls that were never reinforced. Those walls crack and push outward, and the fence bolted on top leans right along with it.
- Gate posts that sag under daily Carquinez Strait wind. Without deeper embedment and diagonal bracing, a heavy wood gate swinging off a 4×4 post will bind the latch and scrape the walk within a year. We see it constantly on lots that face the water.
- Boundary confusion on pre-1920 lots. Original survey pins from 100 years ago have shifted with the clay. A fence built to today’s visual line can be six inches into the neighbor’s parcel or six inches off it. That’s a legal problem before it’s a construction one.
Pricing for Fence Installation in Martinez, CA
A fence job in Martinez doesn’t cost the same as one in Pleasant Hill or Benicia. The clay soil, the wind, and the age of the homes all push the numbers around. Here’s what we actually quote, based on real work in the 94553:
| Service | Typical Martinez Range |
|---|---|
| Wood Fence | $3,500-$9,000 |
| Fence Repair | $400-$1,800 |
| Fence Gates | $800-$3,000 |
What moves the number up? A hillside lot that needs deeper post embedment, a property line that requires a surveyor to re-establish, or a gate that has to be custom-built to match an older home’s original detailing. What moves it down? Shorter runs, flat ground, and a clear boundary with good access. Every quote we write for Martinez is a fixed line-item scope. The number on the estimate is the number on the contract, and if anything changes mid-job, you get a written change order with the new price before we touch a single tool. Call (877) 610-1318 for your free estimate. We don’t charge a trip fee inside the county.
We Also Serve Cities Near Martinez
Along with our work throughout Martinez, our Fence Installation crews regularly take on fence and gate jobs in Pleasant Hill, Contra Costa Centre, Waldon, and Benicia. If you’re just over the line in one of those communities, the same written pricing and 90-Day Done Right Promise apply. Call (877) 610-1318 and we’ll put you on the schedule.
Serving Martinez, CA - Our Local Coverage Area
We’re based in the Martinez area and know this community well. Use the map below to see our service coverage - if you’re nearby, we can almost certainly help.
FAQs - Fence Installation in Martinez
Yes. In Martinez, fences over six feet tall generally need a permit, and properties within or adjacent to the historic district may also trigger design review if the fence is visible from the street. We pull permits on every eligible job and handle the paperwork end to end. The permit inspector works for you, not for us, and we like it that way. Call (877) 610-1318 for a quote that includes the permitting scope up front.
For a six-foot fence in Martinez, we set posts between 30 and 36 inches deep, below the active clay layer, with concrete footings that flare at the base to resist uplift. Anything shallower than 24 inches is a bet against the soil, and around here the soil wins. We learned this on hillside lots where two wet-dry cycles will tilt a post set to the old standard.
Yes. We build custom gates and fence panels with period-appropriate proportions and picket profiles, and we match the spacing and top detail to the surviving sections of your original fence. When the old fence is too far gone to copy directly, we work from period catalogs and photos of neighboring homes. The goal is a new fence that reads as if it has always been there. Call (877) 610-1318 and we’ll walk your property line with you.
Sagging gate posts near the Strait are almost always a combination of shallow embedment, undersized posts, and missing diagonal bracing. The daily wind loads rack the gate, the hinge screws loosen, and the latch starts binding. We rebuild gate posts at depth, add concrete-set footings, and install a diagonal brace from bottom hinge to top latch, then rehang the gate with heavy-duty hardware. The fix holds. Call (877) 610-1318 for a gate repair quote.
Our hillside fence scope includes old footing removal, re-setting posts below the expansive clay layer, mid-span blocking for wind load, new rails and pickets, and a final property-line check against the survey pins before we dig. On a recent job near the downtown historic district, we removed rotted redwood along an 1890s Craftsman’s side yard, pulled out cracked unreinforced footing debris, re-set posts deeper, and added mid-span blocking to meet current wind-load standards before hanging cedar privacy panels. That’s the standard, not the upgrade. Call (877) 610-1318 for a written line-item scope on your hillside fence.
Key Takeaways for Martinez Homeowners: Fence installation here costs $3,500-$9,000 for a typical residential run. Older lots near downtown face boundary and clay-soil complications that flatter lots in nearby cities don’t. Deeper post embedment is non-negotiable in Martinez’s expansive adobe clay. Gates near the Strait need diagonal bracing from day one. We pull permits, price in writing, and back every job with a 90-Day Done Right Promise.
If you’re ready for a real number, call (877) 610-1318. We’ll walk your property line, check the grade, look at what the old fence did wrong, and hand you a written estimate with every line item priced. No surprise invoices, no change orders that appear out of nowhere, and no trip charge inside Contra Costa County. This is what Barrett & Sons Construction has done since 1998, and we’d be glad to do it for your Martinez home.
Written by Tom Barrett, Owner at Barrett & Sons Construction, serving Martinez and Contra Costa County since 1998.