Wood Fence Installation
Wood fencing in Granada Hills, California
For a Granada Hills backyard, a cedar or redwood privacy fence is the natural boundary, and it belongs behind the ranch-style tracts these streets were built around. Ours are built to run true across a flat lot south of Rinaldi, and to hold their line on a foothill slope to the north.
Why homeowners choose wood here
Granada Hills grew up as a community of well-kept ranch-style homes, and nothing sits behind that architecture as comfortably as real wood. A cedar or redwood fence gives you full six foot privacy, a warm and traditional look that suits the older tracts on the flats as well as the larger custom homes on the hill, and a price that comes in below vinyl or iron for a long run. It is also the easiest material to build a custom look into: a good-neighbor board-on-board pattern, a lattice or trellis top, or a cleaner horizontal slat style for a more contemporary elevation.
The trade is maintenance. Refinish on that same cycle or the boards go silver, then begin to cup and check under a hard valley sun. Anyone who would rather never think about a fence again ends up in vinyl. Anyone who wants the warmth, and does not mind an afternoon with a sprayer, stays in timber and is rewarded for it.
Cedar or redwood, and the styles we build
Nearly every Granada Hills wood fence we build is western red cedar or construction-heart redwood. Both hold off rot and insects far better than pine, both take stain evenly, and neither breaks down in the dry heat the way a cheaper wood does. The styles that come up most often on these streets:
- Dog-ear or flat-top privacy. The ordinary six foot backyard run, boards set tight against one another so nothing shows through.
- Board on board (good neighbor). Overlapping boards that look finished from both sides, which the neighbors and a Knollwood review both appreciate.
- Lattice or trellis top. A privacy fence with an open cap that adds height and light without a solid wall, and lets some wind through on an exposed north lot.
- Horizontal slat. A cleaner, modern face for the contemporary custom homes on the larger lots.
Style aside, the posts decide how long the fence lives. We set pressure-treated or steel posts in concrete footings sized for the run and for the ground they land in, since a wood fence gives way at the post long before the panel goes.
Wood fencing and the Rinaldi split
The single fact that shapes a Granada Hills wood fence is which side of Rinaldi Street your lot is on. South of Rinaldi the land is flat valley floor, the alluvial soil is firm, and a privacy run goes up quickly with posts set plumb in level ground. North of Rinaldi the lots climb into the foothills, and the same fence becomes a grading job. When a run crosses a slope, we either step it, holding each panel level and dropping the fence in stair sections, or rack it, angling the panels to follow the fall so the bottom stays close to the ground. Stepping looks more formal and suits a straight property line; racking hugs the ground better and closes the gap a dog or a coyote could use.
On those north lots we also set posts deeper and plan drainage behind any run that sits below a grade, because hillside runoff is what heaves a fence out of plumb over a wet season. Regular Santa Ana wind events in the foothills are the other factor: a solid six foot fence catches all of it, so on the most exposed runs we set posts closer together, or suggest a lattice or slat top that lets some air pass rather than fighting every gust. Which approach fits your lot is something we work out on the estimate visit, with the grade in front of us.
Wood, the fire zone, and horse lots
The foothill lots north of Rinaldi, out toward O'Melveny Park and the Santa Susana ridgelines, sit in a Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone. That governs where timber may go. Because a solid board burns, we hold it off the dwelling entirely: the length nearest the walls goes in tubular steel, ornamental iron or block, and the timber picks up again on the boundary runs further out. Read from the yard it is still a wood fence, and the ground the fire authority wants kept defensible stays clear. On the flat lots south of Rinaldi, away from the interface, wood throughout is perfectly reasonable.
The semi-rural horse-keeping lots north of Devonshire and Rinaldi are their own case. There the right wood fence is usually three-rail ranch fence, often backed with no-climb horse wire, rather than a solid privacy panel, so the animals are safely contained and the open, rural character of the street is kept. We build ranch rail in the same cedar and redwood, set for the larger post spacing those runs use.
Wood fence pricing in Granada Hills
| Run length | Typical installed range | Common on |
|---|---|---|
| 75 linear ft | $2,250 to $4,500 | One side yard or a short back line |
| 150 linear ft | $4,500 to $9,000 | A standard tract backyard |
| 250 linear ft | $7,500 to $15,000 | A larger foothill lot or full perimeter |
Each range covers posts, panels, hardware, and labor. What moves you up it: old fence removal, slope footings and drainage on a north lot, a lattice or board-on-board upgrade, and gates. Costs by material are on Granada Hills fence cost guide.
Price a wood fence on your line
Walking the property line with you, we read the slope and the soil, note whatever Knollwood review or the fire zone will ask for, and put a fixed figure in writing. The visit is at no charge and carries no obligation.
Request a firm priceWood fence questions
How much does a wood fence cost in Granada Hills?
Installed, wood fencing costs about $30 to $60 per linear foot. That puts 150 feet of six foot cedar or redwood privacy fence between $4,500 and $9,000, with the exact figure turning on the wood chosen, whether an old fence has to come out first, and whether the lot is a flat tract south of Rinaldi or a foothill slope calling for deeper footings and drainage.
Is a wood fence a good idea on the Granada Hills foothill lots?
On the hillside lots north of Rinaldi in the Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone, we keep solid wood back from the house and use tubular steel, iron, or block within a few feet of the structure for defensible space. Wood is fine for a back property line away from the home, but not right against a house near the open space.
What wood holds up best in the Granada Hills sun?
Two species do the work here: western red cedar and construction-heart redwood. Each carries its own rot resistance, each outlasts pine through a dry inland summer, and each accepts a stain or a seal without fuss. Re-seal on a two or three year cycle and the color holds. Leave it, and the sun opens fine checks across the grain, as it will on any board left bare.
Can a wood fence follow a sloped lot north of Rinaldi?
Yes. On the foothill lots we either step the panels down the grade in level sections or rack them to follow the slope, set the posts deeper so the run stays plumb, and plan drainage behind any run below a grade. The right choice depends on the fall of your lot.
Related reading
Everything here sits inside our wider work on residential fencing in Granada Hills.