Yes. A fence handles a slope in one of two ways. It can be racked, with the rails tilted to match the ground, or stepped, with level sections that each sit lower than the last. Racking leaves the smaller gap at the bottom.
Racked or stepped: which is better?
- Racked: rails slope with the yard while pickets stay plumb. Suits gentle and moderate grades, and yards with dogs.
- Stepped: sections stay level and drop at each post. This is the usual answer on very steep San Francisco lots and with factory panels. A triangular gap is left under each section.
- Cut to the ground on site: each board is trimmed to the grade. In wood this gives the tightest and tidiest result.
I have a dog that digs and a yard that drops. How do I avoid gaps?
Choose a racked fence or one cut to the ground, and then block the bottom. A treated board fixed along the soil, a concrete curb, or wire mesh buried below the fence all work. In the sandy yards of the Sunset and the Richmond, a digger gets under a fence quickly, so buried mesh or a curb is worth the extra.
My yard is steep and rocky and two companies turned the job down. Who does this?
We will look at it before answering. Steep, awkward lots are ordinary in this city, on Twin Peaks, Bernal Heights, Potrero Hill, Glen Park and the north-facing hills. The work goes slowly because materials are carried in, often through the house, and each hole is dug by hand. Where a post lands on rock, the hole is drilled or the post is fixed to the rock. Tell us if the fence would stand on or next to a retaining wall, since the wall has to be sound and the city looks at height differently there.
Do installers dig by hand or with a machine?
In San Francisco, mostly by hand. A machine auger only helps where it can reach, and a yard behind attached houses often has no way in except the garage or the hallway. Hand digging is also the rule beside foundations, retaining walls and marked utilities. On open commercial sites and larger Peninsula lots, a powered auger does the work.
We measure the line and give you a written quote at no charge. Call (415) 888-9244 or text us a photo of the fence.