Wood Fence Installation
Wood fencing in Tarzana, California
For a Tarzana backyard, cedar or redwood privacy fencing is the natural boundary. Ours run clean and plumb across the north flats, and hold a line on a steep hillside lot south of the Boulevard where slope, clay, and the fire setback all get a vote.
Why homeowners choose wood here
The ranch and mid-century tracts on the north flats were laid out around a warm, natural backyard, and real wood is what suits them. Cedar or redwood gives full six foot privacy, a face that reads correctly on the older single-story homes and on the remodels, and a price under vinyl or iron across a long run. It is also the material that takes a custom look most easily: a lattice or trellis top, a good-neighbor board-on-board pattern, a horizontal slat face for a cleaner elevation.
Upkeep is the trade, and it is worth naming. Every two or three years wood wants a stain or seal to keep its color against the strong inland-valley sun; bare, it silvers and can check or cup. Anyone who wants a run they never touch again ends up at vinyl. Anyone who wants the warmth, and does not mind a weekend with a brush, stays with wood.
Cedar, redwood, and the styles we build
Almost every Tarzana wood fence we build is western red cedar or construction-heart redwood. Both shrug off rot and insects far better than pine, take stain evenly, and handle the dry heat without the quick decay a cheaper wood shows. The styles that come up most often here:
- Dog-ear or flat-top privacy. The ordinary six foot backyard run, boards butted tight so nothing shows through.
- Board on board (good neighbor). Overlapping boards, finished on both faces, which pleases the neighbor and the enclave committee alike.
- Lattice or trellis top. An open cap over the privacy panel, adding height and light without another foot of solid wall.
- Horizontal slat. A cleaner, modern face that suits the contemporary custom homes above the Boulevard.
Style aside, the post decides how long the fence lasts. We set pressure-treated or steel posts in concrete footings sized to the run and the soil, because a wood fence gives out at the post well before the panel does.
Building a wood fence on a Tarzana slope
South of Ventura Boulevard the land climbs into the Santa Monica Mountains, and a wood fence there stops being a flat-lot job. Across a grade that often passes 25 percent there are two moves. Step it, keeping each panel level and dropping the run in stair sections. Or rack it, angling the panels along the slope so the bottom edge stays near the ground. Stepping reads more formal and suits a straight line; racking hugs the ground and closes the gap an animal would otherwise use. Which one your lot wants depends on how steeply it falls, and that gets settled on the estimate.
Soil is the other slope factor. The mountain corridor carries expansive clay that shifts between the wet and dry seasons, so we set posts deeper and size the footings for movement, not just for the weight of the panel. On a graded hillside pad, drainage behind the line matters too, because water that has nowhere to go is what heaves a post out of plumb a season later.
Wood and the fire zone
Hillside lots south of the Boulevard sit in a Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone, and most homes up there carry fire insurance for good reason. Solid wood burns, so on those parcels it stays away from the structure. Whatever stands within the defensible space near the house does better in tubular steel, iron, or block, with wood held back for the side and rear runs out in the yard. The warm look goes where you want it and the defensible space still does what the fire authority asks. On the north flats, well back from the wildland edge, wood throughout is entirely reasonable.
Wood fence pricing in Tarzana
| 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 north-flats backyard, standard size |
| 250 linear ft | $7,500 to $15,000 | A bigger lot, or the full perimeter |
Posts, panels, hardware, and labor sit inside those ranges. Old fence removal, hillside slope footings, a lattice or board-on-board upgrade, and gates take you higher. Full breakdown on the Tarzana fence cost guide.
A wood fence price in writing
We walk your property line in Tarzana, read the slope, the soil, and the fire setback, then leave a fixed written quote. Free, and nothing owed.
Arrange an estimateWood fence questions
How much does a wood fence cost in Tarzana?
About $30 to $60 per linear foot installed. On the north flats, 150 feet of six foot cedar or redwood privacy generally lands between $4,500 and $9,000. South of the Boulevard, deeper slope footings on a grade over 25 percent and harder access to a hillside lot push that toward the top of the range.
Is a wood fence a good idea south of the Boulevard in the fire zone?
The hillside lots south of Ventura Boulevard fall inside a Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone, so solid wood stays back from the house and tubular steel, iron, or block goes within the defensible space near the structure. Out in the yard, on a rear property line, wood is fine. Hard against a home in the mountain corridor it is the wrong material.
What wood holds up best in the Tarzana heat?
Western red cedar and construction-heart redwood. Both resist rot, both outlast pine through the hot, dry inland-valley summers, and both hold a stain or seal well. Seal every two to three years and you keep the color and slow the checking that strong sun works into any wood fence.
Can a wood fence follow a steep Tarzana hillside lot?
Yes. On the slopes south of the Boulevard the panels either step down the grade in level sections or rack along the fall, and the posts go deeper into the expansive clay so the run holds plumb and no gap opens underneath. How steeply your lot drops decides which, and we read that on the estimate visit.
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