Composite vs Wood Fence: Real Cost Over 10 Years

The honest version of the composite-vs-wood story has two parts. Part one: wood is meaningfully cheaper to put up. Part two: that advantage disappears around year five.

The reference project

Use a 150-linear-foot, six-foot-tall privacy fence on level grade as the reference. That is the most common residential job in our service network.

Year 1

• Wood: $25/lin ft installed = $3,750
• Composite (Compoxen): $65/lin ft installed = $9,750

Wood wins by about $6,000 on day one. That is the entire reason most homeowners default to wood when they are not thinking past the install.

Year 5

• Wood: $3,750 + 2× stain or seal at ~$1.50/lin ft = $4,200
• Composite: $9,750 + $0 maintenance = $9,750

Wood is still cheaper, but the gap is shrinking.

Year 10

• Wood: $3,750 + 4× stain rounds + one round of post repair = roughly $5,000
• Composite: $9,750 + $0 maintenance = $9,750

The wood fence has now been worked on five times. It still functions but it is greying, the bottom rail at the gate has cracked, and two posts at grade contact have started to fail.

Year 15

A typical wood fence is now in the replacement window. That is another $4,000 minimum to put a new fence on the same posts. The composite fence is still under warranty, still flat, still the original color.

When wood actually wins

Two cases: you are selling within two years, or you specifically want the natural greying patina of aged cedar. Otherwise the math points to composite.

Read more

For the full attribute table, see composite vs wood and pricing.