Fence repair or new posts after a storm in Orleans?

Storm damage to a fence in Orleans falls under the City of Ottawa Fence By-law No. 2003-462,: a fence must be kept stable, vertical and in good repair, and a fence that is rebuilt has to meet today's limits of 1 m in a front yard and 213 cm (about 7 feet) in a side or rear yard. Because the by-law's meaning of erecting includes altering, ask By-law Services if you are unsure whether a repair counts as a rebuild.

On cost, published 2025-26 Ontario installer pricing for pressure-treated wood runs about $30 to $65 per linear foot installed, and cedar about $45 to $85 per linear foot. Post replacement on its own is not a figure we can quote from published sources; ask each installer to price it as a separate line in the quote. Published installer pages say posts set in concrete cost more to pull, so ask the installer to confirm what they find before work begins. Removing and disposing of damaged fence sections runs roughly $5 to $15 per linear foot, more where posts are set in concrete.

Before anyone digs a new post hole, the Underground Infrastructure Notification System Act, 2012 requires a locate request from whoever breaks ground, whether it is the contractor or a homeowner doing the work themselves; it is free, and Ontario Dig Authority asks for it at least 5 business days before the dig. Ontario Dig Authority does not mark lines itself; each utility sends its own locator. Ask about any private lines on your property as well, such as lines running to a garage or shed; we found no statement either way on whether those will be marked.

If the storm shifted the fence and you are not certain it was sitting on your property to begin with, check your deed and title documents and look at the approximate lines on geoOttawa before the new posts go in. Only an Ontario Land Surveyor, under the Surveyors Act, can certify where the boundary sits. A fence contractor cannot confirm the line.

A few things worth confirming in writing before any work starts:

• the length of the run being repaired or replaced, and the number of posts being pulled and reset
• whether the quote includes removal and disposal of damaged material
• who submits the locate request and when
• the post-setting method the installer plans to use, and how deep the quote assumes
• any written warranty on labour and materials

Requests sent from this site's form go to fence installers listed in the Ottawa Construction Network directory.

Before you agree to anything, ask the installer to walk you through exactly what they found at each damaged post, so the quote says plainly which sections are a repair and which are a replacement.