North Florida eats wood fences. We build for that.

Because the post moves, not because it rots. Treated southern yellow pine warps, twists, checks and splits as it dries out, and once the post has moved the whole fence line follows it.

Read any treated lumber warranty and you will find warping, twisting, checking and splitting are specifically excluded from coverage. So the post can be entirely fine by the warranty’s definition while your gate drags and your fence line has gone wavy.

No. That is a myth and the field data does not support it. A ten year ground contact study in Gainesville scored treated southern pine 9.7 out of 10 for resistance to decay and termite attack.

We would rather tell you that than sell you something on a claim that is not true. The argument for steel is movement, not rot.

Two things, both measurable. The USDA Forest Products Laboratory puts Tallahassee’s decay hazard index at 93.6, one of the highest in the continental United States, where anything above 65 is already considered severe.

On top of that, the building code classifies all of Florida as a “Very Heavy” termite zone. That is the highest of four categories, and there is not a county in the state that escapes it.

It depends on the post. For a six foot solid fence, the manufacturer’s published data puts a galvanized steel post at 8.0 ft spacing all the way through 110 mph. A 4x4 southern yellow pine post drops to 4.5 ft at that same speed.

Tallahassee’s adopted basic wind speed is 120 mph, 3 second gust, under the 2023 Florida Building Code. At the speeds this city actually designs for, a wood post fence needs its posts almost twice as close together to do the same job.

A wood gate frame is a rectangle held together at the corners, hung off one edge and swung several thousand times a year. Over time the corners work loose and the rectangle becomes a parallelogram. That is the sag.

It is not bad building, it is geometry plus weather. We build gate frames from 16 gauge welded steel, powder coated black, so the frame cannot rack in the first place.

They are the two ground contact ratings for treated lumber. UC4A is the general use rating and it is what covers fence posts. UC4B is the heavy duty rating, specified for severe decay environments and for members that are difficult to replace.

In a city with a 93.6 decay index, UC4B is the defensible specification. It is also rarely what is sitting on the rack at a big box store, which is worth knowing when you are comparing two quotes that look the same on paper.

Because we schedule five days for a three day job. We would rather have the room and not need it than promise you a date we cannot keep.

We could book two weeks out, take your deposit, and then turn up whenever. We would rather give you a date that is real and then be there on it.

Yes, and the concrete is crowned, sloped so water sheds away from the post rather than pooling against it. That is the documented best practice, despite what you will read in contractor forums.

Depth and footing width vary by where you are in town. Tallahassee is split by the Cody Escarpment: north of it you are in Orangeburg fine sandy loam, and south of it you are into Ortega and Kershaw sands, which are loose and drain fast. Loose sand needs deeper embedment and a wider footing to develop the same resistance.