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Moen Fence Installation: The Fort Lauderdale Owner’s Guide
Moen fence installation in Fort Lauderdale typically runs $3,500 to $9,000, and the real variable is not the fence itself. It is what we find when we pull the old posts and see what the salt air and sandy soil have been doing underneath. Most homeowners call us after a tropical storm or a particularly hot stretch when a gate stops latching, a post starts leaning, or the bottom rail begins to lift away from the hardware. Moen builds quality fence hardware and gate kits, but every fence in Fort Lauderdale is only as good as its footings, fasteners, and the installer who set them.
We are an independent contractor. We install and service Moen fence products, but we are not affiliated with Moen or any Moen distributor. That independence means we tell you what your fence actually needs, not what a brand rep wants you to buy.
Which Moen Models This Applies To
Moen’s fence and gate hardware lines cover a few distinct product families. The most common in Fort Lauderdale are the Moen Latitude and Moen Meridian gate hardware kits, plus the newer Moen Smart Fence gate systems that pair with a phone app. The compatibility gotcha nobody tells you: Moen gate hinges and latches are sized to specific post dimensions, and a Moen latch designed for a 4×4 post will not sit right on a 6×6 post without a shim kit that most big-box stores do not carry. We stock those shim kits on the truck.
When we come out for a Moen fence estimate, we pull the gate off its hinges and look for the model stamp on the hinge barrel or the inside of the latch housing. If the stamp is gone (sun and salt beat up everything eventually), we measure the bolt-hole spread and match it to current Moen specs. On the OEM-versus-aftermarket question: Moen’s own hardware generally outlasts generic equivalents in Fort Lauderdale’s humidity, because Moen uses marine-grade stainless steel on their gate hinges. Aftermarket hinges that look identical often use a lower-grade alloy that starts pitting within two years near the Intracoastal. We recommend OEM for hinges and latches, and we are fine with quality aftermarket for decorative post caps and rail brackets where the failure consequence is cosmetic rather than structural.
Styles & brands we work with
Signs Your Moen Fence Installation Is Failing
- Gate drags or sticks on one side. This usually means the post has shifted and the hinge alignment is off. In Fort Lauderdale, that shift is almost always a footing problem: the original installer used a shallow concrete pour that the sandy subsoil undermined.
- Latch will not catch or catches loosely. On Moen gate kits, the latch strike plate has about a half-inch of tolerance. If the gate has moved more than that, the latch either misses or ratchets. Tightening the screws rarely fixes it because the post itself has moved.
- Brown staining or rust weeping at hinge bolts. That is galvanic corrosion, and south Florida salt air accelerates it. Once you see rust streaks under the hinge plate, the fastener is eating the post from the inside. Replacing the hinge without addressing the post means doing the job again in 18 months.
- Rail end pulling away from the post bracket. Pressure-treated lumber swells and contracts hard in our humidity swings. When the rail brackets are installed with standard steel screws instead of polymer-coated or stainless fasteners, the wood movement works the screws loose and you get a visible gap at the joint.
- Fence line undulates between posts. One leaning post is a footing problem. A wave along the whole run suggests the posts were set without enough embedment depth for Fort Lauderdale’s wind exposure, or the original installer skimped on concrete and the posts are slowly winding out of vertical.
See the difference
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After
Before
After
Before
AfterReplacement Cost & What’s Included
A full Moen fence installation in Fort Lauderdale runs $3,500 to $9,000. On the low end, you are looking at a straight run with good access, no gate replacement, and posts that set cleanly. On the high end, you have a fence line with multiple gates, old concrete to break out, roots to dig around, or posts that are so compromised the whole run comes down and starts fresh.
What is included: we remove the existing fence and haul it away, dig new footings to code depth (typically 24 to 30 inches in Fort Lauderdale for wind load), set posts in concrete, install Moen rails, pickets, and hardware, and clean the site. You get a written line-item price before we start, every time. No change orders we did not explain first, no surprises on the final bill. The work is covered by our 365-Day Done Right Promise: if anything is not right within a year of completion, we come back and make it right at no charge.
I am Isaac Pruett, the owner of Mason Remodeling Co Fort Lauderdale. We tell you what we found, what it takes to fix it, and what it will cost, before we touch a thing.
DIY or Call Us?
Here is the honest split. You can check your Moen gate hardware yourself: open and close the gate slowly, watch where it binds, look for rust at the bolts, and see whether the latch lines up. That five-minute inspection will tell you what is failing. The part you should not do yourself is resetting posts or pulling a fence that is leaning, especially a tall privacy fence in a wind zone. When a rotted post lets go under tension, a section of fence can drop fast, and that is a lot of moving weight. Digging new footings in Fort Lauderdale soil also tends to be harder than people expect: you hit old roots, buried irrigation lines, and sometimes chunks of coral rock that eat cheap augers.
If the gate is sagging because of a worn hinge, we can often swap hardware the same visit. If the post is gone, that is a footing repair, and it is worth doing right the first time. Call (754) 354-3720 and we will come out, look at your fence, and give you a written price before any tools come off the truck.
FAQs
A properly installed Moen fence with pressure-treated posts and marine-grade hardware should last 15 to 20 years in Fort Lauderdale, but the posts are the weak link, not the Moen components. Poor drainage around the post base cuts that lifespan by a third. Call (754) 354-3720 if you want us to look at your specific install and tell you honestly how much life it has left.
Usually yes. We replace individual posts, re-set sagging sections, and swap worn Moen hinges and latches without tearing out the whole fence. Full replacement only makes sense when multiple posts have failed or the rails and pickets are rotted across most of the run. An exact repair quote comes from seeing the fence, which is why the estimate visit is free.
Most Fort Lauderdale fence replacements we do run two to four days from removal to final cleanup, depending on the length, the number of gates, and what we find when the old posts come out. Larger jobs with multiple gates or severe root interference can run five days. We give you a schedule with your written estimate before work starts.
We carry the most common Moen gate hinges, latches, and post brackets on our service vehicles, including the shim kits for 6×6 post retrofits. If you need a part we do not have on board, we source it from our supplier network and we know the Fort Lauderdale supply houses that actually keep Moen fence hardware in stock. We also work with KraftMaid, Cambria, and Silestone for interior projects, but Moen fence hardware is what we stock and service for exterior work.
Written by Isaac Pruett, Owner, Mason Remodeling Co Fort Lauderdale at Mason Remodeling Co Fort Lauderdale, serving Fort Lauderdale and nearby areas.
