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Sakrete Fence Installation: The Fort Lauderdale Owner’s Guide
Sakrete fence installation in Fort Lauderdale typically runs $3,500 to $9,000 for a complete post-and-concrete job, depending on linear footage, soil conditions, and how much of the old work has to come out first. We stock Sakrete fast-setting concrete and fence post mixes on our trucks, and we can usually get your posts set and your fence standing within two to five working days once we’ve seen the site. Most homeowners discover the problem the same way: a post leaning hard after a storm, a gate dragging across the concrete, or a whole section listing toward the neighbor’s yard and getting worse by the week.
Which Sakrete Models This Applies To
Sakrete doesn’t build fence panels, but their concrete is what holds your fence in the ground, and the product line matters more than most people think. The two you’ll see on Fort Lauderdale jobs are Fast-Setting Concrete Mix (red bag, sets in about 20 to 40 minutes) and Fence Post Mix (designed specifically for posts, no mixing required in the hole, just add water). If your posts are set in regular high-strength concrete mix, that’s often the first thing that went wrong. High-strength mix is fine for slabs, but it doesn’t lock a post the way the post-specific blend does, especially in South Florida’s sandy, saturated soil.
When we arrive, the first thing we check is the bag remnant or the paperwork from the original install. If neither exists, we can usually identify what was used by how the concrete broke apart when the post started leaning. Crumbly, sandy failure points usually mean a general-purpose mix or an undermixed batch. A clean shear at the post base usually means the hole was too small or too shallow, not that the product failed. One gotcha specific to Fort Lauderdale: posts set with fast-setting mix in the wet season can cure before the post is fully plumbed, and once that happens, the only fix is to pull it and start again. We see that on a lot of DIY attempts and a fair number of handyman jobs.
Styles & brands we work with
Signs Your Sakrete Fence Installation Is Failing
- Post lean that worsens after rain. This is the classic Fort Lauderdale symptom. Sandy soil loses its grip when saturated, and if the original hole was dug too narrow, the whole concrete plug starts tilting with the post still locked inside it.
- Gate drag or latch misalignment. The gate post carries more load than any other post in the fence line. When the concrete around it starts to crack at ground level, the post shifts out of plumb and the gate hardware stops lining up. You’ll see fresh wear marks on the latch side first.
- Concrete collar lifting above the soil line. In parts of Fort Lauderdale with high groundwater, like sections of Victoria Park and areas west of US-1 near the canals, hydrostatic pressure can push a poorly set concrete plug upward during heavy rains. The post comes with it, and the fence line rises unevenly.
- Visible cracks radiating from the post base. Hairline cracks are normal as concrete cures. Cracks that widen over a few months, especially after a storm, mean the concrete is failing structurally at the load point. That’s not a repairable situation.
- Post rot at the concrete line (wood fences). For wood fence posts in Fort Lauderdale humidity, the base sits in a permanent moisture zone. If the concrete was poured below grade and left a depression around the post, water pools there and the post starts to soften. You’ll see green algae or dark staining right at that seam before the lean starts.
See the difference
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AfterReplacement Cost & What’s Included
For most Fort Lauderdale fence projects, the installed price lands between $3,500 and $9,000. A short run of, say, 40 linear feet with four or five posts to reset will sit at the lower end. A full property line fence of 150-plus feet with gate posts, corner posts, and old concrete removal will push toward the higher end. Every job we price includes digging out the failed concrete, hauling away the debris, setting new posts with the correct Sakrete product at the correct depth, attaching and leveling the fence sections, and a written workmanship warranty that runs 365 days from completion. You’ll get the written price before we start. You will not get a change order for something that should have been obvious on day one.
DIY or Call Us?
Here’s the honest split. You can safely check a few things yourself: Is the concrete cracked at the base? Is water pooling around the post after rain? Has the gate post shifted more than a quarter inch in the last month? Those observations help us price the job accurately over the phone. What you shouldn’t do is try to straighten a leaning post by shimming it or packing soil around the base. That doesn’t fix anything, and once the post has moved, the concrete is no longer bonded to it. Pulling a concrete plug out of Florida sand is also harder than it looks. It’s a two-person job with the right digging bar, and doing it wrong damages the surrounding fence sections. If the post is leaning, that section is already under stress. Call us at (754) 354-3720 and we’ll tell you what we found, what it takes to fix it, and what it will cost, before we touch a thing.
FAQs
A properly set wood fence post in Fort Lauderdale typically lasts 15 to 25 years if the concrete is mixed correctly and the post is treated for ground contact. The concrete itself, if the right product was used at the right depth, will generally outlast the post. What shortens the lifespan here faster than anything is water management: posts set without a slight crown of concrete at the top of the hole will collect water and rot years earlier than they should. Call (754) 354-3720 if you’re seeing early failure and we’ll tell you what caused it.
Once a concrete plug has shifted, there is no repair that restores it. You can temporarily brace the post, but the concrete bond is broken and the post will continue to move. The only lasting fix is to remove the failed concrete, dig the hole to the correct depth and diameter, and reset the post with fresh mix. For a quote on your specific fence line, call us at (754) 354-3720; estimates are free and written.
Most residential fence post replacements in Fort Lauderdale take one to two days for the post-setting work, with another day for reattaching panels and gate hardware once the concrete has cured enough to hold. Fast-setting Sakrete products can support lightweight temporary loads in a few hours, but we don’t hang heavy gate assemblies back on until the next day. When we price your job, we’ll give you the exact timeline before we start.
Yes. Our trucks carry Sakrete Fast-Setting Concrete Mix and Fence Post Mix on every fence job, along with the digging bars, levels, and bracing we need to set posts to the correct depth for Fort Lauderdale soil conditions. We also work with specification-grade hardscape partners like Belgard and Unilock for paver and fence-adjacent work, and we’re familiar with KraftMaid, Cambria, and Silestone systems for projects that extend beyond the fence line. You won’t be waiting on a supply run before the work starts.
If your fence is leaning, your gate is dragging, or the concrete at the post base is cracked and lifting, call Mason Remodeling Co Fort Lauderdale at (754) 354-3720. We’re an independent Fort Lauderdale contractor, not affiliated with Sakrete, but we work with their products every week and we know how they perform in this soil and this climate. We’ll send a background-checked, uniformed technician with a photo ID badge, we’ll put the price in writing before any work begins, and the job is covered by our 365-Day Done Right Promise.
Written by Isaac Pruett, Owner, Mason Remodeling Co Fort Lauderdale at Mason Remodeling Co Fort Lauderdale, serving Fort Lauderdale and nearby areas.
