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Therma-Tru Fence Installation: The San Francisco Owner’s Guide
Therma-Tru fence installation in San Francisco typically runs $4,130 – $10,620, and we can usually have a technician out within a few business days to assess what you have. That price covers removing the failed section, setting new posts where needed, installing Therma-Tru-spec panels and hardware, and hauling away the old material. Most owners discover a problem the same way: a gate that drags after a wet winter, a post that’s leaning after the ground shifted, or a panel that’s started to rattle in the wind off the bay.
If you’re reading this, you probably already own a Therma-Tru product that’s served the house for years, and now a section of the fence has finally given out. Or you bought a system and want it installed so it actually stays square and plumb through a San Francisco fog season. Either way, the written price comes before any work starts, and the crew leaves shoe covers at the door if the job takes them through the house to the yard. That part is never optional with us.
Which Therma-Tru Models This Applies To
Therma-Tru is better known in San Francisco for entry doors, but their fencing and gate components show up on a lot of properties in the Sunset, the Richmond, and out toward the Excelsior. We work with their composite and fiberglass-based fence and gate lines, which means we match the rail profile, the post cap style, and the hardware finish rather than slapping in whatever the nearest big-box store has on the shelf.
The compatibility gotcha: Therma-Tru fence sections are not universally interchangeable with generic composite panels. The rail-to-post bracket spacing and the panel thickness differ enough that a mismatched part leaves a visible seam and a weak connection at the rail. If you have the original paperwork, the series name is on it. If not, we measure the panel thickness and the rail profile on-site and match from there. On OEM versus aftermarket: for fence boards and rails, a quality composite aftermarket piece often performs just as well for less money. For gate hinges and latch hardware, we recommend staying with Therma-Tru-spec parts. That’s where the tolerances matter most, and it’s the part that fails first when someone goes cheap.
Styles & brands we work with
Signs Your Therma-Tru Fence Installation Is Failing
- A gate that scrapes the ground or won’t latch by late summer. San Francisco’s clay soil moves with the wet-dry cycle, and a post that was set shallow will heave or settle. The panel itself is usually fine; the footing is not.
- Wobbling posts after a storm. If you can grab the top of the post and move it more than a half inch, the concrete collar underneath has likely cracked or was undersized to begin with. In the Outer Sunset, wind loads off Ocean Beach punish loose posts within a season or two.
- Rail brackets pulling away from the post. This shows up as a visible gap where the rail meets the post, or a sagging line when you sight down the fence. It’s a fastener and bracket problem, not a panel problem, and it’s one of the most common corrections we do on existing Therma-Tru fence installations in San Francisco.
- Panels cracking along the bottom edge. Composite holds up well, but standing water and repeated wetness at the soil line will eventually cause fiberglass-backed boards to delaminate. Proper clearance at the bottom matters more here in the fog belt than it does inland.
- A latch that requires lifting the gate to engage. That means the hinge side has sagged. Forcing the latch every day accelerates wear on the strike plate and the hinge pins, and eventually the gate stops closing entirely.
Replacement Cost & What’s Included
For San Francisco, a typical Therma-Tru fence installation or replacement runs from $4,130 for a straight section with standard posts on stable ground up to $10,620 for a job involving a gate replacement, rotted post footings, sloped terrain, or difficult access. Most of the range comes down to three things: how many posts need to be re-set, whether the old concrete has to be broken out and hauled away, and what the gate hardware situation looks like.
The written quote breaks out parts and labor separately, so you can see exactly what the Therma-Tru-spec materials cost and what the crew time costs. There isn’t a change order waiting at the end of the job. Like every project we run through Elmstead Remodeling San Francisco, the work falls under our 365-Day Done Right Promise: if something isn’t done right after the job is complete, we make it right. That’s stamped on the project, not buried in fine print.
See the difference
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AfterDIY or Call Us?
There are things an owner can safely check before calling. You can clear soil away from the bottom of a panel so water isn’t pooling against it. You can tighten a loose latch screw. You can note which posts move when you push on them, so you can tell us exactly what you’re seeing over the phone.
What goes wrong with DIY on this job is the post footing. Most San Francisco backyards sit on clay that drains slowly, and a post set in a too-shallow hole with a bag of quick-set concrete will be leaning again within two wet seasons. Getting it right means digging below the movement line, setting the post straight in two directions, and letting the concrete cure before hanging the rails back on. It’s slow, heavy work, and getting a section wrong means the next section inherits the misalignment. If the job involves a gate, add high-tension hardware to the list. We’d rather walk the yard with you and write out the price. Call (831) 480-4497 and we’ll set a time.
FAQs
A properly installed Therma-Tru fence with correctly set posts typically lasts 20 to 25 years in San Francisco’s climate. The panels and rails hold up well in fog and salt air; what shortens the lifespan is a post footing that was undersized or a bottom rail sitting in constant wetness. Call (831) 480-4497 if you’d like us to look at what you have.
Yes. Most of the Therma-Tru fence work we do in San Francisco is section replacement: re-setting a failed post, swapping a cracked panel, or rebuilding a gate. We match the existing profile and hardware so the repair doesn’t read as a patch job. The written estimate will show exactly what’s being replaced and what’s staying.
A straight section replacement with new post footings generally takes two to three working days, including concrete cure time before the rails go back on. A full gate rebuild adds a day. You’ll have the schedule and the written price before the crew starts, so quiet hours and pet access can be planned in advance.
We don’t keep every Therma-Tru profile on the truck, but we do stock common rail brackets, gate hinges, latch hardware, and matching composite fasteners. For full panels and rails, we order from our supplier after we’ve matched the series, which usually takes a few business days in the Bay Area. We’ll tell you lead time during the estimate, not after the old fence is down.
Call for a Written Estimate in San Francisco
If you have a Therma-Tru fence that’s leaning, dragging, or starting to come apart, call us at (831) 480-4497. We’ll walk the yard, take the measurements, and hand you a written price before any work starts. A live person answers, day or night, and there’s no estimate that grows once the crew shows up. Tell us what the fence needs to do, and we’ll figure out the rest from there.
Written by Graham Stein, Owner, Elmstead Remodeling San Francisco at Elmstead Remodeling San Francisco, serving San Francisco and nearby areas.
