Fence and Deck Work in Medford, Oregon

Medford is hard on fences in a way most people don't notice until a post gives out, usually on the first windy day after a long stretch of rain. Much of the valley floor sits on heavy clay that turns to mud in the winter rains and cracks wide open by August. Posts set in that ground get soaked for months, then squeezed loose as the soil dries and shrinks. Add summers that regularly top 100 degrees and you get gray, split boards, rails that pull away from their posts, and gates that drag a little more every season. We see it on the older cedar fences around west Medford's established neighborhoods, and on newer fences in east Medford where the yards climb toward Roxy Ann Peak and the ground slopes enough to push a fence line out of true. Wildfire smoke season adds one more thing: a lot of Medford homeowners spend more time behind the house in early summer, and that's usually when a fence or deck problem finally gets noticed.

Our crews handle the full range of fence and deck work across Medford. That means everything from resetting a couple of leaning posts to a full backyard fence repair, plus new privacy fences, gates, and custom decks built for Medford backyards. If something on your property is leaning, sagging, or rotting, give us a call or send the form and we'll come take a look. We'll tell you what's failing, what's still solid, and what it'll cost before any work starts, and we work all over town, from the neighborhoods near downtown to the newer streets off North Phoenix Road.

Fences on Medford's Clay Soil

The trick to a fence that lasts in Medford is what happens below ground. Clay holds water against a post like a sponge, so the base of a wood post stays wet for most of the winter. That's where rot starts, usually right at the soil line, even when the post looks fine above it.

We dig deeper than the bare minimum, set posts in concrete, and shape the top of each footing so water sheds away from the wood. Where drainage is poor, a few inches of gravel at the bottom of the hole helps too. On older fences, we also look for posts that were set straight into dirt with no concrete at all, which is more common than you'd think on fences from the 1970s and 80s. Posts are rated for ground contact, not the cheaper lumber meant only for above-ground use.

It's the same approach whether we're replacing a single post in a west Medford backyard or building a new run along a property line near the Bear Creek Greenway. It's also why we often suggest a vinyl fence that won't rot at the base for homeowners who never want to think about posts again.

Decks and Hillside Yards in East Medford

East Medford is where a lot of the valley's decks are. Homes on the slopes below Roxy Ann Peak often sit well above their backyards, and a deck is the easiest way to turn that drop into usable space with a view of the valley.

Those decks take a beating. They face the full afternoon sun, they're often high enough to need a building permit and code-height railings, and the posts and footings sit on sloped clay that can shift over time. We build new decks with footings sized for the slope and the height, and we repair older ones by checking the ledger, joists, and posts underneath, not just the boards on top. A deck that's high off a slope deserves a real inspection every few years, even when it looks fine from the patio.

We also check the stairs closely, since a long set of stairs down a slope takes more wear than any other part of a deck. Many of the same issues show up next door in Phoenix, where homes on the east side of town have similar hillside lots. And in Central Point to the northwest, where the ground is flatter, we see more of the opposite: low decks off the back door that mostly just need new boards, a good cleaning, and fresh stain.