Request a Free QuoteNiagara Region, Ontario · LANE: FENCE WIND DAMAGE NIAGARA
Fence and Deck Building & Repair Experts
Some of the repair can happen now, and some has to wait for the ground. Family Handyman's method for a post that has rotted and let the fence lean starts by bracing the panels on both sides of the post, from both sides of the fence. The new post is then set plumb, braced, and backfilled with new concrete. A leaning post set in dirt or gravel can be straightened by driving a fence repair spike into the ground beside it and screwing the post to the spike. A post set in concrete is better reset in new concrete. Simpson Strong-Tie makes two such parts for 4x4 posts. Its E-Z Mender is driven 11 inches into the ground beside a damaged or rotted post. Its E-Z Spike is driven 29 inches and carries a new post with no digging or concrete. The maker's own flyer says to check with your building department first, and it does not warrant either part against wind. A panel that blew out between sound posts comes out this way: screw blocks to the posts just under the bottom rail, let the old panel down onto them, set the new panel on the blocks, and screw it to the posts. Concrete is the part that waits. Quikrete's training material says to "never place concrete on frozen ground or onto ice or snow," because frozen ground settles when it thaws, and it treats air at 40 F (about 4 C) as cold weather for concrete. In a Niagara winter, a post that needs new concrete is usually braced plumb now and set once the ground thaws. When it is set, Family Handyman says to bring the concrete a few inches above the grass and taper it to drain water away, since burying it below the surface speeds up rot. Any digging needs a free locate request first; our fence repair guide explains it, along with the permit read for a like-for-like repair and the separate case of a fence around a pool. When a tree came down on the fence. Under Ontario's Line Fences Act (s.22), if a tree is thrown down and damages a line fence, the owner or occupant of the land the tree stood on has to remove the tree and repair the fence. If they have not done so 48 hours after notice in writing, the neighbour may remove the tree and make good the fence. Questions under that section are settled by three of the municipality's fence-viewers. Our fence by-law guide covers how the Act works. In Niagara Falls, the City says a tree with half or more of it on the road allowance is the City's, and one with less is private property. Getting rid of the old wood. Niagara Region's drop-off depots list clean wood as accepted at the Bridge Street depot in Fort Erie, the Humberstone landfill in Welland and the Niagara Road 12 landfill in West Lincoln. We could not read the Region's rule on fence lumber at the curb, so we do not say either way.
Niagara sits between two lakes, and the province puts a number on its wind. The Ontario Building Code's climate table, Supplementary Standard SB-1, lists an hourly wind pressure for nine Niagara locations. The 1-in-50-year figure is 0.46 kPa for St. Catharines, Grimsby, Port Colborne and Fort Erie, 0.43 kPa for Niagara Falls and Welland, and 0.42 kPa for Pelham (Fonthill) and Smithville. Niagara-on-the-Lake, Thorold and Lincoln have no row of their own. Those figures are for designing buildings. A backyard fence is not one of the structures the Code counts as a building, so we read it as having no Code wind figure to meet. We give the numbers as a measure of the wind your fence stands in, not as a rule. A solid fence takes that wind across its whole face. This Old House says privacy fences "act like sails in strong winds," which is why they need deeper post settings. Family Handyman's rule of thumb for a privacy fence is posts just under eight feet apart, which it says gives the fence enough strength to stand up to wind. When a fence goes over in a storm, look at the posts first. Read the damage in order. Start with each post. This Old House lists the signs a post needs replacing: visible rot or fungal growth, soft or crumbling wood, leaning or instability, and separation from the fence panels. Grab the post and try to wiggle it. If it moves, dig down below the collar of rotted wood at ground level and jab the post with a flathead screwdriver. If the tip does not sink in more than half an inch, This Old House says the core is solid enough to anchor again rather than replace. When one post has gone, check the others that went in at the same time, because they may follow. Next, the panels and rails: a panel that blew out between two sound posts is the simplest repair here. A gate that now drags or will not latch is covered in our gate repair guide. Peter repairs wood and chain-link fences across Niagara, alongside the decks, pergolas and sheds he builds. If your fence came down or is leaning after a storm, send him a photo of the whole run and a close one of the base of each leaning post through the contact details below, and say which town you are in.
Look at the posts. This Old House says privacy fences act like sails in strong winds and need deeper post settings, and Family Handyman notes that wood posts rot and leave a fence leaning. Check every post along the run, not only the one that broke.
It can be braced. Quikrete says never to place concrete on frozen ground, so a post that needs new concrete is usually braced plumb now and set after the thaw. A post in dirt or gravel can be pulled straight with a repair spike driven beside it, and Simpson Strong-Tie's E-Z Spike carries a new 4x4 post with no concrete.
Dig below the rotted collar at ground level and jab the post with a flathead screwdriver. This Old House says that if the tip does not sink in more than half an inch, the core is solid enough to anchor again. Soft or crumbling wood, fungal growth or a post that has pulled away from the panels means replacing it.
For a line fence, Ontario's Line Fences Act (s.22) says the owner or occupant of the land the tree stood on has to remove the tree and repair the fence. If they do not, 48 hours after written notice the neighbour may do it, and the municipality's fence-viewers settle disputes.
There is no longer a single number. Environment Canada now sets its alert colours with Impact Guides, which it says replace the former criteria; its moderate thunderstorm impacts include damage to fences. Under the old criteria, until late 2025, a wind warning meant 70 km/h or more sustained wind, or gusts to 90 km/h or more.
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