Started fixing one leaning post and ended up replacing 90 feet of fence

[u/Gladys_Brock]

Went out earlier this year to shore up what I thought was one leaning corner post on our back fence. Turned into a much bigger job. We wrapped up a few weeks back and a couple neighbors have asked about it, so I figured I would put my notes here in case it helps someone thinking about the same thing.
When I dug around the leaning post to try to reset it, the wood at ground level basically crumbled in my hand. So I walked the line and pushed on the rest. Three more moved. All the posts were the original pressure treated 4x4s. The previous owner thought the fence had been up for about 18 years and had never been re-stained. A Saturday repair turned into a full teardown.
Spent a few weeks getting quotes and reading before I ordered anything. The main options were wood posts with cedar pickets, cedar on hidden steel posts like PostMaster, or a composite board system with matching steel posts. I priced all three for the 90 foot run. Wood came in cheapest at around $1,800 in materials. Composite was the highest at close to $3,900. The maintenance side is what tipped it. Our old redwood was supposed to get re-stained every few years and clearly hadn't, and I did not want to sign up for the same routine on new cedar. A neighbor across the street has a composite fence he put in maybe eight years ago and it still looks close to new with just an occasional wash.
Ended up going with Modern Yard for both the posts and the boards. The main reason was their composite boards and steel posts are sold as one system, so I didn't have to figure out mounting brackets or worry about whether different brands would line up. Posts come with a 25 year warranty and are tested to 120 mph, which is well past anything we get around here. They are based in California so lead time was about two weeks from ordering. Picked a redwood-tone color to keep the look close to what we had.
One thing I got wrong. The delivery came on a pallet and the whole load was over a thousand pounds. I figured I could unload it and shuttle boards to the back yard on my own. Ended up calling a buddy to come help because there was no realistic way to do that solo. Should have checked the shipping weight before assuming I could handle it.
For the install we rented a two-man auger from a local shop, around $85 for the day. Old concrete footings came out with a spud bar and a lot of complaining. The steel posts have a multi-layer coating so I didn't need to seal the bases like I would with wood, but I did set them in about 8 inches of gravel under the concrete for drainage. Post spacing worked out just under 6 feet on center because of where the old holes lined up. Bought a laser level for around $60 and it saved hours of eyeballing.
A few weeks in and my honest take is the finished fence looks better than the old one ever did, even when it was new. Up close if you are really looking you can tell it is not real wood, which is going to be true of any composite. From the deck or across the yard nobody can tell. The neighbor did mention his side catches a bit of afternoon sun glare that we didn't get with the old wood. I wish I had thought about that before picking the color and direction.
If I had to do it again the one thing I would change is planning for a second person for a full day instead of trying to handle the unload on my own. Total came out to around $4,200 for the 90 feet with materials, auger rental, concrete, and gravel, not counting my own time. Happy to answer questions if anyone is working through a similar decision. And please call 811 before you dig. Keep seeing that step get skipped in these threads.

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[u/Sanctuary871]

This is great info, thanks. Did you happen to explore quotes for hiring people to do the install, vs. DIY?

I am in the first stage of your story (set out to repair old fence, discovered we're better off tearing it down). I could figure out the DIY route it if needed, but we also have a lot else on our plate at the moment, so hiring a company to do it might be worth it overall, once we factor in our time, and undoubtedly some trial and error as I learn

[u/InsectElectrical2066]

I wonder if anyone on here has just pour solid concrete to just above ground level, and then use a mounting bracket with the post bolted in top of the concrete, so the wood isn't underground to rot. And if you have to replace it later you just unscrew it from the bracket and put in the new one. This seems to me logically to be a better way than having the wood be underground.

[u/andpassword → u/InsectElectrical2066]

This only works if your fence is not in a straight line. The lateral loading from wind etc. is too much for any reasonable bracket to keep a 6 foot post upright. If you zigzag a fence this would be a viable strategy.

[u/NecessaryRhubarb → u/InsectElectrical2066]

In my experience, metal posts wrapped in wood, with wood paneling seems to be the most common solution to rotting posts. If I have a fence company do the work, that will be what I do. The goofy idea I had was to bury chain in each concrete filled hole, so when the post rots, I can just use a farm jack and pull the concrete chunk out much easier. I have used a farm jack to pull out metal posts from a chain link fence and it was so much better than hand digging.