East Texas is a hard place to be a fence. Summers are hot and humid, rain comes in inches at a time, the ground near the lake stays damp for months, and the soil on the uplands swells and shrinks with the seasons. We have watched every fence material age on real fences around Lake Livingston for twenty years. Here is what each one does.
Cedar
Cedar carries natural oils that resist rot and insects, stays straighter as it dries than pine, and takes a clear or semi-transparent stain beautifully. Left alone it weathers to silver-gray and keeps going. It is our first choice for pickets, rails, split rail and anything the owner wants to look like wood for a long time. It costs more per board, and it still needs to be kept off wet ground and stained every few years to look its best. See wood fence and cedar split rail.
Pressure-treated pine
Treated pine is strong, affordable and everywhere. It moves more as it dries, so it benefits from a solid stain or paint after its first season and from being kept off the dirt. It is the standard for posts and rails behind cedar pickets, for painted fences, for deck framing and for budget privacy fence. Where it fails is at the ground line when it sits in wet soil without a rot board, which is why we build with one.
Galvanized and vinyl-coated steel
Chain link fabric and framework, T-posts, tube gates and hardware all live or die by their coating. Hot-dip galvanized steel lasts decades here; vinyl-coated chain link lasts as long and looks better. The failures we see are bare steel: scratched posts, uncoated brackets, cut ends nobody sealed, cheap gates. We use coated material and seal every cut. See chain link fence.
Powder-coated steel and aluminum
Ornamental panels in powder-coated steel are tough and good-looking and need only a touch-up where the coat is chipped. Aluminum cannot rust at all, which makes it the right metal at the water, around pools and on second homes nobody checks on. See ornamental fence and aluminum fence.
Wire
Barbed wire, field fence, no-climb and welded wire come in coating classes, and the class decides the life. Class 3 galvanized carries several times the zinc of Class 1 and lasts many times longer in the humidity. We do not build with the light stuff. Wire fence also lives or dies by its corners; the best wire on an unbraced corner is slack in a season. See farm and ranch fence.
R-panel
Painted or Galvalume steel sheeting makes a solid privacy fence that will not rot, warp or need stain. It needs a stiff frame and color-matched screws. See R-panel fence.
What we do not build with
Vinyl fencing. It is not something we offer; in our experience the humidity, sun and the occasional hard hit do not treat it well here, and we would rather build fences we are confident in. We also stay away from bare steel, light-gauge wire and untreated wood anywhere near the ground.
Hardware and concrete
Hot-dipped galvanized or coated fasteners, stainless on horizontal fences where every screw shows, galvanized staples and clips on wire. Concrete around every post set below the soft layer of soil. The small parts are what let the big parts last. The right fence and deck materials for Livingston and Onalaska goes into the local specifics.
Frequently asked questions
What is the single best fence material for East Texas?
There is no single best. Aluminum is the lowest maintenance; cedar is the best-looking wood; Class 3 galvanized wire is the best value on pasture. The best material is the one that fits the job and the amount of upkeep you will actually do.
Does treated pine rot?
Eventually, especially where it touches wet ground. Kept off the dirt, sealed and stained, it lasts well. Set in concrete with a rot board above grade, it is a sound fence material at a lower cost than cedar.
Why do you avoid light-gauge or cheap-coated metal?
Because the lake humidity finds it. Class 1 wire and bare steel rust in a few seasons here. Class 3 galvanized, vinyl-coated and powder-coated metal last decades. The cost difference is small next to replacing a fence.