Cedar Fencing Spec'd for Gresham's East Wind
Fences on this end of the county face a winter exam the rest of the metro skips. Our cedar spec is written for it: extra concrete, closer posts, and board layouts that give a gust somewhere to go.
The Below-Grade Spec That Keeps Cedar Upright
Wind failure is a foundation failure wearing a wood costume. When a six-foot solid panel catches a hard gust, the force multiplies down the post and tries to lever the footing out of soil that January has already turned to pudding. Our answer is boring and effective: holes dug deeper than the flatland standard, concrete volume matched to each panel's sail area, and posts placed closer together wherever a run faces open ground toward the Gorge. We also upsize the rail-to-post connection, because a joint that carries load only in calm weather is not a joint, it is a suggestion.
None of this appears in a photo of the finished fence, which is exactly why cheap bids skip it. Ask any bidder to state hole depth and bag count per post, then compare.
Keeping Privacy Without Building a Sail
The instinct after losing a fence is to rebuild it stronger and equally solid. Sometimes the smarter move is a touch less solid. An overlapped board pattern blocks sightlines completely while leaving thin vertical channels where moving air slips through, and the relief that provides on a gusty night is substantial. Louvered and spaced-picket designs go further for yards that value airflow over total screening.
Placement matters as much as pattern. A run tucked behind the house rarely needs the full wind treatment, while the same fence turned to face open fields takes the season's whole output. We rate each leg of your layout separately during the estimate, so you pay for wind engineering only on the stretches that need it.
The Wind Build, Step by Step
Every exposed-run cedar project follows the same sequence: walk the property and map its exposure leg by leg, write a quote that names depth and spacing for each stretch, then dig, pour, and let footings harden before a board goes on. Panels come last, fastened with ring-shank nails that grip through wet-dry cycles.
- Each run rated for its own exposure
- Embedment and spacing figures put in writing
- Footings sized to panel height and pattern
- Overlap or louver options for exposed stretches
- Gates braced and latched for gusty nights
Want the deeper dive? Read our full cedar fence installation page, or see everything we build on our Gresham fence company page.
Good to know
Cedar Fence Installation in Gresham: questions
Does it matter which direction my fence runs?
A great deal. The damaging winter flow arrives out of the Gorge, so fencing that stands broadside to the east catches the full push, while runs parallel to the wind mostly feel drag. Houses, garages, and mature evergreens upwind shelter some legs completely. We treat each stretch as its own engineering problem, which is why two sides of the same yard can carry different post spacing on our quotes.
Would steel posts under cedar boards be stronger than wood posts?
Often, yes, and it is a combination we like for the worst exposures. Galvanized steel posts anchored in concrete resist the ground-line rot that ends most wood fences and flex less under load, while cedar boards mounted on brackets keep the fence looking like wood from both sides. The cost premium is modest against a fence you expect to survive twenty windy winters.
I want a lattice top for looks. Does that make wind problems worse?
Less than people fear. Lattice is mostly open, so the added height contributes little extra load compared with raising the solid portion the same amount. What matters is where the solid face ends. A six-foot closed panel with a foot of lattice above behaves far better in a gust than seven feet of closed boards. We size posts for total height either way, so the pretty option stays standing.
How can I tell if my existing fence loosened in the last big blow?
Grab each post at chest height, push toward the neighbor's yard, then pull back. Movement of more than an inch at the top, soil cracking around the base, or a lean that grows week to week all mean the footing has broken its grip. Boards and rails can look untouched while the foundation is finished. Caught early, a loosened post can often be reset before the whole run goes down.
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