Fence or deck costs in Modesto

Start below ground in Modesto. The climate table written into the city's building code, its local version of the residential code's design criteria, lists a frost line depth of 12 inches and rates termite damage as very heavy. Weathering damage is rated negligible.

For a fence or deck, that tells you where the trouble comes from. Footings don't have to chase deep frost here, but any wood near the soil is in termite country. Ask what your posts and the lowest framing are made of, and how they'll be kept off the dirt.

Modesto's zoning code keeps front yards low. No wall or fence can top 42 inches in the front or street-side yard. Anywhere else on the lot the ceiling is eight feet, unless a zone, a permit, a subdivision map or noise mitigation calls for something taller.

Some neighbors owe you a wall. When a school, a church, an office zone, a commercial or industrial zone, or a Modesto Irrigation District canal or substation sits next to residential land, the code requires a wall or fence on that line, even across an alley. Commercial and industrial uses get an eight-foot solid decorative masonry wall, and schools a seven-foot one. And if your single-family lot backs onto an arterial street or expressway with no access to it, the code calls for a solid decorative masonry wall at least seven feet tall along your rear line.