Fence or deck costs in New Orleans

The City's own historic design guide puts it plainly: a common issue with wood fences in New Orleans is that they rot and need regular replacement. Old lots and wet ground make that a recurring job. By Census estimates, about 31 percent of homes in the city were built before 1940, and close to three in four before 1980.

So the fence you're replacing may sit in a neighborhood with rules about what comes next. If your house is in a district the Historic District Landmarks Commission oversees, staff review every fence detail and material. Toward the street, the HDLC wants fences that match the style of the house: wood pickets, usually pine, cedar or redwood, or metal with pickets punched through the rails rather than welded to their face. Metal fencing over 5 feet and wood pickets over 42 inches between the street and the front of the house are discouraged. Chain walls are capped at 18 inches. Vinyl, chain-link, lattice and hollow-tube metal fencing aren't permitted, and on St. Charles Avenue, wood fencing isn't allowed in front yards at all.

Side yards and alleys follow the same list: whatever is approvable out front is approvable there too, and for wood fences the HDLC recommends a protective cap, which its guide says helps the fence last longer. Here, that's not a style note. It's how a wood fence survives the weather.