Fence or deck costs in Salem

In February 2021, freezing rain left about an inch of ice on Salem, by the federal Weather Prediction Center's preliminary storm totals. The storm took a big bite out of the city's tree canopy. If a fence of yours came down under a limb that winter, you already know where the risk sits.

So before new posts go in, look up. A big tree whose branches reach over the fence line can flatten the next fence too. Trim first, or run the line where a falling limb would miss it.

Then the paperwork. Oregon's residential code sets the outer edge of what a city here can make you permit. A fence that serves as a pool barrier, or part of one, needs a building permit anywhere in the state. For wood, wire mesh or chain link, a city can require a permit only above seven feet. A fence of any other material, it can regulate at any height.

A building-permit pass isn't a zoning pass. The code says nothing in it limits a city's power to enforce its own ordinances, so setbacks and height limits on your lot still apply.

Retaining walls work the same way. A wall that holds up your house, or holds back soil that could hit it, needs a permit statewide. For other walls, a city can't require one at four feet or less, measured from the bottom of the footing, unless the wall holds up a slope steeper than three to one or carries weight beyond the soil.