People ask us what the average labor cost is to install a fence. It is a fair question, and the honest answer is that labor is not one number. It moves with the ground, the yard, and the design. We do not publish per foot pricing here, so if you want market ranges by material, our Wichita fence cost guide has them, sourced, with the math shown. This post is about what sits behind the labor half of that number.
Material is the bulk of the spend, not labor
Most people assume labor is the big line on a fence bid. On our jobs it usually is not. The bulk of the spend goes toward material. We source the highest quality material we can get in Wichita, and that means our material cost sometimes runs higher.
That is on purpose. A thicker cedar picket costs more than a thin one. A galvanized steel post costs more than a treated wood 4x4. Two full bags of concrete in a hole cost more than one. That is not margin hiding somewhere. It is more stuff in the ground and on the fence.
People are still surprised by the total cost. Material costs have gone up a ton in the last few years. A fence seems simple, but a lot goes into doing it correctly, between organizing the crews and the material ordering.
Why we build a cedar fence over two days
Here is the rhythm of a standard cedar job.
If there's removal, we do that on its own day. Old fence out, old footings out, hauled off. Mixing that into a build day is how crews end up rushing both.
Day one is digging holes and setting posts. That is the day the fence is actually decided. Spacing, depth, plumb, the line itself. We set posts 30 inches down, past the local frost line. Then the concrete goes in and it sits.
Day two is throwing up pickets and gates. Rails, boards, hardware, gate swing, latch. This is the day the yard changes.
Some contractors try to do it all in one day. The problem is Kansas wind. Pickets catch the wind, and your fence can be leaning after day one because the concrete hasn't fully set. A privacy fence is a solid sail. Hang that sail on posts sitting in green concrete and a gusty afternoon does the rest. You will not see it that week. You will see it in year two, as a run that reads a little off down the line.
A run that already reads a little off is worth a look before it gets worse. If the posts are fine and it is pickets that have cracked or gone missing, our Fence Tune-Up fixes those in one visit and notes anything the crew sees in the posts or rails.
Waiting is not slower work. It is the work.
When a job can finish in one day
There is one exception. On a job where we don't do any concrete, we can potentially get the entire job done in one day.
Driven post vinyl is the usual case. The post goes into undisturbed soil with a hydraulic pounder instead of into an excavated hole. Nothing cures, so nothing can lean while it cures, and the crew sets posts and hangs panels in the same visit. That is our default on vinyl fences wherever the ground allows. Heavy wall posts and rocky ground still get concrete.
What adds labor to a job
Labor additions happen if we are running into rock, if we have to move around obstacles, or if the fence is incredibly customized.
- Rock. Some parts of the metro give up a post hole in minutes. Some fight you for every inch. Rock does not change the design, it changes the hours, and no satellite image tells you it is down there.
- Obstacles. Tree roots along the back line. An AC pad. A shed corner. A neighbor's fence you are tying into. Every one is a decision made in the yard with a tape measure, and decisions take time.
- Customization. Board on board instead of standard. Stepped or racked runs on a slope. Extra gates. Gates are the item homeowners underestimate most, because a gate is not a section of fence. It is a braced, squared assembly on terminal posts, and terminal posts go deeper and take longer than line posts.
We walk the yard and measure the real run before we quote, rather than pricing off a picture. Rock and roots are ours to solve, not a change order handed to you after we hit them.
Why we pay our crew the most we can
This is the part that does not show up on a bid anywhere. We know if we have the highest paid crew, we'll have the best quality work.
A fence is built by hands. Whether a post is truly plumb, whether the picket gap holds down a 200 foot run, whether somebody went back and reset the one post that was a half inch off. None of that gets inspected by anyone. It comes down to who is holding the level and whether they care.
People who are paid well stay, and crews that stay get faster and better at the same time. Paying the crew well is not charity. It is the cheapest quality control we have found.
What that buys you on our jobs
Cedar stain is your call, priced on the quote up front, never sold as an upsell once the fence is standing. We are fully insured, and we pull permits on every job that needs one. Most Wichita fences under 8 feet do not need one, but several suburbs run their own rules, which is covered on our Wichita fence permit guide. That legwork is ours, not yours.
To see our written build standard next to a typical bid in this market, line by line, read Ovora vs. a typical fence contractor. To see finished jobs with footage and days on site, see our work.
Fence labor questions, answered
What is the average labor cost to install a fence?
There is no single average that survives contact with a real yard. Labor moves with post count, terminal posts, gates, slope, access, and what the ground does when you dig it. National cost guides publish blended per foot ranges that fold labor and material together, and our Wichita fence cost guide collects those. For your yard, the useful number is a written quote.
How long does it take to install a fence in Wichita?
Recent cedar privacy jobs of 200 to 285 linear feet have gone up in four to five days on site. Removal gets its own day. Posts and concrete get a day. Pickets and gates get a day. Stain goes on later, after the cedar has dried. Driven post vinyl with no concrete can finish in a single day.
Do fence installers charge by the hour or by the linear foot?
Most residential bids here, ours included, are written as a total for the job rather than an hourly rate, with the per foot math sitting underneath. That is why two bids can differ a lot and both be honest. They are pricing different fences, not the same fence at different hourly rates.
Why is one fence bid so much cheaper than another?
Almost always the picket, the post, and the footing. A thin picket on a wood post with one bag of concrete really is cheaper to build than a thick picket on a galvanized steel post set 30 inches deep with close to two bags. Both stand up on install day. Only one is still straight in fifteen years. Ask both bidders for the picket size in inches, the post material, and the bags per hole, and the gap usually explains itself.
Want a real number for your yard? We will walk it and put it in writing before we leave.