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Oldcastle Fence Installation: The Fort Lauderdale Owner’s Guide
A full Oldcastle fence installation in Fort Lauderdale typically runs $3,500 – $9,000 installed, depending on linear footage, style, gate count, and how much old material we’re pulling out. We stock Oldcastle-compatible posts, rails, panels, and gate hardware on our trucks, and Trevor Nash will give you a written price before any work starts. Most owners call us after a storm or a mower incident leaves a panel leaning, a post snapped at the base, or a gate dragging across the pavers.
Oldcastle fencing (now sold under the Barrette Outdoor Living line at most South Florida supply houses) is common across Fort Lauderdale neighborhoods like Victoria Park, Croissant Park, and Riverside Park. What we see repeatedly is that the panels themselves hold up, but the installation details fail: posts set too shallow for sandy soil, steel brackets that corrode at the salt line, and gates hung without enough structure to carry the weight. We’ll explain exactly what needs replacing and what can be salvaged before you spend a dollar.
We’re an independent Fort Lauderdale service provider, not affiliated with Oldcastle. But we work with their products every week and know which parts interchange, which don’t, and where the aftermarket options actually outperform the original hardware.
Which Oldcastle Models This Applies To
Oldcastle has produced several vinyl and composite fence lines over the years, and the nomenclature matters when you’re matching parts. The most common systems we see in Fort Lauderdale are the DuraMax, Vertilock, and the newer Barrette-labeled architectural vinyl panels. Each uses a different post profile and rail channel depth, which means a DuraMax rail will not seat into a Vertilock post without modification.
Here’s the compatibility gotcha that trips up most DIYers: Oldcastle vinyl posts are typically 5″ x 5″ for the louvered and privacy panels, but some of the newer Barrette lines use a 4″ x 4″ post with a narrower rail pocket. If you measure your existing post with a tape measure and it’s a true 5 inches across, you’re on the older Oldcastle tooling. If it’s 4 inches, you need the newer rail system. Getting this wrong means the rails either won’t fit at all or will rattle in the channel and blow out in the first hurricane season.
For gates, the OEM Oldcastle hardware is functional but light. In Fort Lauderdale humidity, we routinely replace the original steel hinges and latch plates with stainless or powder-coated aftermarket hardware because the factory pieces start rusting at the screw holes within 18 to 24 months. The panel itself is usually fine; it’s the metal that fails first.
If you’re unsure which series you have, look for a small manufacturer stamp on the inside of the post cap or on the back face of a panel near the bottom rail. Barrette labels usually show a date code too. If you don’t find one, call us at (754) 551-2922 and describe the post size and rail shape; we can usually identify it from that alone.
Styles & brands we work with
Signs Your Oldcastle Fence Installation Is Failing
- Posts leaning or tilting, especially after heavy rain. In Fort Lauderdale’s sandy, quick-draining soil, a post set in less than 24 inches of concrete will lean after two or three good storms. The vinyl post isn’t bending; the footing is failing. Fixing it means pulling the post, digging a deeper hole, and resetting it with a wider base.
- Rails popping out of the post pockets. This usually means the post flexed, the rail was cut too short, or the original install used the wrong rail for the post profile. Once a rail pops, the panel loses structural integrity and the wind will finish the job.
- Gate dragging or sagging on the latch side. Oldcastle vinyl gates are heavy, and the OEM hinge screws are short. Over time they strip out of the PVC, and the gate drops. Adding a steel gate frame kit or replacing the hinges with through-bolted stainless hardware usually fixes it permanently.
- Rust streaks running down from the hardware. That’s corrosion bleeding from the factory steel brackets. It’s cosmetic at first, but the metal underneath is thinning. In Fort Lauderdale’s salt air near the Intracoastal, we recommend replacing these before the bracket gives way entirely.
- Bottom rail sagging or resting on the ground. Some Oldcastle panels were installed with the bottom rail too close to grade. When the rail sits in standing water during wet season, the vinyl softens and the panel starts to warp. Raising the panel or adding drainage at the base fixes it before the panel needs full replacement.
See the difference
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After
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AfterReplacement Cost & What’s Included
A full Oldcastle fence installation in Fort Lauderdale runs $3,500 – $9,000. The range is driven by how many linear feet you’re fencing, whether we’re disposing of the old fence, how many gates are involved, and whether the existing posts can be reused or have to be reset. A simple straight run of 100 feet with one gate typically lands near the $3,500 to $5,000 mark. A larger lot with 200-plus feet, multiple gates, and old concrete footings to break out can push toward $9,000.
Every quote from Penhallow Remodeling Fort Lauderdale includes the parts, the labor, removal of the old fencing, and cleanup of the job site. We give you a written price before any work starts, and that number does not change at the door. If we hit a problem underground, like an old concrete footer nobody knew about, we’ll show you the issue and re-scope the job before proceeding. You approve the change in writing or we don’t do it.
The work carries our 365-Day Done Right Promise: if the fence fails inside the warranty period because of our installation, we come back and fix it at no charge. That promise is in writing on every project, alongside the manufacturer’s warranty on the panels and posts themselves.
DIY or Call Us?
Replacing a single vinyl panel is doable for a confident homeowner with a drill and a level. You slide the old panel out of the post channels, measure the old rail length exactly, and slide the new panel in. The risk of DIY on this side of the job is low, assuming you buy the right panel profile.
Resetting a post or rebuilding a gate is a different animal. Digging a post hole in Fort Lauderdale means dealing with limestone shelf rock about 18 inches down in half the city, and a gate rebuild involves shimming, through-bolting, and getting the hinge geometry right so the gate doesn’t drag again in four months. Those are the calls we get when a homeowner tried it with a bag of quick-set concrete and a YouTube tutorial, and the post was leaning again by June.
If you’re in the fence with a leaning post and a gate that won’t latch, call us at (754) 551-2922. We’ll assess on site, tell you what can be salvaged, and write up a number you can hold us to. No obligation to move forward, but you’ll know exactly what you’re dealing with.
FAQs
With proper installation, Oldcastle vinyl fencing lasts 20 to 30 years in Fort Lauderdale. The panels are UV-stabilized, but the hardware and post footings typically need attention around the 10-to-15-year mark. Our installed work is covered by the 365-Day Done Right Promise, and the vinyl itself carries the manufacturer’s warranty. Call (754) 551-2922 if your fence is showing age and you want to know what’s actually failing.
In most cases, yes. Individual panels, rails, post caps, and gate hardware can all be replaced without redoing the entire fence. Full replacement usually only makes sense when multiple posts are failing at the footing or the panel line has been discontinued and you can’t source matching pieces. We’ll walk the fence with you and tell you honestly which path makes sense for your budget.
A typical Oldcastle panel replacement or post reset takes a few hours on site once we’ve sourced the matching parts. A full fence installation on a standard Fort Lauderdale lot runs two to four days, depending on how many feet of old fence we’re removing and whether we’re fighting rock during the post digs. We give you a defined arrival window before the work starts, not a vague “sometime next week.”
We keep common Oldcastle and Barrette-compatible rails, posts, panels, and gate hardware on our trucks. If your specific series or color is out of production, we can usually source aftermarket pieces that match the profile and are honestly a step up in hardware quality. Tell us what you need, and we’ll tell you what it costs, then we’ll get it done. Call (754) 551-2922 for an exact quote.
We also work with parts and materials from KraftMaid, Cambria, and Silestone on the remodeling side of the business, so we’re comfortable matching older lines that are no longer in the supply house catalog.
Ready to get your fence sorted? Call (754) 551-2922 for a free estimate. We’ll give you a written price before any work starts, show up when we say we will, and back the whole thing with our 365-day promise in writing.
Written by Trevor Nash, Owner, Penhallow Remodeling Fort Lauderdale at Penhallow Remodeling Fort Lauderdale, serving Fort Lauderdale and nearby areas.
