Wood is still the lowest-cost way to put a solid privacy fence around a St. George backyard, and a well-built cedar fence on good posts looks better every year as it weathers. The desert changes the math, though. Low humidity shrinks boards, the sun grays and checks bare wood within a season, and wind loads a solid 6-foot panel like a sail. A wood fence here is not a worse choice than elsewhere; it is a choice that depends more on how it is built and finished. This guide covers what a wood privacy fence costs in St. George, which species hold up, what to specify for heat and dry air, the styles the city allows where, the upkeep budget, and how to compare quotes from independent fence companies.
What a wood privacy fence costs in St. George
| Type | Typical installed range (per linear foot, installed) | What to know |
|---|---|---|
| Wood privacy, national range | $15–$35 | Cedar, redwood and pine differ; height and board style move the price. |
| Wood privacy, 4-foot, St. George (HomeBlue, June 2022) | $16–$22 | Older local estimate; cross-check only. Expect 6-foot privacy to run higher. |
| Vinyl (PVC) privacy, for comparison | $24–$45 | Higher up front; no sealing or staining. |
Four things move the price inside that range: species (cedar and redwood cost more than pressure-treated pine), height (6-foot pickets use half again the lumber of a 4-foot fence and need heavier posts), style (board-on-board uses nearly twice the pickets of a dog-ear fence), and gates, which are priced separately and carry the reinforced posts and hardware. No St. George fence company publishes prices, so these are dated published ranges, not local quotes; the cost guide lists every source and date. The price that is easy to forget is the finish: HomeGuide puts staining or sealing at $2–$14 per linear foot, or $300–$2,800 for a typical 100 to 150 foot fence, on a 1-to-2-year cycle.
Which wood holds up in the desert
The common St. George combination is pressure-treated posts and rails with cedar pickets and a cedar cap. That puts the rot-resistant, ground-rated material where water and soil are, and the stable, better-looking board where you see it. An all-cedar fence costs more and is not necessarily longer-lived if the posts are the first thing to fail. An all-treated fence is the budget route; it will serve, but expect more movement in the boards and plan the finish from day one.
Heat, sun, and dry air: what to specify
St. George tied Utah's all-time high of 117 degrees on July 10, 2021, a reading NOAA's State Climate Extremes Committee formally accepted, and ordinary summers run above 100 for weeks with very little humidity. Wood responds to that in three ways. It dries and shrinks, which opens gaps between pickets, loosens smooth nails, and cups boards that went up wet. Ultraviolet light breaks down the surface of bare wood, turning it gray and raising the grain within a season. And the one wet spot on a desert lot, the sprinkler line along the fence, keeps the bottom of the boards damp while the top bakes. None of this rules wood out. It makes the build specification the whole decision.
Wind is the other design load. Solid privacy panels catch it, and the repair guide describes what wind damage looks like after the fact: panels blown out of their rails and posts snapped at the ground. Post depth, spacing, and concrete matter more than the picket style, so ask how the company sets posts before you compare picket prices.
Wood fence styles and where the city allows them
Height and openness are governed by St. George City Code §10-18-1. In most zones, front-yard fences are capped at 4 feet and side and rear-yard fences at 6 feet 4 inches, and within 10 feet behind the sidewalk only decorative fences that are at least 50 percent open are permitted. That rule is why a wood picket works along the street while a solid privacy panel does not. Under §10-18-5, any fence in a front setback needs a permit; the permit guide covers the application. Washington, Hurricane, Ivins, and Santa Clara each have their own code; see the service area guide. Before any post holes are dug, the company should call Blue Stakes of Utah to locate buried utilities.
HOA rules for wood fences
Most newer St. George subdivisions are HOA-governed, and wood is where some HOAs draw a hard line: some restrict unfinished wood, require a stain color from an approved palette, or allow wood only on interior lot lines and not where a fence faces a street, golf course, or open space. It varies by HOA, so always confirm your own CC&Rs. Get the HOA's written fence standard before you get quotes. The HOA fence guide explains how HOA rules sit on top of city code and what the approval process usually involves.
The upkeep budget: wood vs. vinyl over the life of the fence
Wood costs less up front at $15–$35 per foot against vinyl at $24–$45, and that gap is real money on a long run. The ongoing cost is the finish. HomeGuide says wood needs sealing every 1 to 2 years at roughly $2–$14 per linear foot, and Angi puts a wood fence's life at 15 to 30 years against 20 to 30 years for vinyl. In the desert, skipping the finish is what moves a wood fence to the short end of that range, because dry, gray, checked boards split and shed pickets sooner. If you will keep up the stain cycle, wood is a sound long-term choice here; if you will not, the vinyl fence guide covers the alternative, and the block wall vs. wood comparison adds the masonry option for lots that need a wall anyway.
Repair or replace an older wood fence?
Wood fences fail from the ground up. Individual pickets and a rot board are cheap to replace, and HomeGuide's published repair ranges start at $100–$300 for minor work, with a single post replacement around $250–$600. When several posts are rotted at the base or the rails have gone soft, a repair becomes a rebuild in pieces, and a new fence on new posts is usually the better spend. The fence repair guide walks through the repair-versus-replace decision and what each type of damage looks like.
How to compare wood fence quotes
Confirm the company's Utah license status with the DOPL license lookup and ask for proof of insurance; the license guide explains what the record shows and the small-project exemption. If you want help finding independent local companies to quote, the contact page describes how matching works.
Sources: NerdWallet, "Cost to Install a Fence" (updated July 10, 2025); HomeBlue, "Fence Cost in Saint George, Utah" (June 28, 2022; cross-check only); Angi, "How Long Does a Wood Fence Last?" (updated July 9, 2026) and "How Long Does a Vinyl Fence Last?" (updated July 9, 2026); HomeGuide, "Cost to Stain or Paint a Fence" (updated February 4, 2026) and "Fence Repair Cost" (updated February 20, 2026); NOAA NCEI, State Climate Extremes Committee report, Utah maximum temperature (July 2022); Blue Stakes of Utah, bluestakes.org; St. George City Code §10-18-1 and §10-18-5 (checked September 26, 2026).