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Boral Fence Installation: The Jacksonville Owner’s Guide
Boral fence installation in Jacksonville typically runs $3,500 – $9,000 for a full perimeter job, depending on linear footage, post work, and whether you’re matching existing Boral panels or starting fresh. We keep Boral-compatible components on hand and can usually complete a standard rear-yard installation in two to three working days. Most Jacksonville homeowners discover they need us the same way: a post shifts in sandy soil after a storm, a gate drags against the pavers, or a panel splits along the bottom rail where sprinkler overspray has been hitting it for years. The fence still mostly stands, but it no longer keeps the dog in or the neighbor’s construction debris out. That’s the moment the phone call happens.
We’re an independent Jacksonville contractor, not a Boral-owned installer, which means we can give you an honest read on whether your existing rails and posts can carry new Boral panels or whether the whole line needs to be reset. We also carry fencing hardware and component lines from the brands we trust on other jobs, including KraftMaid, Cambria, and Silestone, so we know what properly matched materials look like. That matters when you’re looking at a fence that has to survive hurricane season and a determined Labrador.
Which Boral Models This Applies To
Boral manufactures several fence panel profiles under the TruExterior and EverNew lines, and the installation approach changes with each. TruExterior tongue-and-groove panels are the most common in Jacksonville backyards: 5/8-inch thick boards with a wood-grain face, built on a poly-ash substrate that resists rot from our summer humidity. EverNew panels run slightly thinner and are designed for a cleaner, more modern sightline. Both use a hidden fastening system that clips panels into routed aluminum or galvanized steel rails, and this is where compatibility gets tricky. The rail channel depth differs between TruExterior and EverNew by about 3/16 of an inch, so a TruExterior panel won’t seat properly in an EverNew rail without modification, and the fasteners are not interchangeable.
If you still have the original paperwork, the model number is printed on the back of each panel near the bottom corner. No paperwork? Measure the thickness: TruExterior boards mic out at a full 5/8 inch, while EverNew boards measure closer to 7/16. The rail profile is the second tell: TruExterior rails have a recessed center channel, EverNew rails are flat-faced. We verify this on site before we order a single panel, because we’ve seen too many Jacksonville homeowners buy a stack of panels online, only to discover they don’t fit the rails already bolted to their posts.
For replacement panels, we use genuine Boral boards whenever possible. The poly-ash blend is the whole reason the fence survives Florida’s wet season, and no aftermarket panel we’ve tested holds its color or its fasteners the same way. For rails, posts, and hardware, we’re comfortable using quality aftermarket equivalents from the same manufacturers that supply local Jacksonville fence supply houses. The savings go to the homeowner, and the structural warranty stays with our work.
Styles & brands we work with
Signs Your Boral Fence Installation Is Failing
- Post lean after heavy rain. Jacksonville’s sandy loam doesn’t hold post footings the way clay does, and a post set at less than 24 inches deep will lean after a week of sustained rain. The panel joints then open up at the top rail, and the fence begins to rack. This is a footing problem, not a panel problem, and adding more concrete to the visible base won’t fix it.
- Gate drags or won’t latch. Boral gates are heavy, roughly twice the weight of a comparable cedar gate, so they need a tension hinge system and a post that hasn’t shifted. When the gate starts kissing the ground on the swing arc, the post has usually moved, not the hinges. Left alone, the gate will eventually pull the post entirely out of plumb.
- Panel chatter in strong wind. If you can hear the panels knocking against the rails during a normal Jacksonville afternoon breeze, the hidden fasteners have loosened. On Boral systems, the clips that hold the panel to the rail are the first component to fatigue. A chattering panel is the earliest warning before a panel pops out entirely during a storm.
- White chalky residue at panel bottom edges. Boral panels don’t rot, but the mineral filler in the poly-ash can surface as a fine white bloom when the panel sits in standing sprinkler water for years. It’s cosmetic and cleanable, but it’s also a sign the drip edge clearance is too tight, and that bottom rail should be raised or the sprinkler head redirected.
- Splits at corner posts. Corners take the full tension load of two fence runs, and when the post was ever so slightly undersized for the job, hairline cracks propagate from the bolt holes outward. You’ll see this at gate hinge posts most often. A split corner post is a structural fail, not a cosmetic one, and the panel runs on both sides need temporary bracing while the post is replaced.
See the difference
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After
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AfterReplacement Cost & What’s Included
For a standard Jacksonville backyard, 150 to 200 linear feet, Boral fence installation runs $3,500 – $9,000 installed. The range breaks down like this:
- Panel-only replacement on existing sound posts: $18 – $28 per linear foot, depending on whether we’re installing TruExterior or EverNew panels.
- New posts, rails, and panels: $28 – $45 per linear foot, including post hole digging, concrete footings, rail installation, and panel hanging.
- Gate replacement with heavy-duty hardware: $400 – $900 per gate, depending on width and whether we’re reinforcing the hinge post.
- Old fence removal and haul-away: $300 – $600 for most city lots.
A handwritten scope of work comes with every quote. Materials named by manufacturer, labor broken into stages, no allowance line items that quietly grow. The price Graham Stein writes on that estimate is the price the crew works to, and if a change has to happen mid-job, you’ll be told before it happens, not after. Every Boral installation carries our 365-Day Done Right Promise: if something’s not right after we leave, we make it right, no argument.
DIY or Call Us?
For a useful safety check, you as the homeowner can walk the fence line and tell us what you see: post lean, panel gaps, cracked footings, gate drag. Take photos, note which direction the fence leans, and mark the worst spots with tape. That’s genuinely helpful before we arrive. What you shouldn’t attempt is pulling a post with a jack, digging alongside an existing footing that may contain buried irrigation lines, or hanging a full Boral panel without a second person. A 6-foot TruExterior panel weighs over 40 pounds, and catching one on its edge can crack the tongue-and-groove clean through. We’ve also seen Jacksonville homeowners hit irrigation pipes set only 8 inches below grade because the original installer was trying to save time. Call (904) 643-6243 instead. We’ll do the assessment for free, and if the fix is a five-minute hardware tightening, we’ll tell you that and charge you accordingly.
FAQs
A properly installed Boral fence lasts 20 to 25 years in Jacksonville, longer than most cedar or pressure-treated pine fences which typically fail at the 8 to 12 year mark due to humidity and insect pressure alone. The panels themselves won’t rot; what eventually needs work are the posts, which take the brunt of our sandy, shifting soil and summer storm winds. Call (904) 643-6243 and we’ll tell you what’s still solid and what’s not.
Minor surface scratches and the white mineral bloom can be cleaned and touched up, but a cracked or split panel cannot be structurally repaired; the poly-ash material doesn’t take glue the way wood fiber does. If the damage is confined to one module between posts, we swap that single panel and you keep the rest of the fence. Give us a call at (904) 643-6243 and we’ll price the panel-only repair honestly.
A full Boral fence installation on a standard Jacksonville lot takes two to three working days, including old fence removal and footing set time. Panel-only replacement on existing sound posts can often be finished in a single day. We’ll name the days in writing before the work starts, and the written price you receive is the price you pay.
We keep the most common TruExterior 5/8-inch panels and matching rails in stock at our Jacksonville yard, and we can have EverNew panels on site within a few days. If we don’t have your exact profile on the truck, we’ll tell you the truth and give you a real availability date, which is more than you’ll get from most online suppliers. Call (904) 643-6243 and ask us to check the yard.
If your Boral fence is leaning, dragging, splitting, or chattering in the afternoon wind, call Elmstead Remodeling Jacksonville at (904) 643-6243 for a free estimate. We’ll walk the line with you, show you exactly what’s failing, and hand you a written price before any work begins. Free estimate, no pressure, and a live person answers the phone.
Written by Graham Stein, Owner, Elmstead Remodeling Jacksonville at Elmstead Remodeling Jacksonville, serving Jacksonville and nearby areas.
