Fences around Dutch John spend a big chunk of the year holding back snow. With roughly 44 inches falling each winter, drifts pile up against boards and wire, plowed snow gets pushed into fence lines, and the weight bends rails and leans posts. When it melts, the ground stays wet around the posts, and the next freeze lifts them a little more.
We repair fences so they stand straight and do their job again. That means resetting or replacing posts, swapping cracked boards and pickets, fixing rails and chain link fabric, rebuilding brace corners on wire fences, and adjusting gates. We’ll look at the whole run, not just the section that fell over, and tell you honestly which parts are worth fixing and which are ready to come out.
We know how drifts, plow piles, and the freeze and thaw cycle up here push posts and break rails every winter.
We bring post tools, saws, stretchers, and materials for wood, chain link, and wire fencing so most repairs finish in one trip.
We'll tell you if a few posts and boards will do it, or if a long section is too far gone to patch.
Old posts, broken boards, and scraps get loaded up and hauled off, so your yard is cleaner than when we arrived.
Dutch John takes its name from “Dutch” John Honselena, a horse trader who settled in the area back in the 1860s. The town itself came much later, built by the Bureau of Reclamation starting in 1957, but fences have been part of the picture out here from the start. Today you’ll find tidy privacy fences around homes in town alongside wire fencing on the larger lots toward the edges.
Each type fails in its own way. Privacy fences catch wind and lean, chain link bends where something hit it, and wire fencing sags when a corner gives out. Good repair starts with knowing which kind of problem you’re actually looking at.
Snow is the biggest enemy of a fence in Dutch John. Drifts build up on the downwind side and push on boards and wire for weeks. When driveways and walks get plowed, that snow often ends up shoved against the nearest fence. By spring, rails are cracked, pickets are popped loose, and posts lean toward wherever the pile sat.
Where you put the snow matters. If your fence keeps taking a hit from plow piles, it can help to plan where cleared snow goes. Our seasonal snow removal for driveways and lots can pile snow away from fence lines so the repair you paid for lasts.
We repair most of the fence styles found around town. The common fixes include:
New wood will look brighter than the old boards for a while. It weathers in over a season or two, and we can talk about staining if you want it to match sooner.
Replacing a post means digging, and fence lines often run right where utilities do. Under Utah Blue Stakes rules, whoever digs makes the call at least 3 business days before the work and no more than 14 calendar days ahead. Tickets expire after 21 days. On a fence job, that’s us, and we time the call around our scheduled trip so the marks are fresh when we arrive. Post depth follows local code and the building office, and we set posts to match.
Weeds and brush do more fence damage than most people think. Kochia and cheatgrass pile up against wire and the bottom of panels, catching wind and holding moisture. Bindweed climbs chain link, and goatheads make the line miserable to walk. Along ditches and wet spots, Russian olive and tamarisk grow right through fencing and pry posts out of line.
Before we repair a badly overgrown run, it often makes sense to start with brush clearing along overgrown fence lines. It lets us see every post and keeps the new work from getting buried again.
Dutch John is far out on our route, so we schedule fence repair as planned trips rather than quick runs. The best stretch for post work is late spring through fall, once the ground thaws and dries out enough to set posts firmly. If a section falls in winter, we can often prop it up or close a gap on a scheduled visit and come back for the full repair when the ground cooperates.
Sending photos or a rough count of bad posts and broken boards helps us load the right materials. Old posts, concrete chunks, and boards add up fast, and debris hauling for old fence materials takes the pile with us so it doesn’t sit in your yard.
We walk the whole fence line, push on each post, and figure out what caused the lean or break in the first place.
You get a written quote listing posts, boards, panels, and gate work, plus the materials and the trip date we have in mind.
We reset and replace posts, swap broken boards or fabric, rebuild braces, and get gates swinging and latching properly.
We walk the finished fence with you, test the gates, and haul away every old post and board before leaving.
