What should I do after a storm damages my fence or gate?

Safety comes before everything else. If a power line is down on or near your fence or gate, treat it as energized even if it is not sparking or humming. A downed line can electrify the ground and anything it touches, including a metal fence, so stay well back, keep children and pets away, and call 911 and your electric utility (Oncor handles delivery for most of the DFW area). Never try to move a line or free a fence section yourself.

Once the site is safe, document before you clean up. Take photos and video of every damaged section from several angles, wide shots that show the whole run and close-ups of broken posts, bent panels, and hail dents, and write a list of everything damaged. The Texas Department of Insurance advises taking pictures and making a list of all damage, and not throwing anything away until your adjuster says so.

It is fine, and usually expected, to make temporary repairs that prevent further damage: standing a section back up, roping off a downed run, or securing a gate that will not latch so pets stay in and the yard stays closed. Save every receipt, because your policy may reimburse temporary repairs. What you should not do is make permanent repairs or haul off debris before the adjuster has seen the damage, since that can weaken the claim.

If the fence or gate is shared with a neighbor or sits on an HOA-governed lot, let them know early. Repairs that change height, placement, or style can involve HOA approval, and Arlington has its own fence permitting rules, so confirm with the City of Arlington before any full rebuild.

Often yes, but never assume. On a standard homeowner's policy, fences and detached gates fall under "other structures" coverage (Coverage B), which typically insures structures not attached to the house. Wind, hail, lightning, fallen trees, and vehicle strikes are the classic covered causes, and DFW storms produce plenty of the first two. Wear and tear, rot, and gradual deterioration are the classic exclusions.

The other-structures limit is commonly set around 10 percent of your dwelling coverage, though the figure varies by policy. Your deductible applies, and it matters more than people expect: if a repair estimate lands near or below your wind and hail deductible, filing a claim may gain you little. It also matters whether your policy pays replacement cost or actual cash value, because an older fence paid at actual cash value is depreciated.

Every policy is different, so read yours or call your agent before deciding anything. If you get stuck, the Texas Department of Insurance has a consumer help line at 800-252-3439 and publishes plain-language storm claim guidance. A written repair estimate from a fabricator gives the adjuster a real number to work with, and we are happy to provide one.

The repair-versus-replace call mostly comes down to what failed and how. Wood fences tend to fail at the worst spot: posts snap at ground level, where moisture and rot have quietly eaten the wood, and solid privacy panels act like sails, so one strong gust pops pickets off their nails or takes a whole bay down, and one fallen section often drags its neighbors with it. A wood fence with snapped posts is usually a replacement, because the same rot is waiting in the posts still standing.

Welded steel fails differently. Steel posts set in concrete rarely snap; under extreme load they lean. A leaning steel post can often be excavated, pulled plumb, and re-set or re-welded, and a bent panel section can be cut out and a new section welded in without touching the rest of the run. Because every joint is a weld rather than a nail or screw, wind has no fastener to work loose, and open picket designs let gusts pass through instead of loading the fence like a wall. That is a structural fact of welded steel fences, not a sales line, and it is why North Texas storm fronts that push gusts past 60 mph can flatten whole wood runs while steel nearby stays up.

CJM Metals does storm repair on steel fences and gates: straightening and re-setting leaned posts, replacing bent or crushed sections, re-hanging sagging or wind-sprung gates, and re-welding failed joints. If a wood fence went down and you are done replacing it, we can quote a welded steel replacement instead; see what a metal fence costs per foot for market ranges. Any dollar figures you find there are market estimates, not CJM prices. Call (214) 603-9142 or email support@cjmmetals.com for a free storm-repair quote.