If a section blew down overnight, photograph everything before moving it, make the yard safe, then phone your insurer and a fence company. San Jose's fence storms are winter events. Rain from an atmospheric river loosens the clay around old posts, and the gusts that follow push over whatever was already weak.
Part of my fence blew down. How fast can it be fixed, and what does it cost?
Text photos and an approximate length to (408) 539-3039 and we will give you a date. When posts have snapped and a run is flat, the work is a large repair, which national 2026 figures put at $900 to $2,500. Timing depends on how widespread the storm was. After a big one, schedules across the South Bay fill in a day or two.
The fence is down, my dogs are in the yard and there is a busy street behind. What now?
Tell us that first and we treat it as urgent. The short-term fix is bracing any leaning posts and standing a temporary panel across the hole so the yard is closed. The permanent repair is scheduled after that. An exposed swimming pool gets the same priority.
Do you charge more for an emergency or weekend visit?
Ask whoever you call, because practice varies. Some contractors add an after-hours rate and some do not work weekends at all. A temporary closure now and a full repair on a weekday is normally the least expensive combination.
Will homeowners insurance cover a fence after wind or a fallen tree?
It might. Fences generally fall under the other structures coverage in a homeowners policy. Payment turns on the cause of loss, the deductible and the wording, and plenty of fence repairs cost less than the deductible. Your agent or insurer is the only source for a real answer. We supply an itemized written estimate you can submit.
A neighbor's tree fell and crushed my fence. Which policy pays?
Usually yours. Insurers tend to treat a fallen healthy tree as nobody's fault, so each owner claims for their own damage. If the tree was dead or the neighbor had been warned about it, the insurer may look at it differently. Ask your own company. If the fence is on the shared line, the cost rules in Civil Code section 841 also come into it, as explained below.
The insurance company offered much less than my estimate, saying the fence was old. What can I do?
Request the adjuster's worksheet. Many policies pay actual cash value on fences, meaning replacement cost minus depreciation, and an older fence depreciates heavily. Send back a line-by-line estimate and ask which lines were reduced and why. Where the numbers still do not meet, owners often rebuild only the fallen part.
After the storm my neighbor says it is mine to fix. Is that right?
Not automatically. If the fence stands on the boundary, California Civil Code section 841 presumes the two adjoining owners benefit equally and are equally responsible for the reasonable cost of repairing or replacing it, unless they have agreed otherwise in writing. Whether it stands on the boundary is a question for a licensed land surveyor. We do not decide property lines. See our California neighbor fence page for the written notice the law asks for.
To get on the schedule, call or text photos to (408) 539-3039.