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Unilock Fence Installation: The Austin Owner’s Guide
Unilock fence installation in Austin typically runs $3,500 to $9,000, which includes demolition of the old fence, site prep, the Unilock-compatible base material, all posts, panels, gate hardware, and clean-up. We stock Unilock-compatible fence components on our trucks and can match most existing installations same-week, not same-month. Most Austin owners discover they need this service when a storm blows a section over, a post rots at the base, or the gate starts dragging against the ground after a few years of our clay soil shifting.
If you’re standing in your backyard looking at a leaning fence section or a gate that won’t latch, you’re in the right place. We’ll walk through exactly what you’re dealing with, what it should cost, and how to tell whether this is a simple re-set or a full run replacement. I’m Isaac Pruett, and my crew and I have been installing and repairing fences across Austin for years, from Mueller to Barton Hills to Circle C. Tell me what’s wrong with it. We’ll figure out what it actually needs.
Which Unilock Models This Applies To
Unilock’s fence and wall system products fall primarily under their Estate Wall and Pisa lines, both of which use concrete-based panel and post components rather than traditional wood or vinyl. The most common Unilock fence installation we handle in Austin is the Estate Wall system, where precast concrete posts accept horizontal fence panels that slide into routed channels. The older Pisa line uses a similar post-and-panel concept but with a different channel width, and that compatibility gotcha catches a lot of people: Pisa panels will not seat properly in Estate Wall posts, and the reverse is true as well. If you’re replacing a broken panel, always measure the channel opening before ordering anything, because the two series are off by roughly a quarter inch in channel width, and a quarter inch in concrete is everything.
On the OEM versus aftermarket question: Unilock parts are cast to tight tolerances and color-matched at the factory, but the brand carries a premium in Austin that often doesn’t match what the piece actually is: a concrete casting. Quality aftermarket panels and posts from Texas-based precast suppliers will hold up in our climate just as well, and they cost meaningfully less. The one exception is color matching. If your existing fence has faded under five or ten central Texas summers, an aftermarket panel cast today will not match it, and it won’t fade to match either. For a single panel replacement on a visible front fence, OEM is worth the money. For a full run that’s getting replaced anyway, aftermarket makes more sense and typically saves 15 to 20 percent. Our trucks carry both options, and we’ll show you samples before anything gets ordered.
Styles & brands we work with
Signs Your Unilock Fence Installation Is Failing
- Post lean at the base, especially after rain. Austin’s clay soil expands and contracts with moisture far more than most regions, and a post that wasn’t set deep enough or with proper gravel backfill will start leaning within two or three wet seasons. The concrete post itself is almost never broken; the footing has failed.
- Gate drags or won’t latch. This is usually post movement rather than a hinge problem. When the gate post tilts even half an inch out of plumb, the gate’s arc changes and the latch stops lining up. Shimming the hinges buys you a few months; re-setting the post fixes it.
- Horizontal panels cracked at the ends. The channel that seats the panel into the post is the weakest point of the whole assembly. If a panel gets struck or the post shifts, the cast concrete cracks right at the channel edge. This is also where freeze-thaw damage shows up first, though that’s less common in Austin than up north.
- Visible gap between post and panel channel. This means the post has rotated slightly in its footing. Left alone, the panel will eventually drop out of the channel entirely, especially in a strong gust.
- White mineral streaks running down the concrete face. That’s efflorescence, a sign water is moving through the casting. It’s cosmetic by itself, but it tells you the sealant or drainage layer has failed, and the panel is absorbing moisture it shouldn’t.
See the difference
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After
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AfterReplacement Cost & What’s Included
Here’s where the money goes on a typical Unilock fence installation in Austin. The single biggest variable is linear footage: a 40-foot run and a 120-foot run don’t scale evenly because mobilization, demo, and disposal are fixed costs either way. The second big variable is access. If the fence line is reachable only through a side gate too narrow for a wheelbarrow, everything gets carried by hand, and labor hours climb fast.
- Partial repair, one or two posts re-set: $900 – $2,200
- Full fence installation, 50 linear feet: $3,500 – $5,500
- Full fence installation, 100 linear feet: $5,500 – $9,000
- Gate replacement with new hardware and post re-set: $800 – $1,800
Every line item is written down before we start. You get a fixed price, not an estimate that grows, and the written price is delivered before any work begins, just like every job we’ve done since 2004 under the Threshold Standard. Our fence installation work is covered by the 365-Day Done Right Promise: if anything isn’t right within a year of completion, we come back and fix it at no cost. That includes footing settling, gate alignment, and panel seating.
DIY or Call Us?
There are a few things worth checking yourself before you call anyone. Walk the fence line and mark every post that’s out of plumb with a scrap of tape. Check whether panels are cracked or just sitting loose in the channels. Look at the ground around each post for signs of erosion or washout after rains. That information helps us give you a more accurate price on the phone, and it tells you whether you’re facing a repair or a full replacement.
What we’d recommend against is digging out and re-setting a concrete Unilock post yourself. A single post in the Estate Wall system can weigh 180 pounds or more, and once it’s out of the footing, it wants to fall, and it will take whatever is in its way with it. We’ve also seen homeowners pour new footings without gravel drainage or at the wrong depth for Austin’s clay, and the post leans again within a year. This is the one part of fence work where the cost of getting it wrong is a broken panel, a strained back, or both. If you’re on the fence about it, call us at (903) 623-1966 and we’ll give you an honest read over the phone before anyone charges you anything.
FAQs
A properly installed Unilock concrete fence system in Austin lasts 25 to 40 years on the panels and posts, with the footing being the first thing to fail, usually at the 10 to 15 year mark due to clay soil movement. The concrete itself doesn’t rot or warp like wood, which is exactly why this system holds up in central Texas heat and humidity better than almost anything else. Call (903) 623-1966 if you want us to look at your existing footings before you assume the fence itself is done.
Hairline cracks can be sealed and color-matched, but any panel with a broken channel edge should be replaced rather than patched, because the seating surface is what keeps it locked into the post. A cosmetic patch on a structural edge will fail the next time a storm puts lateral pressure on the fence. We’ll tell you honestly which one you’re looking at, usually over the phone if you can send a couple photos.
Most full fence installations in Austin take two to four working days from demolition to final gate adjustment, depending on linear footage and access. Partial repairs are typically done in a single day. We’ll put the timeline in your written price so you know before we start what days we’ll be on site.
We carry standard Estate Wall panels, Pisa panels, replacement posts, post caps, gate hinges, and latch sets on our trucks for the most common Austin configurations. Odd sizes and color-matched OEM pieces may take a few days to order in, and we’ll tell you that on the first call rather than surprising you after we’ve opened up the fence line. We also stock parts for KraftMaid, Cambria, and Silestone systems on the remodel side, so if you’ve got a fence project and a kitchen project circling each other, one call covers both.
Written by Isaac Pruett, Owner, Mason Remodeling Co Austin at Mason Remodeling Co Austin, serving Austin and nearby areas.
