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Serving Santa Rosa, CA and surrounding areas. (707) 867-4904
SRS Santa Rosa Fence Builder is the fence contractor Fairfax homeowners call for custom fence design, wood fencing, privacy fences, and fence repair on the hillside lots and wooded properties that define this Marin County town. We have been serving the region since 2017, and we know what it takes to build fences that hold up through Fairfax's heavy winters, stay straight on sloped lots, and look right on homes that have been standing for 60 to 100 years.
No two Fairfax lots are the same - slopes, tree placement, retaining walls, and the age of surrounding structures all affect what a fence can and should look like. A custom design that accounts for your specific property is the difference between a fence that fits and one that fights the lot. We start every project with an on-site walk before drawing anything up. Learn more about our custom fence design process and what to expect.
Most Fairfax homes were built with wood-frame construction between the 1920s and 1960s, and wood fencing matches the character of these older properties in a way that vinyl or aluminum rarely does. We use redwood and cedar with pressure-treated posts set in full concrete footings - necessary here because Fairfax's clay-rich soil and nearly 50 inches of annual rainfall will defeat shallow posts and untreated wood within a few seasons.
Fairfax lots are modest in size and close together, and many yards lack meaningful separation from neighboring properties or the street. A properly built privacy fence on a sloped Fairfax lot requires more planning than a flat suburban job - the fence must handle grade changes smoothly while delivering consistent privacy height. We get this right during design rather than discovering it mid-installation.
Fairfax fences deal with two things that break fences faster than almost anything else: persistent moisture and tree roots. The damp winters here cause rot at post bases and along bottom rails, while oak and bay laurel roots common throughout the town gradually shift footings out of alignment. If sections of your fence are leaning or pulling away from posts, the cause is typically underground - and surface-level repairs that do not address the footing fail again quickly.
For Fairfax homes that back up to wooded hillsides or sit near the Cascade Canyon open space preserve, ornamental iron and aluminum fencing provides a boundary that holds up through wet winters without the rot risk that wood carries in a densely shaded yard. It also satisfies Marin County fire safety considerations better than an all-wood fence near dry vegetation.
In a town that receives close to 50 inches of annual rain, an unsealed wood fence is on a countdown to rot. Moss and algae accumulate on shaded boards through the long damp winters, and once moisture gets into unsealed end grain the deterioration is fast. Getting a fence sealed before the November rains arrive is the most cost-effective maintenance decision a Fairfax homeowner can make - it extends fence life and delays the much larger cost of full replacement.
Fairfax sits in a valley surrounded by steep, forested hills in central Marin County. Most of the town was built out between the 1920s and 1960s, which means the majority of homes are 60 to 100 years old - and so are the lots they sit on. Sloped parcels, retaining walls, mature trees with extensive root systems, and clay-heavy soil are not occasional challenges here; they are the standard conditions. A contractor who primarily works on flat suburban lots in drier parts of California will encounter problems on a Fairfax hillside job that they did not budget for. We see it regularly - posts that were set without accounting for clay soil expansion, fence lines that were not stepped or racked properly for the grade, or footings disrupted by oak roots that shifted the entire run out of alignment within a few years.
Rainfall is the other major factor. Fairfax is one of the wetter communities in Marin County, regularly receiving 45 to 50 inches of rain in a heavy year - all concentrated between November and March. The surrounding hills funnel runoff directly toward properties in the valley, and clay soil drains slowly, so water sits against fence bases for extended periods. This is not an environment where untreated wood in shallow post holes lasts more than a few years. On top of the moisture, much of the land around Fairfax is designated as a Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone by CAL FIRE, which means the dry season from May through October brings real wildfire risk. Material choices and defensible space clearances matter here in a way they do not in most suburban settings.
Our crew works throughout Fairfax regularly, and we understand the local conditions that affect fence contractor work here. When projects require permits, we coordinate with the Town of Fairfax Community Development Department, which reviews both residential and commercial fence permit applications. Properties near the hillsides above Bolinas Road or backing up to open space preserves occasionally need additional review for fire safety and vegetation clearance - understanding that during the estimate keeps projects on schedule.
We know the town from the streets near the downtown center at Bolinas Road and Broadway to the hillside neighborhoods that climb up toward the Cascade Canyon open space preserve on the eastern edge. Homes on the upper streets often have the steepest lots and the densest tree canopy - those are the jobs where proper site assessment before quoting matters most. The dense woodland setting that makes Fairfax feel so different from most Bay Area towns is exactly the environment where a fence built without understanding local soil, drainage, and root patterns will not hold up.
We also cover the surrounding Marin County communities. Homeowners in Novato to the north call us regularly, and our crew serves Sonoma to the east as well - a community with similarly older housing stock and a wet-dry seasonal pattern that demands the same care in fence installation.
Reach us by phone or through the contact form with a description of what you need. We reply within one business day and can typically schedule an on-site visit within the same week for most Fairfax properties.
We walk the lot, note the slope, check for tree roots and drainage patterns, and assess any existing fence conditions. You get a written quote before work begins, and we identify permit requirements and fire hazard zone considerations at this stage so there are no surprises on cost or timeline.
We pull permits from the Town of Fairfax when required and coordinate underground utility marking through California 811 before any digging starts. You do not need to manage this step - we handle it as part of the project.
Most residential jobs in Fairfax take one to three days on site, depending on slope and complexity. We do a final walkthrough at completion and leave the property clean. Gate operation and footing integrity are checked before we pack up.
We serve homeowners throughout Fairfax, CA and the surrounding Marin County communities. Call us or submit a request and we will get back to you within one business day with a free estimate.
(707) 867-4904Fairfax is a small town of about 7,400 people in central Marin County, incorporated in 1931 and largely built out by the 1960s. The town sits in a valley enclosed by steep, forested hills, with the Cascade Canyon open space preserve forming the eastern boundary. The small downtown core runs along Bolinas Road and Broadway, lined with local restaurants, shops, and community gathering spots that most Fairfax residents know well. Nearly all of the town's residential neighborhoods are within walking distance of that center, built on lots that range from flat in the valley floor to steeply sloped on the hillsides above. Homes are predominantly wood-frame construction, many with wood siding, wood decks, and detached outbuildings - all of which need ongoing maintenance in this wet, shaded environment.
About 60 percent of Fairfax housing units are owner-occupied, which reflects a community where residents are invested in their properties for the long term. Median home values are well above one million dollars - a level consistent with Marin County as a whole - which means homeowners here take seriously how their fence looks and how long it will last. The combination of older housing stock, hillside lots, heavy annual rainfall, and high property values is what makes custom fence design so relevant in Fairfax: a fence that was built without accounting for the specific conditions of your lot is going to fail faster and cost more to fix than one designed with the property in mind from the start. Nearby Novato to the north is another Marin County community we serve regularly, with many of the same older-home and hillside conditions.
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Learn MoreOur crew knows Fairfax's hillside lots, wooded properties, heavy rainfall, and the older homes that make this town different from most North Bay communities. Call us and we will get you scheduled.