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Quikrete Fence Installation: The Los Angeles Owner’s Guide
Quikrete fence installation in Los Angeles typically runs $4,130 to $10,620 for a standard residential post-set and panel job, and we stock the full Quikrete concrete line on our trucks so there’s no second trip to the supply yard. Most owners call us after a post starts leaning: the concrete base has cracked, pulled away from the post, or crumbled at grade from years of irrigation water and clay soil movement. You’ll see a gap open between the concrete collar and the post, or the post itself will wobble when you push on the top rail. That’s a failed footing, not a failed post, and the fix is a proper Quikrete re-set, not a wedge-and-hope patch.
We’re an independent Los Angeles contractor. Bradford Remodeling isn’t affiliated with Quikrete, but we install their concrete products every week because the mix specs are consistent and we know exactly how they behave in Southern California soil.
Key takeaways:
- Installed price for a Quikrete fence job in Los Angeles: $4,130 – $10,620 depending on post count, panel length, and access
- We stock Quikrete fast-set and standard mixes on the truck, so the crew doesn’t leave mid-job for materials
- Every job gets a written price before work starts, and the finished work is covered by our 365-Day Done Right Promise
- In Los Angeles clay soil, the biggest Quikrete failure driver is water: sprinkler overspray and poor drainage erode the concrete collar at grade
Which Quikrete Models This Applies To
This applies to any fence installation using Quikrete concrete as the post footing. In practice, that’s three products: Quikrete Concrete Mix (the standard 4,000 PSI mix, sold in 60 and 80-pound bags), Quikrete Fast-Setting Concrete Mix (sets in 20 to 40 minutes, also available in 50-pound bags), and Quikrete High-Strength Concrete Mix (5,000 PSI, for taller or wider-gate posts). If your post was set with any of these, this page covers your repair or replacement.
Here’s the compatibility gotcha most Los Angeles homeowners don’t know: the fast-setting mix and the standard mix are not interchangeable for every post. Fast-set is right for fence posts, mailbox posts, and gate posts where you need the thing plumb and holding within the hour. Standard mix is the better call for load-bearing or oversized posts, like a motorized driveway gate post or a privacy fence post on a steep slope in Mount Washington or Baldwin Hills where the soil wants to push downhill. If someone used fast-set on a heavy gate post, the concrete can cure with micro-voids around the post and fail inside a few seasons. We check the old collar before we quote the re-set.
On the OEM-vs-aftermarket question: Quikrete is the brand name, and we use their bagged mixes because the aggregate is graded consistently and the cure time is predictable. There are cheaper bulk mixes out of local Los Angeles yards, but the bag-to-bag variance is not worth the risk on a post that has to stay plumb for a decade. We don’t cut that corner.
Styles & brands we work with
Signs Your Quikrete Fence Installation Is Failing
- The post leans but the wood is still sound. The concrete collar has cracked or separated from the post below grade. In Los Angeles clay soil, winter rains swell the ground and summer drought shrinks it. That cycle works the post back and forth until the concrete lets go.
- The concrete collar at ground level is crumbling or flaking. Sprinkler overspray is the usual culprit. Water pools at the base, saturates the concrete surface, and freeze-thaw cycles aren’t even required here; the constant wet-dry cycle in a place like the San Fernando Valley breaks the surface down over a few years.
- The post moves at the top when you push it. That means the footing has failed in shear. Pushing harder doesn’t tell you more; it tells you the fix is a full re-set, not a brace or a strap.
- The gate sags and won’t latch cleanly. Gate posts carry four times the lateral load of a line post. If the hinge post is set in fast-set concrete that wasn’t mixed or poured correctly, the post drifts and the gate binds.
- You see a donut of cracked concrete rising up around the post. That’s heave. Water got under the footing and lifted the concrete. Common in the flat, heavy-clay neighborhoods like Inglewood and parts of the Westside. The post may still be plumb, but the base is compromised and it will move within a season or two.
See the difference
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After
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AfterReplacement Cost & What’s Included
For a Quikrete fence installation in Los Angeles, you’re looking at $4,130 to $10,620 installed. The range depends on three things: how many posts need to be pulled and re-set, how long the fence run is, and whether we’re digging in hardpan or soft fill. A single post replacement in good soil might run toward the low end. A full perimeter fence with gate posts, mixed soil conditions, and old concrete demolition climbs toward the high end.
What’s included in that number: demolition and haul-away of the failed concrete collars, new post hole excavation to the correct depth for the post height, fresh Quikrete mix poured at the proper water ratio, post bracing while the concrete sets, and re-hanging of panels and gates. The written quote breaks out materials and labor separately, so you see the actual bag count and the actual crew hours. Nothing moves at the door.
Every fence job carries the 365-Day Done Right Promise. If the post shifts, the concrete cracks at the collar, or the gate binds within one year of installation, we come back and correct it at no charge. That’s in writing, signed, in your hand when the job closes.
DIY or Call Us?
There’s a real safety line with fence post work, and I’ll draw it straight: digging out an old concrete collar and re-setting a post is not a weekend project for most homeowners. A 6-foot privacy fence post carries enough wind load to hurt someone if it lets go while you’re working on it, and a gate post under tension can kick back when the old footing is broken free. Curtis Lane grew up watching his grandfather re-frame a back bedroom that never stayed square, and the lesson stuck: posts are load-bearing structure. If the footing is wrong, everything above it is wrong.
What a homeowner can safely do: check for sprinkler overspray hitting the post bases, clear mulch and dirt away from the concrete collar so it can dry, and note which posts move and which don’t before you call. That’s honest prep, and it helps us quote faster. But pulling concrete, setting posts plumb, and getting the mix right is our job. Call (903) 568-7222 for a written quote on a Quikrete fence installation in Los Angeles.
FAQs
A properly set Quikrete post footing in Los Angeles should last 20 years or more, provided the water is kept away from the base. The failures we see at year five or seven are almost always drainage or irrigation issues, not a concrete problem. Call (903) 568-7222 and we’ll tell you if what you have is a footing failure or a water problem.
Rarely. A cracked collar with the post still plumb can sometimes be patched, but once the post moves, the footing has lost the bond that matters and the only honest fix is a full pull and re-set. Shortcut patches fail again, usually within the same season, and a failed fence post in Los Angeles wind is not something to gamble on.
Most single-post replacements are a same-day job, including digging out the old concrete, setting the new post in fresh Quikrete fast-set, and bracing it. Larger jobs with multiple posts or heavy gate work may take two days, and we’ll tell you that before we start so you can plan. Estimates are free.
Yes, we keep Quikrete fast-setting mix and standard concrete mix on the truck for fence work, along with the right aggregate and post bracing. We also carry materials from the other brands we install, including KraftMaid, Cambria, and Silestone, but for fence footings Quikrete is what we reach for first.
Written by Curtis Lane, Owner, Bradford Remodeling at Bradford Remodeling, serving Los Angeles and nearby areas.
