What a Fence Costs in Kent, WA
Per-foot ranges for the fences Kent homeowners actually build, the add-ons that never make it into the headline number, and the three questions that explain why two bids for the same line can be $2,000 apart.
Kent Fence Prices by Material
A fence is priced per linear foot of run, with gates, tear-out, and site conditions added on. The 150-foot column is a typical Kent backyard: three sides of a lot in the 5,000 to 9,000 square-foot range common on East Hill.
| Fence | Per linear foot* | 150-foot backyard |
|---|---|---|
| 6-ft cedar privacy (dog-ear) | about $35 – $65 | about $5,300 – $9,800 |
| 6-ft cedar board-on-board | about $45 – $85 | about $6,800 – $12,800 |
| 4-ft cedar picket | about $25 – $45 | about $3,800 – $6,800 |
| 6-ft vinyl privacy (tongue-and-groove) | about $40 – $75 | about $6,000 – $11,300 |
| 6-ft vinyl with lattice top | about $50 – $85 | about $7,500 – $12,800 |
| 4-ft galvanized chain link | about $15 – $28 | about $2,300 – $4,200 |
| 6-ft black vinyl-coated chain link | about $25 – $40 | about $3,800 – $6,000 |
| Tear-out and haul of an old fence | about $3 – $7 | about $450 – $1,050 |
*Compiled from the 2026 published pricing of fence contractors serving King County and Washington. A Kent-focused installer lists its own cedar at $45–$85, vinyl at $50–$95, and chain link at $40–$65 per foot, which is where full-service, post-on-pipe builds land. Nothing here is a quote.
Gates and the other line items
- Cedar walk gate about $150 to $300; a double drive gate about $400 to $800.
- Vinyl walk gate about $400 to $600; a 6-foot double about $650 to $900; a 10- to 12-foot drive gate about $1,100 to $1,600.
- Chain link gates from about $100 for a walk gate to about $1,000 for a rolling or drive gate.
- A boundary survey, if the pins cannot be found, is its own invoice from a licensed surveyor and worth every dollar on a replacement.
What Moves a Fence Quote on a Kent Lot
What the posts sit on
The gap between a $38 cedar foot and a $65 cedar foot is mostly underground: 36-to-42-inch footings with gravel drainage, steel post-on-pipe instead of buried wood, and heavier terminal posts at gates and corners. On the East Hill hardpan and the valley silt those are the items that decide whether the fence is standing in 2040, and they are the first things a low bid leaves out.
Slope
Kent climbs about four hundred feet from the valley to the top of East Hill, and plenty of lots on the way up have a fence line that drops several feet end to end. Cedar can be scribed to the grade; vinyl has to be stepped or racked; chain link follows the ground. All three cost more per foot on a slope than on the flat, and a steep back line can add a day of labour.
Access
A back line reachable only through a 36-inch side gate means every post, bag of concrete, and panel goes in by hand and every piece of the old fence comes out the same way. On the open lots toward Covington and Black Diamond an auger truck does the digging; on the tighter East Hill plats the crew is carrying.
Tear-out surprises
Old concrete footings that have to be broken out, a neighbour's rockery or planting bed leaning on the old fence, buried irrigation, and the occasional old post set in a five-gallon bucket of concrete are all discovered on tear-out day. A good bid carries a line for it or says how it will be handled.
Comparing Two Kent Fence Bids
- Make both bids name the post. Species or steel, depth, footing, gravel or not. If one bid is silent, that is the answer.
- Make both bids name the fasteners. Hot-dip galvanized or stainless on cedar; electro-galvanized screws bleed black streaks down a fence within one wet season.
- Check where tear-out and gates sit. Some bids fold them into the per-foot price and some list them, and the per-foot number alone will mislead you.
- Check the line. A bid that assumes the old fence line without asking about pins or a survey is quoting a fence that may be in the wrong place.
- Ask about the corner. On a corner lot the bid should show how it handles the twenty-foot sight triangle in Kent City Code 15.08.130.
- Get the warranty in writing. Workmanship warranties of one to three years are common among established local installers; the material warranty on vinyl comes from the manufacturer and should be transferable.