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ActiveYards Fence Installation: The West Covina Owner’s Guide
ActiveYards fence installation in West Covina typically runs $3,500 to $9,000 for a full perimeter install, with most partial installs or section replacements landing between $1,200 and $3,800 depending on linear footage and gate count. We stock ActiveYards-compatible posts, rails, pickets, and gate hardware on our trucks, and most installations are done in one to two days. The way most West Covina homeowners discover they have a fence problem is the same every time: a section leans after a Santa Ana wind event, a gate drags because the post shifted in clay soil, or a picket cracks where the sun has been hitting it for eight years straight.
ActiveYards makes a genuinely well-engineered aluminum fence system. The powder coat holds up. The post-and-rail design is solid. What fails in West Covina is rarely the ActiveYards material itself. It’s the installation underneath it: concrete footings poured too shallow, posts set without accounting for our expansive clay, or gate frames that were never braced properly. When we install ActiveYards, we’re fixing what the last guy got wrong, or building it correctly the first time so you’re not calling anyone back in three years.
Which ActiveYards Models This Applies To
Whether you have a Classic, Grand, or Estate series ActiveYards fence, the installation principles hold: 2½-inch square posts embedded 24 to 30 inches into concrete, horizontal rails slotted into post channels, and pickets crimped or screwed into place. The differences are in the details. The Classic series uses a 2¼-inch post with snap-in rails. The Grand and Estate use a 2½-inch post with heavier gauge aluminum (0.080 wall versus 0.070), and the Estate line adds decorative finials and a thicker bottom rail. Those specs matter when you’re patching a section or matching a gate.
Here’s the compatibility gotcha most people don’t know: ActiveYards changed their rail punch pattern around 2019. Pre-2019 panels use one picket spacing; later production runs use slightly different crimp notches. A pre-2019 gate will not always accept a 2023 picket without a small field modification. If you’ve got an older section, send us a photo of the picket profile and we can tell you before we come out. On the OEM versus aftermarket question: for ActiveYards specifically, we recommend OEM posts and rails because of the channel design, but quality aftermarket pickets from a US extruder will match visually and save you 15 to 20 percent. We carry both.
Styles & brands we work with
Signs Your ActiveYards Fence Installation Is Failing
- A gate that drags or won’t latch. This is almost always a post that’s moved, not a hinge problem. In West Covina’s clay soil, a shallow footing will heave with winter rains and shift with summer drought. The fix is resetting the post deeper with proper concrete, not cranking the hinge.
- A section that leans toward the prevailing wind. The Santa Anas that come through the San Gabriel Valley put real lateral load on a fence. If the posts weren’t set deep enough, the whole section starts to list. You can’t shim this back straight; the post has to be pulled and reset.
- Rails popping out of the post channels. Aluminum expands and contracts with temperature. If the rail was cut too long and has no room to move, it torques itself out of the channel on a hot day. We leave a ⅛-inch expansion gap per rail, which is a small detail that takes experience to know.
- Pickets cracking or splitting near the screws. Over-torqued screws in aluminum eventually cause stress fractures. A quality install uses a driver with a clutch set correctly. If a whole run is cracking, the pickets were over-fastened end to end.
- White chalky residue on the powder coat. This is oxidization starting to break through the finish. On a fence less than a decade old, it usually means the coating was scratched at install and moisture got under it. ActiveYards’ thick powder coat resists this; bad handling during installation doesn’t.
See the difference
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After
Before
After
Before
AfterReplacement Cost & What’s Included
For a full ActiveYards install in West Covina, budget $3,500 to $9,000. A typical 150-foot backyard at standard 6-foot height with two gates lands around $5,800 installed. Here’s how it breaks down:
| Scope | Price Range |
|---|---|
| Single gate replacement (standard 4-foot) | $700 – $1,400 |
| Single section replacement (6 – 8 feet) | $350 – $800 |
| Post reset only (digging, concrete, reset) | $300 – $600 per post |
| Full fence install, 150 linear feet, 2 gates | $4,800 – $7,200 |
| Full fence install, 250+ linear feet, custom gates | $7,500 – $9,000+ |
What drives the range? Gate count is the big one. A custom double drive gate with an operator is half a day of labor on its own. Footing depth matters too: our standard is 24 to 30 inches with the concrete flared at the bottom, so a post holds in clay. You also have access issues, demolition of an old fence, and haul-away fees. Every quote is a written line-item price before any work starts. You won’t get a change order on day two. The installation work is covered by our 365-Day Done Right Promise, and we warrant the labor for a full year after final walkthrough.
DIY or Call Us?
You can check a few things yourself. Look at your gate posts: is there a gap between the post and the concrete footing? That tells you the post is moving. Look at the top rail where it meets the post: is it pulled out of the channel by more than a quarter inch? Those are diagnostics you can do in ten minutes with a tape measure.
Where DIY goes wrong is the post setting. Setting an ActiveYards post in West Covina soil isn’t just digging a hole and dumping in a bag of Quikrete. You need the hole below the frost and drought line, the concrete flared at the base for lateral hold against wind, and the post plumb in both planes before the concrete kicks. Get the post wrong and the gate never hangs right, the section never sits true, and you’re paying someone like us to tear it out and redo it. If you’d rather skip that, call (341) 217-4204 and we’ll give you a straight number.
FAQs
The aluminum itself will last 30-plus years because of the powder coat and the 6005 alloy they extrude. What fails first in West Covina is the installation: footings in our expansive clay can shift a post within five years if the concrete wasn’t flared and deep enough. Installed properly, expect the fence to outlast the house.
It depends on what failed. A bent picket is replaced in ten minutes. A loose rail gets reset with the right expansion gap. A gate that drags usually needs the post pulled and reset. If the entire line of posts was installed too shallow, you’re chasing problems and a full reinstall is actually cheaper than fixing post after post. Call (341) 217-4204 and we’ll tell you honest which one you have.
A typical 150-foot install with two gates is a two-day job: day one for layout, post holes, and concrete; day two for rails, pickets, gates, and cleanup. We’ll tell you the exact schedule before we start, and our crew sends photo updates before and after each day.
We carry the common stuff: posts, rails, pickets, hinge sets, latches, and gate brackets. We don’t stock two dozen colors of picket because the powder coat color has to match your existing line, and ActiveYards has specific color codes. If we don’t have your exact shade, we order it and have it usually within about three business days.
Good work shows. Bad work shows up later.
If you’ve got an ActiveYards fence that’s leaning, dragging, or starting to chalk out in the West Covina sun, call (341) 217-4204 or get in touch for a free estimate. We’ll give you a written price, tell you exactly when we’ll be there, and send you photos of the work before and after. That’s the only way we run jobs in West Covina.
Written by Luca Romano, Owner, Sawyer Remodel West Covina at Sawyer Remodel West Covina, serving West Covina and nearby areas.
