The Classic, Done Right
Real cedar and pressure-treated pine: the warmest look on the block, the friendliest price per foot, and a fence you can style a hundred ways — if it's built for freeze-thaw from the posts up.
Cedar is the premium pick — naturally rot- and insect-resistant, dimensionally stable so boards stay straighter through our freeze-thaw whiplash, and it silvers gracefully if you skip the stain. Pressure-treated pine costs meaningfully less and shrugs off ground moisture, but it moves more as it dries — expect some checking and the occasional warped board in year one. The pro move a lot of Rochester yards use: pressure-treated posts and rails (where strength and ground contact matter) with cedar pickets (where looks matter). Either way, plan on stain or sealer every 2–3 years if you want to keep the color; skip it and you're choosing weathered gray, which is a legitimate choice, not a failure.
Also in the toolkit: board-on-board (overlapping boards for zero-gap privacy even after shrinkage), lattice tops, scalloped runs for front yards, and split rail for big rural lots out toward Hilton and Brockport. If you're after a solid 6-footer, start at the privacy fence page.
Installed wood fencing in the Rochester area typically runs about $28–$45 per linear foot — pressure-treated at the lower end, cedar and board-on-board at the top. A 150-foot backyard usually lands between roughly $4,200 and $6,800 with a gate. The full side-by-side against vinyl and chain link lives on the fence cost page.
Built and maintained right, 15–20+ years for cedar and similar for pressure-treated structures — the pickets usually outlive people's patience with the color. The variables that matter most are post depth, drainage, and whether stain actually happens every few years.
Convention (and some local codes) says the finished side faces out toward your neighbor, rails facing you. If that stings, shadowbox and board-on-board styles look finished from both sides — the diplomatic option on close lots.
Pressure-treated wood needs a few weeks to months to dry before it'll take stain properly; cedar can be finished sooner. We'll give you the timing for your exact material at install — putting stain on wet treated lumber is how people waste a weekend and a hundred dollars.
Upfront, wood wins clearly. Over 20 years, add 6–8 rounds of stain (or the graceful gray surrender) and the gap narrows a lot. Pick wood for the look and the entry price; pick vinyl to never think about it again.
Free on-site quotes across Rochester & Monroe County — styles, stain talk, and straight numbers.