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CGI Fence Installation: The Fort Lauderdale Owner’s Guide
CGI fence installation in Fort Lauderdale typically runs $3,500 to $9,000 for a full replacement, depending on linear footage, fence height, and whether we’re pulling permits. We stock CGI-compatible posts, rails, and fasteners on our trucks and can usually start within days, not weeks. Most owners discover a failed CGI fence install the hard way: a post leaning after a summer thunderstorm, a gate dragging, or fasteners sheared clean off where salt air has eaten through cheaper hardware. If your CGI panels are still solid but the structure around them is giving out, that’s a repair we handle regularly – and it’s often a fraction of a full replacement cost.
Luca Romano has walked more than a few Fort Lauderdale fence lines where the CGI itself was fine but the install never stood a chance. Cheap concrete footers, undersized posts, and zinc-plated brackets in salt air. The work either holds up or it doesn’t – we make sure it does.
Key Takeaways:
- CGI fence installation in Fort Lauderdale: $3,500 – $9,000 installed, written price before we start
- We’re an independent Fort Lauderdale fence installer, not affiliated with CGI – but we work with their product daily
- Salt corrosion and soft sandy soil are the two local factors that determine how long your install lasts
- Background-checked, uniformed crew, live arrival tracking, photo updates before and after
- 365-Day Done Right Promise on every fence install, in writing
Which CGI Models This Applies To
CGI manufactures coated and uncoated galvanized steel fence systems in a few distinct series that all share the same basic post-and-rail structure: the CGI 650 Series (commercial-grade, 6-foot) and the CGI 450 Series (lighter residential, 4-to-5-foot). The panels themselves are exceptionally durable – it’s the surrounding hardware that separates a 20-year fence from a 5-year headache. The compatibility gotcha Fort Lauderdale homeowners run into constantly: CGI posts come in specific wall thicknesses (0.095″ and 0.120″ are the common ones), and using a thinner post for a privacy panel in a wind zone is how fences end up leaning. If you’re in an area that gets hit by tropical-storm gusts, we spec the 0.120″ posts on any fence over 5 feet, no arguing about it.
Identifying your exact CGI setup takes about five minutes. Look at the top rail caps and the fasteners – CGI uses a particular Torx-head self-drilling screw with a bonded washer, and the panel tag (if still attached) will show a series number. If the tag’s gone, measure the post width and the distance between horizontal rails. On the OEM-vs-aftermarket question for CGI specifically: OEM CGI hardware is good, but Fort Lauderdale salt air is the variable nobody’s warranty fully accounts for. We often spec marine-grade 316 stainless fasteners instead of the factory ones on coastal installs – it’s a small upgrade that prevents the “rust streaks on a new fence” call we get a year later. Quality aftermarket posts that meet the same wall spec and are hot-dip galvanized before powder coating perform just as well as OEM, and they’ll save you money if you’re doing a longer run.
Styles & brands we work with
Signs Your CGI Fence Installation Is Failing
- Post lean after rain, especially near canals or low spots. Fort Lauderdale sits on sandy, loose soil in a lot of older neighborhoods, and a footer that’s too shallow or too small loses its grip the moment the ground saturates. The post isn’t bent – it’s floating.
- Rust weeping from screw heads or at the post-to-rail joints. This is almost always the wrong fastener material for coastal air. Zinc-plated screws give out in a couple of years; 316 stainless doesn’t. We see this constantly on fences within a mile or two of the Intracoastal.
- Gate sagging or dragging on the latch side. The hinges are pulling from the post, or the post itself is slowly rotating in its footing. Adjusting the hinge buys you a month. A proper fix means resetting or bracing the hinge post.
- Warped or bowing horizontal rails between posts. This happens when the rail spacing doesn’t match the panel spec, or the installer over-tightened the self-drilling screws and created stress risers. CGI rails are strong but they’ll tell you if they were fought during install.
- Loose panels that rattle or flap in wind. If the self-drilling screws have worked loose or stripped, the panel is no longer transferring wind load to the posts. In hurricane season, that’s not a cosmetic problem – that’s a projectile.
See the difference
Before
After
Before
After
Before
AfterReplacement Cost & What’s Included
Here’s what we quote in Fort Lauderdale, because you shouldn’t have to call just to know if this is in your ballpark:
| Scope | Installed Price Range |
|---|---|
| Full CGI fence install, 100 linear feet, 4-foot height | $3,500 – $5,000 |
| Full CGI fence install, 150 – 200 linear feet, 6-foot height | $6,000 – $9,000 |
| Post replacement only (per post, set in new concrete) | $275 – $450 |
| Hardware upgrade to 316 stainless (existing fence) | $8 – $15 per linear foot |
Every quote includes: demolition and haul-away of the old fence, new footers dug below the local frost and set in proper concrete, posts braced and level before panels go on, all fasteners torqued to spec, and a site cleanup after. The written price you approve is the price on the invoice – no change orders, no “we found something” surprises. Our 365-Day Done Right Promise applies to the whole job: if it’s not done right, we make it right, backed in writing. That’s the Relay Standard, and it applies to a 40-foot repair or a 200-foot full run.
DIY or Call Us?
You can absolutely do the diagnostic walk yourself: push on each post and see if any move at the base, look for rust at every screw head, and sight down the top rail for bowing. That tells you exactly what to tell us when you call, and it’ll make the quote more accurate. Where DIY goes sideways on CGI fence work in Fort Lauderdale is the footers. Digging and setting a post so it stays plumb through a tropical storm takes a level, a brace, the right concrete mix, and patience. Most homeowner-driven fence failures we’re called out to fix come from posts set in too small a hole with too little concrete, or fasteners that stripped because the drill speed was wrong. The panels themselves are not the dangerous part – CGI is not a high-tension product like garage door springs – but a 6-foot steel panel catching wind mid-install will hurt you if it gets away. If you’re not set up for that, don’t learn on your fence line. Call (754) 354-7423 and we’ll give you a written number before any work starts.
FAQs
With correct posts, proper-footers, and marine-grade fasteners, a CGI fence in Fort Lauderdale realistically lasts 20 to 25 years. The panels don’t fail – the hardware and footings do. Call (754) 354-7423 and we’ll assess what you have, whether it’s worth upgrading in place or starting fresh.
Yes, in most cases. Post resetting, rail replacement, and hardware upgrades to 316 stainless cover about 70% of the CGI fence failures we see in Fort Lauderdale. A full replacement usually only makes sense when multiple posts have shifted or the panels are damaged beyond reuse.
A straightforward 100-foot reference install with new posts takes our crew two to three days including demolition, footers, cure time, and panel mounting. Larger runs or odd layouts add accordingly. We’ll give you a timeline with names, not a vague window.
We carry common CGI-compatible posts, rails, fasteners, and gate hardware on our trucks, and we order any spec-specific items from local Fort Lauderdale suppliers on a job-by-job basis. If your panels are salvageable, we’ll match them; if not, we’ll quote replacement panels at cost, integrated into the written estimate. No furniture-style waiting games.
If your CGI fence is leaning, rusting, rattling, or just looking tired, call Sawyer Remodel Fort Lauderdale at (754) 354-7423. Luca will answer, ask what you’re seeing, and set up a free estimate with a written price before any work starts. Fort Lauderdale fences should outlast the plants around them, and ours do.
Written by Luca Romano, Owner & Lead Contractor, Sawyer Remodel Fort Lauderdale at Sawyer Remodel Fort Lauderdale, serving Fort Lauderdale and nearby areas.
