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Unilock Fence Installation: The Orlando Owner’s Guide
Unilock fence installation in Orlando typically runs $3,500 – $9,000 for a complete run, including materials, concrete footings, and labor. If you already have Unilock fence panels or posts on site and need a failed section replaced or reinstalled, the job usually comes in lower than a full new install. Most owners discover the problem after a summer thunderstorm rolls through, when a post leans, a panel cracks at the base, or the whole section shifts off level.
What surprises most homeowners is that the fence itself is rarely the weak point. In Florida, the failure is almost always underground: a post set in soil that shifts during the wet season, or a footing poured too shallow for the wind load. We get calls every spring from the College Park and Baldwin Park neighborhoods where a fence looked fine through the dry winter months and then started leaning the first week of June. The fix is not a new fence; it’s pulling the affected posts, correcting the base, and resetting everything to spec.
Which Unilock Models This Applies To
Unilock makes several fence and wall systems, and they do not all install the same way. The two you will see most often in Orlando are the Estate Wall and Lineo Dimensional Stone systems, both of which use a tongue-and-groove or tongue-and-pocket connection between units. The Estate Wall units are larger and heavier, usually running 8 to 12 inches wide and weighing 40 to 60 pounds each. Lineo units are thinner and stack more like a modern retaining wall block with a machined face.
If you are not sure which system you have, look at the base of an end unit for a stamped product code, usually a two-letter prefix followed by three or four digits. On Estate Wall, the code is stamped on the underside of the unit. On Lineo, it is on the back face. That code matters because the OEM (original equipment manufacturer) channel pieces, caps, and corner units are not interchangeable between the two lines. Aftermarket equivalents exist for straight runs, but corner units and end caps almost always need to be genuine Unilock to seat correctly. We keep both OEM and quality aftermarket options in the mix, but we will tell you honestly when an aftermarket piece will not pass a visual check next to your existing fence.
Penhallow Remodeling Orlando is an independent contractor and not affiliated with Unilock. We install and repair their products regularly because they are common in Orlando’s newer subdivisions, but we also work with Belgard and other paver and wall manufacturers, and we carry parts for KraftMaid, Cambria, and Silestone on the interior side of our business.
Styles & brands we work with
Signs Your Unilock Fence Installation Is Failing
- Post leaning more than an inch off plumb. This almost always means the footing has settled or the base material under the post washed out. In Orlando’s sandy-loam soil, a post set in 70 percent sand and 30 percent clay will shift noticeably after one heavy rainy season if the footing was not wide enough.
- Gaps opening between stacked units. Unilock units rely on gravity and a locking lip to stay seated. When the base settles unevenly, the lip loses contact and you see daylight between courses. This is a structural warning, not a cosmetic one.
- Cracked caps or top units. Caps take the most direct sun and rain exposure in Florida. Hairline cracks are normal over time, but a cap that has split entirely usually means water got into the seam and then expanded in the heat.
- Fence leaning toward the street or sidewalk. In Orlando, the street side of a fence gets the worst of the runoff from gutters and downspouts. We see fences that lean only on one side because the neighbor’s drainage has been pushing water through the footing for years.
- Base course sinking below grade. If the bottom row of your fence has disappeared under the grass line, the original installer likely skipped a proper gravel base. In sand-heavy soil, you need a minimum 4-inch compacted base, and many original installs we pull have 2 inches or none.
See the difference
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After
Before
After
Before
AfterReplacement Cost & What’s Included
For a partial repair involving two or three posts and a section of fence, you are looking at $800 – $2,500 depending on access and how much of the original base we have to excavate. A full Unilock fence installation in Orlando ranges from $3,500 – $9,000, and the biggest cost drivers are total linear feet, whether we are matching existing units or starting fresh, and how much demolition of the old fence is required.
Here is where the money goes on a typical Unilock fence job in Orlando:
- Base preparation: $12 – $18 per linear foot for compacted gravel and sand, which in Florida is not optional. Skip it and you will be resetting posts in two years.
- Unit cost: Unilock Estate Wall units run $8 – $14 per unit depending on color, and a linear foot of fence uses roughly 1.5 to 2 units per course.
- Labor and installation: $45 – $70 per hour per crew member, with most straight-run fences going in at 15 – 25 linear feet per day depending on soil conditions and access.
- Removal and haul-away of failed sections: $300 – $800 for a typical partial tear-out.
Every quote from Penhallow Remodeling Orlando is a written price before we start. Not a range, not a ballpark: a number on a piece of paper you can hold us to. That price includes the 365-Day Done Right Promise, which means if anything fails inside the guarantee period, we come back and fix it at no charge. If a repair fails, the return visit is free. No service call, no re-inspection fee.
DIY or Call Us?
You can safely check a few things yourself. Look for standing water at the base of any leaning post. Check whether downspouts are dumping runoff directly against the fence line. Mark the top of each post with a level and watch it through a rainstorm. That kind of information helps us quote faster, and it costs you nothing.
What we do not recommend is pulling and resetting posts yourself. A full Unilock Estate Wall unit weighs 40 to 60 pounds, and the lower courses are set on compacted base material. If the base is wrong, your reset fails the same way the original did. More importantly, a falling unit or a shifting post can injure you in a hurry. Trevor Nash has pulled enough failed fences in Orlando to tell you honestly: resetting a post is not just digging a hole and pouring concrete. The hole has to be wide enough, the base has to be compacted in lifts, and the post has to be braced plumb while the concrete cures. Skip any of those steps and you are back where you started, just with a bag of concrete you paid for twice.
If you would rather hand it to someone who does this for a living, call (850) 427-6454 and we will come out, look at the fence, and give you a written number before anyone picks up a tool.
FAQs
A properly installed Unilock fence in Orlando should last 20 to 30 years with no structural movement, but the caps and top courses may show cosmetic wear from sun and rain after 10 to 15 years. The lifespan depends almost entirely on the base. A fence on a compacted gravel base with good drainage will outlast a fence set directly in Florida sand by a decade or more. Call (850) 427-6454 and we will check your base before you spend money on new units.
Yes, in most cases. If the units themselves are intact and the failure is in the footing or base, we can pull the affected posts, correct the base, and reset everything without buying new fence material. The repair typically costs $800 – $2,500 depending on how many posts have moved. If the units are cracked or the locking lips have broken, partial replacement is the better call. Call (850) 427-6454 for an exact quote, free of charge.
Most partial repairs are done in one day if the concrete has time to cure overnight and we return the next morning for final alignment. A full fence installation in Orlando typically runs 3 to 7 days depending on length and soil conditions. We will give you a defined arrival window before we start, and the job site is cleaned before we leave each day.
We keep common Unilock Estate Wall units, caps, and corner pieces in stock on our trucks for the models most common in Orlando subdivisions. For less common colors or Lineo Dimensional Stone, we source directly from local Orlando distributors, typically with a 3 to 5 day lead time. If you send us a photo of the stamped code on the back or underside of your unit, we can confirm availability before we schedule the visit. Call (850) 427-6454 and we will match your existing units.
Written by Trevor Nash, Owner, Penhallow Remodeling Orlando at Penhallow Remodeling Orlando, serving Orlando and nearby areas.
