America’s Fence & Deck Urges Fall Fence Checks Ahead of Frost Heave

WARRENTON, MO – November 04, 2026 – PRESSADVANTAGE –

A homeowner walking the backyard in March can find that a fence post that stood straight in November now leans, and the gate hung on it drags or stops short of its latch. America’s Fence & Deck, a Warrenton fence company whose owner ran a fence repair business before building it, is advising St. Louis Westplex homeowners to have posts and gates checked this fall, before the ground freezes.

Often the cause is frost heave. When water in the soil freezes, it expands and pushes upward on whatever is buried in it. A post whose footing sits inside the layer of soil that freezes can be lifted a little with each hard freeze. When the soil thaws, the post does not always settle back where it started, so the lean builds over the course of a winter.

Local building standards give a rough idea of how deep that layer goes. The City of Wentzville’s Commercial Building Permit Guide sets a frost line depth of 30 inches, the depth the soil is expected to freeze to, for the design of commercial structures in the city. The same guide lists an air freezing index of 1,000, a measure that adds up how far temperatures fall below freezing and for how many days. Both figures are written for commercial buildings rather than residential fences, but they show how far down frost can reach in that part of the region.

Owner Nick Johnson has worked in fencing across the area for more than 30 years, starting at 18. In the 2000s, he started Fence Repairman, a side business that handled fence repairs, and in 2017 he brought his work together under the America’s Fence & Deck name.

Repair is still part of the company’s work, alongside the installation of vinyl, wood, aluminum, and chain-link fencing. On new fences, its crews set each post to depth in a concrete footing planned around how Missouri’s clay-rich soil behaves through repeated freezing and thawing. A footing that stops inside the freezing layer gives frost something to push against. One that reaches below it sits in soil that does not freeze in a typical winter.

“A post that leans after winter wasn’t always knocked over. Sometimes the ground did it, and if the hole never went deep enough, it’ll keep doing it every winter,” said Nick Johnson, owner of America’s Fence & Deck.

The signs of a moved post are usually easy to see from the yard. A gate that drags or a latch that no longer lines up can point to a footing that shifted over the winter, and so can a fence line that has started to wave. Gates tend to show it first because a small tilt at the base of the hinge post can grow into a wider gap by the time it reaches the latch side. Dogs are the most common reason the company hears for a new fence, and for those households, a gate that will not latch can mean the dog gets out.

“Fall’s the time to deal with it, while you can still dig,” Johnson said. “Wait until spring and that post has had a whole winter to work further out of line, and it usually takes the gate with it.”

Homeowners who want to see the company’s completed fences before calling can visit the company’s profile on Google. The company takes repair and estimate requests at (636) 357-3343 and through www.americasfence.com.

About Americas Fence & Deck Company

Americas Fence & Deck Company has served homeowners in Warrenton, Wentzville, O’Fallon, Lake St. Louis, St. Peters and the surrounding St. Louis Westplex for more than 30 years. The company installs vinyl, wood, aluminum and chain link fencing, along with gates, fence repair and custom decks, and works primarily with residential customers. It holds an A+ rating from the Better Business Bureau, is licensed with multiple Missouri municipalities and is insured. Owner Nick Johnson stays hands-on with the projects the company takes on. More information is available at https://www.americasfence.com.

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For more information about America’s Fence & Deck LLC, contact the company here:

America’s Fence & Deck
Nick Johnson
(636) 357-3343
americasfence@yahoo.com
18599 Royal Dr, Warrenton, MO 63383

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