Aluminum Fence Cost Per Foot

Aluminum fencing is sold in grades that differ in extrusion thickness. The grade, not the brand, is what determines how it handles impact and heavy gates:

Price aluminum for your yard→ — ornamental gates cost more than the fence per foot suggests.

Height drives material quantity and post depth. Four-foot ornamental is the common pool and boundary height; six-foot is used where the fence is doing security or screening work alongside planting.

Gates are extra in every row — an ornamental walk gate runs $200–$700 and a double drive gate up to $1,800, hardware included.

This is the aluminum-specific detail most cost guides skip, and on a sloped yard it decides both how the finished fence looks and what it costs. There are two ways to follow falling ground, and they are not equivalent:

• Racking. The panel's pickets pivot in the rails so the whole section parallelograms to match the grade, with the pickets staying vertical. Most residential aluminum systems rack somewhere between 10 and 30 inches over an 6-foot panel without any modification. The bottom rail follows the ground, so there's no gap — which matters for both dogs and pool code.
• Stepping. Panels stay rectangular and each one is set slightly lower than the last, producing a staircase along the top and a triangular gap under each panel. Used when the slope exceeds the system's racking capacity, or with panels that don't rack at all.

Two consequences worth knowing before you sign. First, on a pool barrier those stepped gaps can put you out of compliance, because the model code limits the ground clearance beneath the barrier — which usually means racking, or regrading, or a retaining detail. Second, stepping needs more posts and more cuts, so a steep run costs more than the flat per-foot number suggests: budget roughly 15% above the table above on genuinely sloped ground.

Ask any quote to state which method it assumes and how much rack the system provides. A quote priced flat on a sloped yard is a quote that will be revised.

Aluminum is one of only two materials on this site with essentially no recurring cost. There is nothing to stain, seal, or treat; the realistic twenty-year bill is occasional washing and the odd replacement picket after an impact.

That reframes the comparison. Aluminum installs at roughly twice pressure-treated wood, but wood adds staining every three to five years at $2–$4 per foot and is likely due for replacement inside that window. Over twenty years the gap narrows sharply, and against wrought iron — which needs active rust management for its whole life — aluminum is usually the cheaper fence to own despite similar sticker prices. Only chain link→ beats it on total cost, and it's doing a visibly different job.

Pool barrier codes prohibit footholds in the lower portion of the fence, and aluminum ornamental fencing is built exactly to avoid them: vertical pickets, rails spaced far apart, and no horizontal surface a child can stand on. Combined with the fact that it doesn't rust around chlorinated water and needs no upkeep, that makes it the default choice for pool enclosures.

Specify it properly: picket spacing under 4 inches, adequate height for your jurisdiction (48 in minimum in the model code, often 60), and a self-closing, self-latching gate with the latch high on the pool side. See the full requirements→.

Aluminum doesn't rust, so unlike steel there's no corrosion clock running. What ages is the powder-coated finish — and quality varies more than price suggests. A good coating resists chalking and fading for decades; a cheap one dulls in years. Ask about the finish warranty specifically, since it's the only part of an aluminum fence that meaningfully degrades.

• If you want privacy. It provides none, and there's no retrofit worth doing.
• For genuine security. Steel resists cutting and impact far better.
• On a tight budget where an open fence is all you need — chain link does that job for a third of the price.
• For a climbing dog, since the pickets offer a grip and the height is usually modest.

• Grade (residential, commercial, industrial) and rail/picket wall thickness
• Powder-coat finish warranty
• Picket spacing — critical if this is a pool barrier
• Post size, especially at gates and corners
• Gates itemized separately, with hardware and self-closing hinges if needed
• How the system handles your slope — racking vs stepping

Local rules vary. If this fence encloses a pool, local barrier code governs and is often stricter than the model code. Confirm height, spacing, and gate hardware with your building department.