El Paso, TX
Rock & Wood Combo Fences in El Paso, TX
The signature El Paso fence — native stone below, cedar above.
Nothing looks more like El Paso than a stone-based fence with cedar pickets rising above the wall. It's the fence you see on the Westside, in the foothills of the Franklin Mountains, in the newer high-end builds in East El Paso and Horizon City. Done well, a rock-and-wood combination fence lasts generations, blends with the landscape like it grew there, and holds a level of curb appeal that no all-wood or all-metal fence can match.
- Native El Paso stone bases (18 in to 36 in typical)
- Reinforced concrete footings below frost line
- Cedar or treated pine picket tops with cap rail
- Matching rock columns at gates and corners
- Bond beam capping between rock and wood
- Full color-matching to your home's stucco and stone
Why the rock base makes the whole fence better
A rock base at the bottom of your fence solves the two biggest problems that all-wood fences have in El Paso: ground contact and dust. Wood pickets that sit an inch above the dirt wick moisture up into the grain during every monsoon storm and rot from the bottom edge inward within a decade. A stone base lifts the wood off the ground entirely — the wood starts 18 to 36 inches up, well clear of splash-back, standing water, and blowing dirt. On the aesthetic side, the rock wall breaks up the visual expanse of a long fence run, absorbs afternoon sun in a way that reads as warm rather than sterile, and gives you a permanent base you can plant xeriscape landscaping against. The fence stops looking like a boundary and starts looking like architecture.
How we build the stone base
The stone base is the most important part of the fence, so we don't cut corners. Every rock wall we build starts with a poured concrete footing, minimum 12 inches wide and 18 inches deep, reinforced with #4 rebar tied every 24 inches. On sloped lots or in areas where caliche is right at the surface, we go deeper. The rock is set in Type S mortar over CMU block cores, so the wall has real structural integrity — it's not just decorative stone stacked against a wall. We finish the top of the rock with a poured bond beam that ties the whole thing together horizontally and gives the wood section above it a perfectly straight, level base to attach to. We source our stone from local El Paso and Southern New Mexico quarries so the color and texture read authentically Chihuahuan Desert.
The wood section on top
Above the bond beam, we typically frame in pressure-treated 4x4 posts anchored into the stonework with stainless steel embedded anchors, then run 2x4 galvanized rails between them. Pickets are almost always Western Red Cedar for its color, natural longevity, and how it ages against the stone. Standard designs are vertical dog-ear or French Gothic pickets, but we also build horizontal slat tops for a more modern look. The whole wood section is capped with a horizontal 2x6 cedar cap to shed water and finish the top edge. The result is a fence that reads as one integrated design, not a wood fence stuck on top of a rock wall.
Columns, gates, and details that make it feel custom
The best rock-and-wood combo fences we build have matched stone columns at the corners, gate openings, and at intervals along long runs. The columns pull the eye up and break the horizontal line of the wall in a way that feels intentional. Gate columns are built taller and wider than field columns, often capped with a poured concrete or stone cap and, on high-end projects, topped with an ornamental iron lantern or a fired-clay accent tile. Gates are typically framed in steel for durability and clad in the same cedar as the fence body so everything reads as one design.
What a rock-and-wood fence costs in El Paso
A combination stone-and-wood fence is a significant investment, but it's the last fence you'll build on your property. Pricing typically runs $110 to $175 per linear foot depending on rock height, stone type, wood species, and column count. That number is higher than a plain wood fence, but the fence lasts three to four times as long, adds real resale value, and looks stunning from the day it's finished. Call us at (915) 237-1824 for a free on-site quote — we'll walk your property, look at how the fence relates to your house, and give you options at multiple price points.
Why El Paso homeowners choose us
From the Franklin Mountains foothills to the Lower Valley, we've been building fences that stand up to desert sun, monsoon winds, and dust storms for years. Every project gets a fair on-site quote, a clean job site, and a fence that looks like it belongs in El Paso — not stamped out of a catalog.