Short answer: yes, and in Texas it's one of the best woods you can build a fence from. The longer answer is that cedar is only as good as the fence it's part of. Great boards on weak posts still make a fence that leans by year three.
Here's where cedar earns its price, where it falls short, and what actually decides how long a cedar fence lasts.
Why cedar holds up in North Texas
Western red cedar carries natural oils that help it resist rot and insects without chemical treatment. It's also one of the more stable woods: it moves less than pine or spruce as the weather swings between soaking storms and long dry stretches. In practice that means less warping, cupping and twisting, which is the difference between a fence line that stays straight and one that looks tired after two summers.
Compared with the pressure-treated pine most fences in the area are built from, cedar:
resists rot and bugs naturally, instead of relying on chemicals forced into the wood
stays straighter, because it shrinks and swells less
takes stain beautifully, so you can keep its warm color or let it weather to silver-gray
Where cedar has limits
Cedar isn't indestructible, and anyone who tells you otherwise is selling something.
It's a softer wood. Dogs, lawn equipment and kids' games can dent and scuff it in high-traffic spots.
It doesn't like sitting wet. Constant contact with soil, mulch piled against the boards, or a sprinkler hitting the same section every morning will shorten the life of any wood, cedar included.
It costs more up front than basic treated lumber. That's exactly why the rest of the build matters. Premium boards on a cheap frame is money spent in the wrong place.
The build matters as much as the wood
A fence is a system. The pickets are what you see, but the posts, rails and fasteners do the work. This is where most fences fail, and it's where we spend the most care.
Posts. A fence fails at its posts, so we don't use wood posts at all. Kedros builds on PostMaster steel posts, set longer and deeper than standard, with a much higher wind rating than wood. They sit inside the fence, so from the yard it still reads as a cedar fence.
Fasteners. Every wood-to-wood connection uses stainless steel. Galvanized nails rust, and rust runs down a cedar picket in a streak that never comes out.
Less picket exposed at the top and bottom, which cuts down on warping as the wood weathers.
Gates framed with triple compression and hung on through bolts, so they don't sag.
That's the thinking behind how we build a cedar fence.
Should you stain a cedar fence?
You don't have to. Cedar survives fine unstained; it just turns silver-gray. Stain is about keeping the color, and it adds a layer of moisture protection.
If you do want color, timing matters. New cedar needs to dry out before it will take stain evenly, and a fence that's been left bare in Texas sun for years needs the gray surface cleaned off first. A penetrating, semi-transparent stain lets the grain show through and won't peel like a thick coating can. More on that on our fence staining and sealing page.
When cedar is the right choice
Cedar is worth it if you want a fence that adds to the look of your home, you plan to stay a while, and you're fine with a wash and a fresh coat of stain every few years. If the only goal is the lowest price today, treated pine will get a fence up for less. It just won't look as good, or stay as straight, for as long.
Already have a cedar fence that's leaning or sagging? It may only need a repair at the posts or gate, not a whole new fence.
Get a free quote · Call (817) 688-9029
Kedros builds cedar fences in Saginaw, North Fort Worth, Haslet, Keller, Watauga and North Richland Hills.