Fencing
Why your fence is leaning
Why is my fence leaning, and can it be fixed?
Almost always the posts — rotted at the soil line, or set too shallow for clay that swells and shrinks each year. Pushing a leaning fence back upright without addressing the post is temporary.
Find out which failure it is
Two causes, different fixes. Push on the post at ground level: if it moves in the soil, the footing is the problem. If the post itself feels soft or gives when you press it near the dirt line, it's rot.
Both look identical from the street, and the repair is different.
Rot at the soil line
Wood posts fail in a narrow band just above and below where they meet the ground — wet, warm, and exposed to air at once.
Once that band is soft, the post is structurally finished. Nothing applied to the surface brings it back. That post gets replaced.
Footing movement
Expansive clay grips a post when it's wet and lets go when it dries, every year. A post that wasn't set deep enough, or was set in dirt rather than concrete, gradually works loose through that cycle.
The post may be perfectly sound. It's the hole that failed, and re-setting it deeper solves it.
Why one section leans and the rest doesn't
Usually because that section catches more wind, sits lower where water collects, or has a gate hanging on it.
It's rarely bad luck. The leaning section is the one whose conditions were worst, and it's worth checking whether the neighbouring posts are on the same path.
Straightening a leaning fence without fixing the post buys you a season.