Free written scope consultation - allowances, timeline, and change-order rules on paper before a single trade is scheduled
Before
After
Before
After
Before
AfterFast, Reliable Fence Installation Across Forest Hill
A new fence for a Forest Hill home typically runs $3,500 to $9,000, depending on material, linear footage, and what our crew finds once the old posts come out of the ground. We’re Barrett & Sons Construction, and we’ve been putting fences in across Forest Hill long enough to know the difference between a Fort Worth permit and a Forest Hill one, and why that distinction stops plenty of out-of-town contractors cold. If you’re on a 1960s brick ranch off Wichita Street or in one of the quiet blocks near Anglin Public School, call (877) 610-1318 and we’ll come out, walk your line, and hand you a written estimate with real numbers.
Why Barrett & Sons Construction Is Forest Hill’s Preferred Fence Installation Company
Tom Barrett started this company in 1998, and he still answers his own phone. That matters in a small city like Forest Hill, where word travels fast and a contractor’s reputation follows him to the hardware store on Saturday. Our crews work the neighborhoods between South Hughes Avenue and the east side near Trinity Forest, and the fences we’ve put in along Forest Hill Drive still stand square after droughts and heavy rain cycles. We don’t dispatch strangers. Tom’s sons run the crews, and every job gets a written 90-Day Done Right Promise folded right into the contract. If the gate binds or a post shifts, one call brings us back.
We also know Forest Hill’s backstreets, not just its main roads. That means we schedule around school traffic near Forest Hill Junior High, we know which alleys are tight for trailer access, and we know which blocks sit on the worst of the gumbo clay that shrinks and swells under our fences. Permits get pulled through Forest Hill’s own city hall, not Fort Worth’s, because that’s how it has to be done here. You can look up our license number yourself. We publish it for exactly that reason.
Our Fence Installation Services in Forest Hill
Here’s what we install most often across Forest Hill’s 76119 zip code, and what each one looks like against the city’s older ranch-home lots.
Wood Fence
Cedar privacy fencing is the most common fence style we put up in Forest Hill. These are older lots, mostly 1950s through 1970s, and cedar fits the streetscape. We set posts in concrete piers below the shrink-swell line of the Blackland Prairie clay, because a post set shallow will lean within two seasons here. On Wichita Street and the blocks around Bessie Mitchell Park, we’ve rebuilt wood fences that had racked out of square so badly the back gate wouldn’t latch. A properly set cedar fence with galvanized hardware will hold up through the droughts that make the clay pull away from concrete. For more on the full range of what we build, see our Fence Installation team’s service page.
Chain Link Fence
Chain link remains a practical choice for Forest Hill homeowners who want a secure perimeter without blocking sightlines on narrow lots. It handles the clay movement better than any other material because the fabric provides give, but the line posts still need proper depth. We use heavier-gauge galvanized posts than the thin stock big-box stores sell, and we set them in concrete with deeper footing than code minimums call for. On the smaller rectangle lots throughout Forest Hill, galvanized chain link with a top rail runs a fair bit under the cost of wood, and it doesn’t mind if the ground shifts a quarter inch.
Vinyl Fence
Vinyl holds its color in the North Texas sun better than painted wood, which makes it a smart option for homeowners who don’t want to stain a fence every other spring. Forest Hill’s climate is hard on finishes: high UV in summer, driving rain in spring, and clay that moves under the footings. A vinyl fence installed on a house with active foundation movement will telegraph that movement straight up through the rails. So we check the slab and the perimeter grade before we quote vinyl, and we space posts so that minor heave doesn’t snap the profile. Vinyl fence installation in Forest Hill typically runs $3,500 to $9,000 depending on footage and gate count.
Aluminum Fence
Aluminum fence gives a black, ornamental look that works well on corner lots around Forest Hill. It doesn’t rot, doesn’t rust through, and it holds up to the humidity cycles that come with Tarrant County’s wet springs. It’s not the cheapest option, but for homeowners replacing a rusted iron fence or wanting a maintenance-free perimeter, it earns the price. We stock aluminum fence panels and gate kits for common Forest Hill lot widths, which keeps lead times shorter than ordering through a catalog. Typical aluminum fence installation in Forest Hill ranges from $4,000 to $10,000, depending on grade and linear footage.
What happens when you call
- 1
A real person answersNo phone trees - you reach a local pro.
- 2
You get an upfront price rangeHonest numbers before anyone is dispatched.
- 3
A background-checked tech heads outLicensed & insured, dispatched right away.
- 4
You approve before work beginsNothing starts until you say go.
Trusted Brands We Service in Forest Hill
We install fencing and related hardscape materials from brands that publish their specs, so you know exactly what goes into the ground. When a Forest Hill homeowner wants a fence line that flows into a paver walkway or a patio extension, we pull from Belgard and Techo-Bloc rather than whatever the nearest lumberyard happened to have on the truck. Same goes for concrete work around the post footings: Quikrete products, mixed and poured to spec. That depth of supply means we’re not guessing on material availability when you want a specific panel style, and we can show you the manufacturer’s own documentation before anything is ordered.
Common Fence Installation Problems We See in Forest Hill Homes
Here’s what we run into when we pull an old fence apart in Forest Hill, and what we do about each one:
- Posts set too shallow for the clay. The Blackland Prairie soil under Forest Hill shrinks in droughts and heaves after rain. A post set 18 inches deep will lean within two years. We go below the active zone and set in concrete, even when the old fence only had posts in tamped dirt.
- Fort Worth permits on Forest Hill jobs. Forest Hill is its own incorporated city, completely surrounded by Fort Worth, and it permits its own fences. A contractor who pulls a Fort Worth permit by habit gets a stop-work order here. We pull through Forest Hill’s municipal department every time, because that’s the only way the inspection gets signed.
- Fencing tied directly to a moving slab. If the house has foundation movement, and plenty of 1960s Forest Hill ranches do, attaching a fence board directly to the house wall transfers every shift into the fence. Rails crack, fasteners pop, and the gate frame twists. We build in expansion clearance and anchor to piers, not to the slab edge.
- Old concrete around post bases. When homeowners poured their own patches or a previous crew left concrete collars above grade, water pools at the post base and rots the wood off at ground level. We break out the old collar, reset the post, and taper new concrete away so water sheds.
Pricing for Fence Installation in Forest Hill, TX
Here’s the breakdown for the two most common full replacements:
| Service | Price Range |
|---|---|
| Vinyl Fence Installation | $3,500-$9,000 |
| Aluminum Fence Installation | $4,000-$10,000 |
Call (877) 610-1318 for an exact quote on your fence project in Forest Hill. The estimate is free, and the number never changes unless you sign a written change order.
We Also Serve Cities Near Forest Hill
Beyond Forest Hill, our crews regularly run fence lines in Forest Hill and the surrounding communities of Kennedale, Fort Worth, Everman, and Rendon. The same inspection-first approach applies in every one of them, and the same written pricing holds. Wherever you are in this corner of Tarrant County, call (877) 610-1318 and we’ll bring the string line and the level.
Serving Forest Hill, TX - Our Local Coverage Area
We’re based in the Forest Hill area and know this community well. Use the map below to see our service coverage - if you’re nearby, we can almost certainly help.
FAQs - Fence Installation in Forest Hill
Do I need a Forest Hill permit for a fence replacement, or can I use a Fort Worth permit since we’re surrounded by Fort Worth?
You need a Forest Hill permit, full stop. Forest Hill is an incorporated city with its own municipal building and its own inspection schedule, even though Fort Worth completely surrounds it. A Fort Worth permit will not satisfy Forest Hill’s code enforcement, and our experience with this exact situation is why we pull every permit from Forest Hill’s own department before a single post hole gets dug. On a 1960s brick ranch near the city’s core, we once walked onto a job where the previous contractor had a Fort Worth permit. Work stopped, the homeowner lost a week, and the inspector wouldn’t sign until the correct paperwork was on file. We don’t repeat that mistake. Call (877) 610-1318 and we’ll handle the permit paperwork as part of the job.
How do Forest Hill’s expansive clay soils affect fence post depth and spacing?
Forest Hill sits on Blackland Prairie clay, the “black gumbo” that contracts during Tarrant County’s droughts and expands after heavy rain. That movement will rack a fence out of square within two years if the posts aren’t set below the active soil zone and anchored in concrete. We set posts deeper than the old fences we remove, and we space them to account for seasonal heave, not just for the panel width. This also matters for gates: a gate that swings clean in May can bind by August if the post has moved even half an inch. We use adjustable gate hinges on every Forest Hill install so the drought-heave cycle doesn’t lock your gate shut.
Will a new privacy fence make my Forest Hill lot feel smaller given the older ranch homes’ shallow setbacks?
In many cases, no. Forest Hill’s ranch homes sit on modest lots, often with shallow front and side setbacks, and a six-foot privacy fence can close the sightlines if you’re not careful about style and height transitions. We typically recommend a stepped or staggered panel layout for privacy fences on these older lots, and we’ll walk the line with you before we quote so you can see where the fence meets the house and the alley. The point is enclosure, not confinement. An honest conversation about sightlines is part of the free estimate.
What does Fence Repair cover on a Forest Hill property with prior foundation movement?
Fence repair on a Forest Hill home with known foundation movement usually means resetting posts that have drifted out of line, replacing rails that the ground shift has snapped, and rebuilding gate frames that no longer square up. We address the fence as its own structure rather than anchoring it harder to the moving slab, because the fence should be independent enough to ride out the same clay shifts the house has already shown us. The repair itself typically runs $400 to $1,800 depending on how many posts are involved, and the estimate is written before we start. Call (877) 610-1318 to have Tom take a look.
How do you handle surprises once the old fence comes down in a Forest Hill home with deferred maintenance?
We assume the surprises are coming, especially on older Forest Hill properties where the previous fence may have been standing for thirty years. When we pull an old post and find a concrete ball the size of a trash can underneath, or a rotted gate post leaning into a crack in the slab, we stop and put the finding in writing. You get a written change order with the exact cost and the exact scope before we proceed. That’s the Barrett & Sons way: no surprise invoice at the end, because the allowance that isn’t on paper is a surprise waiting for a date. If the old fence was hiding something, you’ll know the price before we fix it, not after.
Get Your Forest Hill Fence Started
If you live in Forest Hill, TX and you’re tired of looking at a leaning fence or a gate that won’t close, call (877) 610-1318. We’ll come out, measure the line, talk through the materials, and leave you with a written estimate that holds. Tom Barrett’s name, address, and license number are published and verifiable. The 90-Day Done Right Promise is written on every contract. And the person who answers the phone is a real person, day or night.
Written by Tom Barrett, Owner at Barrett & Sons Construction, serving Forest Hill and the surrounding Tarrant County communities since 1998.