Free written scope consultation - allowances, timeline, and change-order rules on paper before a single trade is scheduled
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AfterFast, Reliable Fence Installation Across Highlands
Fence installation in Highlands, TX typically runs $3,500-$9,000 for a standard vinyl or wood privacy fence on a quarter-acre lot, and most projects finish within five to seven working days once the Harris County permit clears. We’re Barrett & Sons Construction, and we’ve been putting up fences across Highlands long enough to know what the clay does to a post and what the county wants to see before the first hole gets dug. Call (877) 610-1318 for a free estimate and we’ll walk your property line with you, tape measure in hand.
Highlands sits in unincorporated Harris County, which means fence work here does not run through a city building department. It runs through Harris County Engineering, and since Hurricane Harvey, that department has been enforcing floodplain rules that most contractors who work inside Houston city limits simply never see. A fence project in Highlands can trigger a floodplain review even when the structure itself is not elevated. If you hire someone who does not know that, you find out at the worst possible moment, with a stop-work order taped to your gate.
Why Barrett & Sons Construction Is Highlands’s Preferred Fence Installation Company
Tom Barrett founded this company in 1998, and his sons run the crews. That is not marketing language; it is who shows up. When we send a team to Highlands, the people on your property carry the Barrett name, are background-checked and uniformed, and answer to Tom directly. If something is not right, you call one number and the owner knows about it before sundown.
Highlands homeowners call us for fences because we already know what the county will ask for. We know the floodplain maps changed after Harvey. We know the soil along FM 2100 and down through the Highlands subdivision turns to soup after a spring storm and shrinks into cracks in an August drought. We know a fence that looks straight on install day can lean by Labor Day if the posts are not set right. That local knowledge is the difference between a fence that lasts fifteen years and one that needs a repair call before the first winter.
Fence Installation in Highlands is not a side line for us. It is one of the trades we built this company on, and we stand behind every post with the written 90-Day Done Right Promise. If it is not done right, Tom comes back and makes it right with one phone call. That promise is printed on every contract, not buried in fine print.
Our Fence Installation Services in Highlands
Wood Fence
A cedar privacy fence is still the most common choice in Highlands, and for good reason. It looks right against the 1950s and 1960s ranches that line the older streets, it takes a beating from the humidity, and it can be rebuilt section by section when a limb comes down in a storm. We use pressure-treated posts, cedar pickets, and galvanized hardware rated for the corrosive Gulf air. In Highlands, we recommend concrete collars on every post, not just the corners. The clay demands it.
Fence Repair
Highlands has a lot of fences that went through Harvey and never got properly re-set. You see them everywhere: gates that drag, posts leaning at fifteen degrees, sections where the pickets are still good but the rails rotted out at the bottom. We repair what can be saved and replace what cannot, and we will tell you which is which before we start. A repair estimate is free, and the $40 Off Any Repair Over $200 standing offer applies here in Highlands the same as anywhere else we work.
Privacy Fence
Privacy fencing in Highlands is about more than keeping the neighbor’s dog out. On lots that back up to the San Jacinto drainage network, a solid privacy fence also gives you a windbreak and a sightline break from the adjacent easements. We build privacy fences to full property-line setbacks, and we confirm those setbacks with the county before the first post hole is dug. Six feet tall is the standard we install most often in Highlands, though we have done eight-foot privacy runs where the county approved it.
Chain Link Fence
For dog runs, utility enclosures, and rear-lot boundaries on the more rural edges of Highlands, galvanized chain link is still the value play. It will not win a beauty contest, but it holds up to the humidity and it will not rot. We set chain link posts in concrete the same way we set wood posts, because the clay does not care what kind of fence is sitting on top of it.
What happens when you call
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A real person answersNo phone trees - you reach a local pro.
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You get an upfront price rangeHonest numbers before anyone is dispatched.
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A background-checked tech heads outLicensed & insured, dispatched right away.
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You approve before work beginsNothing starts until you say go.
Trusted Brands We Service in Highlands
We carry and install materials you can look up, not mystery brands off a van. For Highlands fence work we run pressure-treated posts from suppliers we have used for years, and we hang hardware that is rated for coastal and floodplain exposure. It is the same philosophy Tom applies to the rest of the business: in kitchens we spec KraftMaid and Cambria, on roofs GAF, and on windows Andersen. The brands hold up because the materials hold up, and that matters more in Highlands than in drier country.
Common Fence Installation Problems We See in Highlands Homes
- Posts heaved out of plumb in Beaumont clay. The wet-dry cycle in Highlands moves soil enough to push a poorly set post several inches in a single season. If the gate binds by mid-summer, the posts were not deep enough or not collared in concrete.
- Missing the Harris County floodplain review. A fence that abuts a drainage swale or sits within the mapped floodplain can trigger a review and a stop-work order, even under six feet tall. We file the paperwork before we dig.
- Rotted wood below the soil line. Untreated lumber and hardware rust out fast in Highlands humidity. We use pressure-treated posts and galvanized or stainless fasteners on every fence we build here.
- Gates that sag within a year. Most sagging gates we repair in Highlands trace back to one thing: insufficient post footing. The fix is a deeper hole, more concrete, and proper hinge hardware, done once.
Pricing for Fence Installation in Highlands, TX
A standard wood privacy fence in Highlands runs $3,500-$9,000 depending on linear footage, gate count, and what we find when we dig. Vinyl runs in the same range and holds up to the humidity better than wood, though it costs more up front. Here is a line-item look at the two most common requests we quote in Highlands:
| Fence Type | Typical Highlands Range |
|---|---|
| Vinyl Fence Installation | $3,500-$9,000 |
| Aluminum Fence Installation | $4,000-$10,000 |
The price is set before we begin, not after. Every scope, every allowance, every change arrives as a written change order before work happens. An allowance that is not on paper is a surprise waiting for a date, and we do not do surprises. Call (877) 610-1318 and we will give you a line-item estimate for your exact property line.
What Opening Up an Older Highlands Property Actually Turns Up
Highlands is a patchwork now. Some streets are still full of original 1950s through 1970s slab-on-grade homes, and the next block over is all post-Harvey rebuilds raised on piers. That matters for fences because property lines, easements, and drainage patterns changed when those rebuilds went in. On a 1970s slab-on-grade home in the Highlands subdivision off FM 2100, our crew set pressure-treated 4×4 posts for a cedar privacy fence and hit Beaumont clay so wet after a spring storm that three posts shifted within a week. We re-dug those holes to 36 inches, poured a 12-inch concrete collar around each post, and used galvanized post anchors rated for expansive soil, then coordinated with Harris County Engineering for the required inspection sign-off before the fence was closed in.
That is the standard we bring to every fence in Highlands. We do not assume the ground is stable. We do not assume the county will rubber-stamp anything. And we do not leave a homeowner holding a new fence that fails the first time the San Jacinto watershed floods.
We Also Serve Cities Near Highlands
Beyond Highlands, our fence crews work in Channelview, Baytown, Mont Belvieu, and Cloverleaf. If you are nearby and need Fence Installation from a team that already knows the county’s post-Harvey rules, call us. Our scheduling is coordinated from the Houston office, and crews serve Highlands locally throughout the week.
Serving Highlands, TX - Our Local Coverage Area
We’re based in the Highlands 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 Highlands
Yes, in many cases. Since Harvey, Harris County Engineering has been enforcing floodplain rules on fence permits that abut drainage swales or sit within mapped flood zones, which means a standard wood privacy fence in Highlands can trigger a floodplain review and a request for elevation documentation even under six feet tall. We handle the permit and the paperwork before we dig, because the last thing you want is a stop-work order on a fence that is half built. Call (877) 610-1318 for an exact read on your lot.
Thirty-six inches is the depth we use for most fence posts in Highlands, with a 12-inch concrete collar around each post and galvanized anchors rated for expansive soil. Anything shallower, and the Beaumont clay will work the post out of plumb during the wet-dry cycles that run through this area every year. If you have seen leaning fences around Highlands, shallow posts are usually why. Call us for a free estimate and we will check your soil line before we quote.
If your fence is within the mapped San Jacinto floodplain, yes. Post-Harvey revisions require flood-resistant materials below the 2-foot freeboard line, which rules out untreated wood and uncoated steel posts in those zones. We use pressure-treated posts and galvanized hardware rated for flood exposure on any fence that falls under the county’s floodplain rules. Call (877) 610-1318 and we will tell you whether your property line falls in that zone before we order a single board.
You can tie in only if the neighbor’s fence is structurally sound and the county approves the shared line. After Harvey, many elevated rebuilds in Highlands put in new fence lines at different grades than the older adjacent properties, which means a clean tie-in is not always possible without a separate footing at the junction. We inspect both sides before we quote, and we will tell you straight whether a shared line is feasible or whether you need your own posts on your side of the line.
We pause, document what we found, and bring you a written change order for the removal and disposal before we touch it. Highlands had a lot of post-Harvey demolition, and buried debris shows up in fence lines more often than people expect. The worst way to handle it is to bury it back and pretend it was never there, because it will settle and shift your posts within a year. Every allowance, including debris removal, goes on paper before the work happens. Call (877) 610-1318 for a free estimate, and we will flag any debris risk we see in the first walkthrough.
Key Takeaways
- Fence installation in Highlands runs $3,500-$9,000 for most residential projects; vinyl and aluminum each have their own $ ranges above.
- Harris County permits and floodplain reviews apply to many Highlands fence projects since Harvey.
- Expansive Beaumont clay means 36-inch post depths and concrete collars are the local standard, not the exception.
- Buried Harvey debris and post-Harvey property-line changes can affect your fence project; we handle both with written change orders.
- Every fence from Barrett & Sons Construction is backed by the written 90-Day Done Right Promise.
Call Barrett & Sons Construction for Your Highlands Fence
If you live in Highlands and you are thinking about a new fence, a repair, or a privacy screen, call (877) 610-1318 and ask for a free estimate. We will walk the line with you, check the soil, check the county requirements, and give you a written price before any work begins. Tom Barrett publishes his name, his address, and his license number. Look it up before you sign anything. Then call us and put a fence on your property that stays where you put it.
Written by Tom Barrett, Owner at Barrett & Sons Construction, serving Highlands and the surrounding Harris County communities since 1998.