Search for the best fence company near you in Houston and the answer comes back ranked by star rating, review count and years in business. Those numbers describe the contractor.
They say nothing about whether your replacement will hold up in a metro with the highest wood-decay rating in Texas, on clay that moves, under wind that tests every post. Five checks you run before anyone quotes tell you far more.
Star Ratings and Review Counts Rank the Contractor and Miss Your Fence
Houston buyers shop on stars, and 68% of consumers will not use a business rated below 4 stars (BrightLocal, 2026). That is a fair filter for finding people who answer the phone and show up. It cannot tell you how deep your posts went or which grade of picket you paid for.
A fence fails in year eight, and no star rating shows it in year one. A five-star crew can still set a post too shallow, and a long-tenured company can still quote footage it never measured.
We meet the usual bar. Johnson Fence has built fences since 2002, has held an A+ BBB rating with accreditation since March 2003, and finished more than 20,000 projects last year. We would still tell you to run the five checks on us, because a record that long should survive them.
Houston Sits at 77.2 on the Wood Decay Index, and Dallas at 44.3
Houston scores 77.2 on the USDA Forest Products Laboratory’s decay hazard index, well past the 65 line where decay risk turns high (USDA Forest Products Laboratory, 2009). Dallas reads 44.3. The same picket on the same post lasts a different number of years depending on which metro it stands in.
| Texas metro | Decay hazard index | Decay risk band |
|---|---|---|
| Houston | 77.2 | High (above 65) |
| Austin | 55.2 | Moderate (35 to 65) |
| San Antonio | 52.2 | Moderate (35 to 65) |
| Dallas | 44.3 | Moderate (35 to 65) |
Wind adds a second test. The national design standard maps Houston at basic design wind speeds of about 130 to 140 mph for ordinary structures (ASCE/SEI 7-22, 2022). A solid privacy fence catches that wind like a wall, and the posts carry the load.
The soil is the third. Houston clay swells when wet and shrinks when dry, and it moves a post that never rotted. Depth is the only answer to all three forces, and depth is something a bid can state in writing.
Each Houston Failure Traces Back to One of Five Questions
The five checks each close one way a Houston replacement goes wrong. Run them in order, because the first is the only one the state does not run for you.
| What you see in year eight | Why it happens | Check that catches it |
|---|---|---|
| Contractor gone, no paperwork to chase | Texas licenses no fence contractor | Verify start date and insurance yourself |
| Final bill far from the first number | Footage was guessed from the street | Ask if footage is measured on site |
| Rot at the base of the post | Lower picket grade or wrong post wood | Get grade and post depth written in |
| Corner and gate posts lean in wind | Posts set too shallow for the load | Get post depth written in |
| Nobody returns to fix a flaw | Warranty covers wood, not the work | Ask what the warranty covers |
| Start date slides week after week | Too few crews behind the promise | Count the crews |
Know These Five Terms Before You Read a Houston Fence Bid
A fence bid hides five words that carry most of the price. If you cannot define them, you cannot compare two bids.
| Term | What it means on your bid |
|---|---|
| Linear foot | One foot of fence line; price per foot times your footage gives the base price |
| Picket grade | The quality of the wood in the pickets, numbered #1 to #3 |
| Post depth | How far each post sits below ground, which sets how well it resists wind and moving clay |
| Ground contact | Wood set in or touching soil, which needs treatment made for that exposure |
| Workmanship warranty | Coverage for how the crew built the fence, separate from the wood itself |
Texas Licenses No Fence Contractor, So Check the Dates and Insurance Yourself
Texas has no statewide general-contractor, home-improvement or fence-contractor license, so a residential fence builder can work without one (Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation, 2026). Anyone can print a truck door and a website. What you can check is a start date and an insurance certificate.
The Federal Trade Commission tells homeowners to confirm a contractor’s license with state or county government, ask for proof of insurance, and get a written estimate listing the work, materials, completion date and price (Federal Trade Commission, 2024). Do all of it before the first quote, and read the dates on the certificate, not just the company name.
Houston adds a quirk. An ordinary wood or metal fence 8 feet or under needs no city permit, and masonry or concrete needs one at any height (City of Houston, 2026). So no permit process looks at the work for you.
We are licensed, bonded and insured, and we hand you the paperwork on request. Ask any company for the year its BBB accreditation began and compare it with the year it claims to have started.
Ask Whether the Footage Is Measured on Site or Guessed
Ask who stood in your yard with a tape measure. Footage taken from a satellite photo or from the street is a guess, and the price follows the guess. In a June 2026 SoTellUs review, a customer who compared three estimates wrote: “The original cost was revised making the total cost much less than I expected.”
Our salesperson meets you on site, measures the linear footage, and confirms the fence type and picket grade. We count the materials and load them before a crew leaves the yard. About that quote, you hear back the same day.
We do not publish a per-foot price. The owners decided that, and every quote is custom, set by the footage measured on your property and the picket grade you choose. A published rate without your footage is a number no one can hold anyone to.
