Do I need a permit for a fence in Duval County?

Almost certainly yes. The City of Jacksonville requires a permit for most residential fences, and your zoning district sets the height — typically six feet to the rear and sides and four feet forward of the front building line. Corner lots carry an extra sight-triangle restriction. We pull the permit, submit your survey and meet the inspector as part of the job.

How deep should fence posts go in Florida sand?

Deeper than most crews dig. Sand does not grip a post the way clay or loam does, so a twenty-four inch hole that would be fine further north will lean here inside a few years. Our standard is thirty inches with a belled concrete collar, and deeper again on gate and corner posts where the load is.

Will my fence survive a hurricane?

A solid privacy fence is a sail, and no honest contractor will promise you it cannot come down. What decides it is post depth, concrete volume and spacing — so we set posts eight feet on centre instead of ten, and we bell the collars. If you want the best odds available, shadowbox and chain link both let wind through where a flat privacy panel does not.

What does Florida require for a pool fence?

The Residential Swimming Pool Safety Act sets a minimum barrier height of four feet with no opening a four-inch sphere passes through, no external handholds or footholds a child can climb, and a gate that opens away from the pool, self-closes and self-latches with the release at least fifty-four inches from the ground. The gate hardware is what fails inspections, and it is the part we set to the statute rather than by eye.

How long does an install take?

Most residential jobs are two days on site: tear-out and posts on day one, then rails, pickets and gates on day two after the concrete has cured overnight. The waiting is in the permit and the Sunshine 811 locate before that — usually about a week from signature to first dig.

Do you handle HOA approval?

We prepare the packet — material spec, height, colour, a site plan showing the run and photographs of the same fence built elsewhere. The submission itself has to come from you as the homeowner, but you are not writing any of it, and we will revise it if the board comes back.

Can you match my neighbour's fence?

Usually. Bring us a photograph and we will identify the picket profile, rail configuration and post cap. Historic districts in Riverside, Avondale and Springfield often require a match, and we have milled to profile before where nothing off the shelf was close enough.

Do you repair fences, or only build new?

Both. Leaning posts get reset, storm-damaged sections get rebuilt, and gates that have dropped get rehung and squared. We are straight with you about the point where a repair stops being worth it — if half the posts are rotted at the ground line, patching two of them is money thrown away.

What happens after a storm?

Call the same number. In season we run a storm list and work it by severity, starting with anything that leaves a pool unenclosed or a dog able to get out. Before we touch anything we photograph and itemise the damage for your insurer, because adjusters want that and it is far easier to produce before the debris is gone.

Yes. The written quote is itemised and it is what you pay. If the crew hits something genuinely buried — an old concrete footing, an unmarked irrigation main — we stop, show you, and you decide. We do not add a line to the invoice and hope you skim it.

What warranty do I get?

One year on our labour in writing, plus whatever the manufacturer carries on the material — which on vinyl and aluminium is usually a lifetime limited warranty. A post that leans inside that first year is ours to reset, and we do not argue about it.

A new cedar privacy fence running down a Jacksonville backyard at golden hour

Duval County Fence Erection Cert. #FE-20418

Fences built for
Jacksonville ground.

Sand does not hold a post the way clay does, salt air eats cheap hardware, and a solid six-foot panel is a sail in October. We build for all three — thirty-inch belled footings, posts eight feet on centre, hot-dip throughout.

Book a free measure +1 (904) 555-0148

Posts: 30in deep, 8ft on centre
Hardware: Hot-dip or stainless
Permit: We pull it
Price: Flat, in writing

Free on-site measureFlat written price30in belled footingsPosts 8ft on centreHot-dip & stainless hardwareDuval permit pulled for youSunshine 811 filedPool barriers to F.S. 515Tear-out & haul-away included1-year labour warranty$2M general liability · workers' comp on every crew

Five materials

Every material has a catch.
Here is each one.

Any fence company will tell you what a material is good at. The useful half of that conversation is what it is bad at — so each of these gets a strengths list and, underneath it, the thing we would want to know before spending the money.

Cedar, vinyl, aluminium, chain link and stainless hardware samples laid out on a dark surface

Board-on-board western red cedar privacy fence on a Jacksonville lawn

0102030405

Installed

$28–46/ ft

Lifespan

12–18 years

0112–18 years

Wood Privacy

The one most of Jacksonville actually wants

Pressure-treated pine or western red cedar, board-on-board or shadowbox, six foot standard. It is the warmest-looking fence you can buy and the easiest to repair a section of when a limb comes down — which on this coast, it will.

Board-on-board leaves no gaps as the timber dries and shrinks
Ground-contact rated posts, not the utility-grade the box stores sell
Hot-dip galvanised ring-shank nails — smooth nails back out in Florida humidity
A damaged panel is a two-hour repair, not a section replacement

The catch

Wood moves. Expect some cupping in the first summer and plan on a stain or seal every three to four years — skip that and you are back in twelve years, not eighteen.

Wood in detail

0225–30 years

Vinyl / PVC

Nothing to stain, nothing to rot

Heavy-wall extruded PVC with aluminium-reinforced bottom rails on any span over six feet. It costs more up front and then costs nothing at all — no seal, no paint, no rot at the ground line, which is where every wood fence in Florida dies first.

Immune to rot, termites and the ground-line moisture that kills timber
Aluminium-reinforced rails so gates and long spans do not sag
Routed rails rather than surface brackets — the panel cannot be pulled off
Washes clean with a hose; no maintenance budget at all

The catch

Vinyl goes brittle if it is cheap. Thin-wall panels chalk and crack in Florida UV within a decade, so we only hang material with a lifetime UV warranty — and we will show you the wall thickness before you sign.

Vinyl in detail

0330+ years

Aluminium Ornamental

The pool code answer, and the view keeper

Powder-coated extruded aluminium in flat-top or spear-top. It will not rust, which matters within a few miles of the Intracoastal, and it is the material that satisfies Florida's pool barrier statute without walling in your yard.

Cannot rust — the right call anywhere east of the Intracoastal
Meets the 4ft barrier, 4in gap and self-latching gate requirements
Rackable panels follow a slope without stepping the fence line
Powder coat carries a manufacturer warranty against chip and fade

The catch

It is a barrier, not a privacy fence — anyone can see straight through it. Where people want both, we run aluminium on the pool side and a privacy run at the property line.

Aluminium in detail

0420–25 years

Chain Link

The most fence per dollar, done properly

Galvanised or black vinyl-coated mesh on a schedule-40 frame. Nobody chooses chain link for looks; they choose it because it encloses a large yard, a dog run or a commercial lot for a fraction of anything else — and done properly it outlasts a cheap wood fence.

Schedule-40 posts and a top rail, not the thin-wall residential tubing
Black vinyl coating visually disappears against planting
Encloses a big yard for roughly half the cost of timber
Takes a hurricane far better than anything solid — wind passes through

The catch

Galvanised mesh will show surface rust at the cut ends within a few years of salt air. East of the ditch we quote vinyl-coated as standard, and it is worth the difference.

Chain link in detail

0515–25 years

Farm & Ranch

For acreage, not for yards

Two, three and four-rail timber, no-climb woven wire, and high-tensile line for the properties out toward Baldwin, Maxville and the Nassau County line. Long runs, wide gates and terrain that never once runs level.

No-climb 2x4 mesh — safe for horses, holds a goat, stops a coyote
Braced corner and gate assemblies that hold tension for decades
Runs up to sixteen-foot tube gates hung on drilled-in posts
Priced by the run, so a long boundary gets cheaper per foot, not dearer

The catch

Wire fencing needs its corners built properly or the whole run goes slack in two seasons. That is where the cost sits, and it is not the part to save money on.

Ranch in detail

$28–46/ ft

12–18 years

0112–18 years

Wood Privacy

The one most of Jacksonville actually wants

Pressure-treated pine or western red cedar, board-on-board or shadowbox, six foot standard. It is the warmest-looking fence you can buy and the easiest to repair a section of when a limb comes down — which on this coast, it will.

Board-on-board leaves no gaps as the timber dries and shrinks
Ground-contact rated posts, not the utility-grade the box stores sell
Hot-dip galvanised ring-shank nails — smooth nails back out in Florida humidity
A damaged panel is a two-hour repair, not a section replacement

The catch

Wood moves. Expect some cupping in the first summer and plan on a stain or seal every three to four years — skip that and you are back in twelve years, not eighteen.

Wood in detail

White vinyl privacy fence enclosing a Florida backyard

$38–58/ ft

25–30 years

0225–30 years

Vinyl / PVC

Nothing to stain, nothing to rot

Heavy-wall extruded PVC with aluminium-reinforced bottom rails on any span over six feet. It costs more up front and then costs nothing at all — no seal, no paint, no rot at the ground line, which is where every wood fence in Florida dies first.

Immune to rot, termites and the ground-line moisture that kills timber
Aluminium-reinforced rails so gates and long spans do not sag
Routed rails rather than surface brackets — the panel cannot be pulled off
Washes clean with a hose; no maintenance budget at all

The catch

Vinyl goes brittle if it is cheap. Thin-wall panels chalk and crack in Florida UV within a decade, so we only hang material with a lifetime UV warranty — and we will show you the wall thickness before you sign.

Vinyl in detail

Black aluminium ornamental pool fence at a Florida home

$42–72/ ft

30+ years

0330+ years

Aluminium Ornamental

The pool code answer, and the view keeper

Powder-coated extruded aluminium in flat-top or spear-top. It will not rust, which matters within a few miles of the Intracoastal, and it is the material that satisfies Florida's pool barrier statute without walling in your yard.

Cannot rust — the right call anywhere east of the Intracoastal
Meets the 4ft barrier, 4in gap and self-latching gate requirements
Rackable panels follow a slope without stepping the fence line
Powder coat carries a manufacturer warranty against chip and fade

The catch

It is a barrier, not a privacy fence — anyone can see straight through it. Where people want both, we run aluminium on the pool side and a privacy run at the property line.

Aluminium in detail

Galvanised chain link fence along a Florida property boundary

$16–30/ ft

20–25 years

0420–25 years

Chain Link

The most fence per dollar, done properly

Galvanised or black vinyl-coated mesh on a schedule-40 frame. Nobody chooses chain link for looks; they choose it because it encloses a large yard, a dog run or a commercial lot for a fraction of anything else — and done properly it outlasts a cheap wood fence.

Schedule-40 posts and a top rail, not the thin-wall residential tubing
Black vinyl coating visually disappears against planting
Encloses a big yard for roughly half the cost of timber
Takes a hurricane far better than anything solid — wind passes through

The catch

Galvanised mesh will show surface rust at the cut ends within a few years of salt air. East of the ditch we quote vinyl-coated as standard, and it is worth the difference.

Chain link in detail

Three-rail ranch fence with woven wire across a North Florida pasture

$12–26/ ft

15–25 years

0515–25 years

Farm & Ranch

For acreage, not for yards

Two, three and four-rail timber, no-climb woven wire, and high-tensile line for the properties out toward Baldwin, Maxville and the Nassau County line. Long runs, wide gates and terrain that never once runs level.

No-climb 2x4 mesh — safe for horses, holds a goat, stops a coyote
Braced corner and gate assemblies that hold tension for decades
Runs up to sixteen-foot tube gates hung on drilled-in posts
Priced by the run, so a long boundary gets cheaper per foot, not dearer

The catch

Wire fencing needs its corners built properly or the whole run goes slack in two seasons. That is where the cost sits, and it is not the part to save money on.

Ranch in detail

Build it on screen

See it before
anyone digs a hole.

Style, height, cap profile and gate. The drawing is to scale, so an eight-foot privacy panel really is twice a four-foot picket — which is the comparison a gallery of photographs can never give you.

Style

Board on board

Height

6 ft

Cap

Dog ear

Gate

Walk gate

Footing

30 in, belled

Style

Height

Cap profile

Gate

Overlapped boards. Stays private as the timber shrinks — our default recommendation.

Price this configuration

Florida specifics

Six things that are
only true here.

A fence is a fence anywhere. What changes in Jacksonville is the sand it stands in, the salt in the air, the wind in October and a permit counter that has opinions. These are the six that actually change how we build.

The short version

Deeper posts, closer spacing, better hardware and someone else standing in the permit queue. None of it is exotic — it is just the difference between a fence built for Florida and one built from a catalogue.

Florida's Residential Swimming Pool Safety Act sets the barrier at a minimum of four feet, with no opening a four-inch sphere can pass through, no external handholds a child can climb, and a gate that swings away from the pool, self-closes and self-latches with the release at least fifty-four inches off the ground.

If your fence is going anywhere near a pool, the gate hardware is the part inspectors fail — and we set it to the statute, not to eyeball.

Budget range

What it costs,
roughly, right now.

This gives you a band, not a number, and that is on purpose. Slope, access and whatever is buried along your line all move a real quote, and a contractor who gives you one figure over the phone is a contractor who will revise it on install day.

Linear feet180ft

40 ft600 ft

Not sure? A typical quarter-acre back and side boundary runs about 160–220 feet.

Material

Height

Add to the job

Estimated range

$6,550–$10,300

About $36–$57 per foot, including 24 posts.

180 ft of wood at 6 ft: $5,040 – $8,280
Tear out the old fence: $1,080
Walk gate: $420
Permit, 811 locate and haul-away: Included

A budgeting tool, not a quote. The written price comes off an on-site measure — free, usually within a few days, and it is the number that does not move.

Get the real number +1 (904) 555-0148

Signature to walk-through

Six steps, and you are
only home for one.

Day 001

On-site measure

We walk the line with a wheel, find the corners against your survey, and flag anything that changes the price — slope, roots, an old fence to pull, a gate that has to clear a mower.

Day 002

Flat written price

One number, itemised, emailed the same day. Materials, post count, gates, tear-out and haul-away, permit fee. No allowances, no per-post surprises when the crew arrives.

Day 1–503

Permit and locates

We file the Duval permit and the Sunshine 811 ticket and wait out the statutory two business days. Most residential permits clear inside a week; HOA packets we prepare for you to submit.

Install day 104

Tear-out and posts

Old fence out and gone the same morning. Posts augered to thirty inches, set plumb on a string line in a belled concrete collar, then left to cure overnight. Nothing hangs on green concrete.

Install day 205

Rails, pickets and gates

Rails run, pickets hung to a chalk line, gates built on site to the opening rather than dropped in prefabricated. Hardware is hot-dip or stainless, and gates get a third hinge as standard.

Close-out06

Walk, inspection, warranty

We walk it with you, adjust gate swing and latch height, sweep the run, and meet the county inspector. Then the warranty paperwork lands in your inbox — one year labour, manufacturer term on materials.

Recent work

Six jobs, and what
was awkward about each.

Anyone can photograph a straight fence on a flat lawn. These are the ones with a slope, a code requirement or a storm in them.

01

Board-on-board privacy run

Mandarin · 218 ft cedar · 2 gates

Six-foot board-on-board along three sides of a pie-shaped lot, stepped down a four-foot fall to the creek without a single gap under the run.

02

Pool barrier to statute

Ponte Vedra · 146 ft aluminium · self-closing gate

Flat-top aluminium racked to follow the deck slope, gate hardware set to the fifty-four inch release height. Passed inspection first visit.

03

Horizontal slat and lighting

San Marco · 94 ft cedar · integrated lighting

Clear-grade cedar slats with a consistent quarter-inch reveal, hidden fasteners, and low-voltage grazing lights wired into the existing landscape circuit.

04

Post-hurricane rebuild

Atlantic Beach · 180 ft · insurance documentation

Full tear-out after a named storm, photographed and itemised for the adjuster, rebuilt at eight-foot post spacing with stainless throughout.

05

Automated driveway entry

Julington Creek · 22 ft slide gate · keypad and loop

Cantilever slide on a hardened track with a safety loop, keypad pedestal and a battery backup that still opens the gate through an outage.

06

No-climb paddock line

Baldwin · 2,400 ft woven wire · 4 tube gates

Braced H-corners every direction change, no-climb mesh tensioned in one continuous pull per run, and sixteen-foot tube gates on drilled posts.

0: Fences built on the First Coast
0k: Linear feet in the ground
0: Years working Duval County
0.0: Average Google rating

Foothill Fencing's foreman beside the truck and trailer on a Jacksonville job

Same crew, every job

No subcontracted labour. The people who quote your fence are the people who build it.

Our standards

Eight things you can
actually check us on.

Every fence company says quality workmanship. None of it is checkable. These are, and you are welcome to hold a tape to any of them on the day.

01

Posts at 8 ft, not 10

Two extra posts per hundred feet. It is the cheapest hurricane insurance on the job and it is why our fences are still standing in November.

02

30-inch holes in sand

Belled concrete collars, deeper again on gate and corner posts. Sand does not grip; depth and shape are what hold a post plumb here.

03

Gates built on site

Measured to the actual opening after the posts have cured, three hinges as standard, and adjusted on the walk-through before we leave.

04

Coastal hardware everywhere

Hot-dip galvanised or stainless on every job, not just the beach ones. Rust streaks down a new fence are permanent and entirely avoidable.

05

We pull the permit

Duval submittal, survey, HOA packet prepared, and we meet the inspector. You never take a morning off for our paperwork.

06

One flat written price

Itemised before we start and unchanged at the end. If we hit something buried, we show you and you decide — we do not invoice a surprise.

07

Tear-out included, stated

Old fence out, nails swept with a magnet, debris hauled the same day. It is a line on the quote, not a conversation on day two.

08

One-year labour warranty

In writing, on top of the manufacturer term. A leaning post inside twelve months is ours to reset, no argument.

Licensed and insured

Duval County Fence Erection Cert. #FE-20418 · $2M general liability · workers' comp on every crew. Florida has no statewide fence licence — the trade is certified locally through the Duval County Construction Trades Qualifying Board, and we hold that certification. Anyone who tells you they are “state licensed” for fencing is telling you something that does not exist.

A wooden privacy fence blown flat by a named storm in a Jacksonville backyard

The same backyard after a full fence rebuild

After the stormNine days later

June to November

Storm damage?
Photograph it, then call.

Do not clear it first. Photographs of the damage in place, with an itemised scope, are what an adjuster needs — and they are far harder to produce once the broken timber is at the kerb. We document before we quote, and you get the file either way.

Priority list worked by severity — unenclosed pools and loose dogs first
Damage photographed and itemised in place for your insurer
Rebuilt at eight-foot spacing with stainless hardware, not put back as it was
Temporary secure fencing available while you wait on an adjuster

Storm line · +1 (904) 555-0148 Repair & storm work

Unedited from Google

What people say
once the crew has gone.

4.9

486 reviews

Three quotes, and Foothill were the only ones who walked the back corner where the ground drops toward the creek and told me what it would take. The other two measured from the driveway. Fence stepped down that slope with no gaps and it looks like it grew there.

Danielle R.

Mandarin · 218 ft cedar privacy

3 weeks ago

Storm laid the old fence flat. They photographed everything for my adjuster before touching it, which the insurance company actually thanked me for. Rebuilt with stainless hardware and closer posts. Different fence entirely.

Marcus T.

Atlantic Beach · Storm rebuild, 180 ft

2 months ago

We failed our pool inspection twice with a previous contractor over the gate latch height. Foothill came out, told me exactly what the statute said, reset the hardware and the run. Passed first visit. I wish I had called them first.

Priya N.

Ponte Vedra · Pool barrier, aluminium

2 months ago

Historic district, so the profile had to be approved before anything happened. They handled the paperwork and matched the picket profile off the neighbour's original. Nobody can tell which one is new, which was the whole point.

Ed W.

Riverside · White picket, historic district

4 months ago

I asked why their vinyl was more than another quote and the estimator showed me the wall thickness of both. Ten minutes of honesty. Two years on there is not a crack or a chalky patch on it.

Carla B.

Orange Park · Vinyl privacy, 140 ft

5 months ago

Horse property, uneven ground, and a long boundary. They braced every corner properly and the wire is still drum tight through a full summer. The gates swing with one finger.

Simon A.

Baldwin · 2,400 ft no-climb

7 months ago

Duval · St Johns · Clay · Nassau

Four counties, four
different permit counters.

Which one you fall under changes your timeline more than anything about the fence itself. Pick your area and we will tell you which queue you are in.

City of Jacksonville · Duval County

Arlington

Our yard is on Commerce Street — this is the shortest drive we make.

Shallow oak roots

Water and laurel oaks root laterally at almost exactly the depth an auger wants to be. We hand-dig around anything structural and flag a root-heavy line on the estimate.

Fort Caroline · Arlington Hills · Regency · Woodland Acres · Sandalwood · University Park

Fencing in Arlington

Also coveringSpringfieldOrtegaNorthside & OceanwayFernandina & Yulee— outside these borders, call us anyway. We often still make it work.

Straight answers

The questions
we get every week.

Not here? Ask us on the phone — we would rather spend ten minutes on the question than have you find out the answer on install day.

Installed and permitted, a standard six-foot run works out around $28–46 a foot in pressure-treated or cedar, $38–58 in vinyl, $42–72 in aluminium and $16–30 in chain link. What moves a quote inside those bands is tear-out, slope, gate count and access for the auger — which is exactly why we measure on site instead of pricing off a phone call.

Free on-site measure

Book the measure.
Get one flat number.

We walk the line, check it against your survey, and email an itemised price the same day. No deposit to book, no call centre, and nothing gets pushed on the doorstep.

An estimator walking a property line with a measuring wheel

Call: +1 (904) 555-0148
Yard: 5808-1818 Commerce Street, Unit 1
Jacksonville, FL 32211
Hours: Mon–Fri · 7:00am – 6:00pm
Saturday · 8:00am – 2:00pm
Sunday · Storm calls only

Send photos on WhatsApp

Fences built forJacksonville ground.

Every material has a catch.Here is each one.

Wood Privacy

Vinyl / PVC

Aluminium Ornamental

Chain Link

Farm & Ranch

Wood Privacy

Vinyl / PVC

Aluminium Ornamental

Chain Link

Farm & Ranch

See it beforeanyone digs a hole.

Six things that areonly true here.

What it costs,roughly, right now.

Six steps, and you areonly home for one.

On-site measure

Flat written price

Permit and locates

Tear-out and posts

Rails, pickets and gates

Walk, inspection, warranty

Six jobs, and whatwas awkward about each.

Board-on-board privacy run

Pool barrier to statute

Horizontal slat and lighting

Post-hurricane rebuild

Automated driveway entry

No-climb paddock line

Eight things you canactually check us on.

Posts at 8 ft, not 10

30-inch holes in sand

Gates built on site

Coastal hardware everywhere

We pull the permit

One flat written price

Tear-out included, stated

One-year labour warranty

Storm damage?Photograph it, then call.

What people sayonce the crew has gone.

Four counties, fourdifferent permit counters.

Arlington

The questionswe get every week.

Book the measure.Get one flat number.

Fences built for
Jacksonville ground.

Every material has a catch.
Here is each one.

See it before
anyone digs a hole.

Six things that are
only true here.

What it costs,
roughly, right now.

Six steps, and you are
only home for one.

Six jobs, and what
was awkward about each.

Eight things you can
actually check us on.

Storm damage?
Photograph it, then call.

What people say
once the crew has gone.

Four counties, four
different permit counters.

The questions
we get every week.

Book the measure.
Get one flat number.