Fence & Gate Service Areas in Galveston County, TX

How our Galveston County pages are organized

Every area we serve has a home on this site. Some places have a page of their own. Others are covered as a section of a broader page, because they share a city, a set of rules or a stretch of coastline. We’d rather tell you that plainly than publish thin copies of the same page for every name on the map.

• Galveston Island has an island-wide page, plus pages for the East End, Silk Stocking and Lost Bayou historic districts, Cedar Lawn, Pirates Beach and the West End beach subdivisions, and Pointe West. Fort Crockett is a section on the Galveston Island page.
• Jamaica Beach, Tiki Island and Bayou Vista are separate cities with their own fence ordinances, so each has its own page.
• The Bolivar Peninsula has one page, and Crystal Beach is covered on it. Crystal Beach is a community on the peninsula, not a separate city.
• Mainland Galveston County is covered by the Texas City page for now. It also lists League City, La Marque, Dickinson, Santa Fe, Hitchcock, Kemah, Clear Lake Shores, Bacliff and San Leon. The cities among them have their own codes, and Bacliff and San Leon are unincorporated. None of them is part of Texas City; they just share a page until each one has enough of its own to say.

Why city limits matter more than your address

Plenty of West End and causeway homes have a Galveston mailing address but sit inside another city’s limits. That changes the fence rules, the permit office and sometimes the whole design. Three examples within a few miles of each other:

• City of Galveston: a front-yard fence at a house can be 4 feet if solid, or 5 feet if at least 60% see-through. Side and rear fences can reach 8 feet (Land Development Regulations §2.501). The fence permit asks whether the lot is in a historic district, in Cedar Lawn, or within 1,000 feet of mean high tide.
• Village of Tiki Island: 6 feet maximum, and the fence must be a see-through type except where the code allows otherwise. A state-licensed surveyor has to survey and stake the lot before construction, and posts must be anchored to withstand 110 mph winds. The rules also reach land within half a mile of the village limits.
• City of Bayou Vista: 7 feet maximum. Within 20 feet of the bulkhead the fence must be see-through, which the code defines as at least 50% open (its example: a 6-inch board, then a 6-inch space). A solid fence is allowed between the sides of the house and the property line.

Both Tiki Island and Bayou Vista also require hot-dipped galvanized steel for metal and chain link fences, including every fastener. That is good practice anywhere near salt water. Jamaica Beach has its own ordinances too; see the Jamaica Beach page.

Galveston Island, end to end

Our office is on the island. Inside the City of Galveston, one set of height rules applies everywhere, and what changes from street to street is the paperwork. In the East End, Silk Stocking and Lost Bayou historic districts, the permit asks for photos of the existing fences and the design of the new one. Cedar Lawn has its own conservation-district question. Within 1,000 feet of mean high tide, a site plan goes to the City’s coastal division.

West of the seawall, the island changes character: elevated homes on pilings, beach lots, canal lots and HOA-governed subdivisions. The Pirates Beach and Pointe West pages cover those. Jamaica Beach sits in the middle of the West End but is its own city, with its own rules.

Bolivar Peninsula and the mainland

Bolivar Peninsula. The peninsula is unincorporated Galveston County, so there’s no city fence ordinance, but deed restrictions, flood rules and county requirements can still apply. Crystal Beach is covered on the Bolivar Peninsula page. Getting there from the island means the ferry, so tell us where on the peninsula the job is when you call.

Mainland Galveston County. Texas City, La Marque, Hitchcock, Santa Fe, Dickinson, League City, Kemah and Clear Lake Shores are incorporated cities, each with its own code and permit office. Bacliff and San Leon are unincorporated communities. All of them are covered on the Texas City page for now. We check the right city’s rules for your lot before we quote.

Outside Galveston County. We also have pages for Baytown and Brazoria County, including Alvin, Angleton, Clute, Freeport, Lake Jackson, Manvel, Pearland, Sweeny and West Columbia. Please call before booking so we can confirm we’re scheduling work in your area.

What happens at the free estimate

Wherever you are in the county, the visit works the same way. We walk the fence line with you and measure it. We note grade, drainage, easements and anything the fence has to clear, and we mark where gates go. Then we confirm which city’s rules apply, including any survey, see-through or bulkhead requirement, and talk through wood, vinyl, aluminum, iron and chain link for your spot. Close to salt water, hardware and fasteners matter as much as the fence material.

What changes the price and the schedule: the length and height of the run, the material, the number and width of gates, site access, soil and grade, removal of an old fence, travel distance, and any permit, survey or HOA approval that has to come first. We give you a written number after the visit, not before. Financing is available through the providers listed on our financing page, subject to credit approval.

Questions we get about this