Grayson County, Texas

Wood Fence Installation in Gunter, Texas

Gunter sits at the southern end of Grayson County, eighteen miles down State Highway 289 from Sherman and close enough to the Collin County line that the growth moving north out of the metroplex arrives here before it reaches the rest of the county. Two things make fencing here unlike the northern towns. The ground is heavy clay right at the surface with no lighter layer over it, and the town publishes more about what a fence may actually be than anywhere else we work — including a height limit, a setback from the street, a list of permitted materials and a prohibition that catches people out.

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Wood Fence in Gunter

Wood is the default in Gunter and the ordinance names it as a permitted material, so the questions are height, placement and what happens below ground. Eight feet is the ceiling in a residential district, nothing may sit in the required front yard facing a street, and no residential fence may come within fifteen feet of a public street — which catches corner lots in particular and is worth establishing before a line is chalked. Below ground the job is the Heiden clay: about fifty percent clay in the first six inches at a very high shrink-swell rating, holding that to nearly five feet. A post here is gripped along its whole length rather than only at depth, so the footing has to reach past the active layer and be belled at the base so swelling clay cannot lift it out. On the flatter in-town lots, allow for a hole that may still be holding water after a wet spell.

Permits and height limits

Gunter is the one city we cover that publishes its fence rules in full, and they are stricter than most people expect. A building permit is required before any fence is installed or erected — the ordinance uses the word unlawful, and it applies anywhere in the city rather than only to new construction. The application goes in on the city's form with two complete sets of plans and two plat plans, and the published residential fence permit fee is ninety-five dollars. In a residential district no fence or wall may exceed eight feet. No fence may sit in the required front yard of a single-family lot facing a public street, and no residential fence may come closer than fifteen feet to a public street, with a stated exception where continuous corner lots adjoin. Permitted materials are masonry, wrought iron, wood or other suitable permanent materials. Barbed wire, electrical and chain link fencing are prohibited as perimeter fencing, except for containing farm animals on a parcel of one acre or more — which is the rule that most often surprises someone who assumed a chain link run was the cheap option. Vehicle gates set back at least twenty-five feet from the front property line, and nothing thirty inches or taller may block a driver's sight line near an intersection.

Soil and post depth

Gunter is the cleanest clay case of any town we cover, and the useful thing about it is what is missing. Roughly nine parts in ten of the mapped ground here is clay — Heiden clay is the largest unit at about two-fifths of it, with Wilson silty clay loam, Normangee clay loam and Vertel clay making up most of the rest — and the sandy profile that runs through the north and west of the county does not appear at all. Not a small share. None. What matters more is where the clay starts. In the towns further north there is usually a light loam surface over the reactive layer, so the first foot of a hole tells you very little. Here there is no such cap: Heiden runs about fifty percent clay in the first six inches, at a shrink-swell rating well into the very high band, and holds that to nearly five feet. Vertel, where it appears, is seventy percent clay from the surface. The hole is honest with you immediately, which sounds like an advantage and mostly is — but it also means the post is in moving ground along its whole length rather than only at depth, so getting below the active layer and belling the base so the clay cannot lift the footing is not optional here, it is the job. There is a second feature worth planning around. Much of the town sits on slopes of one to three percent or flatter, the Wilson soils are classed as seasonally saturated, and the creek bottoms are mapped as frequently flooded. Flat ground and heavy clay together mean water leaves slowly, so a hole opened after a wet week can still be holding water when the concrete wants to go in, and that is worth scheduling around rather than working through.

HOA and covenants

The city ordinance does more of the work in Gunter than a homeowner association typically does, which is the reverse of the position in Van Alstyne. The established streets in town largely predate covenant developments, so the published rules are the whole story and are unusually specific about it. The newer building coming up from the south is where covenants appear, and those tend to follow the pattern set in the northern Collin County developments they are an extension of — specified height, material and finished-side orientation with board approval before construction. On acreage outside the platted subdivisions the governing document is whatever deed restriction was recorded against the tract, and those vary from detailed to absent between neighboring properties.

Wind and exposure

Gunter sits on open, largely level country with field and pasture on most approaches and little upwind of a back fence on the edges of town. An eight-foot solid panel — which is the maximum the ordinance allows and what people tend to build to — presents a continuous surface to that, and the load goes into posts that are already sitting in ground that works against them seasonally. The sensible response is closer post spacing rather than a heavier panel, and a genuine look at whether the full height is wanted along the most exposed run.

Housing stock

Gunter is still a small town in shape — a compact grid of established housing on ordinary lots, with newer building around the edges as demand pushes up from the south. Beyond that it turns to land quickly: pasture, hay ground and smaller acreage tracts rather than the large working operations further west. That split matters more here than in most of the county, because the city's own fence rules draw a hard line at one acre, and which side of it a property falls on changes what may legally be built. The in-town lots are also flat, which sounds like a convenience and is not one once a post hole is open.

What the market looks like

Gunter is a small established town absorbing growth from the metroplex rather than a commuter subdivision in its own right, which puts it somewhere between Howe and Van Alstyne in character. Buyers here split between long-standing in-town owners replacing a fence that has finally leaned too far and newer arrivals fencing a first back yard, with a steady layer of smallholding and pasture work underneath both. The published rules shape the conversation more than anywhere else we work, because the answer to what a fence may look like is often already written down.

What drives fence work here

Gunter counted 2,060 residents at the 2020 census and sits at the southern edge of Grayson County, where development moving north out of the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex reaches the county first, so new back yards arrive here before they arrive further north.
The city's residential fence rules are published in detail and include a prohibition on chain link as perimeter fencing below one acre, which regularly turns a budget enquiry into a conversation about wood or wrought iron before any ground is measured.

Around Gunter

State Highway 289, which runs north eighteen miles to Sherman and south toward the Collin County line
Farm to Market Road 121, which meets the highway at the town
Gunter Independent School District, which anchors the in-town residential market
The creek bottoms around the town, which USDA soil mapping records as frequently flooded

Gunter · Grayson County · population 2,060. Counted at 2,060 in the 2020 census, at the southern edge of the county where growth pushing north out of the metroplex reaches it first.

How a wood fence behaves here

North Texas destroys wood fences from the ground up, not the top down. The Blackland clay that runs through eastern Grayson County swells in a wet spring and shrinks in an August drought, and every cycle works a shallow-set post a little looser. A fence that leans four years in almost never failed at the pickets — it failed at the bottom eight inches of a post that was never set deep enough to sit below the moving layer.

Posts loosening from seasonal clay movement, which shows as a lean that gets worse each spring rather than all at once
Rot at the ground line where the post stays damp against soil, usually the first real failure on treated pine
Cupping and twisting of pickets after a few North Texas summers of direct UV and low humidity
Nail pops and loose pickets as boards shrink in drought and swell again after rain
Rails sagging in the middle of an 8-foot span, which pulls pickets out of line along the whole run
Gates dropping out of square, almost always because the hinge post was set no deeper than a line post

Full guide to wood fence fencing

Other fencing in Gunter

Ornamental Iron Fence

Pool enclosures, front-yard and courtyard fencing, and any property where security and appearance matter but blocking the view does not.

Ranch Fence

Property owners with acreage who need to contain livestock, mark a boundary over long runs, or build a road entrance that sets the tone for the place.

Common questions

How deep should fence posts go in Grayson County?

Deeper than the national rule of thumb, and for a reason that has nothing to do with frost. Frost depth here is only a few inches, so it is not what governs. What governs is expansive clay: it swells wet, shrinks dry, and grips the post while it moves. A post anchored only in the top two feet sits entirely inside that moving layer. In clay we set posts well below it, and bell the bottom of the hole slightly so the concrete footing cannot be lifted out.

Cedar or treated pine — which is actually better here?

Cedar resists rot and insects naturally, stays straighter through hot dry summers, and takes stain well. Treated pine costs less up front and is genuinely strong, but it arrives wet, needs months before it will hold stain, and is more likely to twist as it dries out in North Texas heat. If the fence is going to be stained and you want it to still look straight in year five, cedar is usually the better spend. If budget is the deciding factor, pine is a reasonable fence.

Should I use wood posts or steel posts?

Steel posts with cedar pickets cost more up front and remove the most common way a wood fence dies here, which is rot at the ground line. A wood post is doing two jobs at once — holding the fence up and sitting in wet soil — and it is the part that fails first. Steel posts also stay straighter under wind load on long runs. On a fence you expect to keep for a long time, it is usually the better value even though the first invoice is higher.

Do I need a permit for a wood fence?

That depends on which city you are in, and the rules genuinely differ across Grayson County. Sherman requires a site plan filed with Development Services and limits screening fences along side and rear property lines to eight feet. Smaller cities handle it differently. If your neighborhood has an HOA, that is a second and separate approval with its own rules about style, color and which way the finished side faces. We check both for your address before we start.

Which way should the finished side face?

Toward the street or your neighbor, in most cases — and in a lot of subdivisions it is not optional, because the covenants say so. Beyond the rules, there is a practical argument: the rail side is easier to climb, so facing the smooth side outward is the better choice on a fence that borders a public space. We will tell you what your covenants require before we build, not after.

Fencing quotes for Gunter

Send us the property and the fence you have in mind. We confirm the rules that apply at your address in Gunter before anything is dug.

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