Tollgate Village keeps filling in, Bridgemore Village keeps growing, and every new closing along Columbia Pike ends with the same phone call to us within a few weeks. The yard is graded, the sod is down, and now the family wants a fence before the dog or the toddler tests the property line. A privacy fence is usually the first thing people ask about, and Thompson’s Station has enough going on (HOAs, town permits, rolling grade) that it is worth walking through before you pick a material.
The Standard Setup
Six feet tall, cedar or pressure-treated pine, posts 36 inches deep in concrete, set eight feet on center. That is the fence you see going up across most Tollgate Village and Bridgemore Village backyards, and it is the right call for a subdivision lot. The height blocks a sight line from the ground up past head height. Eight-foot spacing keeps the line rigid without adding posts you do not need, and every extra post in the run is more money spent for no real gain in privacy.
Board-on-board is what we recommend when privacy is the whole point. The boards overlap, so there is no gap even after the wood shrinks in a dry stretch. A standard dog-ear picket fence will open small slivers of light between boards once the humidity drops in the fall, and in a neighborhood where the next house sits a few dozen feet away, that matters. Shadow box alternates boards on each side of the rail and looks good from both yards, but it leaves small sight-line gaps by design. Dog-ear pickets set with a tight gap, under a quarter inch, is the budget option that still holds up for privacy.
HOA Rules Are Different Block to Block
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Call or text Michael at (629) 529-4765, or use the form. Photos of your yard help.
Free on-site estimates in Maury & Williamson County.
Thompson’s Station has some of the most detailed HOA architectural standards in Williamson County, and they are not the same from one community to the next. and each section can carry its own version. We check the current guidelines for your specific section before we quote, not the general neighborhood rule, because those two things are not always the same.
On top of the HOA, the town has its own permit process for fences inside town limits. That is separate from HOA design review, and you may need both. Outside town limits, in the unincorporated county acreage past Tollgate Village and along Columbia Pike, county zoning applies instead of town rules, and that ground usually does not carry an HOA at all. Our county zoning guide covers that distinction if you are not sure which side of the line your parcel falls on, and our fence permits and HOA rules guide covers the county side more broadly.
Lot-Specific Considerations
Front-yard fence height runs shorter than side and rear yards almost everywhere in town. Chain link and barbed wire are off the table in most residential zones inside town. A corner lot in Tollgate Village or Bridgemore usually needs a shorter front section with the full-height privacy run starting farther back from the street, which is a visibility requirement more than an HOA preference.
Sloped lots need racked or stepped panels, and Thompson’s Station has more grade change than a flat subdivision lot gives you credit for. Racked panels follow the slope while every picket stays plumb, which keeps the bottom gap even so a dog cannot squeeze under it anywhere along the line. Stepped panels stay level and drop at each post like a stair step, leaving small triangular gaps at the bottom unless a filler board goes in. Racked looks better on most of the rolling ground here and we default to it unless a homeowner asks for the stepped look specifically.
If your lot backs up to a common area or greenway instead of a neighbor’s yard, which is common in the newer Tollgate Village sections, the setback and style rules are often different from a standard rear-yard fence, and the HOA usually has separate guidelines for anything facing shared open space. Check that before you assume the standard fence line applies.
The frost line in Middle Tennessee calls for posts at 36 inches, and Middle Tennessee sits on karst limestone, which means post holes hit rock at depths that shift from one spot to the next on the same lot. A contractor pushing for 24-inch posts to save time and concrete is setting you up for a fence that heaves within a few winters, and you can pick those out in any neighborhood by the wavy top line. We plan for rock as a matter of course rather than treating it as a surprise change order once the auger hits it. For more on what to ask before you sign, see our guide on questions to ask a fence contractor.
Timeline
A standard privacy fence job runs a few days once we're on site, plus time for the concrete to cure before panels go up. Inside Thompson’s Station town limits, plan on the town permit and HOA architectural review adding time on the front end, so it pays to start that process the day you decide on a fence rather than the week you want it installed. If the ground is wet from recent rain, add a day, since the auger churns up mud instead of clean soil and the holes need time to firm back up. Call Middle TN Fence & Gate at (629) 529-4765 to schedule a free estimate. We install privacy fences throughout Tollgate Village, Bridgemore Village, and the rest of Thompson’s Station, along with Spring Hill and Franklin next door. Our fence cost guide breaks down what privacy fence installation typically runs.