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Tamko Fence Installation: The Austin Owner’s Guide
Tamko fence installation in Austin typically runs $3,500 to $9,000 for a full panel and post system, and we stock Tamko-compatible materials for same-week scheduling on most jobs. If you’re here, you’ve probably got a fence that’s leaning past the point of ignoring, or a section that let go during one of our spring windstorms and now the dog has opinions about the neighbor’s yard. Most owners discover the failure the hard way: a post snaps at the soil line, the pickets start cupping and pulling nails, or the bottom rail rots out where sprinkler overspray hits it every morning. We replace the whole system or match just the failed section, and we’ll give you a written number before we touch the first post hole.
Tamko makes a solid composite and treated-wood fence line, but no fence product survives Austin’s clay soil and 100-degree summers without proper installation. The materials matter. The way they go in matters more.
Which Tamko Models This Applies To
Tamko’s fence lineup splits into two main families: their ProLine composite privacy fencing and their pressure-treated pine and cedar systems, which carry the EverGrain and Envision branding in some regions. The composite boards run 5/8 inch thick, which is slightly thinner than Trex Fencing’s 3/4 inch profile, and that difference matters when you’re replacing individual slats or trying to match an existing wall. A Tamko board will not interchange with a Trex board, and the gap spacing is set by Tamko’s routed-channel post design, not by a surface-mount bracket system.
If you’re trying to identify what you have, look for the embossed Tamko name on the bottom edge of a composite slat or check the top cap profile. Tamko posts are routed, meaning the board slides into a channel cut into the post itself, rather than screwing into a metal bracket. That’s a good thing for looks and wind resistance, but it also means a failed post usually requires pulling the boards out of the channel before you can dig the post. We handle that regularly, and we know which aftermarket post caps and channel inserts fit without leaving gaps. For most Austin homeowners, we recommend staying with OEM Tamko materials if the fence is under 10 years old, and considering a quality aftermarket equivalent only when a color line has been discontinued. Tamko has shifted color names over the years, and a “Knotty Oak” board from 2016 will not match a current “Cedar” board, regardless of what the home center shelf label suggests.
Styles & brands we work with
Signs Your Tamko Fence Installation Is Failing
- Post lean at the soil line. This is the number one failure we see in Austin, almost always from posts set too shallow or without enough concrete below the clay layer. When the post moves, the routed channels bind and the boards start pulling loose from the top down.
- Bottom rail rot or crumbling. On treated-wood Tamko systems, the bottom rail sits closest to ground moisture and sprinkler overspray. In shaded North Austin lots, that rail can stay damp for weeks. Once it softens, the pickets have nothing holding them and the whole section sags.
- Cupped or warped composite boards. Texas sun is hard on dark-colored composites. If your Tamko boards are pulling away from the post channels or bowing outward, the board has exceeded its thermal movement range, usually because the installer didn’t leave proper end-gap for expansion.
- Pickets falling out or rattling loose. That means the fasteners have stripped or the board was cut slightly short of the channel depth. It starts with one, then the wind finds the rest. In Rollingwood and Westlake especially, the hilltop gusts expose loose boards fast.
- Gate sag or latch misalignment. The gate is the moving part of the fence, so it fails first. On Tamko composite systems, a gate post that wasn’t set in enough concrete will lean under the gate’s weight, and the latch won’t catch. Shimmying the hinges buys you a month, not a fix.
See the difference
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AfterReplacement Cost & What’s Included
For a full Tamko fence installation in Austin, you’re looking at $3,500 to $9,000 depending on linear footage, post setting depth, gate count, and whether we’re hauling out the old fence. A smaller side-yard run of 40 to 60 linear feet lands around $3,500 to $5,000. A full backyard replacement with two gates on a standard Austin lot runs $6,000 to $9,000. What drives the number up: tree-root removal in the post line, slope work in the hills west of Mopac, and longer runs on clay that needs deeper excavation.
The price we give you is the price on the invoice. Every Tamko fence job from Penhallow Remodeling Austin includes the written quote before work starts, concrete setting below the clay line, gate hardware replacement, clean haul-off of the old fence, and our 365-Day Done Right Promise in writing. If the fence fails inside that year, we come back and fix it, no service call charge. That’s the whole point of us putting the number on paper up front.
DIY or Call Us?
You can check post plumb with a level and look for cracked concrete collars at the base of each post. That’s worth doing. But pulling a failed Tamko post means digging out the old concrete footer, which in Austin clay can run 18 to 24 inches deep and weigh well over 100 pounds once it’s loose. Then you’re setting a new post, re-routing any boards that splintered during removal, and hoping the line stays straight. The work isn’t dangerous like a garage door spring, but it is back-breaking, and a post set slightly out of plane will show as a visible wave in the wall for the life of the fence.
If you want to inspect it and tell me what you’re seeing, call (325) 225-5429. We’ll give you an honest take over the phone, and if it’s something we should fix, we’ll put the price in writing before any digging starts. Tell me what you need, I’ll tell you what it costs, and we’ll go from there.
FAQs
With proper installation, a Tamko composite fence in Austin lasts 20 to 25 years, while a treated-wood Tamko system typically lasts 12 to 18 years before rail and post rot start showing. The Texas heat fades composite color over time, but color fading doesn’t affect structural life the way soil moisture affects wood posts. Call (325) 225-5429 if you want an honest read on whether your fence is worth repairing or ready for replacement.
Yes, and we do that often, especially when one post or bottom rail failed but the rest of the fence is still sound. The catch is color matching on older Tamko composite, which we’ll address before any work starts so you know exactly what the repaired section will look like. Call us and we’ll come out, look at the section, and give you a written price for the partial repair.
A standard backyard fence of 100 to 150 linear feet takes two to three working days, including old fence removal and concrete work. Single-section post replacements can usually be done in one day. We schedule a real arrival window, and we show up when we said we would.
We keep Tamko-compatible posts, rails, gates, and fasteners stocked at our Austin shop for the most common board profiles, and we order directly from Tamko’s regional distributor for discontinued colors. If you’re also sourcing other parts, we carry materials associated with the brands we work with regularly, including KraftMaid, Cambria, and Silestone. For fence work specifically, we pull Tamko OEM whenever the line is active so the density and color match cleanly.
Written by Trevor Nash, Owner, Penhallow Remodeling Austin at Penhallow Remodeling Austin, serving Austin and nearby areas.
