Fence Company in Old Village, Mount Pleasant SC
In Quality Fence we have a Wood fence installation in Old Village is not the same job it is on a new lot a few streets north. The historic district guidelines name the materials you may use, the height you may build, and even which side of the fence has to face the street. A fence that ignores them gets flagged after the posts are set. We work in this district, we prepare the drawings the application needs, and we install to the specifications on your approved plans.
Design Review Paperwork
Fence drawings, photos, and material specs prepared for your COA application.
Wood, Brick or Iron
The three fence materials the district guidelines list as appropriate.
Posts Every 12 Feet
Built to the spacing rule in the guidelines, not to whatever is fastest.
Local Crew, Local Rules
Charleston office, Mount Pleasant work, and no guesswork on the district.
Wood Fence Installation Under Old Village Design Rules
The Old Village Historic District is a National Register district from 1973 and a locally zoned historic district since 1979. Its design guidelines, adopted February 13, 2023, cover every parcel inside the boundary that runs from Shem Creek on the north to Whilden Street and Royall Avenue on the east and down to the harbor on the south. New fences in Quality Fence are an exterior change, so they go through design review before a permit is issued.
The rules are specific enough that they decide the design for you:
- Approved materials. Wood, brick, or wrought iron. High-quality woven wire with wood posts is allowed in rear yards only, and only as a support for landscaping.
- Finish. Wood fences must be painted or opaquely stained. Bare or clear-sealed cedar does not meet the guideline.
- Orientation. The good side faces the street, the right-of-way, or the neighbor. Pickets on both sides of the rails create two good sides and satisfy the rule.
- Runs and breaks. A post, column, or other break at least every twelve feet.
- Height. Front yards and right-of-way lines are capped at 42 inches, with at least 2 inches between pickets. Rear yards may reach 6 feet on lots that are not corner, harbor, or marsh front parcels.
- Enclosures count. Screens around pool equipment, trash, or recycling are treated as fences and cannot be built forward of the house.
If your property sits outside the district boundary, the town-wide rules apply instead. Our Mount Pleasant fence installation page covers those, and the permit guide walks through what the town asks for at each stage.
Wood Fence Styles We Build in Old Village
Every style below can be built to the guidelines. The block you live on decides which one fits.
Privacy Fence
Board-on-Board
Shadowbox
Picket
Horizontal
Repairs and Gates
What the District Approves, and What It Does Not
The guidelines are short on ambiguity here. These are the lines we design to before a proposal goes anywhere near the town.
Fence material or condition
Old Village Historic District
Wood, painted or opaquely stained
Appropriate, with a post or break every 12 ft or less
Brick or wrought iron
Appropriate for new fences
Shadowbox or board-on-board
Appropriate, and gives two good sides
Chain-link
Not appropriate anywhere in the district
Vinyl or aluminum
Not appropriate anywhere in the district
Woven wire with wood posts
Rear yards only, with a planting list; landscaping planted within 30 days
Front yard or right-of-way
42 in. maximum, 2 in. between pickets
Rear yard, interior lot
Up to 6 ft; anything over 42 in. cannot continue into the front
Aluminum and chain-link are still legitimate choices on properties outside the district boundary. Inside Old Village they will not be approved, no matter how the panels are colored. If you want metal, our aluminum fencing page covers what we install elsewhere in Mount Pleasant.
How the Design Review Process Works in Old Village
The Historic District Preservation Commission reviews fence applications. It is a five-member volunteer board appointed by Town Council, staffed by the Town’s Planning, Land Use, and Neighborhoods Department. Four steps, in this order:
- Talk to staff first. A pre-application meeting with town staff is required before you file. They tell you what else applies to your lot and whether your fence is simple enough for staff review. Planning is at 843-884-1229 and planning@tompsc.com.
- File the application for a Certificate of Appropriateness. Plans go in with the COA application, on the Commission’s submittal checklist, before the deadline for the meeting you are aiming at.
- The review itself. The Commission hears the project, so someone who knows the design should be in the room. Smaller fences on non-historic houses may qualify as Minor Work and be approved at staff level without a hearing.
- Approval, then permits, then build. Approved plans come back stamped with a COA. The COA is separate from zoning and building permits, so both sets of paperwork have to be in order before a crew starts.
If a proposal is denied, it can be revised and resubmitted, taken to a rehearing, or appealed under section 156.433 of the town code. We would rather spend the extra hour on drawings than get there.
The town’s own fence permit guide covers the rest of the paperwork, and our wood fencing hub shows the styles that already pass review here.
A Completed Fence Project in Old Village
A rear-yard privacy fence on an interior lot, replaced from the ground up: old posts pulled, new footings poured, board-on-board panels set with the finished face out, then painted to the color the homeowner submitted with the application.
Before
The original run had posts set in soil with no footing, panels that had gone soft at the bottom rail, and a gate that no longer latched square.
After
Six-foot board-on-board painted the submitted color, posts on concrete at eight-foot centers, and a self-closing gate hung to clear the grade.
Photos from our own installs. Ask for references and we will point you to finished fences in and around the district.
Why Wood Fences Age Faster Near Shem Creek
Wood is the material the district wants, and wood needs a finish and a detail or two to survive this climate. These are the four failures we get called back for.
Salt air
Humidity and rain
Subterranean termites
Sun on a south run
Our Fence Installation Process in Old Village
No showroom pitch until somebody has walked the fence line and read the rules that apply to your lot.
Site Visit and Rules Check
Drawings and Application
Build
Walk-Through
Serving Old Village and the Streets Around It
We build and repair fences throughout the district and the blocks that surround it: the water side of Royall Avenue, the streets between Shem Creek and McCants Drive, and the lots along Whilden Street down to the harbor. Work outside the district line is handled by the same crew under the town-wide rules.
Quality Fence & Custom Outdoors
Office
460 King St, Suite 200
Charleston, SC 29403
Phone
(843) 900-6479
Hours
Monday to Friday, 8:00 AM to 6:00 PM
Fence Questions from Old Village Homeowners
Yes. Every building and parcel in the Old Village Historic District is subject to design review, and a new fence is an exterior change. The application is a Certificate of Appropriateness, reviewed by the Historic District Preservation Commission or, for smaller jobs on non-historic houses, by town staff as Minor Work.
Not inside the district. The guidelines name chain-link, vinyl, aluminum, and vinyl-coated wire as not appropriate. Wood, brick, and wrought iron are the approved fence materials, and high-quality woven wire with wood posts is allowed in rear yards when it supports landscaping.
Front yards and anything along a right-of-way are capped at 42 inches, with at least 2 inches between pickets. Rear yards can reach 6 feet on lots that are not corner, harbor, or marsh front parcels. A rear fence taller than 42 inches may turn into a side yard, but it cannot continue into the front yard.
Wood fences must be painted or opaquely stained. A clear sealer over natural cedar does not satisfy the guideline, even though it looks fine for the first year. Pick the color before the application goes in, because it is part of what gets approved.
The finished side faces outward, toward the street, the right-of-way, or the neighbor. A shadowbox or board-on-board design has pickets on both sides of the rails, so both faces are finished and the rule is met without an argument with the neighbor.
It depends on the Commission’s meeting calendar and whether your fence qualifies as Minor Work, which can be approved at staff level without a hearing. Town staff can give you the current submittal deadlines at 843-884-1229. We build the schedule around those dates rather than promising a start date we cannot hold.
Existing fences that do not match the guidelines are not required to be removed. What you cannot do is reintroduce a non-conforming material: if you take out a chain-link fence, the replacement still has to meet the current guidelines.
Yes. The Certificate of Appropriateness is a design approval, and it sits on top of the zoning and building permits the project still needs. Our fence permit guide lays out the sequence, and we coordinate the paperwork for both.
Start Your Old Village Fence Project
Send us the address and the fence line you have in mind. We will tell you what the district will require for that lot, what the review will need from you, and what the work costs.