Top Rail Fence
Formerly known as HFB Fence
Bottom line
- Total investment $113K – $213K including a $60K franchise fee, 7.0% ongoing royalty.
- Average unit revenue of $944K/year. Estimated payback in 1.3 years.
- Rated STRONG with a risk score of 39/100. SBA loan default rate of 0.0% across 46 loans (below the industry average).
- Auditor disclosed a going-concern note — flagged doubt about the franchisor's ability to continue operations. Verify against the latest FDD.
Item 1 · who you're contracting with
The Franchisor
Yale framework · single-unit ROIC
Returns Analysis
Pulls Item 7 (investment) and Item 19 (revenue) from this brand's FDD into the Yale unlevered-ROIC formula. Override any input to stress-test it against your own assumptions.
The model · Yale framework
What would one TOP RAIL FENCE unit return on the cash you put in?
Unlevered ROIC · per unit
51%
In Yale's "attractive" band (30–60%)
Levered LBO scenario · Yale Crease Capital framing
What would 25 TOP RAIL FENCE units return on equity?
Equity IRR · 5-yr
49.9%
7.57× MOIC
Year-1 DSCR
1.88×
EBITDA ÷ debt service
Equity required
$566K
on $2.8M purchase
Total debt
$2.3M
SBA $1.4M + senior + seller note
Overview
About
TOP RAIL FENCE franchisees operate residential and commercial fence installation and repair businesses, managing crews for construction, handling customer acquisition through local marketing, and providing estimates and project management. Daily operations involve job scheduling, quality oversight, material sourcing, and customer service for fence design, installation, maintenance, and replacement projects.
Item 7 · what it costs
The Vitals
Item 19
Financial Performance
Item 20 · unit dynamics
The Growth Chart
Year-over-year franchised unit counts and net change. Source: FDD Item 20.
Item 20 · 16 states with active franchisees
The Territory Map
Derived from franchisee contact records. Shows states with at least one current operator — not where the franchisor is registered to sell new units (that data is re-extracting in a future refresh).
States derived from franchisee phone area codes (Item 20). Approximate — ported numbers may show the original state, not the franchisee's current location.
Government records
SBA Loan Data
Aggregated from SBA 7(a) loan disclosures, public data unique to FranchiseVerdict.
FranchiseVerdict rating + FDD Items 3, 5, 6, 12, 17
Risk & Legal
Hypergrowth expansion coupled with thin profitability margins and opaque financial disclosure presents moderate-to-high risk; explosive unit growth may indicate recruitment-driven model rather than sustainable franchisee success.
Score breakdown · what drove the 39 / 100 rating
- 01MINORExplosive 342.9% YoY unit growth is unsustainable and suggests potential quality control issues, franchisee satisfaction concerns, or aggressive recruitment masking underlying problems
- 02MINORHigh initial investment ($112,944-$213,444) combined with 7% royalty on relatively modest average revenue ($943,783) creates tight margin pressure with breakeven concerns
- 03MINORNet income averaging only $126,073 (13.4% net margin) means franchisees take home minimal profit after royalties, taxes, and operating expenses in many cases
- 04MINORFranchise fee of $59,900 represents 53-63% of minimum initial investment, indicating heavy reliance on front-loaded revenue rather than ongoing system support
- 05MEDLack of disclosed Item 19 financial performance data prevents independent verification of claimed average revenue and income figures
Severity inferred from the FDD text · not a regulatory classification
FDD Items 5, 6, 12, 17 · continued from Risk & Legal
Contract & Territory Detail
Item 11
Training & Operations
Item 20
Franchisee Contacts
Phone numbers extracted directly from this brand's FDD Item 20. After purchase, you'll also receive a list of validation questions tailored to this brand.
Franchisee contacts
19 numbers
One-time purchase · CSV download · Validation questions included
FDD download
TOP RAIL FENCE · FDD (2024) PDF