Fencing & gates · Canberra & ACT

Fencing in Canberra

Swapping out a leaning paling fence, running Colorbond down a side boundary, hanging a gate that actually shuts. Simple enough work until the ground has other ideas, and then it isn't.

Get your fence quoted Get fencing leads

Talk to your neighbour before you get quotes. A dividing fence is usually a shared cost between the two properties, and in the ACT there's a process for agreeing it — including a notice to the adjoining owner setting out the proposed work and the cost. Getting a written quote first and showing it to them is the easy way to start that conversation. Ask the tradie for a quote you can hand over.

What gets posted

Colorbond boundary fence

The Canberra default. 1.8m panels, posts concreted in, old fence pulled out and carted away. Priced per metre once someone knows the run and the ground.

Timber paling

Like for like, or lapped and capped if you want it to look sharp. Cheaper than Colorbond up front, more work for you later.

Gates

Nearly always priced separately from the run. A single pedestrian gate, a double wide enough for the trailer, or an automated slider with a motor and its own power.

Pool fencing

Regulated work with strict rules on height, gaps, gate self-closing and the climbable zone. Don't treat this as ordinary fencing — it has to comply, and it gets inspected.

What to tell us so the metre rate holds

Fencers quote a rate per metre, then adjust for whatever the ground throws at them. This is the stuff that moves the price.

How many metres, even paced out. And a photo down the full run from both ends.
Flat, or does it fall? A fall across the run means stepped or raked panels and more labour, and plenty of blocks round Weston Creek and Tuggers drop away somewhere.
What's coming out, and does it need taking away? Old timber, old Colorbond, or nothing there at all.
Access. Can a ute and trailer get near the line, or is every panel getting carried through the house?
Rock, tree roots or services anywhere near the line. Canberra's got plenty of all three, and hitting them mid-job is the usual reason a fence quote blows out.
Retaining. If one side sits higher than the other, that might be a retaining wall with a fence on top. Different trade, different price.
Gates: how many, how wide, and do you want them automated?

Often quoted together

Gardening and landscaping
Clearing the fence line before the fencer turns up.

Rubbish removal
If the old fence is coming out and there's more to go with it.

Electrical
Power out to an automated gate motor.

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