Fences that suit the street
On the Lower North Shore a fence is part of the streetscape — a picket line in front of a Cammeray federation cottage, timber battens against a Castlecrag bush block, straight clean boundary runs where the fence just needs to work. I build and repair all of it: boundary fences, front fences, privacy screening and gates, across Castlecrag, Willoughby, Northbridge, Lane Cove, Chatswood and the surrounding suburbs.
What makes a fence last here is the same thing that makes a deck last: what's in the ground. Posts are set in concrete at proper depth and centres, rails sized for the spans, and fixings galvanised — salt air makes short work of anything less. That's why the fences I replace are so often twenty years old with rotten posts and perfectly good palings.
Repairs first, replacement when it's earned
Because I'm carpenters, not a fencing franchise, repair is a real option: new posts sistered or replaced under an otherwise sound fence, rails renewed, palings patched in and the whole run pulled back to straight. When a fence genuinely is done, I'll say so — and the replacement goes up on bones built to outlast the old one.
Gates, built not bought
Gates are where fencing meets carpentry, and it shows in ours: framed and braced so they don't sag, hung on hardware sized for the weight, latched so they close with one hand and stay closed. Single side gates, double driveway gates, and custom hardwood entry gates built in the workshop to suit the house. If it should match the fence, it will; if it should make an entrance, it can.
The neighbour part, handled
Half the fencing conversations I walk into start with "how do I raise it with the people next door?" Under NSW's Dividing Fences Act the cost of a sufficient boundary fence is generally shared equally, and the process is a simple written notice — myguide to fence repairs and the Dividing Fences Actwalks through it step by step. I quote itemised so the split is transparent, I'm happy to talk to both owners, and I've seen every version of this conversation go fine once there's a clear, fair number on paper.
What moves the price
Every fence is quoted fixed after I've seen the boundary. The things that move a fencing quote are worth knowing before anyone measures up:
- Length of the run and fence height
- Timber choice — treated pine, hardwood, primed picket
- Slope and stepping along the boundary
- Access — can materials reach the line, or is everything carried through
- Removal and disposal of the old fence
- Gates, and the hardware they deserve
Send photos and the rough length, and you'll usually get a ballpark the same day — then a fixed written quote after measuring, with every item on paper.