Advice On New Front Wood Fence.

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steve181

114 posts

Master Geek

#311682 7-Feb-2024 10:29

This is my current front fence, cheap pine I presume? I want to replace it due to not being private enough (gaps in wood too large) and too low in height.

I want my new fence to resolve the above issues but also be more solid & premium in appearance. It still want it dark stained like current fence & with paling's horizontal. I want me new fence to look like this example below but dark stained.

I'd love advice on what wood might be best suited for me? Happy to pay $$ for quality but not unnecessarily if I can get the same result for a lower cost. Some of the wood varieties I've come across that might be promising are Garapa & kwila? Would pine still have potential or would it not be premium enough for my desired look?

I will pay someone to build the new fence for me. Can i expect the vertical posts concreted into the ground to remain (to save on costs) or would they likely need to be replaced to support the new heavier fence?

Thanks!

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1070 posts

Uber Geek

#3191715 7-Feb-2024 10:42

As soon as you deviate from pine that will become very expensive. Your current posts will also have to be changed as they wont be tall enough. Trying to retain them with extensions won't give you the high quality look you are after.

Bung

6489 posts

Uber Geek

Subscriber

#3191732 7-Feb-2024 11:10

Your choice but private also works for anyone breaking into your house. How often are you out in the front yard?

Jase2985

13462 posts

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Lifetime subscriber

#3191739 7-Feb-2024 11:29

Just as a ballpark, a pailing fence like the one in the background, 1.8m high, with 100x100 posts and 100x50 rails, with 150x25 pails, so more sturdy than the norm, cost me $140 per meter to DYI build. Took about 2 days to do and included removing the old fence posts and all groundwork.

I would suggest it would be near double that if you're looking at exotic wood.

The biggest issue you will have will be getting the posts to match the rest of the fence, as you want dressed timber, not rough sawn.

cshwone

1070 posts

Uber Geek

#3191757 7-Feb-2024 11:52

Jase2985:

The biggest issue you will have will be getting the posts to match the rest of the fence, as you want dressed timber, not rough sawn.

Or use LVL posts but again expensive.

mdf

3516 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#3191764 7-Feb-2024 12:01

For a dark stained fence, I would probably stick with pine. Hardwood options can be beautiful, but staining it dark will hide a lot of the appeal. There is a world of difference between rough sawn pine palings and trelissing (like you have now) and dressed pine.

If you stick with pine, for the look you are after, have a look at https://laminata.nz/landscape/fencing/. It has an excellent pricing calculator. You can definitely save on this if you DIY though. Disclaimer: I haven't used this personally, but have seen it demonstrated at Bunnings. It looked good though.

For hardwood, all my experience is with decks rather than fences, but realistically you are probably sourcing pretty similar stock for both. Kwila is probably the cheapest and most readily available hardwood option but it isn't my favourite - I'm not a huge fan of the colour, and you need to let it bleed out a bit before you stain it. Garapa is nice, I also like vitex. These are probably both special orders. But if you go down this route, you really probably want to go buy some samples and stain it your dark colour in advance. Really personal preference and budget though - any hardwood option will function as a fence perfectly happily.

steve181

114 posts

Master Geek

#3191767 7-Feb-2024 12:07

cshwone:

As soon as you deviate from pine that will become very expensive. Your current posts will also have to be changed as they wont be tall enough. Trying to retain them with extensions won't give you the high quality look you are after.

The new fence would cover an area of height 1.6m and length 13m so a reasonably small amount of timber required compared to average I'd say. I'm beginning to think now a dark stained solid pine fence would be adequate & would not look too dissimilar overall compared to more expensive wood?

The vertical posts wont be tall enough for the new fence I agree but I was thinking when I get quotes from people they might have a solution to that while keeping the vertical posts in place? If they say the entire old fence structure has to be removed then i'll just have to suck it up.

steve181

114 posts

Master Geek

#3191768 7-Feb-2024 12:07

Bung: Your choice but private also works for anyone breaking into your house. How often are you out in the front yard?

The photo of my fence is about 7 years old. There is now hedging that provided a good level of privacy but unfortunately parts of it have died so I decided that instead of relying on landscaping for privacy I will solve the issue with a higher & less transparent fence. Knowing the overall layout of my property I am confident the new fence wouldent have a markedly increase of appeal to thieves.

Jase2985:

Just as a ballpark, a pailing fence like the one in the background, 1.8m high, with 100x100 posts and 100x50 rails, with 150x25 pails, so more sturdy than the norm, cost me $140 per meter to DYI build. Took about 2 days to do and included removing the old fence posts and all groundwork.

I would suggest it would be near double that if you're looking at exotic wood.

The biggest issue you will have will be getting the posts to match the rest of the fence, as you want dressed timber, not rough sawn.

According to chatGPT at $140/m my new fence would cost $3k rounded up. I don't plan to do the work myself though. I have budgeted about $5k for the job so that seems about right I guess especially if I end up using pine.

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BlargHonk

147 posts

Master Geek

#3191776 7-Feb-2024 12:17

How tall is the current fence? There will be council rules around how high you can go, usually around 1.8m. Seems a shame to rip down and replace a decent fence. I would be looking at ways to add something to the existing fence to increase privacy. There are a lot of things I would rather spend $5k on...

steve181

114 posts

Master Geek

#3191796 7-Feb-2024 12:55

mdf:

For a dark stained fence, I would probably stick with pine. Hardwood options can be beautiful, but staining it dark will hide a lot of the appeal. There is a world of difference between rough sawn pine palings and trelissing (like you have now) and dressed pine.

If you stick with pine, for the look you are after, have a look at https://laminata.nz/landscape/fencing/. It has an excellent pricing calculator. You can definitely save on this if you DIY though. Disclaimer: I haven't used this personally, but have seen it demonstrated at Bunnings. It looked good though.

For hardwood, all my experience is with decks rather than fences, but realistically you are probably sourcing pretty similar stock for both. Kwila is probably the cheapest and most readily available hardwood option but it isn't my favourite - I'm not a huge fan of the colour, and you need to let it bleed out a bit before you stain it. Garapa is nice, I also like vitex. These are probably both special orders. But if you go down this route, you really probably want to go buy some samples and stain it your dark colour in advance. Really personal preference and budget though - any hardwood option will function as a fence perfectly happily.

Really good info there, thanks!

I suspected as such; dark staining premium wood hiding a lot of it's appeal. I think you've sold me on dressed pine!

steve181

114 posts

Master Geek

#3191797 7-Feb-2024 12:57

BlargHonk:

How tall is the current fence? There will be council rules around how high you can go, usually around 1.8m. Seems a shame to rip down and replace a decent fence. I would be looking at ways to add something to the existing fence to increase privacy. There are a lot of things I would rather spend $5k on...

Current fence is 1.4m high. My boundary fence is 1.8m. The new fence would increase by half the height between current fence height & boundary fence so new fence would be 1.6m high. It won't be built to boundary height as I don't want my house to give off fortress & closed off to society vibes too much.

I will check in with council before the job starts just to make sure everything is good.

If I stand in my living room I can see people walk past on the footpath & they can see me. They way I see it is being inside my house is an escape from the outside world & I want the ability to walk everywhere inside confident no one can see in. It might not matter to some but for me it does & with no plans to sell my house it seems like a good investment for me.

It sucks to rip out the old fence but realistically nothing can be done with it to tick all my boxes & for it to not look like an eye sore with modifications.

Blurtie

468 posts

Ultimate Geek

#3191806 7-Feb-2024 13:08

Here's a leftfield suggestion - Have you thought about putting some form of reflective film on your glass/windows? Not sure what it costs, but seems like a possible solution to your problem of wanting privacy in your living room..

Jase2985

13462 posts

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#3191809 7-Feb-2024 13:12

1.6m is an odd height, as fence pails typically come as 1200, 1500 and 1800mm.

why dont you just put 1800 fence pails over the outside of the existing fence, and trim it down to height, then stain it?

mattwnz

20164 posts

Uber Geek

#3192001 7-Feb-2024 16:31

cshwone:

As soon as you deviate from pine that will become very expensive. Your current posts will also have to be changed as they wont be tall enough. Trying to retain them with extensions won't give you the high quality look you are after.

Depends how you do post extensions, but one side probably won't look pretty unless you double side it.

mattwnz

20164 posts

Uber Geek

#3192004 7-Feb-2024 16:32

Why don't you attached self supporting trellis frames to the existing structure?.

The cheapest option could be to double side your existing fence and put some extensions on the posts, and potentially you could hide the post extensions depending on how you do it. You could close up the exisitng gaps as well. Not sure why they are spaced so far apart.

cshwone

1070 posts

Uber Geek

#3192016 7-Feb-2024 16:58

steve181:

BlargHonk:

How tall is the current fence? There will be council rules around how high you can go, usually around 1.8m. Seems a shame to rip down and replace a decent fence. I would be looking at ways to add something to the existing fence to increase privacy. There are a lot of things I would rather spend $5k on...

Current fence is 1.4m high. My boundary fence is 1.8m. The new fence would increase by half the height between current fence height & boundary fence so new fence would be 1.6m high. It won't be built to boundary height as I don't want my house to give off fortress & closed off to society vibes too much.

I will check in with council before the job starts just to make sure everything is good.

If I stand in my living room I can see people walk past on the footpath & they can see me. They way I see it is being inside my house is an escape from the outside world & I want the ability to walk everywhere inside confident no one can see in. It might not matter to some but for me it does & with no plans to sell my house it seems like a good investment for me.

It sucks to rip out the old fence but realistically nothing can be done with it to tick all my boxes & for it to not look like an eye sore with modifications.

If your primary worry is about people on the footpath seeing you I can't see a 1.6m high fence cutting it. Suspect you really need to go to 1.8m

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