Most people only have a fence built once or twice in their life. So it’s completely reasonable not to know what’s about to happen in your backyard, whether you need to be home, what the noise will be like, what happens to the old fence, and who’s responsible for what.

This is a walk through the whole thing, in order, so you know what a properly run job looks like and can tell when you’re getting one.

Before the day

The site visit and quote

It starts with a look at the job. Photos and measurements over the phone will get you a ballpark, but the things that change a quote are the things you notice standing on the site: how the ground falls, what’s coming out, whether the truck can get anywhere near it, what’s growing along the line, and where the boundary actually runs.

A good quote spells out the fence type, the materials, the post sizes, the height and what’s included. If a quote is a single number with no detail behind it, ask what’s in it.

The neighbour conversation

For a shared boundary fence, this needs to be sorted before anything is booked. Costs on a dividing fence are commonly shared, and your neighbour is entitled to know what’s going up before it goes up. It’s your conversation to have, but have it early it’s the most common reason a fence job stalls.

Choosing the details

Fence type, height, colour, and whether you want a gate. If you’re going for slat or blade fencing in a particular colour, that’s produced through our own powder coating facility, which is why we can offer custom finishes rather than a fixed palette. Decide it before the job is scheduled, not during.

Marking out services

Anything with an auger going into the ground needs to know what’s already down there. Underground services get identified before digging starts. This is standard practice, not an extra.

On installation day

The crew arrives

Installation runs on weekdays. The crew will want a quick word at the start where to park, where the boundary sits, where they can get water and power if needed, and whether pets or kids need to be kept clear of the work area.

You don’t need to take the day off. Most customers don’t. But being reachable by phone matters, because if something unexpected turns up in the ground or along the line, a two-minute call saves a lot of rework.

Clearing the line

Anything along the fence line pot plants, garden beds, the trampoline, the pile of firewood needs to be moved. If you can shift it beforehand, the crew gets straight into the actual work. If plants or landscaping are in the way and need proper handling, tell us at quote stage; we do landscaping and clean-ups as well, so it can be built into the job rather than becoming a problem on the day.

Removing the old fence

If there’s an existing fence, it comes out. This is the loudest, dustiest part of the process and there’s no elegant way around it. Old posts that were properly concreted put up a fight. Expect a period where the boundary is open which is the moment to make sure pets are secured inside.

The old material goes with us. Removal and disposal should be spelled out in your quote so there’s no ambiguity about who’s left with a pile of broken palings.

Setting out

Before anything goes in the ground, the line gets set out string line, levels, post positions measured and marked. It looks like not much is happening. It’s the part that determines whether the finished fence looks straight from the kitchen window.

On a sloping block, this is also where the decision gets made about stepping or raking the fence, and it’s worth walking out with the crew to look at it if you have a preference.

Digging and setting posts

Holes are augered or dug to the depth the fence needs, posts are stood, checked for plumb and line, braced, and concreted. Corner posts, straining posts and gate posts get more depth and more footing than the line posts, because they carry a concentrated load.

This is where a professional job separates itself from a quick one. Footings are not the place to save time.

Curing

Concrete needs to go off before it can carry the rails, the palings and especially a gate. On some jobs the crew will set posts and return to complete the fence. If that happens, it isn’t the job being dragged out — it’s the reason your fence is still plumb in five years.

Rails, palings and panels

Then the fence goes on. Rails first, then palings, panels or slats depending on what you’ve chosen. Capping goes on last on a capped paling fence.

Colorbond assembles into its own post and rail system. Slat and blade fencing is the fussiest of the lot, because the spacing has to be consistent along the whole run any drift is obvious once you stand back.

Gates and hardware

Gates get hung, aligned and adjusted at the end. A gate that swings clean, latches without lifting and doesn’t drop over time is the result of the post being right, the footing being right, and the hardware being adjusted properly. Automatic and sliding gates need commissioning and testing before anyone calls it finished.

Cleaning up

Offcuts collected, ground raked over, spoil from the post holes dealt with, tools away. You shouldn’t be finding screws in the lawn a week later.

Before the crew leaves

Walk the fence with them. Look down the line from both ends. Open and close the gate a few times. Check the height and the finish is what you agreed to. If something isn’t right, raise it while there’s still a crew and a truck on your property it’s far easier to sort then than a fortnight later.

Ask what maintenance the fence wants, if any, and how to look after the finish.

After it’s done

Our installations are covered by a workmanship guarantee and we’re fully insured, so if something isn’t right, it gets dealt with. Keep your paperwork somewhere sensible.

Let new footings settle before hanging anything heavy off the fence, and give gates a check every few months in the first year. A small hinge adjustment early prevents a dropped gate later.

Ready to get started?

We install residential, commercial and industrial fencing across Melbourne and Victoria paling, capped paling, Colorbond, slat, acoustic, brush, security, pool and childcare fencing, along with gates, retaining walls and landscaping.

Call 0406 200 002 or 03 8375 1800, or email info@aclassfencingsolution.com.au. You’ll find us at 27 Palm Springs Road, Ravenhall, open Monday to Friday 7am to 4pm and Saturday 7am to 1pm.