Fencing & Gates

The ground line is a common weak point

Look at the bottom of the posts on a tired fence. The few inches where wet soil meets timber are often the weak point. Panels and fixings matter too, but sound work above ground cannot make up for a failing post below it.

Everything above can be in perfect condition and the fence still leans, because the only part carrying real load has softened.

A fence is mostly a groundwork job. What you see is panels. What you are paying for is what holds them up.

Pressure treated, not dipped

A fence is a sail

This matters more here than in most of the country. We get weather off the moor and off the Atlantic, and a tall close board fence presents a flat face to all of it.

Wind does not go round a solid fence. It goes over, and it pushes hard on the way.

That is why the fences that come down in a gale are almost always the tall solid ones, and why they usually come down as a whole run rather than a panel.

Slatted and hit and miss fencing lets air through. That reduces the wind load. On an exposed boundary it matters alongside the posts, fixings and ground, rather than being just a style choice.

Set to drain, not set in a bucket

The load the wind puts into a fence has to end somewhere, and it ends in the few inches of post at ground level. That is where tired fences went, and it is almost always water that put them there.

Concrete posts sidestep the problem entirely, at some cost to how the fence looks. Timber posts look better and have to be done properly. We will tell you which we would use on your fence and why.

Keeping the panel off the ground

A gravel board is a sacrificial strip along the bottom of the fence, sitting between the panel and the wet ground.

The point is that rot attacks the board instead of the panel. A board is cheap and takes minutes to swap. A panel is neither. Concrete gravel boards take it further and do not rot at all.

It is a small detail that decides whether you are replacing a strip in ten years or the whole fence.

Gates are heavier than they look

A gate hangs. Every part of it is under load all day from two or three hinges, and every time someone leans on it or the wind catches it, that load goes into the post.

So gate posts are a different job to fence posts. Bigger section, set deeper, more concrete.

A gate post that shifts half an inch is a gate that drags on the ground, then catches, then eventually will not close.

Field gates, side gates, driveway gates and matching gates built into a run of fencing.

Height and boundaries

Two things worth knowing before you plan anything.

Height. Two metres is generally the limit without planning permission, dropping to one metre next to a road used by vehicles, including its footpath. Individual properties can have restrictions, so we check yours before work starts.

Ownership. It is worth checking your deeds before replacing a boundary fence, because it may not be yours to replace.

Neighbours tend to take it better when they are asked first, and it costs nothing to look.

No price list, and here is why

Fencing prices turn on things you cannot see from a photograph. What the ground is like where the posts go.

Whether there is an old fence and old concrete to dig out. How exposed the boundary is, and whether that changes what should go up.

So we come and look, at no charge and with no obligation. Most jobs are quoted at a fixed price for the work listed. If an hourly rate suits the job better, we agree the rates and how materials will be charged before starting. If something unexpected means extra work, we stop and agree the work and price with you in writing before continuing.