Timber Fencing
Treated pine and hardwood boundary fences built for bayside conditions
Timber Fencing in Birkdale and the Bayside Suburbs
Timber is still the default dividing fence across the eastern suburbs, and for good reason. It's the cheapest way to get 1.8 metres of solid privacy, it suits the older Queenslanders through Wynnum and Manly as readily as the new builds at Thornlands, and when a neighbour is splitting the cost it's the material most people agree on without an argument.
What we pay more attention to out here than a fencer west of the river would is what the ground and the air do to the posts. Much of the Redlands sits on reactive clay that swells after a wet week and shrinks back in a dry month. Posts set in shallow or undersized holes move with it, and two years later the fence has a wave in it. We dig deeper than the minimum, size the footings to the soil we actually find, and set posts in concrete with the hole belled out at the base so the footing can't lift.
Closer to the water, galvanised fixings matter. Standard bright nails and screws in a fence at Wellington Point will bleed rust streaks down the palings inside a couple of summers. We use hot-dip galvanised or stainless fixings as standard on jobs near the bay, which is the kind of detail you never see on a quote and absolutely notice five years in.
What Timber Gets You
- The lowest cost per metre of any full-privacy fence
- Solid screening and useful noise reduction from the road or neighbours
- Easy to repair in sections rather than replacing a whole run
- Can be raked to follow a sloping block instead of stepping
- Takes paint or stain, so it can be matched to the house later
- Suits the character of older bayside homes where steel looks wrong
- Renewable, and plantation pine is sourced locally
Styles We Build
Where We Install It
- Shared dividing fences between neighbours, including quotes you can hand over for cost splitting
- Full replacement of fences that have rotted at ground level or blown over
- Privacy screening around decks, patios and spa areas
- Front boundaries and street frontages on character homes
- Acreage and semi-rural boundaries through Thorneside and Sheldon
- Raked runs on the sloping blocks above Birkdale and Alexandra Hills
Common Questions
How long will a treated pine fence last here?
Figure on fifteen to twenty years for the palings and longer for the posts if the footings were done properly. What kills a timber fence early is almost always the posts rotting at ground level, not the palings, which is why the footing depth and the timber treatment level matter more than anything else on the quote. We use H4 treated posts, rated for in-ground contact.
Is hardwood worth the extra cost?
Sometimes. If you plan to be in the house twenty-plus years, or the fence is on a front boundary where you want it to look good rather than just work, hardwood earns its money. For a back boundary that nobody sees, treated pine does the same job for less. We'll quote both and let you decide rather than pushing the dearer one.
Do termites get into timber fences around here?
The eastern suburbs have real termite pressure, and a fence post is an easy target. Properly treated pine rated for in-ground use resists them, and setting posts in concrete rather than backfilled soil helps. What we won't do is run untreated or lightly treated timber into the ground to save a few dollars, because that's where the problems start.
Can you build on a slope without stepping the fence?
Yes, and this is where timber beats Colorbond. Palings can be raked, meaning the fence follows the ground on an angle with no triangular gaps underneath. On the steeper blocks around Birkdale and Alexandra Hills, raking usually looks better and costs less than stepping plus the extra plinths.
Should I paint or stain it, and when?
Leave new treated pine for at least a few months so it dries out and the surface moisture comes down, otherwise the coating won't hold. After that, oil-based stain is the easier long-term option because it fades rather than peeling. Paint looks sharper but means scraping it back when it eventually lifts. Plenty of people coat nothing and let it grey off, which is fine too.
Who pays for a fence between two properties?
In Queensland a dividing fence is generally a shared cost under the Neighbourhood Disputes Resolution Act, split evenly for a standard sufficient fence. If one party wants something dearer, they usually cover the difference. We'll give you a written quote suitable for handing to your neighbour, but the negotiation itself is between the two of you.
Replacing an Old Timber Fence?
We take the old one out, footings and all, and build the new one in the same visit. See fence removal for how that works.
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