Timber Paling Fencing Price: Blog Posts, Rails, and Palings Failure

A timber paling fence looks simple from the street, but the price hides in the details. The run of posts, the spacing of rails, the grade of palings, the length of screws or nails, and even the shape of your block push the cost up or down. I have built fences that cost less than a family grocery shop per metre, and others that cost more than a midrange bicycle because the ground fought us, the design was nonstandard, or the client wanted the fence to last twenty years without blinking. If you want to make sense of a Timber Paling fence price, start by breaking it into its bones: posts, rails, palings, fixings, footings, and labour.

This guide walks through those bones, with the sort of field notes you pick up after a few muddy winters. You will come away able to price your own fence within a sensible range and to spot where a quote is lean or padded. When people ask for the Timber Paling fencing price, they rarely know whether the quoted number includes removal, staining, or hand digging through clay. You will.

What you are paying for, metre by metre

Fencing contractors usually price per metre of fence length, but they think per component. A typical 1.8 metre high timber paling fence has these ingredients per linear metre:

• One post every 2.4 metres. That means roughly 0.42 posts per metre. Taller fences, high-wind areas, and steep ground can tighten that spacing to 2.1 metres or even 1.8 metres.
• Two or three horizontal rails (also called plinths or noggins in some regions). For 1.5 metre high fences, two rails often suffice. At 1.8 metres high, three rails improve rigidity and keep palings straight.
• Palings at roughly 100 to 150 millimetres cover, depending on overlap. For privacy, overlapping palings or alternating palings on both sides change the count dramatically.
• Concrete for the footings. Per post, expect 20 to 40 kilograms of bagged mix, more in sand or reactive clay.
• Galvanised nails or screws, brackets, and protective gear you do not see from the kerb but still get charged for.
• Labour, travel, and waste disposal. Labour dominates unless you do it yourself.

When you see a headline Timber Paling fence price quoted as a single figure per metre, it quietly averages all of the above to a neat number. That neat number hides the choices.

Posts: the hidden pillars of your cost

Posts make or break a fence’s lifespan. They are also the first place a budget fence fails. A post is a simple stick of treated pine or hardwood, stood into a hole, packed with concrete, and left to fight wind and weather for a decade or two. The choices here drive durability and the per-metre cost more than most people realise.

Start with material. Treated pine posts, H4 rating for in-ground use, are the standard. They are straight, predictable to dig around, and available in lengths that suit 600 to 900 millimetre post embedment. Hardwood posts look nicer and resist knocks, but availability and straightness vary by region. Steel posts are an option where termites are aggressive or soil is corrosive; they cost more up front but often simplify installation.

The post size matters. A 90 by 90 millimetre treated pine post is the bread-and-butter size for a suburban fence up to 1.8 metres high. Go to 100 by 100 or 125 by 125 for gates, corners, or wind-prone sites. Smaller posts bow and twist more, especially in full sun. On an exposed ridge, I once replaced a run of 90 millimetre posts with recycled ironbark; the material cost jumped, but the fence stopped wringing itself loose every northerly.

Spacing and embedment control how much concrete you buy. At 2.4 metre spacing with 600 to 700 millimetre embedment, you will pour roughly one standard 20 kilogram bag per post in firm ground, two bags in sandy soil, and more if your hole widens. Narrow holes save concrete and time, which is why pros carry sharp augers and avoid crater digging with a shovel.

If you want a long-lived fence, specify a post cap or a bevelled cut to shed water. A flat-cut treated pine post holds moisture on the top end-grain. That small detail will not show up as a line item, but it preserves the post for years and might cost a dollar or two per post if you buy caps.

Where prices land: in many regions, a single H4 treated pine 90 by 90 by 2.7 metre post ranges from modest to midrange depending on market. Add concrete and the labour to dig and set it, and each post can represent a sizeable fraction of the per-metre cost. On a per metre basis, posts plus concrete often account for a third of the total.

Rails: the ribs that keep palings straight

Rails are the horizontal members that take fasteners and hold the palings flat. Their grade and spacing determine whether the fence looks crisp five years from now or turns wavy.

For a standard 1.8 metre fence, I prefer three rails: bottom about 150 millimetres up, middle around 900 millimetres, top about 150 millimetres down from the cap. Two rails sometimes suffice for 1.5 metre height, but palings can cup between large spans in hot weather. A third rail is cheap insurance.

Material choices are similar to posts, usually H3 treated pine because rails are above ground. Typical sizes include 70 by 35 millimetres or 75 by 38, sometimes 90 by 45 where spans are tighter or palings heavier. Tie rails to the post with skew nails or with galvanised brackets if you want a stiffer connection. Brackets cost more in materials, less in call-backs.

I have pulled out rails that were nailed with bright nails. The rust pattern tells the story. Always use hot-dip galvanised or class 3 coated fixings for outdoor use. In coastal air, stainless fixings near the top rail can be worth the splurge, at least for caps and exposed screws.

Rails consume fewer dollars per metre than posts, but the labour to cut and fix them, and the time to notch them for stepped sections on a sloped site, will add up. If a quote looks suspiciously low, it may assume two rails where three would be better for the height.

Palings: the visible money

Palings are where most homeowners focus, and for good reason. They drive the look, the privacy, and a large chunk of the Timber Paling fencing price. The choices here are width, thickness, grade, and installation pattern.

Common paling widths range from 75 to 150 millimetres, with 100 and 125 millimetres common. Thickness varies from 10 to 19 millimetres. Thicker palings feel solid and resist cupping, but they add weight and cost. Grade matters. Merch grade will have knots, occasional wane, and more variation between boards. Select grade looks cleaner, installs faster, and wastes less, but costs more.

Installation pattern determines the count per metre. For a single-sided fence without overlap, you can set a 100 millimetre paling with a small gap for breathability and economy, around 10 to 11 palings per metre. For full privacy, either overlap single-sided palings by 20 to 30 millimetres or alternate palings on both sides. Overlap adds roughly 10 to 20 percent more palings. Good-neighbour styles that alternate can add 30 to 50 percent more palings and more labour because you are essentially cladding both sides.

Fastening palings with ring-shank nails speeds up the job. Screws give a better hold and resist squeaks, but you pay in time. For most residential fences, galvanised nails do the job if you place two per rail per paling and set them clean. I have seen palings nailed too close to edges which invites splits, so leave an inch from the edge and avoid driving the nail head through the fibre.

Palings also define the fence top. A rough-cut flat top is the quickest. A levelled top with a cap board looks finished and protects the exposed paling ends. Capping adds timber material and time, but it keeps water out of the end-grain and neatens a slightly wavy run, so the fence looks straighter. If your yard slopes, a raked top follows the ground line cleanly and costs less than stepping, but you still need to cut many palings to follow the grade.

Fixings and footings: the small things that save the day

Nobody brags about the nails or the mix ratio in their concrete. Those unglamorous details are where crews either save you money or doom the fence to a short life. If you are buying materials yourself, look for hot-dip galvanised nails for exterior use, at least 50 to 65 millimetres for palings into rails, and 90 millimetres for rails into posts. Where a gate will hang, consider coach screws or structural screws into posts. They take torque and can be removed for adjustments later.

Concrete footings are about drainage. A bell-shaped footing with a small neat cap at ground level locks the post against heave and sheds water away from the post base. Dry-pour bagged concrete and hose it is a common trick for speed, and it works in some soils, but I still prefer a proper mix, tamped to remove air pockets, especially on sloped sites where stormwater runs. Add gravel at the base if your hole keeps filling with water to give the concrete a firm seat.

Soil type changes everything. In sandy ground, you may need deeper holes and more concrete or even sonotube formers. In heavy clay, I flare the bottom of the hole and roughen the sides to key the concrete. In reactive soils with seasonal heave, consider longer embedment and a sleeve to isolate the post from soil movement.

Fixing rails with brackets rather than skew nails can cut callbacks on windy sites. The extra few dollars per post can save one Saturday of rework after the first storm.

Height, style, and site: three levers that swing price

When someone asks for a Timber Paling fencing price, I ask for three things before I answer: height, style, and site.

Height is straightforward. Material and labour both scale. A 1.2 metre fence is cheaper than a 1.8 metre fence because you use fewer and shorter posts, fewer rails, and shorter palings. For 2.1 metres and above, expect thicker rails, closer post spacing, and heavier posts. The jump from 1.8 to 2.1 metres can add a surprisingly large percentage, not just a linear increase, because the structure must handle more wind.

Style has big swings. Single-sided with gaps is the budget choice. Overlapped palings for privacy cost more palings and more nails. Double-sided good-neighbour takes longer and uses more timber. Add a cap, a plinth board at the bottom to keep palings off wet soil, or lattice on top, and you have stacked more line items.

Site is where real-world pricing happens. A long straight run on flat ground with open access lets a small crew move like a metronome. Give that same crew a sloping block with tree roots every 1.5 metres, tight access through a garage, and a cluster of services, and you have doubled the labour hours without changing a single metre on paper. I once dug post holes along an easement packed with rock rubble. We broke two auger teeth and switched to a breaker, then hand-spaded out the fines. The materials cost barely changed. The labour exploded.

Headline ranges and what they include

For planning, think in ranges, not absolutes. Regional markets vary, timber prices move with demand, and labour rates differ between city and country. Still, for a standard 1.8 metre high treated pine paling fence with three rails, single-sided for privacy with modest overlap, set in concrete on a reasonably accessible suburban site, all-in supply and install often lands in a band that makes sense for most homeowners. Lighter, shorter, or gappy fences push down; taller, capped, double-sided, or difficult sites push well above.

If you request the cheapest possible Timber Paling fence price, expect two rails, wider paling spacing, and fewer bells. Contractors sometimes sharpen their pencil by stretching post spacing and paling cover. You will get a fence that looks fine on day one and starts to show its compromises by the second summer.

When you compare quotes, check whether removal of the old fence, waste disposal, survey pegs, permits, and gates are included. Those items can add a noticeable chunk. A single gate with a decent frame, hardware, and alignment time can cost like five to ten metres of fence. Corners and returns also add complexity because they require bracing and extra posts.

A worked example: 25 metres, 1.8 metres high

Let’s run some rough numbers for a 25 metre boundary, straight and accessible, 1.8 metres high, standard treated pine, three rails, overlapped single-sided palings, and a cap.

Posts: at 2.4 metre spacing we need about 11 posts plus 1 more for the last end and 2 for corners or returns if any. Call it 12 to 14 posts. With concrete and incidentals, that means 12 to 14 post holes, 12 to 14 pours, and half a day of layout and stringing.

Rails: three per bay across roughly 10 or 11 bays equals 30 to 33 rails. Cut, fix, check level, adjust for any swell in the ground, and brace.

Palings: at approximately 10 to 11 palings per metre with overlap for privacy, we need 250 to 275 palings. That is a lot of nailing. Two nails per rail per paling equals 6 nails per paling, around 1,500 to 1,650 nails.

Cap: one continuous cap board or joined cap pieces along the top. It stiffens the top edge, hides minor waviness, and sheds water.

Waste: offcuts from palings trimmed for a raked top, empty concrete bags, and old fence material if you are replacing.

Labour: a crew of two or three will likely spend two to three days depending on soil and weather. A solo worker will spend longer, especially if hand digging.

Now, if a quote comes in well under the market for that scope, I ask where the savings are. Fewer rails? Thinner palings? Shorter embedment? No cap? Nails instead of screws at gates? Occasionally you find a seasoned operator with efficiencies and a good supplier. Often, the hidden savings will become your future repairs.

Slope, steps, and rakes

Few yards are perfectly flat. Your fence line will either step or rake. Raking means the top follows the slope in a smooth line, palings cut to length along the grade. Stepping keeps the rails level and drops them in discrete steps, like stairs. Raked fences blend with the landscape and cost less in hardware, but they demand more cuts and careful measuring to keep the bottom tidy. Stepped fences suit modern block styles and make it easier to align gates and caps, yet they require careful planning to avoid odd step heights or awkward joins at corners.

On a steep site, stepping can hide smaller post embedment depth variation. You will still need consistent hole depths to keep rails at uniform heights, but you can choose step intervals to fit your terrain. Raking asks for clean, accurate paling cuts. If you are paying by metre, ask whether the slope triggers a surcharge. It often does, and fairly so, because the fence https://onthefencing.com.au/timber-paling-fence-cost/ takes longer to build.

Gates, returns, and awkward bits

Gates chew time. A basic gate can be a framed section of palings with bracing, hung off a beefed-up post and swung with galvanised hardware. If you want a gate that does not sag, do not skimp on the frame or the hinges. Dyna-bolt or screw hinges through the post, consider a drop bolt for wide gates, and protect the latch from weather. Always specify whether the gate opens in or out and which side the hinges sit on, especially on sloped ground where the swing risks scraping.

Returns, where the fence changes direction or meets a building, require extra posts and thought. I prefer double-posting corners where possible. It makes the joint rigid and gives each run its own set of rails. If you share a corner post between runs, the forces can twist the post over time, especially in wind.

Retaining walls complicate everything. If your fence sits atop a retaining wall, you may need core-drilled post sleeves or brackets engineered to the wall. If the fence doubles as a retaining structure, you are no longer pricing a simple paling fence. That is another category with different loads and legal obligations.

Permits, neighbours, and property lines

Even the neatest fence becomes a headache if it sits 150 millimetres on the wrong side of a boundary. Find your boundary pegs or engage a surveyor if they are missing or questionable. In many regions, neighbours split the cost of a boundary fence if it is reasonable for the area. Agreement up front saves arguments later. If you add features your neighbour does not want, like capping or a decorative face to your side, expect to pay that premium yourself.

Permits vary. In some councils, anything over a certain height requires a permit or a special approval if close to a road or on a corner block. Check before you build. The cost and delay are minor compared with tearing down a noncompliant fence.

Maintenance and the real cost over time

Raw treated pine weathers to a silvery grey. Some love it. Others prefer a stained or painted fence. Staining adds upfront cost but extends life by sealing end-grain and slowing moisture cycles. If you plan to stain, do it early while the timber is still open. A spray and back-brush method covers large areas quickly. Paint closes the timber more completely but can peel if applied before the timber dries down from the treatment process. Ask your supplier how long the timber has seasoned.

Termites and rot live at the connection between earth and post. Keep mulch, garden beds, and sprinklers away from post bases. If you added a plinth or ground-clearance gap, avoid backfilling it with soil later. When a paling splits or lifts, fix it before the wind does it for you. A half-hour spent putting two more nails in a suspect paling can prevent a full panel from tearing out in a storm.

Over twenty years, a fence that cost a bit more upfront for better posts, three rails, a cap, and good fixings will usually win on life cycle cost. I have replaced cheap fences at year seven next to sturdier fences still going at year fifteen, both built the same month across the same street.

How to read a quote like a builder

When quotes arrive, align them to the same spec so you can compare apples with apples. Look for specific notes about:

• Post size, material, spacing, and embedment depth, including concrete type and quantity.
• Rail count, size, and whether brackets or nails will be used at post connections.

If a quote simply says timber fence 1.8 metres, ask for the missing detail. A fair contractor will not mind. They know that clarity avoids disputes. It also lets you understand the true Timber Paling fence price, not just the headline.

Check lead time and warranty. A crew booked out two months may be worth the wait if their fences stand straight ten winters later. Warranty on workmanship often runs one or two years. Material warranties are longer for treated timber, but they rely on correct installation, especially for in-ground posts.

Payment terms matter. A reasonable deposit, a progress payment after posts and rails, and a final payment on completion makes sense. If someone asks for the full amount up front, step back.

DIY or hire: where the line sits

Building your own fence saves labour cost and lets you control the details. It also demands time, tools, and a tolerance for repetitive work. A two-person team with a post-hole auger, a sharp saw, nail guns or a hammer and stamina can build a neat 20 to 30 metre fence over a couple of weekends. Expect the learning curve to show in the first few bays. Set a string line, double-check plumb, and take your time on the posts. Everything after that flows from straight, true, and consistent posts.

Hiring a pro compresses the schedule and usually yields a cleaner line, especially on uneven ground. Professionals earn their keep in layout, hole digging efficiency, and time saved chasing materials. If your block hides rock, roots, or services, a pro’s experience avoids expensive mistakes.

A middle path works too. Some owners pull out the old fence themselves and clear the line, then bring in a contractor to set posts and rails, then hang palings with a friend over a weekend. If you go that route, talk to the contractor first to ensure the handoff works with their schedule and warranty.

Where to trim and where to spend

If you are trying to land on the sweet spot between cost and durability, here is the judgment call I make on my own projects. Do not trim on posts, their size, or their embedment. Skimp there and you pay later. Do not trim on number of rails for fences over 1.5 metres high. If you want to save, choose a simpler style: single-sided rather than double, no lattice, perhaps hold on the cap if you are in a dry, breezy area and do not mind the rustic look. Use standard paling widths rather than extra-wide cuts that require special orders.

Spend on decent fixings and on soil-appropriate footing practice. Those dollars are small relative to the job and have outsized impact on life. Spend on a gate built like a miniature fence, not an afterthought. If privacy is a must, spend on enough palings to avoid shrinkage gaps. Fresh palings shrink as they dry. What looks tight on day one may open to pencil-width gaps by summer.

Finally, spend on good layout. A fence that runs true along the boundary, steps or rakes with intention, and presents square at the gate feels like part of the property, not a temporary barrier. That alignment costs almost nothing in materials and pays back every time you look at it.

The bottom line, without the fog

The honest answer to the perennial question about Timber Paling fencing price is that it is a sum of clear choices. Posts hold the weight of time and wind. Rails hold the palings flat. Palings carry the look. Fixings and footings stitch it together. Site conditions and style push the needle up or down. If you understand those levers, you can read a quote, plan a budget, and decide where to put your money with confidence.

When you walk the fence line with a contractor, ask to talk in components. How far are you spacing posts here given the wind? Are we using three rails at this height, and what size? How many palings per metre to ensure privacy after shrinkage? Which nails or screws in this coastal air? Where will the gate hang, and how will we brace it? Those questions reveal the craft behind the number and keep the project honest.

And if you decide to build it yourself, line out the run, dig clean holes, set stout posts, fix enough rails, and hang your palings with a consistent rhythm. The cost will look better, the fence will stand straighter, and the job will feel like something you built to last.