Cheapest Garden Fence Ideas

When you are looking at the cost of fencing in your garden whether it is a replacement fence, a new boundary, increasing the height of the fence, blocking out noise or increasing the privacy of your garden, cost will vary.

There are a number of considerations that will make a big difference to how much you'll have to fork out for your fence:

Do I need a contractor or can I do the work myself?

When you pay a contractor in return they give you:

a) expertise – it is their trade, they have experience with best practices

b) they have the right trade tools, this is often something overlooked ' I decided to build my own fence because I am a DIY type, then I realised I didn’t have a nail gun, a circular saw, an angle grinder and a decent digging tool, I had to take a trip to my local tool hire company, that was another £50 a day in hire that I hadn't considered... and I wasn’t 100% sure how to use these machines !'

c) they can get the correct quantity of material, 'I bought 10 rails and 11 bits of close board - too much and the builders merchant wouldn’t take back …. now I'm stuck with it !' The contractor can get better prices and when there are shortages the merchants will give material to their contractor customers first because these guys are in every day. On the flip side if I'm a handy person or a retired tradesman and have time on my hands, have the tools and don’t have time restraints then yes it will be a definite cost saving. If I'm in full time employment have a family then I will need to weigh up the pros and cons and what my spare time is worth.

Type of fencing and materials

To list a few starting from the cheapest panel fencing we have, based on a 6ft x 6ft size:

a) lap panel (Waney) fencing - £18, very thin and looking at the reviews only really satisfactory for screening

b) Closeboard panels - £33

c) Arched Closeboard £45

d) Pressure treated Closeboard £39 then jumping up to double Closeboard - £76

e) Tonque and groove panel - £80

f) Acoustic panel - £100.

Moving on, to build on site fencing a typical Closeboard with rail fence will cost between £50-£80 depending on Timber type and treatment levels – the more treatment eg pressure treated (where treatment is applied under pressure meaning it goes into the depths of the timber) will cost more. Onto composite fencing costs sit between £200 and £250 per bay.

Type of fence posts

With all fencing you require a fence post, you next should consider the options and look carefully at the specifications and prices, they can be misleading and complicated, based on a 2.4m post we will consider the what's available and how much based on spot prices from merchants websites

a) 3x3 Timber post, standard treatment £7.42 or pressure treated £9.67

b) 4x4 Timber post, standard treatment £11.90 or pressure treated £13.92

c) Timber V Notch used with arris rails £21

d) Concrete slotted £17.41

e) Composite posts

f) DuraPost Classic Galv £17.01

g) DuraPost Coloured £25.99

My site

Certain posts will only work with a certain fence panel or rail eg a concrete slotted post will work with a panel fence but not a rail unless you buy a concrete V notch which will allow for a arris rail.

Will the contractor have a set price for Materials plus labour on every job or address ? - the answer is NO, they will consider:

a) Ground conditions, for example if the ground is full of rock or roots or flint he will allow extra time for digging holes which in turn will increase the cost of the job

b) is site clearance required, an old fence to take down, old concrete to be dug out of the ground

c) he will consider access to site, how near can he get materials to the fence line, if there is a lot of moving around of material this will add cost

d) if he can use an auger or if it’s a hand dig will add time to the contract, often they may dig a trail hole to sample ground conditions.

How to secure my fence post?

The last consideration is ' what do I use for concreting in my post' Postcrete is fast and easy, just add water, very little mixing required

A) postcrete, great if you want to set your posts and fence in between on the same day

b) mix on site concrete, slow to set but strong and cheaper, but added time taken mixing and obviously not being able to fence on the same day you set the posts

Conclusion, there are many considerations when choosing a fence, using a waney panel with a 3x3 standard treatment post will build you a very cheap fence/screen BUT cheapest mostly isn't cheapest long-term and short term in some cases ! If you're building your own fence with DuraPost watch our 'how to' installation videos.