Colorbond or timber fencing, which suits your place

December 24, 2024

Picking a fence looks like a choice between two materials and it is really a choice about how you want to spend your weekends, because the difference between Colorbond and timber turns up long after the fence goes in rather than on the day you pay for it.

What you actually get with Colorbond

Colorbond is steel with a baked on colour finish, and the finish is the whole point, because it is part of the sheet rather than a coat of paint sitting on top of it, so it does not flake off and it never needs doing again.

It does not rot or warp, and termites are not interested in it, which takes wet ground and pests out of the conversation entirely.
There are no gaps between palings, so it is solid for privacy and it will hold a dog in.
Maintenance is a hose down when it gets dusty, and that is genuinely the whole list.
It comes in a range of colours and in styles such as post and rail or good neighbour, so you can match what is already around the place.
It is steel, so at the end of its life it gets recycled rather than going to landfill.

The catch is the price on the day, which is usually higher than timber for the same run, and the look, because a steel fence reads modern and some houses want something softer than that.

What you actually get with timber

It is cheaper to put in, which matters when you have just bought the place and the budget is already stretched thin.
You can paint it or stain it, and plenty of people simply let it grey off naturally, so it is the one you are allowed to change your mind about later.
It suits an older house or a cottage garden in a way that steel never quite does.

The cost turns up later and it comes in two forms. The first is time, because a timber fence wants cleaning and re-oiling or re-painting on a regular cycle and that is a weekend gone each time. The second is the ground, because the bottom of a timber post sits in wet soil for months of the year, and that is where a timber fence usually fails, well before the palings give up on you.

The comparison actually worth making

Price the fence over its life rather than on the day, and count your own hours into it while you are there, because that is the part everybody leaves out. A fence that costs less to install and then asks for a weekend every few years is a very different proposition to one that asks for a hose, and you get a set number of weekends. Neither answer is wrong, and it comes down to whether you would rather spend the money now or the Saturdays later.

If you are leaning towards timber, treat the in ground section properly before it goes in the hole, because that one decision does more for how long the fence lasts than anything you do to it afterwards.

Work out your own numbers before you ring anyone

Splinter is our online fencing takeoff tool, so you can put in your run length and your height and get a materials list and a price before you talk to anybody, including us. It is a much better starting point than a guess, and it means that when you do come in you already know roughly what you are looking at.

Price your fence with Splinter

Getting it to your place

Fencing is long and awkward and it was never going to fit in the car, so we deliver it to the door and the cement goes on the same drop rather than as a second trip. Delivery runs go out on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and the detail is on our delivery page.

Shop related products

AdBri Speedset Cement 30kg. For setting posts, and it goes on the same delivery as the fencing.
Dunnings Galvanised Fence Rail Saddle. Suits a 38 x 25 x 1.2mm rail.
Diggers Eco In-Ground Timber Protecta 4L. What you treat the buried end of a timber post with before it goes in.
Diggers Timber Cleaner 1L. For stripping back a grey timber fence before you re-oil it.

Did you know we also stock Colorbond fence panels, rails, posts, rail plates and post caps in store. They are cut and counted to the job so they are not listed on the website, and the same goes for timber fencing gear, so give us a ring on (08) 8536 4333 and we will work out what your run needs.