Fence Repair in South London

What Affects the Cost?

• •How many panels, posts and gravel boards need doing, and whether the whole run is going
• •Concrete or timber posts, and whether a snapped post can be carried on a spur or needs digging out and re-setting
• •Access to the boundary, narrow side returns, and whether the fence backs onto a neighbour
• •Gate work, from a simple rehang and new furniture up to a new gate hung on new posts
• •Clearing and disposing of smashed panels and rotten timber after a storm
• •Treatment and protection of new and existing timber before we leave

Areas We Cover

Frequently Asked Questions

What is actually involved in repairing a fence after a storm?

The first job is making it safe. After a storm a fence can be leaning on a neighbour's shed, holding up a smashed panel by one nail, or down across a path, so we take the loose timber out and make the run stable before anything else. Then we work out what failed. Usually it is a post that has snapped at ground level where the rot sat, and once that goes the panels either side come with it. We re-set the post, refit or replace the panels, and check the rest of the run for the next one about to go, because storm damage tends to find every weak post at once. We clear the broken timber away rather than leaving it stacked in your garden. If a section is sound we leave it, so you are not paying to replace a fence that held.

When should you repair a fence, and when should the whole run be replaced?

If the posts are solid and only a panel or two have broken, repair is the sensible call and we just swap the panels. The post is what decides it. Once posts have rotted through at the base, replacing single panels is a false economy, because the next bit of wind takes the next post and you are back out paying again. As a rule of thumb, if more than about a third of the posts along a run have gone soft or are leaning, you are better re-setting the whole line in one visit so it is all the same age and properly fixed. We will tell you honestly which way it falls when we look at it. A run that is mostly sound gets repaired. A run that is failing post by post gets done once, properly.

Who owns the fence, and can you tell which side is mine?

There is no automatic rule that the boundary on the left or right is yours, despite what people are told. The deeds are what settle it, and a T-mark on the plan points into the property responsible for that boundary. A common convention is that the side showing the posts and rails is the owner's side, with the smooth panel face presented to the neighbour, but it is a convention, not law. Where a fence sits exactly on the line and you share it, the Party Wall etc. Act treats it as a party fence wall and both sides have a say in work to it. If you are unsure, check the deeds and have a word with the neighbour before we start. We are happy to repair from your side without going onto next door's land, and we will not move a boundary.

Concrete or timber posts, and what is a post spur for?

Concrete posts outlast timber by years because the part in the ground does not rot, so for a full re-set we usually fit concrete posts with timber panels slotted between them, often over a concrete gravel board so the panel never touches wet soil. Timber posts look softer and suit a garden where the run is on show, but they need a good base and treatment to last. A post spur, or concrete spur, is the in-between fix. Where a timber post has snapped or rotted at ground level but the panels are fine, we bolt a short concrete spur against the stump and set the spur in fresh concrete, which braces the post without digging the whole thing out. A Metpost is the metal spike some fences sit in. Once those rust or work loose we re-set on concrete instead.

How do you stop a repaired fence rotting again?

Rot starts where timber sits wet, which is almost always the bottom of the post and the base of the panel against the soil. So the protection is as much about how it is built as what we paint on. We keep timber up off the ground with a gravel board, set posts in concrete that is shaped to throw water away from the timber rather than hold it against it, and make sure the fence is not buried behind a raised border that traps damp. New timber we treat with a proper exterior wood preserver, and we will re-treat sound existing timber on the same run while we are there. Pressure-treated panels and posts last longest. If you want it stained or painted a colour later, leave new timber to weather for a season first so the finish takes.

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