Edinburgh Garden Fence Services


Edinburgh Garden Fence constructed by a HomeForce Fencing Professional


Garden Fences – Introduction

There are many different garden fence options. On the plus side that means you are almost guaranteed to find something to suit your garden. The downside is that you can be blinded by choice.

An Edinburgh HomeForce garden fence professional can help by suggesting what might suit your garden.

And perhaps this article can also help by providing some fencing tips, information on costs and a brief explanation of different fence types.

At the least, we hope, it will help you formulate questions to ask yourself and any Edinburgh fencing professional you contact.

Looking for a garden fence quote in Edinburgh?

Contact HomeForce for construction, repair or replacement of garden fences in Edinburgh.

HomeForce provide fencing professionals, joiners, gardeners and landscapers. We’ll match the right tradesperson to your job.

All tradespeople are thoroughly vetted continuously appraised and have a proven reliability record.

Book a free quotation by calling 0131 315 0000, emailing info@homeforce.co.uk or completing the form on this page.

Types of garden fence

Here’s a brief list and description of some common garden fence types. Just as a note, you may find that different people may call much the same fence by a different name.

Timber Fences

  1. Picket fence
    • A traditional vision of a picket fence is what one might see in the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn & Tom Sawyer.
    • Usually a low fence made of vertical slats / planks pointed at the top.
    • This type of fence may be called Paling or Palisade Fence.
  2. Featherboard / closeboard / overlapped
    • Two layers of palings / struts / planks that closely overlap each other.
    • Usually boards are vertical but can be or horizontal
  3. Range style / Slat Fence
    • Horizontal struts / slats
  4. Lapped Fence
    • Vertical struts / boards
  5. Capped fence
    • Any fence that has a board or coving running along the top to prevent water / weather penetrating the timber
  6. Lattice
    • A lattice / woven look often used to add a little more height to a fence or as a way to encourage plants to climb the fence
  7. Hurdle / wattle
    • Woven usually from hazel or willow
    • Traditionally light weight sections of fences used for managing life stock.
  8. Panel fence
    • Really any fence can be a panel fence.
    • That is to say prefabricated panels can be bought of most fence types.
    • Sometimes a cheaper option than bespoke, made on site fences though it does have drawbacks.
Slatted Garden Fence Edinburgh
Vertical Slat Fence
Horizontal Slats on Edinburgh Garden Fence
Horizontal Slat Fence

Metal Fences

Timber is usually the preferred option for a garden fence in Edinburgh (or even the UK) but metal fences are also an option.

  1. Railings
    • This covers a magnitude of different types of metal fence
    • Often seen around Edinburgh New Town properties
    • Can be wrought iron, aluminium, or steel
    • Very hard wearing and durable
    • Expensive  but possible to buy railings in panels to reduce costs.
  2. Chicken Wire / Net Fencing
    • The term covers a multitude of different fencing sold in rolls.
    • Can be used in conjunction with high tension wire
  3. High tension wire fence
    • Wire strung between “strainers” / retaining posts and tightened
    • Can be stand alone or used in conjunction with chicken wire.
  4. Wire Fence Panels / Mesh
    • Quite common in mainland Europe, North America and Australia.
    • Can be made-to-measure or some tailoring of kits is possible
    • Quick to install.

What does Garden Fencing in Edinburgh cost?

Costs for construction of fences are usually calculated on a £s per meter basis.

Just what that cost per meter is will depend on a number of factors: type of fence, height of fence, material to be used, the undulations the fence is to run along and so on.

However, the number one factor that will impact the labour charge for constructing a fence is the ease with which posts can be bedded in. This part of a fencing job will account for between 70 & 80% of the labour / time required to construct a fence.

Tree roots, concrete foundations, aprons for driveways, hard or rocky ground, sloping ground, all these factors will impact the difficulty (or otherwise) of digging post holes and bedding posts.

However, this section is titled “What does Garden Fencing cost?” so at the least we can provide a budget cost: – £80 to £160 per meter for labour and materials would be a good budgeting cost.

Of course, you could spend significantly more depending on the factors indicated above. You could also spend less, but much less then the quality of the work or materials may start to become suspect.

Fence construction tips.
  1. A fence acts as a deterrent to burglars and intruders.
    • It’s harder to get in and, if they are caught in the act, harder to get out.
    • A good fence can actually add to the value of a property for this reason.
  2. Letting the wind through is important.
    • Fences that block the wind completely are more susceptible to damage / being blown apart by strong winds.
    • Blocking wind completely causes turbulence on the leeside that can be more damaging to plants than a strong steady wind.
    • Wind helps dry ground. Stopping the wind entirely can lead to water logged ground; bad news for grass and many plants.
  3. Some plants deal better with the shade from the fence than others.
  4. Panel fences are not necessarily cheaper than made to order fences
    • The materials on a per meter basis may be cheaper
    • But the panels leave little to no flexibility in positioning of posts, which as mentioned above is the most time consuming part of a new fence construction
    • Altering fence panels to fit particular spaces is time consuming and compromises the structural integrity of the panel…it will fall apart!Prefabricated panels will be cheaper to buy than made to order fences. However, they will not necessarily cheaper to install.
    • However, most fence types are available as prefabricated panels.
  5. Tell your neighbours
    • Usually they can’t stop you, as long as it’s on your ground, but it’s best to be polite.
    • They may know something about boundary’s or water pipes that you don’t
  6. Check planning regulations with Edinburgh Council.
    • You may need permission for fences over a certain height (probably 2m).
  7. Spring or Autumn are the best times of year to put in a fence.
    • It’s outside the growing season so you are less likely damage to plants.
  8. Pick up old wood at reclamation yards
    • Prices may be lower.
    • The wood can have a weathered look that adds character to a fence.
    • However, ensure the timber is not rotting and be sure to treat it before it goes up.
Timber fence maintenance tips
  1. Check your title deeds to see who owns / is responsible for garden fence maintenance.
    • Drawings with title deeds should have a “T” marked on the side of the fence of the owner responsible for it.
  2. Treat a timber fence every two to three years.
    • Treatment will protect it from the UV sun in the marvellous Scottish summers and from freezing rain and snow in the winter. Or indeed from all seasons in one day that Edinburgh frequently experiences.
  3. Don’t treat a fence on a hot sunny day
    • The ideal weather to treat a fence on is a mild cloudy day with no prospect of rain.
    • On a warm summer’s day most treatments dry to quickly to soak in and their chemical composition doesn’t react well to strong direct sunlight.
  4. Remove existing stain before applying new
    • A new stain on top of an old one will flake off after a fairly short period of time (not this applies to decking too)
  5. Apply stain / paint / treatment with and not across the grain.
    • It’s easier and looks better but also helps with absorption
  6. Allow pressure treated timber to weather for two to three months before applying any further treatment or stain.
    • This gives the chance for the salts and chemicals used to leach out
  7. A guarantee will almost certainly only be valid if fence is treated regularly / as recommended by installer & manufacturer.
  8. Treat a fence for the first time before it is put up.
    • It’s just plain easier.
And Finally…
Here are some pictures of Edinburgh garden fences constructed by HomeForce tradespeople.
Lattice Garden Fence Edinburgh
Lattice Fence Edinburgh
Picket Fence Edinburgh
Lapped Fence Edinburgh
Gate in Fence
Garden Fence Edin

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