Compare Fence Types
Before you price the job
We install every material on this page, so we have no reason to push one. Each comparison sets out where one option wins, where it loses, and what the difference actually costs.
Which fence should you build?
Most Melbourne boundary decisions come down to Colorbond against timber, and most of those come down to how long you plan to own the house. Colorbond costs more upfront than treated pine and less across twenty years, because it does not get coated and does not get replaced.
Aluminium sits above both. It is a screen rather than a solid barrier, so it is the right answer for front fences, gates and coastal blocks, and the wrong one if you want the boundary solid.
Pool fencing is a separate question entirely, because the law sets the specification. Glass and aluminium both comply identically, so that decision is about whether you want to see the pool, not about safety.
The four comparisons below take each of those decisions in turn. If you already know your material, the cost guides have the per-metre detail instead.
Every material, side by side
The summary version. Each row links through to a full comparison below.
| Material | Lifespan | Maintenance | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Treated pine paling | 15 – 20 yrs | Oil every 3 – 5 yrs | Lowest upfront cost |
| Hardwood paling | 25 – 30 yrs | Occasional oiling | Period homes, warmth |
| Colorbond | 20 – 25 yrs | None | Rear and side boundaries |
| Aluminium slat | 30+ yrs | None | Front fences, gates, coastal |
| Aluminium pool barrier | 25 – 30 yrs | None | Simplest compliant pool fence |
| Semi-frameless glass | 25+ yrs | Regular cleaning | Glass look on a budget |
| Frameless glass | 25+ yrs | Regular cleaning | Feature pools, views |
Lifespan and maintenance assume flat, accessible ground and correct installation. Reviewed September 2026.
Five questions that narrow it fast
Rather than comparing every material against every other, answer these. Most people find the choice collapses to two options within a minute.
Do you need it solid?
If you want total privacy and no sightline through, that is Colorbond or timber. Aluminium slat has gaps by design and always will, however tightly it is spaced.
How long will you own it?
Under five years, buy the cheapest sound option. Over ten, buy the one with no maintenance cycle. That single question separates treated pine from Colorbond more reliably than anything else.
Will anyone look at it?
Rear boundaries are functional objects. Street frontages are part of the house. It is normal, and usually cheaper overall, to use different materials on different boundaries of the same property.
How close is the salt?
Within a few streets of the bay, aluminium stops rusting being a question at all, and Colorbond cut edges become the thing to ask about. Inland it rarely matters.
Is it a pool fence?
Then the law decides the specification, not you. Both glass and aluminium comply. Read the pool comparisons rather than the boundary ones, because the trade-offs are completely different.
What we tell people who ask us directly
We install all of these, so there is no material we make more margin recommending. This is the advice we give on the phone, before anyone has measured anything.
Whatever you choose, it fails at the posts
Colorbond, timber, aluminium or glass: the fence leans or fails because the footings were shallow or the fixings were the wrong grade. Compare that line across your quotes first.
Do not pick one material
The best-value answer on most properties is Colorbond on the sides and rear, and something better looking at the front. Quoted as one job it usually costs less than people expect.
Spec beats material
A well-built pine fence outlasts a badly built hardwood one. Post depth, post treatment and rail count matter more than which material sits on top of them.
Talk to the neighbour early
A dividing fence is shared under the Fences Act, and their preference constrains yours. Finding that out after you have chosen is how people end up paying the difference on a fence they did not want.
Compare lifetime, not install
Three quotes on install price tells you very little. The same three costed over twenty years usually reorders completely, and that is the order that matters if you are staying.
We install every one of them
We build all of these across Melbourne
Bayside
Known for salt exposure, which narrows the sensible options.
Choosing a fence material
The questions that come before you have picked anything.
Ask us which suits your propertyTreated pine paling. It is the lowest upfront cost by a clear margin, but it needs oiling every few years and is usually replaced inside twenty, so it is not the cheapest over the life of the fence.
Every side-by-side, in detail
Colorbond vs Timber
The most common Melbourne decision, costed properly over twenty years.
Read more BoundaryColorbond vs Aluminium
Where the aluminium premium buys something real, and where it does not.
Read more PoolGlass vs Aluminium Pool Fencing
Both comply. One costs three times the other. What you are actually buying.
Read more PoolFrameless vs Semi-Frameless
If you have settled on glass, this is the next decision.
Read more
Not sure? Get two materials quoted
We will measure once and quote two options side by side, so you are comparing real numbers for your boundary rather than ranges.