Why did my palings rot at the bottom?

They were sitting in soil or mulch. The end grain wicks water up and the lowest 100mm stays wet. The fix is a plinth board along the ground so the palings finish above it. We fit one on every repair unless you decline it.

My fence has a wave in it. Is that the posts or the rails?

Sight along the top. A sag between every post is the rails, whose fixings have worked loose; that is re-strung on this page. A lean of the whole run in one direction is the posts, which is the post repair page.

Will new palings match my old grey ones?

Not on their own; new pine is honey and old pine is grey. We match the width and the lap so the fence reads evenly, and stain the new boards to sit with the old, or stain the run so it is one colour. Within a year the new timber greys anyway.

I think I have termites. Can you just replace the timber?

Not until the termites are treated. New timber beside an active nest goes the same way. Get a pest inspection and treatment first; we repair once it is done, in H3 pine or hardwood.

Is a rotten timber fence covered by insurance?

No. Rot, weathering and termites are excluded on every standard policy. A branch through a sound fence, or a storm that took out a maintained run, is a claim. We tell you which at the assessment and only write the insurer's report if it will be paid.

Fence Repair Guide

Timber Fence Repair Melbourne

A timber fence fails from the outside in. The palings go first, at the bottom where they touch the soil and at the top where the end grain drinks rain. Then the rails sag as their fixings work loose. The posts last longest, which is why a fence that looks finished is often a fence whose skeleton is fine. This page is about repairing what is above the posts: which palings to replace and which to leave, how a sagged rail is brought back, how new timber is made to sit beside grey, and the point at which patching a run costs more than replacing it.

Get a Quote See Pricing

Palings, rails and capping, on sound postsNew timber toned to sit beside oldCapping and plinth to stop the next rotThe 60% rule, in writing, before you decide

Palings, rails, capping: what fails, in the order it fails

Palings rot at both ends. At the bottom, the paling sits in wet soil or mulch and the end grain wicks water up; you see it as a soft, dark band in the lowest 100mm. At the top, rain sits on the cut end and works its way down; you see it as a paling that has split and curled. A paling rotted at one end can be replaced on its own, and a run with a few gone is a straightforward morning. The rails go next: three rails carry the palings, and as the nails work loose over years the rail sags between posts and the fence takes on a wave you can see from the street. A sagged rail is re-fixed with new galvanised nails or screws, or replaced if it has split, and the palings come off and go back on. What decides whether any of this is worth it is the proportion. Once more than about 60% of the palings on a section need replacing, or the rails are gone on more than one bay, the labour to patch it passes the cost of a new panel on the same posts. We give you that number at the assessment. And whatever is repaired gets the two things that would have stopped it: a capping rail across the top and a plinth board along the bottom, so the new timber does not fail the way the old did.

Built To Spec

How we put a damaged fence back together

Fence build-upNOT TO SCALE

Structural repair

Post concreteExisting posts kept where sound; see post repair if not

Timber treatmentH3 treated pine palings and rails; H4 plinth board

FastenersHot-dip galvanised nails or screws; stainless on the coast

Matching & finish

Colorbond matchNot applicable; timber toned with stain to sit beside aged boards

Repair standardMatches or exceeds original build

Warranty

Repair warranty10 years workmanship on replaced palings, rails and capping

Insurance reportWritten, dated, insurer-ready

How We Repair

How a timber repair goes

Site visit · 30min

Count palings, check rails, probe posts

We count the palings that need replacing on each bay, check every rail fixing, and probe the posts. The posts decide whether this is a repair page or a replacement.

Same visit

Palings, rails or panel, in writing

The quote lists palings and rails per bay, with capping and plinth as their own lines. If any bay is past 60%, the panel price is beside it.

Day 1, morning

Old timber out, rails re-strung

Failed palings come off. Sagged rails are re-fixed to the posts with new galvanised fixings, or replaced where split.

Day 1

New palings, plinth, capping

New palings are nailed to match the existing spacing and lap. The plinth goes on first along the ground, the capping last across the top.

Day 1, or later

Tone the new timber

New pine beside grey pine is obvious. We can stain the new boards to sit with the old, or stain the run so it reads as one fence.

The Difference

We repair the palings and fix the reason they rotted.

Replacing a rotted paling with a new one in the same soil, uncapped, buys you a few years before you are back where you started. A plinth and a capping rail cost little and are the difference between a repair and a cycle of repairs.

10YRGUARANTEE

Backed in writing

Repaired by our own crews, guaranteed for a decade.

Not subcontracted, insurance-ready documentation, matching materials, fully insured, every time.

Hours

Same-week for open boundaries

A gap a dog or child can get through is attended within days. Cosmetic paling work is booked in around your week.

Claims

Report if a branch or storm did it

Impact and storm damage to a sound timber fence is a claim. Dated photos and an itemised quote in the insurer's format.

All

New timber toned to old

We match paling width and lap, and stain new boards to sit beside grey ones so the repair does not shout.

10yr

Plinth and capping as standard

Every repaired run gets a plinth along the ground and a capping rail across the top unless you tell us not to. Ten years on the workmanship.

Full

repair & make-safe

24hr

emergency response

Free

measure & quote

10 yr

workmanship guarantee

FAQ

Timber Fence Repair Melbourne questions

Straight answers on emergencies, insurance, and whether to repair or replace.

Ask us anything

Yes, and it is the most common timber repair. Failed palings come off, new ones go on at the same width and lap, and the rest stay. It stops making sense past about 60% of a bay, when a new panel on the same posts costs less than the labour to patch it.

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