Timber Paling Fence Melbourne

A paling fence is simple enough that the cheap version and the good version look identical on the day they go up. They stop looking identical after about five winters. The first decision is the posts: H4-treated pine, 100 by 100mm, set 600mm into a concrete footing. H3 is for above-ground timber and will rot at the soil line; a post set in dirt or a shallow footing will lean. The second is the rails: three at 1.8 metres, not two. Two rails let palings cup and twist and give the fence a wave from the street. The third is the palings themselves: lapped, where each board overlaps the next by about 20mm so the fence stays private when the timber shrinks, or butt-joined, where boards sit edge to edge and open up gaps in summer. Lapping costs a little more timber and almost nothing in labour. The fourth is what happens at the top and bottom: a capping rail keeps water out of the end grain, which is where palings rot first, and a plinth board along the ground keeps the palings out of the soil and gives you something to mow against.