Question 1

What does a brick front fence cost per metre in Perth?

Accepted Answer

It depends on height, pier spacing and whether any part is retaining, and a single number would mislead more readers than it helps. We are not publishing a range until we have one we can stand behind — see the costs section above.

Question 2

How high can a front fence be in Perth without approval?

Accepted Answer

It depends on your council. There is no single metro-wide figure. See the table above, and ring your council to confirm.

Question 3

Does a fence need a footing if it is only a metre high?

Accepted Answer

Yes. A freestanding wall carries wind load and needs a footing sized for its height. What changes with height is how much footing and how the piers are spaced.

Question 4

Can a fence be built on the boundary?

Accepted Answer

Usually, subject to council provisions and the neighbour question. Get cost sharing and finished levels agreed in writing first.

Question 5

Why is a rendered fence more expensive than face brick?

Accepted Answer

It is two trades rather than one, and it carries a repainting cycle that face brick does not.

Question 6

How long does a brick fence last?

Accepted Answer

Built properly on a suitable footing, a brick fence is a multi-decade structure and generally outlasts the fashion for it. What shortens that is water and salt — bore water reticulation spraying the face, soil banked against the base, or drainage running along the footing. Keep water off it and the maintenance is repointing the joints once in a very long while.

Question 7

How deep does a brick fence footing need to be?

Accepted Answer

It depends on the height of the wall and on the ground it is going into, which is why a footing depth quoted over the phone without anyone looking at the site is a guess. A taller wall generates a much larger overturning force at the base, and a reactive clay site in the hills behaves differently to sand on the coastal plain. Ask for the depth and width in writing, and compare it across quotes.

Question 8

Why is pier spacing important?

Accepted Answer

Piers carry the sideways wind load back down into the footing. Widening the spacing is the easiest saving to make that a homeowner will never see, so a noticeably cheaper quote is sometimes a quote with fewer piers in it. Compare pier spacing before you compare totals.

Question 9

Can I build a brick fence on a sloping block?

Accepted Answer

Yes, but settle the retaining question first. Where ground is higher on one side, part of the wall is holding soil back, which means a heavier footing, drainage behind it and possibly engineering. Plenty of Perth frontages fall away toward the verge just enough for this to apply without the owner having thought of it that way.

Question 10

Do I need engineering for a front fence?

Accepted Answer

Often not for a low fence on stable ground, and often yes once it gets taller, once any part of it is retaining, or once the site is sloping or on reactive clay. Your council will tell you what it requires, and a contractor who says engineering is never needed for any front fence is guessing.

Question 11

Should I run conduit for lights or a gate motor?

Accepted Answer

Decide before the brickwork starts, even if you are not installing them yet. Conduit run through the piers during construction costs almost nothing. Chasing cable into a finished pier afterwards means cutting it open, and it is the most common regret on a completed fence.

Question 12

Is bagging cheaper than rendering?

Accepted Answer

Yes, noticeably. Bagging is a thin slurry rubbed over the brick that fills the joints and unifies the colour while letting the brick shape read through. Much less material and labour than a full render system, and a different look rather than a worse one — it suits some houses better than a flat rendered finish does.

Brick and rendered fences in Perth