# Forum Home Renovation Fences & Screens  Fencing Materials

## Kingers

Hey All, 
Over the Christmas break I will be intending to replace a 25 meter section of fencing out the front of my property. I have tried to work out the materials I will be needing and have come up with the below. Materials alone work out to be at $61 per meter, what am I doing wrong, I have been looking around and most prices I have been able to be quoted (online only) are at about $70 - $80 a meter installed. 
I have noticed there are some places that offer a fence package for materials like demak and online fence supplies and the main materials work out at around $33 per meter excluding nails and cement, but even when pricing materials separately on the same sites and not in the package the still work out at around $60 per meter. Is the fencing packages they sell of crap quality timber and is that why they are cheaper?  
The fence i want to build is only a 25m paling fence with a plinth. It seems most people only use 1 bag of concrete per 3 fence posts to stabilise the soil, I intend to use 1 bag per post and set them in then stabile the remaining soil to fill the hole. I would like to concrete the whole lot but it works out to around 55 bags of concrete. 
Whats the best way for me to buy these materials and ensure I am still getting a good fence out of it. I dont want to have to replace the fence in 5 years due to posts rotting or the fence buckling. Im located in eastern suburbs of Victoria 
Cheers

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## Marc

If I had to build a wooden fence ... ( hope never have to) I would buy materials from a timber supplier. As for concrete, if you use concrete bags, you are buying at the chemist so to speak. Mix your own and the concrete cost will be lower. Not sure how else you can reduce cost. Ask Demak, they are very helpful and even reply on this site.
Concrete from bags = $750 a m3
Buy sand+ aggregate and cement bags and mix yourself = $150 m3

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## Moondog55

Nothing wrong or unstable about rammed stabilised earth for fence posts except the time and effort to ram the soil until it rings.
use H4 treated  pine posts or H5 posts if you can get them

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## Bluesrule

Agree with Moondog55. No need to use any concrete or cement. Just ram the earth using the knob on the end of your crowbar (do it in several stages - a few inches at a time). Concrete is just a way of making the job quicker. People have been building wooden fences for 1,000's of years. It is only in the last 20 or 30 years that concrete seems to have become a thing.  
Many years ago when I first started working, my mate and I had the job of removing a significant, long perimeter fence and replacing it. All the fence posts used only rammed earth and the fence outlasted those around it and stayed straight and erect till the end. I've also used rammed earth on some retaining walls at my place and they are still perfectly straight 10 years on.  
You only have 25 metres of fence so not that many post holes. Saving on concrete will make the job significantly cheaper and the finished product will be just as strong and stable as any concreted fence. I have also been told many times over the years that concrete around wooden posts traps moisture in the post and that they will rot quicker than if just using rammed earth. Another long term benefit is at the end of the useful life of the fence you don't have the concrete in the ground that may be in the way of any replacement fence or structure. 
Of course it might be different if you have sandy soil that isn't going to compact easily (if your in Melbourne's eastern suburbs then that is unlikely).

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