# Forum Home Renovation Landscaping, Gardening & Outdoors  Colorbond Fence

## Bella

We have agreed with the neughbours to get a new fence. They want a colorbond (we wanted paling) and said we can pick the colours. Our house is yellow with green trim. 
Any recommendations or things to avoid in choosing the colour?

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## DavidG

Green with a cream top lattice. Common, looks nice, fit most colours.

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## Ekim

Dont pick a colour from a brochure. These colours rarely match up with the actual colour of the colorbond fence. Colorbond fencing agents have, or should have, fencing samples about the size of a business card that you can take away. These samples are made from colorbond fencing material and reflect actual colours.

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## julianx

PERSONAL OPINION- I think colour bond fences make back yards look like  used car lots. Try talking your nieghbour into palings again then you have a greater choice of colours and can easily change colours.

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## maglite

> PERSONAL OPINION- I think colour bond fences make back yards look like used car lots. Try talking your nieghbour into palings again then you have a greater choice of colours and can easily change colours.

  Im with Julian......sort of,
Colorbond isnt much good if you have dogs who like digging, given the gap between ground level and start of the bottom rail. You can run concrete up to this but IMHO kind of defeats the purpose.
If your a keen gardener or like having your gardens up againt the fence....it isnt much chop as it will corrode + allow every weed into the garden plus that "lovely" couch grass that people seem intent on planting. 
Neibour and I are going for good ol fashioned super 6.
We both have dogs and i dont need any creepers from the lawn next door in my garden beds.
Yep its grey, but  once the plants grow....who cares what color a fence is anyway?

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## JDub

I Disagree, 
A few years ago we replaced our 1.5m rotting pailing fence with a raked 1.8m colorbond fence (60m of it). 
We love it, we have much more privacy from our neighbours, and it looks great. If you are worried about the 'used car lot' look, you just need to plant some screening plants in front the fence.  
We have a beige coloured fence (Summershade) and it looks really good with the green of the plants in front of it. 
If you do go colorbond and your block is sloped I would get it raked not stepped, looks alot better and more finished, it also limits the gaps under the fence. We have laid treated pine sleepers to cover the gap under the fence and stop the soil from garden beds building up around the bottom channels, three years on and it seems to do the job fine. 
No more pailings for the neighbours kids to kick off and let the dogs out, or railings to climb either  :Wink:   
just my 2c 
Joel 
Fence in question in the background (sorry only pic of have of it and only have that because Ive just posted these pics elsewhere of my new deck)

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## Bella

Thanks everyone for your opinions and advice. :Biggrin:   We wanted a pailing as I mentioned but didn't want to cause trouble with our new neighbours (they look kinda scarey! :eek: ) 
I like the green and cream idea. Unfortunately we can't afford the extra latice on top so I think cream posts would be good. And I agree I don't like the stepped look so I might ask about the other option. 
I looked at the cream ones in the neighbourhood last night and I though that were a bit glarey with the sun shining on them so I might stick with the light green. 
Thanks again everyone  :Smilie:

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## silentC

Rivergum is a nice shade if you can still get it. With the gaps underneath, I found that T/P 4x2 fits nicely in the 'C' channel that they use for the posts, so once the fencers had put it up, I went around and filled it in. Came up good with a bit of deck oil. You can also use the half round T/P logs but you'd need to chamfer the ends to get them in. 
After living in termite country for the last 10 or so years, I'd never put up a paling fence again.

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## Gumby

Bushland is also one of the newer colourbond colours, a very soft green.  
Don't forget, if you need a new fence, and you are happy with palings, you only need to contribute 50% of what a paling fence would cost. If the neighbours want CB, they would normally pay the extra themselves. Having said that, you have to all live together too. Diplomacy may be in order.

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## Simomatra

If you do go colorbond and your block is sloped I would get it raked not stepped, looks alot better and more finished, it also limits the gaps under the fence. We have laid treated pine sleepers to cover the gap under the fence and stop the soil from garden beds building up around the bottom channels, three years on and it seems to do the job fine. 
No more pailings for the neighbours kids to kick off and let the dogs out, or railings to climb either  :Wink:   
just my 2c 
Joel 
I feel same as Joel we have just done this with one of the neighbours and went for the raked look. No more termites and the dogs don't run up and down the fence barking at one another. Looks great 
Chears sam

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## Dean

Colorbond is termite proof too  :Smilie:  
So now, they can go to your house instead of your fence  :Tongue:   
Actually we also just put up part of a colorbond fence. Easy to install, looks great to me and good privacy. We went with the dark green for everything. We stepped it however up the back for the slope at the back of the block, but you can't really see that bit anyway.

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## Simomatra

Bella 
A couple of pics of our new fence The colour is willow and type is Lysaght Netascreen 
Cheers Sam

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## numbat

Congratulations on agreeing with your neighbour to replace the fence. We are just ending a 3 year saga shortly. We have a raked colourbond fence on one side at the moment and other sides will match. 
I think in relation to cost between paling and colourbond (certainly in Canberra) the costs are identical. Colourbond also last longer - paling fences have a 15 - 20 year life. 
Cheers

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## vsquizz

Quality of installation makes a huge difference and colourbond can be used in lots of different ways.  I use a subbie for the bigger colourbond jobs but we do the small ones ourselves.  Here is somecolourbond between piers for a different but cost effective makeover:

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## maglite

> Quality of installation makes a huge difference and colourbond can be used in lots of different ways. I use a subbie for the bigger colourbond jobs but we do the small ones ourselves. Here is somecolourbond between piers for a different but cost effective makeover:

  Geez squizz,
If i had known that you do fencing as well, would have got you down here for very cashy easter.
That is, if your not too busy.........did someone say "shortage" or was that "boom"
Cheers
Steve

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## vsquizz

> Geez squizz,
> If i had known that you do fencing as well, would have got you down here for very cashy easter.
> That is, if your not too busy.........did someone say "shortage" or was that "boom"
> Cheers
> Steve

  Steve, we don't mention "colourbond" or "cashie" in Dalkeith OK :Wink:   
Our fencing work is supposed to be a sideline but its flatout without even 1 shred of advertising.  A good money spinner is backyard sub-divs, we do the demo, if required, drainage, retaining wall, fencing, pad, soakwells, tree lopping etc as a 1 stop shop...but we would rather stick with the fine limestone work.  I've got people screaming for us at Mandurah...which is about as far as I'll go.

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## GramLine

Hi, 
I work for a Steel Privacy Fencing company called GramLine. Our website is: www.gramline.com.au
We have bought a new product out on the market that fills those unsightly gaps under your fence! It's called the GramLine Plinth, for more details go here: http://gram.com.au/plinth.html      

> Im with Julian......sort of,
> Colorbond isnt much good if you have dogs who like digging, given the gap between ground level and start of the bottom rail. You can run concrete up to this but IMHO kind of defeats the purpose.
> If your a keen gardener or like having your gardens up againt the fence....it isnt much chop as it will corrode + allow every weed into the garden plus that "lovely" couch grass that people seem intent on planting. 
> Neibour and I are going for good ol fashioned super 6.
> We both have dogs and i dont need any creepers from the lawn next door in my garden beds.
> Yep its grey, but once the plants grow....who cares what color a fence is anyway?

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## Gumby

wouldn't be a spammer by any chance ?  :Rolleyes:

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## sea dragon

Do those three replies constitute the postings to date?:confused: 
He has company loyalty, in  spades.

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## Smiley Guy

I have 3 neighbours - all but the back one wanted colourbond. I left the back treated pine fence and painted it with Wattle Solagard in Mist Green (a bit lighter than river gum - both nice colours - it is an EXACT match of the colourbond fence). Now it looks heaps better than the colourbond and I wish I had never gotten colourbond at all but gotten timber all round! Maybe I will change my mind when it comes to painting again? 
Show your neighbour a painted timber fence and see what they think maybe? Question is - will you volunteer to paint your neighbour's side? 
I think most councils will default to a timber paling fence if there is a dispoute - but not sure if you want to do this to your neighbour.

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## mikblyth

Just to introduce ourselves, we are a fencing company and have been in business for over 10 yeras between us we have over 70 years of experience with regards to all types of fencing, If you would like any advice please feel free to email me. our website is www.3029.com.au.  no we are not touting for work as we have plenty just ere to help where we can. 
Mik.   

> We have agreed with the neughbours to get a new fence. They want a colorbond (we wanted paling) and said we can pick the colours. Our house is yellow with green trim. 
> Any recommendations or things to avoid in choosing the colour?

  there are 3 green colours, Evergreen which is a dark heritage green, meadow which is a light green and willow which is in the middle, willow iwas called rivergum green.
the yellow colour is alled domain, classic cream or primrose.

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## mikblyth

One of the biggest problems with painting a timber fence is that bot the side must be painted as the timber paling have a tendancy to warp, this leads to them cracking and breaking and reducing the lifespan of your fence. You will also probably need to repaint every 2-3 years unless you get a very good paint like solarguard.
do you really want to spend lots of dollars and a good weekend painting your fence every 2 years. 
Mik
3029.com.au.     

> I have 3 neighbours - all but the back one wanted colourbond. I left the back treated pine fence and painted it with Wattle Solagard in Mist Green (a bit lighter than river gum - both nice colours - it is an EXACT match of the colourbond fence). Now it looks heaps better than the colourbond and I wish I had never gotten colourbond at all but gotten timber all round! Maybe I will change my mind when it comes to painting again? 
> Show your neighbour a painted timber fence and see what they think maybe? Question is - will you volunteer to paint your neighbour's side? 
> I think most councils will default to a timber paling fence if there is a dispoute - but not sure if you want to do this to your neighbour.

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## mikblyth

timber v colorbond. 
Timber generally can look more attractive than colorbond, BUT the timber fence may last 7-10 years whilst a colorbond fence should last you between 20-30 years. The colorbond is also termite resistant and also help protect your property in the event of a bushfire. The timber fence can be protected with cca which in effect is arsenic, not very good for kiddies playing on the fence, The colorbond can also be  used as a pool fence barrier and needs no additional protection on your neighbours side.  
Colorbond can more easily be damaged with balls and the like and the colours could were on you after years and years and look dated if your home has been given a make over. 
Mik
3029.com.au

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## pawnhead

> no we are not touting for work as we have plenty just ere to help where we can.

  No offense but I find that hard to believe since you keep posting your website.   

> One of the biggest problems with painting a timber fence is that bot the side must be painted as the timber paling have a tendancy to warp, this leads to them cracking and breaking and reducing the lifespan of your fence. You will also probably need to repaint every 2-3 years unless you get a very good paint like solarguard.

  Mine still looks good and I've only painted one side using a thin cheap fence paint. Mind you it's only four years old so far.   

> timber v colorbond. 
> Timber generally can look more attractive than colorbond, BUT the timber fence may last 7-10 years whilst a colorbond fence should last you between 20-30 years.

  That's a load of crap. You should get 20 years out of a paling fence. I got 25 years out of my Hwd back fence and I could have gotten a few more if I'd replaced a few palings, whacked in a couple of star pegs, and thrown a coat of sump oil on it to make it look uniform again. The neighbour had to go halves so I thought it would be better just to get him to spring for most of the gear and do the labour myself, then not worry about it for another 20 years.  :Wink:   
Also from your website, starting @ $70/m colorbond is over double the price of a 6' paling jobbie.

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## Barry Hicks

G'day Bella
Personally I hate tin fences!  They are anti social!  We have great neighbours and with nine moves in 50 married years we, luckily, always have.  I would hate to have been cut off from a yarn or a wave by sheets of tin no matter how pretty the colour.
Having said that, I have come across a lot of people I would have happily been separated from by 10 tin fences.
I guess it depends on who or what lives next door. 
Good luck, Barry Hicks 
PS  If you go tin, avoid a stepped top like someone suggested.  We have a few in our area and they don't look good.

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## mikblyth

> No offense but I find that hard to believe since you keep posting your website. 
> Mine still looks good and I've only painted one side using a thin cheap fence paint. Mind you it's only four years old so far. 
> That's a load of crap. You should get 20 years out of a paling fence. I got 25 years out of my Hwd back fence and I could have gotten a few more if I'd replaced a few palings, whacked in a couple of star pegs, and thrown a coat of sump oil on it to make it look uniform again. The neighbour had to go halves so I thought it would be better just to get him to spring for most of the gear and do the labour myself, then not worry about it for another 20 years.   
> 20 years ago timber fencing was made from much thicker palings and they were made from hardwood, todays fencing is made from young pine and is only 10mm thick. this is why you dont get as long a life. Grant you some fencing may last longer than 7-10 years they may also be in the shade most of the time.   We ourselves have pulled down fencing that is only 7 year old because it hadnt been looked after, things such as letting water pool around posts and painting one side contributed to the short life span. more realistically you should see 15 years, again it would also depend on if you have either redgum/pine or even concrete or steel posts for your timber fence. just a note we install colorbond fencing for $58.00 a meter and timber 6 for $49.00 a meter. no where near double the price. The $70.00 was probabily for 2.1m high colorbond fencing. 
> we keep posting the site as we have a lot of valuable information on it, such as tips on how to look after your fence, pool fence regulations, and installation downloads as well as colour charts and help if you have problems with neigbours. We only install locally to Western Melbourne and we already have extensive advertising so the occasional one or 2 people from this website wont make me rich by any means. www.3029.com.au 
> Also from your website, starting @ $70/m colorbond is over double the price of a 6' paling jobbie.

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