Fence pricing is one of those topics where you get a wildly different answer depending on who you ask. Hipages will tell you one thing, your neighbour another, the Facebook group a third — and the cheapest quote on the street probably won't include demolition, removal, or the GST. This guide gives you real, current per-metre pricing from a contractor who works exclusively in Mickleham and the surrounding northern suburbs of Melbourne. Use it as a sense-check on whatever quotes you receive.
All prices below are installed cost — meaning materials, labour, demolition of the existing fence, removal of waste, and GST. No "extras" tacked on at the end.
The five factors that actually determine your fence cost
Before the price tables, here's what moves the numbers up or down on any given job:
- Material and style. Colorbond vs timber, frameless glass vs aluminium pool fence, height, capping, post style
- Linear metres. Longer runs get cheaper per metre because mobilisation costs are spread over more output
- Site access. Can the truck park within 5 metres of the fence line? Or does material have to be carried 50m through a side gate? This alone can swing the labour quote by 30%
- Existing fence demolition. Adds $25-50/metre depending on what's there (paling = easy, old chain wire with concrete footings = harder)
- Soil and terrain. Reactive clay needs deeper footings. Sloped sites need stepped panels. Rocky soil needs hand digging
A 30m timber paling fence on a flat block with easy truck access at the front is the cheap end. The same 30m on a sloped block with restricted access at the rear is 30-40% more.
Colorbond fencing — 2026 pricing
| Spec | Per metre installed |
|---|---|
| 1.8m standard vertical Colorbond, single colour | $155 – $180/m |
| 1.8m horizontal Colorbond, single colour | $170 – $200/m |
| 2.1m extended-height Colorbond | $185 – $220/m |
| Colorbond with lattice or slat top | $210 – $250/m |
| BAL-29 bushfire-rated Colorbond | $220 – $270/m |
Colorbond is the most popular choice in new estates because it's quick to install, comes with a manufacturer warranty, and looks consistent across long runs. Avoid quotes significantly under $150/m for standard 1.8m Colorbond — that usually signals either non-genuine BlueScope steel or skipped concrete footings.
Timber paling fencing — 2026 pricing
| Spec | Per metre installed |
|---|---|
| 1.8m treated pine paling, lap & cap, hidden posts | $95 – $130/m |
| 1.8m treated pine paling, capped, exposed posts | $130 – $165/m |
| Cypress paling with exposed cypress posts | $165 – $210/m |
| Merbau feature paling fence | $240 – $310/m |
| Concrete plinth (add-on, optional) | +$35/m |
| Stain and seal finish (add-on) | +$22/m |
Treated pine paling is the cheapest residential fencing option in Melbourne. It's also the most commonly under-quoted — make sure your quote specifies H4-treated posts (not H2 or H3) and capped tops, not raw end-grain.
Pool fencing — 2026 pricing
| Spec | Per metre installed |
|---|---|
| Aluminium tubular pool fence (1.2m, powder-coated) | $150 – $220/m |
| Semi-frameless glass pool fence | $220 – $320/m |
| Frameless glass pool fence | $320 – $480/m |
| Compliant self-closing pool gate (per gate) | $450 – $850 each |
| Pool barrier compliance inspection (third party) | $200 – $350 |
Glass is the showpiece but aluminium is the workhorse. For a back-corner pool that nobody really looks at, aluminium does the same compliance job at half the cost.
Gates and automation — 2026 pricing
| Spec | Installed cost |
|---|---|
| Standard timber side gate (1.0m wide, capped) | $420 – $680 |
| Colorbond side gate to match fence | $580 – $820 |
| Single swing driveway gate (3m wide, steel frame, timber infill) | $1,800 – $3,200 |
| Sliding driveway gate (4m wide, aluminium slat) | $3,800 – $6,500 |
| Gate automation kit (motor, remote, sensors) | $1,400 – $2,800 |
| Intercom + keypad addition | $500 – $1,200 |
Worked example — a typical Mickleham backyard
Let's run the numbers on a real-world job we did recently in Mickleham. The brief: replace the entire perimeter of a standard 600m² block.
- Two side boundaries: 18m + 18m = 36m of 1.8m Colorbond (standard vertical, Monument)
- Rear boundary: 16m of 1.8m Colorbond
- One side gate: Colorbond to match
- Demolition and removal of existing 18-year-old paling fence
Total: 52m of Colorbond at $170/m = $8,840, plus one Colorbond gate at $720, total $9,560 installed. Two-and-a-half days on site. Fixed price, written quote, 7-year workmanship warranty.
For a complete fence replacement on a standard 600m² block in Melbourne's north, budget $8,000-$12,000 for Colorbond, $6,500-$9,500 for timber paling, depending on access and demolition complexity.
How to get an accurate quote (and avoid the cheap-quote trap)
- Get the quote in writing as a fixed price — not "estimate" or "from $X/m"
- Confirm what's included: demolition? removal? GST? warranty?
- Ask for the material brand — "genuine BlueScope Colorbond" not "Colorbond-style"
- Get at least three quotes — if one is 30% under the others, ask what they're skipping
- Check for insurance and ABN — uninsured contractors are a problem when something goes wrong
The cheap-quote trap: a quote that comes in 25-40% under everyone else usually means one or more of: shallow footings (rot in 5 years instead of 25), non-genuine materials, no demolition included, no GST included, no insurance, or the contractor goes broke between quote and install.
The honest summary
Fencing isn't expensive when you compare it to most home renovations — a full perimeter replacement runs $8K-$12K and the result lasts 25+ years. The bigger risk is paying $9K to a cheap contractor who delivers a fence that fails in 8 years and costs another $9K to replace. Pay attention to specs, not just totals.
We do free written quotes across Mickleham, Craigieburn, Kalkallo and the wider northern suburbs — usually within 48 hours of your enquiry. Quotes are fixed price, itemised, and include everything down to the post-install clean-up.