Practical points for boundary work in New Barnet
Planed versus sawn timber faces
Sawn timber retains the rough, slightly fibrous surface left by the mill saw, which holds paint and stain better initially but can also hold moisture and dirt in the surface fibres for longer after rain.
Planed, or PAR (planed all round), timber has a smooth, machined finish that looks tidier and is more pleasant to handle, but its closed surface can mean stain sits on top rather than soaking in, needing more frequent reapplication.
Fencing components are commonly specified as sawn for structural parts like posts and rails and planed for visible features like capping, reflecting the balance between weathering performance and finished appearance.
Freeholder consent for a leasehold garden
Leasehold houses and flats with a garden are usually still subject to the terms of the lease, which can require the freeholder's written consent before altering boundary structures.
This applies even where the leaseholder has full day-to-day use of the garden and has paid for previous fencing work themselves.
Checking the lease, or asking the managing agent, before committing to boundary work avoids a costly rebuild if consent turns out to be required and wasn't obtained first.
Combining a windbreak hedge with a lighter fence
Planting a windbreak hedge or shrub line on the exposed side of a fence reduces the wind load the fence structure has to carry directly, since the vegetation absorbs and diffuses much of the force before it reaches the panels.
This takes several years to become effective as the planting matures, so it's usually specified alongside a fence built to cope with full exposure initially, with the expectation that loads reduce over time rather than the reverse.
It's a useful option where a client wants a lighter, less heavily-specified fence than pure exposure would otherwise demand, provided they accept the interim years before the hedge does its share of the work.
Surface preparation before re-coating
Re-coating over an existing failed or flaking finish without preparation traps whatever is underneath — old paint fragments, algae, or degraded stain — and the new coat fails at the same points within a season.
A light sand or wire-brush pass to remove loose material, followed by a full dry-out period, gives a fresh coat something sound to key into rather than a film sitting over compromised timber.
Timing matters as much as preparation: coating damp timber traps moisture under the new film and is one of the most common reasons a re-coat fails faster than the original application.
Diagonal bracing struts on gate posts
A diagonal timber or metal strut run from partway up a gate post back to a buried anchor or second post resists the twisting and leaning force a heavy gate exerts on its hinge post over time, particularly on wide or heavy gates.
Without bracing, that twisting load is carried entirely by the post's own embedment in the ground, which can gradually work the post out of true even where the concrete footing itself remains intact.
Bracing is generally specified based on gate weight and width rather than applied universally, since a light pedestrian gate rarely generates enough leverage to need it while a wide vehicle gate almost always does.
Level differences between plots and who retains
Where two plots sit at different levels, the general presumption in law is that whoever created the level difference — usually by cutting or raising ground during earlier development — is responsible for retaining it, though on old or unclear plots this isn't always documented.
A fence contractor isn't in a position to resolve a retaining dispute, but should flag it clearly where a proposed fence line runs directly along or above an unretained level change, since a fence is not a retaining structure and shouldn't be asked to do that job.
Getting this distinction agreed in writing between neighbours before work starts avoids the fence being blamed later for a ground movement problem it never caused.
