Costs & pricing
What Am I Actually Paying For, Per Metre of Fence?
A per metre rate is a bundle. Unbundling it tells you whether two quotes are genuinely comparable or whether one has simply moved costs somewhere you cannot see.
Almost every fencing price is expressed per metre, which makes quotes look easy to compare and often is not. Two contractors can both say a figure per metre and mean quite different things by it, because a metre of fence contains a post, some fraction of a gravel board, boarding, fixings, a hole in the ground and a share of the day's labour.
This page pulls a per metre rate apart so you can see which parts are fixed, which parts vary with your garden, and which parts are commonly left out and charged later.
What a metre of fence contains
Think of the rate as roughly five ingredients. There is the vertical support, the horizontal structure, the facing, the base detail and the labour of putting it in the ground. Change any one and the rate moves, which is why asking for a rate without specifying the build gives you a number with no meaning attached.
- Posts, and crucially whether they are timber or concrete
- Rails or panel framing that carry the boarding
- The boarding itself, where the style choice lives
- A gravel board keeping timber clear of wet soil
- Digging, setting, aligning and levelling along the run
Why the same rate does not suit every garden
A rate built around clean soil, level ground and a van at the kerb collapses the moment the boundary sits behind a terraced house, crosses a slope, or runs over the remains of an old concrete base. None of that makes the rate dishonest, it simply makes it conditional, and the conditions should be written down.
- Sloping ground means stepped or raked runs and more setting out time
- Old concrete and brick footings under the line have to be broken out
- Tree roots along a boundary can move post positions and add digging time
- Restricted access changes the labour share in every single metre
Comparing two per metre quotes properly
Put the two rates side by side and ask five short questions of each: what post type, what height, is a gravel board included, is removal and disposal of the old fence included, and does the rate assume vehicle access. In our experience the cheaper rate answers at least one of those differently, and that is the whole gap.
A note on measuring
Measure along the ground the fence will follow, not across the garden in a straight line, and treat each leg of an L-shaped boundary separately. Corners need their own posts and their own attention, so a boundary of three short legs is not the same job as one long run of the same total length.
Want the rate for your run?
We will measure your boundary, tell you what specification suits it and give you one clear written figure with the inclusions listed. Send the details through our quote form and we will come back to you.
Frequently asked
Should a per metre rate include the gravel board?
It should say either way in writing. A gravel board is a genuine cost and a genuine benefit, so leaving it ambiguous is the most common reason a rate looks lower than it is.
Is a per metre rate the same for 1.2m and 1.8m fencing?
No. Height changes the boarding volume, the post length and the depth they are set to, so a rate always belongs to a stated height.
How do I measure my boundary for a rate?
Follow the line the fence will take on the ground, measure each straight leg separately, and note any change of level or obstruction along the way.
Why is disposal not always in the rate?
Because some contractors leave it out to make the headline figure lower. Licensed disposal of old timber, wire and broken spurs costs money, so ask directly whether it is priced.
Does the rate change if only part of the boundary is being replaced?
Often slightly, as tying new work neatly into an existing fence takes more care than starting a run from scratch.
Get a per metre rate that belongs to your garden
Tell us the height and the run and we will come and confirm what specification suits it, with the inclusions listed line by line.