Our fences are around 16 years old, all treated pine with unlapped palings, paling side facing us. The fence on one side has a few problems, the main one being that four of the posts are leaning over to our side.
We dug around the base of the most-leaning one, and there is a concrete footing, and if I push on the fence the footing doesn't move, so I presume the post has rotted, and I presume the other posts are the same.
The neighbour's land is slightly higher than ours, and it looks like soil in their garden beds has been covering the bottom of the fence over the bottom rail. There are also a couple of trees, one very large, one medium, next to the fence on their side. Parts of the post that was below soil level are soft, as are parts of the railing. We haven't inspected the other three posts, nor any other seemingly OK posts (about 12 in total along that boundary).
I said to the neighbour that the soil should be kept away from the fence to avoid rotting.
I haven't done any fence repairs before, but am reasonably handy. The neighbour admits to not being handy, but is happy to labour. If only the posts need to be replaced, I think we could do it for the cost of four posts, concrete, wood for bracing, nails, other odds and ends, maybe around $200 – 300 and a weekend? However if the rails need replacing too, things may get trickier to manage. And if despite our best efforts we do something wrong, it may need re-repairing properly later.
I guess although four posts are visibly leaning, others may be rotted too, and so the work involved may be more than what we can see. There may be up to about 7 posts in total that could be affected, along around 25m of fence.
So we're going to at least get quotes for fixing the fence.
Would it be essential to replace railings that are showing signs of rot, or can we get away with just the posts and replace the railings later if necessary? If the soil is kept off them, can they be treated to stop further rot?
How much play should I expect in a normal fence? I went around our yard pushing on different posts, and most I can push an inch or so.
I realise that this sort of fix may not be attractive to a fencer compared to erecting an entire new fence, and the quote may have a "nuisance factor" added to it. What sort of ballpark rate/quote should I expect to be reasonable for this work? I suppose the upper limit for any repair work would have to be less than the most expensive option – up to 25m of new fence at around $100 per metre?
Any recommendations for good, reputable, not exorbitant fencers that would come to upper north shore suburbs in Sydney?
Do it once do it right, Bunnings has a video of that helps.
If your tight on cash bury 2 bits of woon on either side drill and bolt it so the post is sandwiched, otherwise just do it right this time.
Edit, I recommend a hose with a slow drip where your gonna dig and a post hole digger (the thing that lifts dirt as you dig)