How do you install a Colorbond fence?

If you don’t have a flat terrain around the property you want to protect with colorbond fencing, or your terrain doesn’t have proper drainage, the answer is simple – hire a professional colorbond installer. Regardless of whether you want to do this yourself or hire a professional, there are things that you should do before starting:

• Check your soil for holes and slopes
• Check where the underground water, gas and electricity lines are
• Check the maximum height of your colorbond fence with your local council

Checking solis for holes and slopes – Your terrain needs to be flat. If it isn’t flat, there are challenges to this type of colorbond fence installation. It is necessary for the poles to be even and in line so that the sheets can be installed easily. On the steep and sloped terrain, this requires a lot of planning.

Checking the underground lines – These should be in your house plan. When installing the colorbond fencing, you will have to dig some holes and fill them with concrete. If you do this without checking the lines first, you are in danger of cutting through the lines.

Checking the allowed dimensions – There are some local councils in Australia that don’t allow fences that are higher than 180 cm. Make sure that you have the colorbond fence panels of appropriate dimensions before installing them.

What Tools Do You Need for a Colorbond Fence?

If you still think you should do your colorbond fence installation yourself, you need to make sure you have the right tools for the job. Here is what you need to get before you start with the installation:

• Shovel or spade
• Wheelbarrow
• Spud bar
• Rubber mallet
• Level, magnetic or spirit
• String line and markers
• Screw gun
• Concrete mixer

Besides these, you will need protective gear, as well. This includes gloves, protective eyewear, safety footwear and overalls. If your project requires drilling, it would be advisable to have ear muffs, as well.

How to Install a Colorbond Fence Step-by-Step?

Now that you have prepared your soil and have collected all the gear and equipment you need, it is time to start with your colorbond fence installation. This can be done in three steps:

Step 1 – Preparing the Post Holes

Start by using a string to mark where you want your colorbond fencing to be. Once you have the string firmly spread around your property, it is time to mark the places where the post holes will be.

Put marker pegs on every 240 cm because that is where your posts will be. When doing this, start from the gate post or the place where you plan on putting the gate. Each mark peg is actually the place for your hole.

The hole should be 20 cm – 25 cm in diameter, with the centre where the mark peg is. The depth of hole depends on the soil. The sandy, unstable soil dictates the post hole of at least 90 cm. Clay requires 60 cm deep holes, while rock allows for 40 cm.

Step 2 – Installing Posts

Once the holes are dug, they are to be filled with concrete, and the posts are to be placed in it. When the hole is dug, the post should be positioned in it using braces. It is important that the posts are aligned well so that they are at the same height.

When the post is positioned, it is time to pour the concrete in. The concrete should be poured in a way that makes it slope from the post down a bit. That is needed so that the water doesn’t get retained around the post and damages it over time.

Of course, before you place the posts on the ground, you need to screw them together back-to-back. To fasten two posts together, you need to use the screw gun. The space between two screws should not be more than 30 cm. The corner posts and the end posts are a bit different, so keep track of them before installation.

Step 3 – Installing Colorbond Sheets

The posts have been installed, and now is the time for your colorbond fence panels. Start by placing the bottom rails in the post channels. There should be a 5 cm gap between the rail and the ground. Attach the rails to both sides of the posts.

Slide the sheets in the bottom rails and secure them. They should properly fit and overlap with the rails so that they can be screwed in together without issues. Make sure that your sheets fit well before proceeding with the top rails.

Install the top rails, making sure they fit well. Sometimes, installers place the bottom rail first and then loosely attach the top rails to determine whether the posts are well positioned. If they aren’t, the corrections are made before the sheets are put in. If they are, the top rails are removed, and the sheets are installed first.

Step 4 – Installing Colorbond Gate

It has already been mentioned that the gate posts are a bit different than the rest of the posts that are used to hold the concrete fencing panels. Gates should be positioned on the posts that are at least 5 cm x 5 cm.

The gates also have the top rail and the bottom rail, but they also have latches and hinge elements. They should be attached to the gate itself. Then, the latches and the hinges need to be attached to the gate posts, as well.

In these four steps, you can complete the colorbond fence installation. However, there are tons of things that can complicate this, and there are so many reasons why you should hire a professional. If anything goes wrong, your professional colorbond fence installation expert will fix it, as they usually give some sort of guarantee.

If you are not sure if they do – ask them. Moreover, ask for quotes for colorbond fence installation from several experts. They will give you their price and the information you require. That will help you make the right decision and get your project done.