Fencing in the St George Area: Choosing a Fence That Suits Your Street

The St George area covers a wide stretch of southern Sydney between the Georges River and Botany Bay, and the fencing questions we get from Hurstville, Kogarah, Rockdale, Bexley and the bayside suburbs tend to be quite different from the ones we get elsewhere. Housing stock, block shapes and how close you are to the water all change what the right fence looks like.

Older homes and original front fences

Much of the St George area was built out between the wars, and streets through Bexley, Kogarah, Carlton and parts of Hurstville still have a strong period character. If your home is Federation or interwar, a modern flat-panel front fence can look out of place, while a timber picket or a low masonry-and-metal combination usually sits far more comfortably with the house. Back and side boundaries are a different question entirely, and there is no reason the front and rear fences have to match.

Some streets in the area also fall inside heritage conservation areas, where front fence height, style and materials can be controlled. It is worth a quick check with your council before settling on a front fence design. Our guide to front fence ideas for Sydney homes covers the styles that tend to work well.

Being close to the water changes the material choice

Around Sans Souci, Ramsgate, Dolls Point, Blakehurst and the Georges River foreshore, salt in the air is a real factor. It shortens the life of cheap fixings, attacks poorly finished steel and shows up first at the fasteners and cut edges rather than the panels. If you are near the water, the detail that matters is the hardware and the coating specification, not just the material you pick on the brochure.

• Colorbond holds up well near the coast, but the screws, brackets and post caps need to be an appropriate grade rather than whatever is cheapest.

• Aluminium is a strong choice for pool surrounds and front fences in bayside streets because it will not rust.

• Timber still works, but it needs to be properly treated and maintained, and gate hardware should be chosen with corrosion in mind.

If you are weighing up two materials, our comparison of Colorbond fencing in Sydney and our guide to choosing the right fence for your property both go into more detail.

Sloping blocks and retaining

Land through Oatley, Blakehurst, Connells Point and parts of Mortdale and Peakhurst falls away towards the river, and a fence on a sloping boundary has to be either stepped or raked. Stepped fences follow the slope in level sections and leave triangular gaps at the bottom unless they are infilled; raked fences follow the ground line but need panels and rails made to suit. Where the fall is severe, the honest answer is often that a low retaining wall has to come first, and the fence sits on top of it. That is a structural job, not a fencing job, and it should be priced as one.

Boundary fences and sharing the cost

A dividing fence between two properties in NSW is generally a shared responsibility, and the Dividing Fences Act 1991 sets out how owners are expected to agree on a sufficient fence and split the cost. In practice, the conversation with your neighbour goes far better when you have a written quote in hand that spells out the type of fence, the height and what is included. Disagreements are usually about the upgrade, not the fence itself: if one owner wants a standard replacement and the other wants something more expensive, the difference is normally the upgrading owner's to cover.

If you are not sure whether your fence is due for replacement or just needs repair, our guide on when to replace a fence rather than repair it walks through the signs.

Pool fencing

Pool barriers in NSW are governed by their own rules, and they are not negotiable. Height, gaps, climbable objects near the barrier and self-closing, self-latching gates all have to comply, and the requirements apply to the gate as much as the fence. If your pool fence is also your boundary fence, the pool rules take precedence. Council is the right place to confirm what applies to your property.

Suburbs we cover in the St George area

We work across Hurstville, Kogarah, Rockdale, Bexley, Carlton, Allawah, Beverly Hills, Penshurst, Mortdale, Oatley, Peakhurst, Blakehurst, Sans Souci, Ramsgate, Brighton-Le-Sands and the surrounding streets. Our base is in Miranda, which is a short run down the Princes Highway or across the Tom Uglys Bridge, so St George jobs are local work for us rather than a trip across town.

You can see the full list of areas we service on our service areas page.

Getting a realistic quote

The things that move a St George fencing price are usually access, what is already there, and the ground. A narrow side passage on a Kogarah terrace, an old fence that has to be removed and disposed of, or rock and clay that fight the post holes will all add to the job. A quote that has actually been measured on site will say what is being removed, how deep the posts go, what the gate hardware is and who handles the waste.

For a breakdown of what drives fencing prices generally, see our Sydney fencing cost guide.

A Cut Above Landscaping & Carpentry is a licensed NSW contractor (Licence 484384C) based in Miranda, working across the St George area and southern Sydney. To arrange a free onsite quote, have a look at our fencing services or get in touch.

Read next: a great many St George backyards have a pool, and the barrier around it is regulated separately from the boundary fence. Our guide to pool fencing in Sydney covers the height, gap and non-climbable zone rules, and what usually goes wrong with them.

Also worth reading: Retaining Walls in Sydney, covering drainage, height thresholds and why the wall usually has to go in before the fence.

Also worth reading: if your boundary is closer to the coast again, Fencing in the Eastern Suburbs covers salt-air material choice, sandstone footings and heritage front-fence controls in more detail.