Old Fence Removal and Disposal in Sydney: What's Actually Involved

Rick

Nov 1

7 min read

Most people getting fencing quotes are thinking about the new fence. The part that catches them out is the old one. Pulling a boundary fence out of the ground after twenty or thirty years, getting the footings out behind it, and getting the waste off a suburban block is often the slower half of the job - and it is the part quotes differ on most.

Here is what removing and disposing of an old fence in Sydney actually involves, what makes one removal harder than the next, and what to check in a quote so you are comparing the same scope of work. If you are still weighing up whether the fence has to go at all, when to replace a fence covers that decision first, and fence post replacement covers the case where only the posts have failed.

Removal is a job in its own right

Nothing comes apart the way it went together. A fence that needs replacing is usually failing because it has sat in the weather for decades, and it is the fixings that make the work slow. Galvanised nails hold in old hardwood far better than anyone expects, so palings tend to split rather than lift. Bolts through rails seize. Colorbond sheets that have been sitting in slotted posts through years of movement do not always slide back out cleanly.

A leaning run can also be carrying tension. Take one panel out of the middle and the sections either side can move, so an old fence often has to come down in a deliberate order rather than wherever is easiest to start. That is worth knowing if you are thinking about doing the demolition yourself to save on the quote.

The footings are the real work

Old posts are set in concrete, and how much concrete varies enormously along a single boundary. Some are barely a bag of mix. Others are a mass that takes real effort to break out, especially where a gate post or a corner post was over-engineered by whoever built the fence.

That leaves a decision on every post: pull the post and its footing out whole, or cut the post off at ground level and leave the concrete in the ground. Leaving footings in is faster on the day, but a new fence rarely lands on the old hole centres, so the new post holes end up fighting old concrete that nobody can see. Where the new run is going back on the same line, getting the old footings out usually makes the new fence easier to set out properly and to get a straight run on.

Either way, every footing that comes out leaves a hole and a pile of broken concrete and clay. The spoil is the half of removal people forget about - it has to be loaded, carried out and taken away, and on a tight block there may be nowhere to stage it in the meantime.

What the old fence is made of changes where it goes

Disposal is not one waste stream. What comes off the boundary usually has to be separated before it goes anywhere:

Timber palings and rails - nail-riddled and often treated. Treated timber should never be burnt, used in a fire pit or put through a wood-fired barbecue; the smoke and ash are hazardous. It goes to a waste facility that takes it.
Hardwood posts - heavy, and occasionally sound enough below the rot line to be worth keeping for something else.
Colorbond and steel - sheets, rails and posts are steel, so a load of old metal fencing is usually better off at scrap metal recycling than in general waste.
Concrete footings - clean concrete is its own stream at most facilities and is normally kept separate from the timber.
Old wire and mesh - tangles with everything else and is easier handled on its own.

A mixed load is treated differently at the facility gate than a separated one, which is one honest reason removal and disposal is priced differently from one quote to the next. Our guide to fencing costs in Sydney explains what else sits behind the number.

Older boundaries: when the work has to stop

On older Sydney properties the boundary is not always timber or steel. Fibre-cement sheeting was used on plenty of mid-century fences, sheds and boundary walls, and material of that age can contain asbestos. It must not be broken up, cut, drilled, pressure-washed or thrown in a trailer, and a general waste facility will not take it.

If there is any doubt about what a sheet is, the right move is to stop work on that section rather than keep pulling. From there it is a matter of having the material identified and, where it is confirmed, removed by someone appropriately licensed for it and disposed of at a facility that accepts it. SafeWork NSW publishes the current rules and homeowner guidance. This is one part of an old fence that is genuinely not a do-it-yourself job.

A shared fence is not yours alone to take down

A dividing fence between two properties sits on a shared boundary, and the process for replacing it is a shared process. Pulling down a sound shared fence without raising it with the neighbour first is how straightforward jobs turn into disputes. The fencing notice process, cost sharing and what happens when the two sides cannot agree are set out by NSW Fair Trading - and we have covered the practical side in who pays for a dividing fence in NSW and replacing a fence without upsetting your neighbour.

There is a practical reason to sort it out early too. The moment the old fence is out, both yards are open. If either side has a dog, that changes when the removal happens and whether something temporary goes up in the meantime. It is a far easier conversation before the fence is on the ground than after.

Pool barriers are a separate question again

If any part of the fence coming out forms part of a pool barrier, it cannot simply be removed and left open while the new fence goes in. The requirements and the obligations on the owner sit with the NSW Swimming Pool Register and your own council or a private certifier, so that is where to confirm what applies to your pool before anything is unbolted. Our pool fencing guide covers the broader picture.

Access decides more than people expect

On a narrow frontage with no side access, there may be nowhere for a skip and no rear lane to work from, which means the old fence, the footings and the spoil all come out the way they went in - by hand, often through the house or down a set of steps. Strata bins will not take building waste, so nothing can quietly go in them either.

It also matters where the old material sits while the job runs. A stack of palings with nails pointing up, or sheets leaning against a wall, is worth keeping away from where kids and pets go, particularly if the removal and the new install are not happening back to back.

Taking out a section rather than the whole run

Not every removal is a full boundary. Sections come out for machinery access, a pool build, a landscaping job or a delivery that will not fit down the side. That is usually workable, but it is worth checking two things first: whether the panels either side are sound enough to survive being disturbed and reinstated, and whether the run is holding tension that will move once a section is opened up. On an old fence, a temporary opening sometimes turns into a longer conversation about the rest of the run.

What to check in a quote

Removal and disposal is where two fencing quotes most often turn out not to be the same job. Worth asking:

Does the price include removing the old fence and taking it away, or is it left stacked on site?
Are the old footings being removed, or cut off at ground level and left in the ground?
Who takes away the spoil from the new post holes?
What happens, and who does what, if suspect fibre-cement sheeting turns up?
Has the access route for material in and waste out actually been looked at?
Is anything temporary needed for a dog, or for a pool barrier, between removal and the new fence?

Our guide to getting a fencing quote in Sydney goes through the rest of what a written quote should set out, and how long a fence replacement takes covers the timing side.

Frequently asked questions

Does removing the old fence normally come with the new one?

On a replacement it usually does, because the new fence cannot go in until the old one is out. What varies is how far that goes - whether footings come out, and whether the waste leaves site. It should be written down rather than assumed, since it is the single biggest difference between two quotes that otherwise look alike.

Can I take the old fence to the tip myself?

Timber, metal and concrete can generally be taken to a waste or recycling facility, but what each facility accepts, how loads have to be separated and what it charges all differ, so it is worth checking with the one you plan to use before loading a trailer. Suspect fibre-cement sheeting is the exception and should not be moved at all until it has been identified.

Do I need my neighbour's agreement to remove a dividing fence?

A dividing fence is a shared matter rather than a solo decision, and there is a defined process for raising it, agreeing on the work and resolving a disagreement. Start with NSW Fair Trading for the process that applies to your situation; this is general information, not legal advice.

Do the old concrete footings have to come out?

Not always. Where the new fence is going on a slightly different line, old footings can sometimes stay. Where it is going back on the same line, leaving them tends to make setting out the new posts harder, so taking them out usually earns its keep. It is a judgement made on the boundary, not a rule.

Can I keep or give away the old palings?

Sometimes. Old hardwood palings do get reused for garden beds and screens, but they are usually nail-riddled, brittle at the ends and often treated, so they are not suitable for anything that will be burnt or that food touches. If you want some kept back, say so before the job starts - once the load is on the truck it is gone.

Planning a fence replacement anywhere across Sydney and want the removal and disposal properly accounted for rather than left as a surprise? We handle fence replacement and the full range of fencing work across the Sutherland Shire, St George, the Inner West, the Eastern Suburbs, Canterbury-Bankstown and the rest of our service areas - get in touch for a quote and we will come and look at what is there.