How much would a 30 metre fence cost?
A 30 metre closeboard fence costs £2,700 to £3,900 fully installed at our guide range of £90 to £130 per metre, excluding VAT. In composite, £95 to £180 per metre gives £2,850 to £5,400 excluding VAT. Thirty metres is roughly 17 standard 1.83 metre panels and 18 posts. Removing and tipping an old concreted fence is extra, commonly £50 to £100 per post.
Thirty metres divided by a standard 1.83 metre panel gives 16.4 bays, so the real job is 17 panels and 18 posts. MyBuilder's advice on the remainder is worth following: where the run does not divide neatly, a small overlap is usually cheaper than a custom cut panel. Site built closeboard behaves differently. Bays are set out at up to about 3 metres, so a 30 metre run becomes 11 or 12 bays and the spacing can be adjusted to land posts away from a drain, a tree root or a step.
At our guide range of £90 to £130 per metre excluding VAT, 30 metres of closeboard is £2,700 to £3,900. Composite at £95 to £180 per metre gives £2,850 to £5,400 excluding VAT. For reference, Checkatrade's itemised composite build up totals £130 per metre for standard slats and £200 per metre for premium, and MyBuilder's installed table puts lap panel fencing at £70 to £100 per metre, which would be £2,100 to £3,000 over the same 30 metres.
The old fence is where 30 metre quotes separate. If all 18 existing posts are concreted in, breaking out and disposing of those footings runs £50 to £100 per post on MyBuilder's figures, so £900 to £1,800 before a single new post goes in. Take down and clear away of the panels is a further £20 to £30 per unit on Checkatrade's sundry table, or around £35 per panel on MyJobQuote's, and neither includes skip hire or tip charges. Ask in writing whether your quote carries any of it.
On time, MyBuilder puts most installers at 10 to 15 standard panels a day on straightforward ground, so 17 panels is roughly a day and a half of hanging plus the post setting and any breaking out. Published national labour rates sit at £240 to £400 a day. A rate aggregator lists Cheltenham at £32 an hour and £234 a day excluding VAT, though that is an aggregator rather than an industry survey, so treat it as indicative rather than as the established local rate.
Walk the line with a tape before asking anyone to price it. Note the total metres, the height you want, whether the existing posts are timber or concrete, whether they are set in concrete, and any slope or step along the run. Photograph both ends and the worst post. That is enough for a written figure without a site visit in most cases, and it is enough to stop the number changing once work starts. Unrecorded changes in ground level are the usual cause of a revised quote.
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