Colorbond Fencing: What are the choices?

Choosing Colorbond fencing for your home

There is a lot of choice when installing a Colorbond fence. If you are installing a boundary fence, there is a good chance you will be looking to install a standard 1800mm high Colorbond fence where the profile is the same on both sides. Even then, you will need to choose what colour, and if it’s a common fence, you might have to agree on the colour with your neighbour. You can choose a uniform colour, or one colour for your panels and a contrasting colour for your posts and rails.

Colorbond fence with contrasting posts & rails.

Colorbond fence, one colour. (timber plinths under bottom rail)

Custom heights and designs for your Colorbond fence

Still, there is a chance you want it a little higher, if you can get the council to grant you that permission. You can choose Colorbond lattice as a fence topper, to extend the height of your fence, or Breezeway slats for a modern, horizontal slat for added fence height. Of course, you could simply install 2100mm high panels. Panels can also be made up of 1500mm of solid infill panels with the extra 300mm being lattice or slats to bring it back up to the standard 1800mm height.

Colorbond fence with Colorbond lattice fence extension.

Colorbond fence with breezeway slats

Colorbond fencing on uneven ground

And what if the fence will be installed on a slope? Even only a small variation in soil levels over the length of a boundary fence may mean you have to either step your fence down or have it cut to slope. Alternatively, you could straighten the slope by installing limestone blocks and install the fence on top of the blocks, or you might get away with Colorbond steel plinths if it’s a minimal amount.

Colorbond fence on slope. Stepped installation, core drilled into limestone blocks.

Colorbond fence installed on a slope. Colorbond panels custom fitted to accommodate slope.

Colorbond gates that match your fence

In the case of installing a Colorbond fence along the front or side of your property for privacy, you may look at installing a Colorbond gate, either as solid panels, or as breezeway slats. Then you have the option of closing mechanism, and the width of the gate.

Trust a proffesional for the technical stuff

There are other bits and pieces you won’t consider, such as the need for a square steel post on corners to give the fence something to attach to. And you might not know the technical specifications of the plinths if you need only retain a small amount of soil at the bottom of the fence.

Colorbond fencing has other uses, such as for infill panels between brick or block pillars, or you can install a 900mm high short fence within your yard for defining areas or keeping in short people.

Colorbond fencing between brick pillars

Luckily, it costs nothing to have a Perth Trade Centre trade professional attend your property for a site inspection, where you can point and say I want it over there, what do you recommend.

For loads of information, including handy diagrams and gallery photos for Colorbond fencing and gates in Perth, see http://www.perthtradecentre.com.au/colorbond-fencing-perth/ 

Colorbond fencing: What's in a fence?

Why choose Colorbond fencing and Gates?

Colorbond fencing has become a favourite choice of fencing in Western Australia. Colorbond fencing is a superior choice of fencing over the Hardie, or super 6, fencing that you still see around the suburbs today. Many people in Western Australia aren't aware that Hardie fencing is not something you will see in the Australian eastern states.

What is Hardie fencing?

Hardie fencing was designed to match and replace the old Super 6 asbestos fencing, when the dangers of asbestos products became known. Hardie fencing is made from cement fibre and contains no asbestos, but is installed in much the same way the asbestos fencing was, in that a trench is dug along the fence line, and the sheets of Hardie fencing are then placed in the trench and the trench is evenly backfilled on either side and compacted down with a good stomping, although its a little bit more involved than that. (Think string lines, getting the panels the right way around for the profiles to fit together, clips, capping, and dealing with slopes, tree roots, reticulation and pipes. Never mind the sheets are heavy and awkward to manoeuvre.)

The problem with this installation method is that what you create is a large wind sail in a very windy city. The vast majority of fence damage during strong winds is Hardie or asbestos fencing. Insurance companies encourage their policy holders to replace Hardie fencing, where possible, with Colorbond fencing.


Colorbond fencing has a very different method of installation. Colorbond fencing panels are made up of three infill sheets, a top and a bottom rail, and two posts. The posts, running up and down either side of the panel, extend beyond the bottom rail so they can be concreted into post holes dug in the ground. This means the bottom rail sits above the surface, and the only part of the fence panel buried are the posts on either end. As the post holes are filled with concrete, Colorbond fencing makes for a fence far less likely to be taken down by strong winds.

As well as a stronger installation, Colorbond fencing comes powder coated in a range of colours, and you can use different coloured components to personalise your style. For example, you may choose one colour for the infill sheets and a separate colour for the posts and rails.

There are added options for Colorbond fencing, too. As well as choosing colours, you can install fence toppers, such as Colorbond lattice on top, as pictured above, or with modern looking slats, which can either extend the height of your fence, or simply replace the top section to break it up or to let the breeze blow through.Where the soil on either side of the fence is uneven, but not enough to warrant installing a retaining wall, plinths can be installed to retain up to around 600mm of earth. Pictured above, timber plinths have been added between the bottom rail and the ground as plinths. Alternatively, there are matching steel Colorbond plinths available for installation.

A standard Colorbond fence should cost around the same as installing a Hardie fence, if not cheaper! Although the materials are dearer for a Colorbond fence, the installation process is far less labour intensive, meaning having a Colorbond fence installed by a professional may well be cheaper or the same cost as installing a Hardie fence.