Blade fencing Melbourne
Blade fences for Melbourne front yards and pools
Blade fencing in steel or aluminium, installed by our fencing contractors for Melbourne front yards, courtyards and pools.
- Your quote is free and comes in writing
- Our installers are insured
- We install matching gates, automatic ones too
Get a free blade fencing quote
Blade fencing is ticked for you. Add your suburb and rough metres on the next step.
Blade fencing at a glance
50 mm
A common blade width
Blades, the flat upright bars, are 10 to 16 mm thick, and 65 and 90 mm widths are made too.
10 mm
The tightest common gap
Gaps go up to 90 mm for more light and breeze.
1.8 m
The tallest standard panel
Panels also come in 900, 1200 and 1500 mm.
Black
The most popular colour
Charcoal and off-white are popular too, and other colours come to order.
How it works
How getting a blade fence works
Tell us about the job
Send your suburb, a rough length in metres and any gates you want. The form also asks whether the old fence needs to come out.
We measure up if needed
When the job needs it, we come out and measure the boundary, including any brick pillars or slope the fence has to fit.
You get a written quote
It's free, and you can read it through in your own time.
We build your fence
The posts, the solid uprights that carry the fence, go in first. The blade panels and any gates are then fixed to them.
Is it right for you?
Blade fencing pros and cons
Blade fencing is mostly a front fence and a pool fence.
Where it works well
Front fences
It marks your boundary and keeps kids and pets in, and the house still shows from the street.
Around a pool
Blade panels made to the pool barrier standard can fence a pool, and you can see the water through the gaps from the house.
Side paths and courtyards
Tight gaps or angled blades screen a courtyard or side path, and light and air still get through.
Think twice if
You want total privacy
Colorbond fencing, solid steel sheet with no gaps, blocks the view completely.
Colorbond fencingYou'd like the look of timber
Blade fences come in flat colours of powder coat, a paint baked onto the metal. If you want real wood, a timber paling fence is the closer match.
Timber fencingThe budget is tight
Blade fencing usually costs more per metre than a Colorbond or timber paling fence.
Styles
Blade fence panels and styles
Choose the blade style for the look you want, then panels or a made-to-measure fence to suit your boundary.
Flat top blades
The blades finish under a flat rail running along the top, so the top of the fence is one straight, level line. You choose the blade size and the gap.
Angled blades
Each blade is turned at an angle to the street, like the slats of a louvre. Angled blades hide more of the yard than straight ones.
Ready-made blade fence panels
Panels come in a set width, about 2.2 m, and four standard heights. They fix between posts and suit a straight, level run.
Made to measure
The fence is made to your lengths and height instead of set panel sizes. It suits the spaces between brick pillars, odd lengths and fences that need a custom height.
Gates
Blade gates to match your fence
Gates are made with the same blades, gap and colour as the fence, so the line looks unbroken from the street.
Pedestrian gate
A single gate across the front path. You can choose a lockable or keyless latch.
Double swing gates
Two gates that open from the middle, for a driveway with room for them to swing.
Sliding gate
Runs along a track beside the fence, so it needs no room to swing open across the driveway.
Automatic openers
A motor opens a sliding or swing gate from a remote. We bring in an electrician to wire it in.
Sizes and colours
Blade fence heights and colours
- 900 mm Low front fence
- The lowest standard panel.
- 1200 mm Front fence
- Most adults can still see over it.
- 1500 mm Tall front fence
- Hides more of the yard from the footpath.
- 1800 mm Side boundary or courtyard
- A dividing fence between neighbours can go to 2 m without a building permit.
Popular colours
- Satin blackThe most popular
- MonumentDark charcoal grey
- SurfmistSoft off-white
- Other coloursMade to order in most powder-coat colours
Ask to see a real colour sample before you choose, because screens change how a colour looks.
Get a free quoteMaterials
Aluminium or steel blade fencing
Both metals are finished in powder coat. Which one suits depends on how close you live to the sea and how much wind the fence takes.
Aluminium
Steel
Rust
Won't rust. A thin natural layer on the metal protects it.
Relies on its powder coat. A deep chip or scratch can let rust start.
Strength
Lighter, and strong for its weight.
Heavier, stronger and stiffer, which helps on long runs and windy sites.
Near the coast
Has the edge in salt air, such as on the Mornington Peninsula.
Holds up well inland.
Blade sizes
Often 50 x 10 mm or 65 x 16 mm.
Often 50 x 10 mm.
Ask about cut edges
If a panel is cut to fit on site, the bare metal at the cut needs sealing.
Privacy and airflow
Blade size and gap: privacy or airflow
The size of each blade and the gap between them decide how much of your yard people can see. They also decide how much light and breeze gets through.
Common blade sizes
- 50 x 10 mm
- 65 x 16 mm
- 90 x 16 mm
A 50 x 10 mm blade is 50 mm across its flat side and 10 mm thick. Set on edge, the 10 mm side faces the street.
10 mm gap
The most private. The view closes as soon as you step to one side.
25 mm gap
Private from most angles. Straight on, you get glimpses of the yard.
50 mm gap
Half open. People can see in from the front and from a fair angle, and more breeze gets through.
90 mm gap
The most open. Plenty of light and air, and the garden stays on show.
Drawn to scale from above, with 50 x 10 mm blades. The street is at the bottom.
A pool fence has to meet the pool barrier rules on gaps, so check those before you pick a wide gap. Blade pool fencing
Get a free quote
Blade fencing explained
What is blade fencing?
Blade fencing is a metal fence made from flat bars, called blades, standing upright in a row with a gap between each one. The blades are steel or aluminium, fixed between rails (the long horizontal bars) and finished in powder coat, a tough baked-on paint. It looks slim and modern, and you can partly see through it.
Picture a picket fence with every picket turned side-on, so only its thin edge faces the street. Some makers call the style picket on edge.
Look straight at the fence and you see between the blades. Walk past at an angle and the flat sides of the blades close up the view.
Picket fence: the flat side faces the street
Blade fence: the same bar turned on its edge
Street
Pricing
What sets blade fencing prices
Every blade fence is priced from your details, and your written quote shows the full price before any work starts.
How many metres
The longer the run, the higher the price. Pace out the boundary for a rough number to start with.
Height, blade size and gap
Taller fences, wider blades and tighter gaps all use more metal in every metre.
The metal and the colour
Steel or aluminium and the colour you pick both change the price.
Panels or made to measure
A fence made to your exact sizes usually costs more than ready-made panels.
Gates and motors
Each gate is priced on its size and type. An automatic opener adds the motor and the wiring.
The ground and the old fence
Rock, tree roots and slopes mean more digging for posts. If an old fence has to come down, we'll confirm on the quote whether we can take it away.
Before you build
Front fences and council rules in Melbourne
Check the height limit
In Darebin and Merri-bek, a metal front fence over 1.5 m needs a building permit. A front fence is anything within 3 m of the street, including the front end of a side fence.
Darebin council on fencesBrick bases have a lower limit
A masonry front fence, such as brick or rendered block, needs a permit above 1.2 m in both councils. If your blades sit on a brick base, ask your council how the limit applies.
Merri-bek fencing guidelineCorner blocks and heritage areas
Corner blocks have a lower limit: within 9 m of the street corner, anything over 1 m needs a permit in both councils. Heritage and other planning overlays, extra council controls on an area, can add rules, so check with your own council before you pick a height.
Pool fences
Blade pool fencing in Victoria
A blade fence can be your pool barrier when it's built to Victoria's pool barrier rules. The rules cover things like the fence height, the gaps between blades and the gate, so not every blade panel can go around a pool.
Which rules apply depends on when your pool or spa was built.
A building permit comes first
Before any work starts on a pool barrier, a building surveyor, the person who approves building work, issues a building permit.
Our installers fit the fence
We install the blade panels and a pool gate that swings away from the pool, then closes and latches by itself.
An inspector signs it off
A registered building surveyor or building inspector, not your fencing contractor, checks the barrier and issues a certificate of barrier compliance, called a Form 23. You lodge it with your council.
Checked again every four years
The certificate has to be renewed and lodged with your council every four years.
Check with your surveyor first
Your building surveyor can tell you what the fence needs, including the gap between blades, before it goes in.
Blade fencing questions
Blade fencing FAQs
Most suppliers call the upright bars blades, and some call them slats.
Usually, yes. Blade fencing is generally priced above a standard timber or Colorbond boundary fence. Your free written quote gives you the figure for your fence before any work starts.
Yes. Pool-rated blade panels are sold as meeting the Australian pool fencing standard, AS 1926.1, so look for that on the maker's details.
Yes, but a boundary fence that forms part of a pool barrier needs a building permit, whatever its height or material.
Only along the boundary you share, and only up to the cost of a standard fence. Under Victoria's fence rules, whoever wants something dearer usually pays the difference.
Hose it down once or twice a year, and more often if you live within a few kilometres of the coast. On a steel fence, cover any chips with the maker's touch-up paint so rust can't start.
A made-to-measure fence is measured on site and made before it's installed, so there's a wait between the measure and the install day. Your quote gives you the timing for your job.
Yes, we repair fences as well as install them. Tell us what's damaged and roughly where, and we'll let you know if it can be fixed.
Free blade fencing quotes
Get a price on your blade fence
Not sure whether steel or aluminium suits your spot? Put your suburb on the form and we'll talk it through.
Prefer to call?(03) 9123 6468
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Monument® and Surfmist® are registered trade marks of BlueScope Steel Limited.