Instal subdivision fencing now or later?

Hi guys,

So my retain and build subdivision is progressing, with the new build hopefully to begin construction in 3-5 months. Unfortunately the lease is up on the existing dwelling (to be retained) in six weeks and the tenants are vacating.

I am thinking this will definitely be the time to fence off the rear yard (to be developed) from the front dwelling (to be rented during construction); rather than trying to lease a property with a big rear yard whilst explaining that the yard will be carved off and constructed on in a few months. As such, this fencing work will need to precede the construction of the dwelling. Firstly, does anyone disagree with this approach?

My main question however is whether to: a) instal the new fence as temporary fencing (which will look crap and possibly turn off some potential tenants, as well as cost $ to be rented), or b) instal the final colour bond fencing up front (which will look better, but may then be damaged by the builder). The additional complication with B is that there will be new boundary wall for part of the new dwelling, so in actually fact the final colour bond fence will only extend along half the boundary (in this case the more visible rear yard of the existing dwelling) so we will still need to instal temp fencing to half the boundary (adjacent blank walls and clothes drying areas, but still visible), OR c) suck up the cost and instal colourbond to the full boundary now, and construct the boundary wall next to this.

My thoughts are that option C will be by far the best in terms of leasing the existing dwelling now (anything which plays down the fact they will have construction in what feels like their 'rear yard' is a positive), followed by B, followed by A (the most cost-effective option?).

I am not planning on going for titles prior to construction so this isn't affecting my decision. FYI also the development is a corner lot so no common driveway fencing etc.

Thanks in advance for your thoughts guys!

 

will there need to be any retaining for the cut-fill on the new block?

 

Whack in the fence now, if a few panels get damaged the builder will have to replace (or take adequate care). Worst case is you rebuild the fence after a year and it costs another $2k.

 

Site is good and flat so I don’t think so, though we haven’t gotten to that level of detail with the construction drawings yet - good point though @Archaon

 

I'm at that stage now, I would ideally wait till the FFL is approved (a pod slab will be about 370mm thick and that will be above the cut line/ground level) and you can see if you need to build a retaining wall as part of the fencing to give flat areas for slabs and pathways etc.

Something like a sleeper or 2 under the fence might be all you need to retain dirt etc, but you wont know at this stage.

 

All the more reason that a sacrificial fence makes sense.

 

So are you suggesting a temp fence or a full colourbond fence @Scott No Mates ?

 

It's a dilemma I've faced before and there is no exact right answer.

If you go with new fence + temp where the building on boundary will be you may restrict yourselves to people with no pets (dogs and temp fences don't mix) and potentially some parents will think their kids can escape easily out of the temp fence area too.

If you go with full fence then it could stay as generally most building on boundary is like 50mm off the boundary anyway but it does make the bricklayers work much harder as they will need to lay overhand. So the reality is that they will take down those panels to lay and probably don't need to put them back up.

Considering that it's about $100 or so per lineal metre your decision is a $300 ish decision. Will the solid and new fence give the tenant greater peace of mind?probably and in the scheme of things it's a small price to pay. Will the builder damage it - maybe so put in contract that they are responsible for the damage.

 

Just put the colorbond fence 1m into the existing house back yard

Just don't concrete in the posts

That way when your build is finished it is only 8 screws per section/panel to disassemble and easily reusable where you want it

Any excess parts can be used to replace any damaged one's with the balance being sold online via the many places for cash on pick up

 

Personally, I'd go Colorbond and replace a few dented panels if necessary, line the bottom half with CD ply for protection along where you're building.

 

Hmm yep I’m thinking colourbond the whole thing until construction; remove the sections that will have boundary wall at time of construction (avoiding the issue of bricklaying on boundary and guessing site levels/retaining); keep unused panels to replace any that might the get damaged; then sell any remaining panels.

Thanks for the sounding board guys! Still keen to hear others thoughts too!