Your fence, day by day: what actually happens on an Orange install
A 40m Colorbond boundary takes 2 to 4 days on site, in two visits: holes and concrete on day one, then rails, sheets, capping and gates after the footings cure for 24 to 48 hours. Before the crew turns up there is a free measure, a written quote inside 2 business days, and 1 to 3 weeks for materials. Your boundary is open for one to two days in the middle, which matters if you have a dog. Everything below is what that really looks like from your side of the fence.
The timings below are for a standard suburban job in Orange: replacing an existing 40m boundary fence, wheelbarrow access down the side of the house, no rock, no retaining. A rural run at Borenore or Clifton Grove takes the same stages in a different order and usually fewer days per hundred metres, because the machine can drive the line. If you do not know your run length yet, size it first on how much fencing you need, because the metres drive every duration on this page.
Stage by stage: from first call to final walk around
| Stage | How long | What happens | What you need to do |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Free measure | 30 to 45 minutes | We walk the line with a wheel and a tape, check the ground for rock and fall, look at access, confirm boundary pegs and talk through material and colour. | Be there for the first 20 minutes. Point out irrigation, the septic or sewer line if you know it, and any dispute history with the boundary. |
| 2. Written quote | Within 2 business days | Fixed price, itemised per metre, with gates, removal, rock allowance and footing depth listed separately. | Read the specification, not just the total. Compare hole diameter and depth against any other quote. |
| 3. Fencing Notice to the neighbour | Allow 1 month if shared | For a dividing fence you serve a written notice with the quote attached. Most neighbours agree in a week. | Hand it over in person first if you can. A conversation beats a letter every time. |
| 4. Deposit and material order | 1 to 3 weeks, up to 5 for non stock colours | Colour, height and gate hardware are locked in and ordered. We book a start window. | Confirm the colour in daylight against the house, not off a screen. Changing it after ordering costs time. |
| 5. Underground services check | About 2 business days | We lodge a Before You Dig Australia enquiry and read the plans for water, gas, power and comms near the line. | Peg your own irrigation, garden lighting and pool plumbing. Those never appear on a services plan. |
| 6. Demolition of the old fence | Half a day per 30 to 40m | Panels and posts out, old concrete footings dug out or cut off below ground, everything loaded. | Have the yard clear and the dog secured. This is the noisiest, messiest half day. |
| 7. Set out and dig | Half a day per 40m | String line pulled, bays marked at 2.4m, roughly 18 holes augered at 300mm wide and 750mm deep. | Stay clear of the auger. Keep kids and pets inside for this stage. |
| 8. Concrete and cure | Pour same day, then 24 to 48 hours | Posts plumbed, braced and concreted. We leave the site with posts standing and the boundary open. | This is the overnight gap in your fence. Contain the dog or board it, and lock the side gate. |
| 9. Rails, sheets and capping | About 1 day per 40m | Rails fixed, sheets slotted and screwed, capping fitted, panels stepped or raked to follow the fall. | Move cars off the driveway. Cutting steel throws filings that rust stain paint and pavers. |
| 10. Gates and hardware | 1 to 3 hours per gate | Gate posts checked, gate hung, hinges and latch set, self closing hardware adjusted on pool gates. | Tell us which way you want it to swing before it is hung, and whether a wheelie bin has to fit through. |
| 11. Clean up and walk around | About 1 hour | Spoil and offcuts loaded, site swept, magnet rolled for screws and filings, then we walk the fence with you. | Walk it with us. Point out anything you are not happy with while the crew and the tools are still there. |
| 12. Invoice and paperwork | Same day or next | Final invoice with ABN, the written workmanship warranty and the manufacturer warranty details. | File it with the quote and your before and after photos. See fencing warranties. |
Total elapsed time from first contact to finished fence on a typical Orange job is 3 to 6 weeks, of which only 2 to 4 days is crew on site. Winter adds a week for weather.
Prepare for the crew: tick these off before we arrive
Print it, stick it on the fridge, and work through it in the week before your start date. Every item on this list is something that has cost a customer a day at some point.
Two weeks out
The week before
Access, parking, power and water
Pets, kids and working from home
Before you sign it off
Stop and ask if you see these on any job
Want your start date locked in?
Send the details and we will measure, quote in 2 business days and give you a start window in writing, including what happens if the weather moves it.
The parts nobody warns you about
Noise, dust and the steel filings problem
The petrol auger is the loudest thing on site and it runs in bursts across 2 to 4 hours on a 40m job. A demolition saw through old fence posts is similar. Neither runs all day. NSW noise regulations restrict this kind of work to Monday to Friday 7am to 6pm and Saturday 8am to 1pm, with nothing on Sundays or public holidays, and we work inside those hours in every suburb we cover.
The one that surprises people is swarf. Cutting Colorbond sheet throws fine steel filings that land on paving, cars, glass tables and pool coping, and within a week of Orange dew they turn into orange rust freckles that will not wash off pavers. Move the cars, cover the outdoor setting, and expect us to sweep and magnet roll before we leave. There is no chemical smell on a fencing job beyond wet concrete and the faint tang of treated timber.
Access, parking, power and water
We need about 900mm of clear width to get a barrow and a two person auger down the side of a house. A mini excavator, which we use on longer rural runs, needs about 1.2m and a gate it can fit through. Two kerbside parking spaces for a ute and trailer, ideally close, since every post is carried by hand from the trailer. We bring our own power. A garden tap is genuinely useful for washing tools and cleaning up the concrete barrow, and if you can offer an outdoor power point it means the generator stays off.
Pets, kids and working from home
The single biggest problem on a fence job is a dog getting out. Between the concrete pour and the panels going on, your boundary is genuinely open, usually overnight. Plan for it: board the dog, keep it inside, or ask us for temporary mesh, which we can leave up for a small charge. We can also stage a job so only one side is open at a time if you tell us at the measure. Small kids should be inside during augering and demolition, and if you work from home, keep the first half of day one free of calls.
Weather in Orange, honestly
We will not pour concrete into a frozen hole or a hole full of water, because it will not reach strength and the post will be loose in two years. On a hard frost morning we start later. In a wet week the basalt clay turns to porridge and the auger smears the sides of the hole instead of cutting them, which ruins the bond. And once the wind gets up past about 40 kilometres an hour, standing 1.8m sheets is unsafe. Through June, July and August expect to lose the odd day. We would rather move your start by a week than build you a fence that is loose by 2029.
What a clean site looks like at the end
All spoil gone, and there is more of it than people expect: roughly one cubic metre off a 40m fence, which is a small trailer load. No offcuts in the garden bed, no screws in the lawn, no concrete washed out onto the grass. The paving swept and magnet rolled. The old fence loaded, not stacked behind the shed. Old Colorbond and steel posts go to a scrap metal recycler, and treated pine goes to the council resource recovery centre, because treated timber must never be burned in a fire pit or put through a mulcher. Removal and tip fees are $15 to $35 per metre and they are on the quote, not a surprise at the end.
What we will not do
We do not remove asbestos fencing. Old fibro fence sheets are still around older Orange houses, and in NSW any non friable asbestos removal over 10 square metres has to be done by a SafeWork NSW licensed removalist. If we find fibro at the measure we will say so, quote the new fence, and schedule around the removalist rather than touch it. We also do not build structural retaining walls; if your boundary needs retaining rather than a plinth, that is an engineer and a different trade, and we will tell you before you pay a deposit. If a fence is already down and unsafe, that is a different job again, covered on emergency fence repair.
Questions about installation day
How long does it take to build a fence in Orange?
Do I need to be home while the fence is built?
How loud and dusty is a fence installation?
What do I need to move before the crew arrives?
What happens if it rains or frosts in Orange?
What happens to the old fence and the spoil?
Get a start date and a fixed price for your fence
Send the details and we will book the free measure, then email a fixed written quote with a start window inside 2 business days.
Free measure across Orange and the Central West
Orange, Lucknow, Spring Hill, Millthorpe, Clifton Grove and Borenore. Written quote in 2 business days, start window included.