Fences and Gates in Hamilton

Up to 2.0 m on a residential lot under Fence By-law 10-142, and no more than 0.9 m inside a corner or driveway visibility triangle, so the fence steps down near the street. We check your corners before we quote and build to the limit you want.

For a fence on the shared line, Ontario's Line Fences Act covers cost sharing, and most neighbours agree on a fence and a split between themselves. If they cannot, the City of Hamilton appoints fence viewers to settle it. A fence on your own side of the line is yours alone, and no agreement is needed.

Below the frost line, so freezing ground cannot lift them. Frost reaches well down in a Hamilton winter, and a post that stops short of it heaves a little every year until the fence leans. Deep posts are the single thing that separates a fence that lasts from one that does not.

Cedar looks better, resists rot on its own and can be left to silver or stained; it costs more. Pressure treated wood is the budget choice and lasts well, especially with a stain after its first season. Either way the posts are set the same, and the wood is billed at what it costs us.

That is your choice, and staining is not in the base scope. Cedar can be left to weather to silver or stained to keep its colour, and pressure treated wood should dry for a season before it is stained so the stain soaks in. We can quote the staining with the fence or on its own later.

Yes. On a slope the panels are either stepped, so each section stays level and the top steps down the hill, or racked, so the rails follow the ground and there is no gap under the boards. We show you which suits your yard before we quote, and the posts go below the frost line either way.

No. A new post under old panels leaves rotted rail ends and loose boards hanging on it, and the lean comes back. We rebuild the section that has failed, new posts below the frost line with new rails and boards matched to the rest, and leave the sound part of the fence alone. Read leaning fence or rotted posts.

Yes. When a run has failed we rebuild it with new posts, rails and boards in the same style and height as the fence you have, so it lines up with the sound part. New wood is lighter than wood that has weathered for years, and the difference fades as it ages or once the whole fence is stained.

Yes. We build the fence and what goes beside it, the patio, the gate path and the beds along the run, so the levels and the post positions are planned together. The patio edge and the fence line are then set to each other instead of one being squeezed in later; see interlock patios.

It depends on the length, the gates and the ground, and the free Ontario One Call locate has to come back before the first hole is dug. After that the work runs in order: the old fence out and the holes dug, the posts set, then the rails, boards and gates, and your written quote gives the number of days. If the weather moves a day, we try to give a heads-up on any delays and let you know when we are coming, with as much notice as possible.

It depends on the length and height, the style, the number of gates, whether an old fence comes out, and the ground the posts go into. Horizontal cedar takes more boards and more fitting than a vertical privacy fence, and post holes in clay or beside tree roots take longer. Posts, boards and hardware are billed at what they cost us, and the written quote is free.

Not for a fence inside the by-law heights. A fence around a pool counts as a pool enclosure and has its own rules, and a fence that is really a retaining wall is a different structure. We tell you before we quote. Underground locates through Ontario One Call are arranged before any post hole.