Timber Picket Fencing
Timber Picket Fencing in Launceston
Timber picket fencing is a front fence, built to suit the house behind it. On Launceston's older weatherboard and brick homes it does something no steel panel can, which is look like it belongs there.
3
Picket top profiles
Custom
Made to suit your house
48hr
Written quote
Zero
Subbies on your job
Why Picket
The Fence That Has to Suit the House
A picket fence is the one fence people notice from the street. It is not there to hide your yard, it is there to finish the front of the house.
Every other fence we build is solving a problem. Privacy from a neighbour, security around a pool, keeping stock in a paddock. A picket fence is solving how the front of your house reads from the footpath, which makes it the one fence where the look is the job.
That changes how we approach it. We spend time at the measure looking at the house rather than just the boundary, because the picket profile, the height and the spacing all have to answer the era and the proportions of what is behind them.
Launceston has a lot of housing stock that suits it. Late Victorian and Federation homes through Newstead, East Launceston and Trevallyn were built when a low front fence was standard, and putting one back usually looks more right than anything modern would.
It is worth being clear about what a picket fence does not do. It will not give you privacy, it will not stop a determined dog, and it is not a pool barrier. If any of those is what you actually need, we will tell you at the measure and price the fence that does the job instead.
What Makes a Picket Fence Look Right
A picket fence is mostly joinery. Three things separate one that looks made from one that looks nailed together.
Profile & Spacing
The Picket Top and the Gaps Set the Character
The shape cut into the top of each picket, and how far apart they sit, do more for the look than any other decision. A rounded top reads softer and more traditional, a square top reads cleaner and more modern. Wider gaps feel open and lighter, tighter gaps feel more solid.
- Rounded, pointed or square tops
- Spacing set to suit the house
- Consistent gaps down the whole run
Height & Proportion
Low Enough to See the House Over
A front fence that is too tall fights the house instead of framing it. We keep picket fences low enough that the garden and the verandah still read from the street, then match the gate and any corner piers to the same line.
- Height set against the house, not a default
- Garden stays visible through the pickets
- Matching pedestrian gate
Build & Finish
Built To Be Painted, and To Be Repainted
A painted fence lives or dies on what happens before the paint. We keep the timber up off wet ground, seal the cut ends where water gets in first, and build it so a single damaged picket can be swapped later without pulling the run apart.
- Posts concreted, timber kept clear of soil
- Cut ends sealed before finishing
- Single pickets replaceable
Compare
Picket vs Paling vs Slat as a Front Fence
All three of these can go out the front, and they do very different jobs. This is an honest comparison for a FRONT fence specifically, which is not the same answer as for a back boundary.
| Timber Picket | Timber Paling | Aluminium Slat | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Suits a period home | Yes, it is the traditional fence | Can look heavy out the front | Usually looks out of place |
| Privacy | None, by design | Full | Partial |
| Keeps the house visible | Yes | No | Partly |
| Maintenance | Repaint or recoat in time | Oil or stain, or let it grey | Occasional wash |
| Repairs | Swap one picket | Swap one paling | Order matching parts |
| Best used for | Front fences and garden edges | Back and side boundaries | Modern frontages and screens |
Options
Ways to Build a Picket Fence
Picket is the most customisable fence we build, because almost every part of it is a choice. These are the decisions we walk through at the measure.
Rounded top picketsMost popular
The traditional profile and the safest choice on a period home. The curve takes the hard edge off the top line and suits Victorian and Federation frontages without trying to be a feature in its own right.
Square top pickets
A flat top reads cleaner and more contemporary, and it works well where the house has been renovated or the garden is more structured. It is also the simplest profile to repaint neatly.
Pointed or shaped tops
Pointed and more decorative profiles suit heavily detailed period homes where the fence is meant to pick up the trim. They cost more per metre because every picket is cut and finished individually.
Painted or stained
Paint gives you the classic white or heritage colour and full control of the look, but it needs recoating in time. Stain or oil lets the grain show and weathers more gently, which some people prefer on hardwood.
Matching gates and piers
A pedestrian gate built from the same pickets and profile is what makes the fence look designed rather than assembled. Brick or timber piers at the corners and either side of the gate lift it further again.
Picket infill between existing piers
Plenty of older Launceston homes still have their original brick piers with nothing between them. Building new picket panels to sit between them is often the best value front fence available on that block.
Cost
What Affects the Price of a Picket Fence
Picket prices spread wider than any other fence we build, because the profile and the spacing change how much timber and labour go into every metre. We quote on site so you can see which choices are driving the number.
Length of the run
Front fences are usually short, so the set out and the delivery are spread over fewer metres than a back boundary. That makes the per metre rate look higher on a small job even when the total is modest.
Picket profile and spacing
This is the big one. A shaped or pointed top means every picket is cut and finished individually, and tighter spacing means more pickets per metre, so both move the labour and the material together.
Height and piers
Taller fences need longer posts and deeper holes. Brick or timber piers at the corners and gate are a separate trade element and are always itemised on their own.
Timber and finish
Treated pine painted is the value build, and hardwood or a shaped profile sits above it. Whether we supply it primed, fully finished or ready for you to paint also changes the number.
Gates
A matching pedestrian gate is built rather than bought, so it is priced on its own. A double or vehicle gate in picket is a bigger piece of joinery again.
Existing fence and ground
Removing an old front fence, breaking out footings and working around established garden beds, tree roots or original brick piers all add time. Rock and heavy clay slow the post holes.
A front fence on a boundary with a road is one of the situations where height and setback are worth checking, and heritage areas can have their own considerations. We will flag anything on your block that looks like it needs a check with the City of Launceston before we quote it.
How It Works
From Quote to Finished Fence
Four steps and no surprises. The only difference on a picket job is that the first step takes longer, because we are looking at the house as well as the boundary.
Free on-site measure
We measure the frontage, check levels and the boundary, and work through picket profile, height and spacing against the house itself.
Written quote in 48 hours
You get a clear, itemised quote in writing, with the gate, any piers and the finish listed separately so you can add or drop them.
Supply and install
We concrete the posts, run the rails to a string line and fix every picket to consistent spacing, following or stepping with the ground as it falls.
Final walk and clean-up
We walk the finished fence with you from the footpath, which is where you will actually look at it, and leave the site tidy.
The Spec
What's in a Prime Fencing Picket Fence
Every picket fence we build is made to suit its house, so the spec is a starting point rather than a fixed product.
- Type
- Front and garden fencing
- Timber
- Treated pine or hardwood
- Picket tops
- Rounded, square, pointed
- Posts
- Set in concrete footings
- Finish
- Painted, stained or unfinished
- Gates
- Built to match the run
FAQs
Timber Picket Fencing Questions, Answered
It depends on the length, the picket profile, the spacing and the finish, so we quote every job on site. Shaped tops and tighter spacing cost more per metre than plain square pickets. You will get a written, itemised price within 48 hours of the measure.
Low enough to still see the house and garden over, which is what makes a front fence look right. We set the height against the proportions of the house at the measure rather than working to one default. Height on a boundary with a road is worth checking with council first.
Not unless it is specifically built to the pool safety standard, and we will not pass an ordinary picket fence off as a barrier. Pool barriers have their own requirements for height, gaps, gates and what can be climbed. If you need a pool barrier, that is our pool fencing service.
Sometimes, and it depends entirely on the dog. A picket fence is low and has gaps by design, so a determined or small dog will get through or over it. If containing an animal is the real goal we will tell you honestly and price something solid instead.
A painted picket fence needs recoating in time, and out the front it is the fence you will notice looking tired first. Building it so water drains off and the timber sits clear of the ground is what buys you the years between coats.
That is most of the point. We look at the era, the trim and the proportions of the house and choose the profile, height and spacing to suit it. If the house has original brick piers we will usually build new panels between them rather than replacing them.
Yes. Launceston frontages very rarely sit level, so we either step the fence down in panels or follow the ground with a raked run. Stepping usually looks more deliberate on a picket fence, and we will show you both at the measure.
Either. We can supply it unfinished, primed or fully finished, and it is a separate line on the quote so you can take it on yourself if you would rather. Painting before the pickets go up gets coverage into places you cannot reach afterwards.
Front fences are the most likely fence to need a look, because a boundary with a road and any heritage overlay both come into it. We will flag anything on your block that looks like it needs checking with the City of Launceston, but we are not the regulator and we do not give planning advice.
Usually yes. Individual pickets and rails can be replaced, and we can match an existing profile closely enough that a repair does not read as a patch. If the posts have gone at ground level, replacing the run is often better value than repairing it.
Other Fencing We Build
We install timber picket fencing across greater Launceston, including Riverside, Prospect, Kings Meadows, Newnham, Mowbray and the wider Tamar Valley.
Ready to Fence Your Block?
Book a free on-site quote and we'll give you a real number in writing within 48 hours. No deposit, no obligation.