A fence on a boundary is not yours. Under the NSW Dividing Fences Act it is generally a shared asset between the two adjoining owners, and that has practical consequences for cleaning, painting and repair.
Most of the time nobody thinks about it until something goes wrong.
The legal position, briefly
A dividing fence is usually jointly owned, and both owners generally share the cost of work that is reasonably necessary.
Routine cleaning of your own side is uncontroversial. Where it gets complicated is anything that changes the fence — painting it a different colour, applying a coating, or replacing panels. That is a conversation to have first, not afterwards.
This is general information rather than legal advice, and NSW Fair Trading publishes guidance on dividing fences if you need the detail.
Practical courtesy that prevents problems
Before you clean a boundary fence:
- Tell the neighbour. Overspray from a soft wash carries, and their garden is on the other side.
- Ask about their plants. Anything you apply to kill mould will damage foliage on both sides. Give them a chance to cover or water things down.
- Ask about pets. A dog in the yard next door during a hypochlorite application is a problem.
- Agree on colour before any repainting.
Five minutes of conversation prevents the great majority of fence disputes we hear about.
By fence type
Colorbond. Mild detergent, soft brush, low pressure. If it has chalked — colour transfers to your hand — do not scrub it, because that makes the fade permanent and uneven. Here, and if repainting is the plan, here.
Timber paling. Low pressure only — pressure raises the grain and leaves a furry surface that holds dirt. Timber cleaner and a soft brush. Check the posts at ground level, which is where they rot.
Brick or besser block. No acid, moderate pressure at most — here.
Rendered. Soft wash, and tap for drumminess first — here.
Fibro or asbestos cement. The important one. Pre-late-1980s sheeting should be assumed to contain asbestos and must never be pressure washed. Gentle hand cleaning only if the sheet is sound, and nothing at all if it is damaged — asbestos fences: what you can and cannot clean.
That last one is worth raising with the neighbour regardless, because disturbing it affects them as much as you.
The green side
Fences go green on the shaded side, and on a boundary that is often the neighbour’s side rather than yours.
Growth does not respect the boundary. If only one side is treated, it recolonises from the other within a season. If the fence is badly affected, doing both sides at once is the only thing that actually works — which makes it a shared job and usually a shared cost.
The treatment is chemical, not mechanical — moss killers.
Runoff and gardens
Fence lines are almost always planted on at least one side.
Soak the beds thoroughly before starting, cover what you can, and rinse everything down afterwards. Burnt foliage along a boundary is both a horticultural problem and a neighbour problem.
And keep the runoff out of the stormwater drain — the rules.
If the fence is failing
Cleaning a fence that is rotting at the posts, rusting through at the base, or leaning is money spent on something that needs replacing.
That is a shared cost conversation and it is better had with photographs and a quote than as an argument after a storm takes it down.
For cleaning, see fence cleaning.
