Request a Free QuoteNiagara Region, Ontario · LANE: FENCE BUILDING PELHAM
Fence and Deck Building & Repair Experts
Working With Wood builds fences across Niagara, Pelham included, and fencing is the work Peter does most. These are ballpark ranges, not a quote. Fencing in Ontario generally runs about $40-$95 per linear foot depending on material. Wood privacy fencing commonly runs $28-$60 per linear foot, and a high-end build with 6x6 posts and full pressure-treated privacy boards lands around $68-$75 per linear foot. A 6 ft chain-link fence commonly runs $25-$38 per linear foot. A 100-linear-foot wood privacy fence often comes in around $4,000-$6,500 all-in. These are wide 2026 marketing-content ranges. We do not have a Pelham fence price figure, so we are not making one up. Length, height, gates and material set your real number, and an on-site estimate is the way to get it.
Pelham regulates fences through its Lawful Fences By-law 4157(2019), the "Fence By-law", passed in September 2019. The Town posts it on its by-laws page. Heights are measured above the ground next to the fence. In a rear yard a fence can be up to 1.82 m (6 ft) (s.7). In a front yard the limit is 1.22 m (4 ft), except along the side or rear lot line of a neighbour's back yard, where it can be 1.82 m (s.6). If the front-yard fence sits on a raised terrace, the terrace counts toward the height. Where your back yard runs along the side of a neighbour's front yard, that stretch is held to 1.22 m and has to be "primarily open", like chain link rather than solid boards (s.7). A rear or side yard backing onto commercial or industrial zoned land can go to 2.43 m (s.9), and a fence around farm, commercial or industrial land that does not border a home can go to 2.44 m (s.10). Corners are where most Pelham fence questions land. Within 9.1 m (30 ft) of any road intersection, no fence can stand more than 0.5 m above the grade of the road (s.5, s.8.3). The Zoning By-law sets the same 0.5 m limit inside the daylighting triangle at a corner, measured from the ground at the lot line under the Town's engineering standards (Zoning By-law 4481(2022), s.3.5). On a corner lot, a fence along the street side should meet the side of the house 1.5 m to 2.0 m back from the rear corner, and it can run forward up to a quarter of the house's length, or to a bump-out or bay window if one comes first (s.8.1). Past that point it drops to 1.2 m and should be primarily open, so it does not block the view of the sidewalk from the house (s.8.2). The stretch that returns from the street-side lot line to the house needs a gate (s.8.4). In a newer subdivision, check your subdivision agreement first: where it describes corner fencing, it governs (s.8.5). Does a fence need a permit in Pelham? The Fence By-law has no fence-permit section. It sets heights and placement, and the fence has to meet them. A pool is different. Under Swimming Pool and Hot Tub By-law 60-2023, you need a Pool Permit (s.4.1), and the Town inspects the pool and its enclosure before water goes in (s.4.6). The enclosure has to be 1.5 m to 1.82 m high (s.6.2(a)). Chain link and vertical boards are both named as acceptable (s.6.2(b)). Vertical pickets or boards can be no more than 100 mm apart, horizontal members no more than 25 mm apart, posts and rails no more than 2440 mm apart, and the gap at the bottom no more than 100 mm (s.6.2(c)-(f)). Gates must close and latch on their own, with the latch and a lock on the pool side (s.6.6). We have not found Pelham's pool permit fee, so we do not quote one. An older fence gets some protection. A fence that was lawful before the by-law passed is deemed to comply and can be kept and repaired at the same material, height and size (s.2). The by-law also says no fence may be left damaged or in disrepair, and every fence has to be built sound and "straight and true" (s.4). So if a storm takes out a few panels of a fence that was lawful when it went up before 2019, it can be repaired at its existing height even if that is taller than today's limit. Sharing the cost with a neighbour is not covered by Pelham's Fence By-law, and unlike Thorold's, it does not opt out of the Line Fences Act. /fence-bylaw-guide/ walks through how that Act's fence-viewer process works. If a cost split matters to you, agree on it in writing before the posts go in. Two more checks. Under Ontario Regulation 41/24, the Niagara Peninsula Conservation Authority (NPCA) must approve a solid privacy fence in a wetland, within 30 m of one, in a river or stream valley, or on certain other hazard lands. Chain link is treated differently: the regulation exempts "a rail, chain-link or panelled fence with a minimum of 75 millimetres of width between panels, that is not within a wetland or watercourse", so a chain-link fence near a wetland or in a valley needs no NPCA permit unless it sits in the wetland or watercourse itself. And before any post hole is dug, Ontario law requires a locate request through Ontario Dig Authority (formerly Ontario One Call). The request is free under the Ontario Underground Infrastructure Notification System Act, 2012 (s.5.1(4)), and skipping it can bring a fine of up to $10,000 (s.18). We book the locate before the post holes go in. Building a deck too? See /deck-building-pelham/.
Peter builds two kinds of fence in Pelham, in town in Fonthill or out on a rural lot: wood privacy and chain link. Wood gives you a solid screen and costs more per foot. Chain link costs less and needs almost no upkeep, but you can see straight through it. In Pelham that difference shows up on corner lots and along a neighbour's front yard, where the by-law wants the fence "primarily open" (both covered below). Pelham bans barbed and razor wire, with an exception for fences that keep livestock in (s.11), and allows an electric fence only for livestock on agricultural-zoned land, with warning signs no more than 30.5 m apart (s.12). Peter also repairs gates, farm gates included. Vinyl and ornamental metal are not part of his current work, so ask and we will tell you straight whether it is a fit. For a side-by-side comparison, see /fence-material-guide/; for staining a new wood fence, see /fence-staining-guide/.
Yes. Fencing is Peter's main line of work and Pelham is in the area we serve, Fonthill and Fenwick included. He builds wood privacy and chain-link fences and repairs gates. Vinyl and ornamental metal are not part of his current work, so ask if that is what you want and we will tell you honestly.
Up to 1.82 m (6 ft) in a rear yard and 1.22 m (4 ft) in a front yard under Fence By-law 4157(2019) (s.6, s.7). A front-yard fence along a neighbour's back yard can be 1.82 m. A back-yard fence along a neighbour's front yard is held to 1.22 m and should be mostly open, unless your lot is a corner lot.
Within 9.1 m of a road intersection, a fence can be no more than 0.5 m high (s.5, s.8.3). A street-side fence should meet the house 1.5 m to 2.0 m from the rear corner and can run forward up to a quarter of the house's length. Past that point it drops to 1.2 m and should be mostly open (s.8.1, s.8.2). The return to the house needs a gate. If your subdivision agreement describes corner fencing, it governs.
Pelham's Fence By-law has no fence-permit section; the fence just has to meet its height and placement rules. A pool does need a Pool Permit, and its enclosure must be 1.5 m to 1.82 m high, with gaps no wider than 100 mm and self-closing, self-latching, lockable gates (By-law 60-2023, s.4.1, s.6.2, s.6.6).
Yes. A fence that was lawful before By-law 4157(2019) passed is deemed to comply and can be maintained and repaired at the same material, height and dimensions (s.2). The by-law also requires fences to be kept in good repair, not left damaged (s.4).
We do not have a Pelham price figure, so we will not invent one. As wide Ontario ranges, wood privacy fencing commonly runs $28-$60 per linear foot (up to $68-$75 for a high-end 6x6-post build) and chain link $25-$38. A 100-foot wood privacy fence often lands around $4,000-$6,500 all-in. Book an estimate for a real number.
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