Fencing & External Works

Boundaries are the first thing visitors see and the last thing most people maintain, until a winter storm takes three panels out and suddenly it's urgent. Whether you're replacing a tired fence line, building a proper brick garden wall, or finishing a whole garden's boundaries in one go, we build external works with the same standards as our houses.

JLS Building & Property Development installs fencing, walls and gates across Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire and Cambridgeshire from our Biggleswade base, as standalone jobs or as part of complete garden landscaping projects.

Fencing

Closeboard/featheredge for strength and privacy, panel fencing on concrete or timber posts, slatted contemporary fencing, and post-and-rail for larger plots. Posts concreted to proper depth, the detail that decides whether a fence survives ten winters or two.

Garden Walls

Brick and block garden walls, front boundary walls with piers and copings, and rendered walls, built by bricklayers, with real foundations underneath from our groundworks team.

Retaining Walls

Sleeper, block and brick retaining structures for level changes, engineered where height demands it, always with drainage behind (the missing detail in most failed retaining walls).

Gates & Access

Timber and metal gates, side gates, driveway gates and posts, hung so they still swing properly years later.

External Repairs & Making Good

Storm damage, leaning fences, cracked wall copings, and repairs after extension or driveway wo

A fence costs less up front; a wall costs less per decade. As builders we're genuinely neutral. We make money either way, so you'll get an honest recommendation based on exposure, privacy needs and budget. On front boundaries, a low brick wall with piers transforms kerb appeal in a way few other spends match, and pairs naturally with a new driveway.

We handle fencing and walls across our whole area, with regular work forhomeowners in Ampthill and Flitwick, where exposed plots on the Greensand Ridge test fencing harder than most, and in Letchworth, where the Garden City's design heritage means front boundary treatments benefit from a sympathetic touch (and occasionally a check with the Heritage Foundation, which we'll flag where relevant).

Closeboard (featheredge): built in place from posts, rails and overlapping boards. The strongest timber option because wind loads spread across the whole structure rather than concentrating on panel fixings. Individual boards can be replaced cheaply if damaged. Our default recommendation for exposed gardens, and the reason it costs more than panels is the reason it outlasts them.

Panel fencing: quicker to install and cheaper up front. Fine in sheltered gardens; in exposed positions, panels act like sails and the fixings are the weak point. If you go panels, concrete posts change the economics entirely, when a panel eventually fails, it slides out and a new one slides in, no digging.

Slatted contemporary fencing: horizontal slats with gaps, the modern look. The gaps actually help in wind (load passes through), and it pairs beautifully with rendered walls and porcelain paving. Costs more in timber and labour; worth it where the fence is part of the view.

Post and rail: for larger plots and paddock boundaries where the job is marking the line, not privacy.

On posts: timber posts rot at ground level, their one universal failure point, which is why we set posts in adequate concrete at proper depth, and why concrete or steel posts are worth discussing for any fence you'd like to ignore for twenty years.

On height and wind: solid 2m fencing in an exposed spot fights the wind forever. A 1.8m fence with a 300mm trellis top often stands longer than a solid 2m run, the trellis bleeds the gust. Small detail, big difference on the Greensand Ridge.