Every pool fence in Western Australia has to do the same job: 1200mm high, no gap over 100mm, a self-closing self-latching gate that swings away from the water, and a clear 900mm non-climbable zone outside it. All four systems below do that job.
So the choice isn't about safety. It's about what you want to look at for the next twenty years, what you want to clean, and what you want to spend. Here's the honest version.
The short answer
- You want the pool to be the view — frameless glass.
- You want the cheapest compliant fence that still looks tidy — aluminium flat top.
- You want something architectural that isn't glass — blade.
- You want privacy and airflow without a solid wall — perforated mesh.
If that settles it, go and price it. If not, keep reading.
What each one actually is
Frameless Glass
12mm toughened glass panels, 1200mm high, standing in stainless spigots bolted or core-drilled into the ground. No posts, no top rail. Panels come in 50mm steps from 100mm right up to 2100mm, so the run gets divided into the fewest, widest panels that fit — which is what makes it disappear.
It is the most transparent option by a distance, and the only one where the fence effectively isn't part of the view.
Aluminium Flat Top
Powder-coated aluminium panels — vertical tubes with a smooth flat top rail, no spear points — fixed between square posts. Panels are 2400mm or 3000mm wide, 1200mm high.
This is the workhorse. It is the cheapest way to get a compliant pool fence that looks deliberate rather than temporary, and it comes in Satin Black, White, Monument, Classic Cream and Mill Finish.
Blade
Slim vertical aluminium blades in 2400mm panels. Same 1200mm height, same compliance, but a much narrower, flatter profile than round tube — it reads as a modern screen rather than a fence.
Blade is the one people choose when they want the fence to look designed. It's dearer than flat top for that reason and no other.
PerfMesh
Perforated aluminium sheet in a welded frame. You can see through it, but softly — it breaks up the view rather than opening it, and the perforations let wind through instead of catching it.
Kits come in 800mm, 970mm, 2000mm and 3000mm finished widths. It's the most expensive of the four and the one people pick for a specific reason: screening a pump, a neighbour's window, or a boundary.
What they cost
Real figures from our own calculators, GST included, collected from Canning Vale. A 12 metre run with one gate — a fairly typical suburban pool perimeter:
| System | 12m run with a gate | Per metre |
|---|---|---|
| Aluminium Flat Top | $1,188.82 | $99 |
| Frameless Glass | $2,037.68 | $170 |
| Blade | $2,255.17 | $188 |
| PerfMesh | $3,364.88 | $280 |
The gap between the cheapest and the dearest is nearly three to one. That's the single biggest fact in this article, and it's worth sitting with before you fall in love with a look.
Two things worth knowing about those numbers. First, per-metre cost falls as the run gets longer, because posts, gates and hardware are a fixed cost spread over more fence. Second, a gate is a big single line in every system — it is the most expensive component per millimetre in any pool fence, so two gates instead of one moves the total noticeably.
These are current prices, not estimates, but they do change. Price your own run for the real number.
The view
This is usually the real decision.
- Glass — you see the pool. From the house, from the deck, from the kitchen window. If the pool is the feature of the yard, nothing else comes close.
- Blade — you see the pool through vertical lines. From straight on it's fairly open; from an angle the blades close up.
- Flat Top — similar, with round tube instead of blades. Slightly busier than blade to look at.
- PerfMesh — you see shape and movement, not detail. That's the point.
Stand where you'll actually be looking from before you decide. Most people choose from the pool side; you'll spend far more hours looking at it from the house.
Cleaning, and being honest about it
Glass shows everything. Splashes, dog noses, salt, dust, reticulation overspray. On a Perth summer it needs a wipe more often than people expect, and if the fence sits where the retic hits it you will see the marks. Enduroshield-coated panels help a lot and cost more.
Aluminium — flat top and blade — is close to zero maintenance. A hose down occasionally. Powder coat on marine-grade aluminium is what most of Perth's coastal fencing is made of for exactly this reason.
PerfMesh is the same aluminium story, with the caveat that perforated sheet catches leaf litter and dust in the holes. Near a big tree it will need a hose more often.
All four use stainless hardware — and near the coast, hardware is what fails first on any fence, whatever the panels are made of. It's worth spending on hinges and latches regardless of which system you pick.
Wind
Underrated in Perth, and the reason PerfMesh exists. A solid screen catches the Fremantle Doctor; glass catches it too. Perforated mesh lets it through while still blocking the view, which is why it works as a boundary or pump screen where a solid panel would act like a sail.
Glass, flat top and blade all handle normal wind loading fine when they're fixed down properly. The fixing is what matters, not the panel.
How hard is each one to install yourself?
Rough order, easiest first:
- Flat Top — posts and panels, brackets and screws. If you can use a drill and a spirit level you can do this.
- Blade — same method, slightly heavier panels.
- PerfMesh — same again, but the panels are bulkier to handle solo.
- Frameless Glass — the panels are heavy and unforgiving, and the spigots have to be dead plumb or the run looks wrong. Base-mount spigots bolt to existing concrete and are the DIY-friendly option; core-drilled spigots mean hiring a core drill. Glass is very doable, but it is the one where two people and a patient afternoon matter.
Whichever you choose, the hard part is the measuring, not the fixing — see how to measure your pool fence.
Mixing systems
Nothing stops you. A common and sensible Perth combination is glass across the view side and flat top down the boundary side where nobody looks. You get the view where it counts and you don't pay glass prices for the fence behind the shed.
The calculators price each run separately, so you can do exactly this and see what it saves.
So which one?
| If this matters most | Choose |
|---|---|
| Seeing the pool | Frameless Glass |
| Lowest cost | Aluminium Flat Top |
| Least cleaning | Flat Top or Blade |
| Modern architectural look | Blade |
| Privacy or screening | PerfMesh |
| Windy, exposed site | PerfMesh |
| Easiest to install yourself | Aluminium Flat Top |
Price the one you're leaning towards
Each system has its own calculator. Put your run in, add the gate, and it works out the panel layout, the hardware and the total for the complete kit:
- Frameless Glass calculator — or browse frameless glass products
- Aluminium Flat Top calculator — or browse flat top products
- Blade calculator — or browse blade products
- PerfMesh calculator — or browse perforated mesh products
Price two of them. It takes five minutes and it's the fastest way to find out whether the look you want is worth the difference to you.
Still torn, or working with an awkward site? Book a Site Inspection & Measure and we'll walk the line with you.