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Aluminium does not rust, which is why it is the coastal default for anything that has to look good in ten years. This calculator prices style, height, pool-code compliance and gates for Coronado.
Published figures for this market put aluminium fencing at $42 to $82 per linear foot installed. It sits above wood and vinyl and below wrought iron, and it is the material most often chosen for pool enclosures because the California pool code is easiest to meet with it. What moves the price inside the band is the extrusion weight, the picket style, and how many gates you need.
Flat-top 3-rail is the clean, quiet option. Spear-top adds points above the rail. Pool-code has a flush bottom rail and no climbable horizontals. Estate style uses heavier sections and taller panels.
Residential, commercial and industrial grades look similar and are not. The wall thickness of the pickets and rails is what decides whether the fence still looks straight in fifteen years.
If any part of the run encloses a pool, the code overrides your style choice: minimum 60 inches, gaps no more than 1.75 inches, bottom clearance no more than 2 inches, and self-closing self-latching gates with the latch at 54 inches.
Adds about 28% per foot from 6 to 8 feet. Pool barriers must be at least 60 inches, which is why 5 feet is such a common aluminium height here.
The most expensive part of an aluminium fence per foot. Pool gates in particular need hardware that will still self-close and self-latch reliably years later — this is a safety item, not a convenience one.
Aluminium will not rust, but the powder coat on a cheap extrusion can chalk and the steel inside cheap hardware will corrode. Marine-grade coating and stainless fixings are the coastal upgrade worth paying for.
This calculator works from the 2026 cost figures published for Coronado and coastal San Diego. What it cannot see is where your property line actually runs, what is under your soil, whether the old posts are set in concrete, or how the neighbour feels about the fence you are both going to look at. We will come out, measure the run and give you a written scope with no pressure attached.
Book a free site visitPublished figures for this market put aluminium at $42 to $82 per linear foot installed. By project type: a standard flat-top aluminium fence runs $3,500 to $8,000, spear-top decorative $4,500 to $10,500, pool-code aluminium fencing $4,000 to $9,500, and estate-style $6,000 to $14,000. Removing an existing fence adds $1,000 to $3,000.
A pool barrier must be at least 60 inches tall measured from the outside, with gaps between vertical members no more than 1.75 inches, no more than 2 inches of clearance at the bottom, and gates that are self-closing and self-latching with the latch at least 54 inches above the ground. Pools built or substantially remodelled since January 2018 also need at least two additional safety features beyond the fence itself.
Because it cannot rust. Iron and steel on Coronado are a maintenance relationship — hot-dip galvanising and good coating buy you years, but the clock is always running. Aluminium removes that problem entirely, which is why it dominates coastal pool enclosures. What you give up is the weight and presence of real iron, which for some houses is the entire point.
The California Building Code exempts fences under 7 feet from a building permit, and Coronado zoning allows up to 8 feet in a required side or rear yard and 4 feet in a required front yard. A 5-foot pool-code aluminium fence in a back yard typically needs no building permit — but a pool enclosure is inspected against the pool code regardless, so build it right.
Two ways. Stepping means each panel stays level and drops in increments, which leaves triangular gaps under the panels — a problem for pool code and for pets. Racking means the panels themselves pivot to follow the grade, which costs more and looks far better. Most quality aluminium systems rack to a limited degree without modification.
Standard picket spacing keeps most dogs in and small dogs out of trouble, but a determined small dog will get through 3-to-4-inch spacing and a climber will use the horizontal rails. Puppy panels — closer picket spacing on the bottom section — are the usual fix and cost far less than a second fence.
Planning the whole project? Start at the Coronado fence calculator hub, or read more about our Aluminum Fence Installation service.