How to close gaps below Colorbond fence?

[Sharjeel]

  

 

Please see pictures. I have these gaps, which are not even, throughout my fence in all directions. Any DIY ideas will be appreciated. 

[KatieC]

Hi @Sharjeel,

First, let me extend a warm welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community! It is great you have decided to join and ask your fence gap question. You'll find Workshop to be a great source of inspiration and advice on all things DIY and garden. 

I have seen a few of our members take timber planks and place them underneath their Colorbond fences to close the gap as one solution. To add a little more interest, you could always build a small garden bed in front and plant creepers to give it a bit more interest, similar to @leighq's project that was inspired by @royq's climbers to dress up a Colorbond fence or @BrendanB's Vertical garden and Merbau planter boxes. If this is of interest, our resident DIY guru @MitchellMc will be back online in a couple of days and can give advice on how to create something like this. Let me also tag highly inspiration members @prettyliving, @sandy_d  and @lifestylebymari to see if they have any additional ideas. 

I am very much looking forward to seeing what creation you land on. 

Katie

[Sharjeel]

Thanks Katie! Those are interesting ideas. I may have to mix and match some ideas given the fence gaps are 72m long in total 😁

[MitchellMc]

Hi @Sharjeel,

72m worth is quite extensive. What about using some 90 x 19mm or 140 x 19mm L/M Decking Merbau SpecRite Pre Oiled KD Select. You could screw straight through the face of the decking into the fence posts and bottom rail. That would both hide the gap and looks quite attractive.

I really like the thought of mixing and matching different ideas over the area.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

Mitchell

[Sharjeel]

Thanks Mitchell! Great idea. Woll go to Bunnings today and have a look at what I can do. 

Thanks. Sharjeel 

[Alison666]

Hi Mitchell,

Does attaching anything possibly void the warranty of the colorbond fence?  I ask this as my neighbour has advised me that I am unable to attach my shadecloth as I had done previously.

[EricL]

Hello @Alison666

Welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community. It's fabulous to have you join us, and thank you for sharing your question about your Colorbond fence.

Your Colorbond fence is covered under what is called a material warranty. This means that it's covered for its material performance and how long it will last out in the open. Attaching a shade sail to the Colorbond fence is dangerous as it's not designed to hold such a load. Shade sails are often attached to timber or steel posts to take the dynamic load applied to them when there is a strong gust of wind or a storm. The Colorbond fence is not strong enough to take this force and it will collapse. I suggest having a look at the BlueScope Warranties site.

Here is a link to a sample warranty document: Colorbond Fencing Sample Warranty

If you need further assistance, please let us know.

Eric

[Alison666]

Hi Eric, 

Thanks for your reply. I completely agree with you if it's a shade sail however it's only shadecloth. It's attached from the top of the patio and down to the top of the dividing fence.

[MitchellMc]

Hi @Alison666,

I don't believe simply attaching shadecloth to your fence would immediately void all warranties. However, if the attached shadecloth caused the fence to fail or accelerated corrosion of the steel due to the fixings used, that obviously wouldn't be covered under warranty. So, attaching anything to the fence could potentially void the warranty. 

The fence in many local councils is dualling owned, and you require both parties' consent to modify it. If you'd like to re-attach the shadecloth, I'd recommend contacting your local council to find out if that is permitted without the neighbour's consent and also speak to the team at BlueScope Steel, who are the experts on their warranty conditions. I'd suggest that they will likely say that nothing should be attached to the fence as it's not designed as a fixing point.

If you'd like to post some images of the area, I'm sure our helpful members could come up with an idea on how to replace your shadecloth without attaching it to the fence directly. I've created a rendering for you below of one method, which uses additional posts to support your shadecloth.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

Mitchell