How to cover a Colorbond fence with timber palings?

[shahab]

I have moved into a new house with colorbond fencing around it. I hate the looks of colorbond fences and I want to cover it up without having to pull them all out. My idea is to simply screw treated timber palings from Bunnings to them, sitting side by side. I want to attach palings to both sides of the fence.

I’m not sure what the best way to accomplish this is. Any idea is greatly appreciated, cheers.

[MitchellMc]

There are quite a few solid screening options available @shahab. I also like @Neo19's idea of using a climbing plant. Check out @royq's project on Climbers to dress up a Colorbond fence.  

Mitchell

[shahab]

Hi @Neo19 , growing creepers is a fantastic idea but the problem is we want to plant a couple of cedar trees in the backyard. From our past experience, star jasmine would try to crawl up everything including trees which would turn out to be fatal for the trees.

I didn’t like the plastic light weight screens and I fear loading the fences with so many palings on both sides (even light ones) might lead to more issues.

what I will do is I will do one single piece of the fence and see what happens. 
having said that, another option is to use these:

Extremely light but expensive! At $100 a piece, I’d be looking at a few thousand dollars because I’d need 4 of these for each fence; they’re 90cm wide and I think my colorbonds are 180 cm wide.

[Neo19]

Hi @shahab 

I understand your concerns about the potential damage to the cedar trees from a creeper like star jasmine crawling up. It's always better to be safe than sorry!

Starting with one single piece of the fence and seeing how it turns out before committing to covering the entire fence is a good idea. This will give you an idea of what works best for your specific situation.

Please do keep us updated on your progress.

[shahab]

Hi,

Ok, now I’ve got a pair of treated pine  pieces of timber (fig 1) to go horizontally on top and bottom of a single colorbond panel, and a bunch of Palings (fig 2) to be punched onto he horizontal pieces. 

 

 now, the question is, how to I screw the horizontal pieces to the colorbond sides (fig 3)? Should I unscrew and run the screw threw the timber and screw back again? As shown, the sides are not flat and the pieces will not contact the panel.

 

[EricL]

Hello @shahab 

Since there is a slight gap between the timber and the steel post, I suggest using a longer screw such as the Buildex Timber or Metal Roof Zips C4 HexHead with Seal M6 x 65mm Bx100 or similar. Just keep in mind that the screw must be long enough to go through the wood past the gap and far enough into the steel surface.

If you need further assistance, please let us know.

Eric

[shahab]

Hi,

ok, that makes sense. Thanks.

[shahab]

 

 

A while back, I posted a question here asking for advice on how to hide my unsightly colorbond fences. 
finally, I came up with this brilliant idea: 

 remove the metal sheets, leaving the frame, fit vertical and horizontal timber slabs inside the frames. The first photo shows before:

And here is the after:

 

[Jason]

Looks great @shahab. Well done and thanks for sharing the end result.

Jason