How to screen Colorbond fence?

[homeprojects12]

Hi all

I love to get some ideas on how to screen my colorbond fence, or add some kind of feature to it, just to soften the area. We don't want to put posts into the ground because we have fake grass.

Would also be great to see some photo's if anyone has done something similar. 

Thanks!!

[MitchellMc]

Welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community @homeprojects12. It's wonderful to have you join us, and many thanks for your question about improving the look of your Colorbond fence.

Be sure to check out a couple of @ProjectPete's Colorbond fence projects: Fence makeover for the pool area and Feature fences. It's my understanding that neither of these two projects required posts to be installed. 

Another exceptionally popular project is Training climbers to screen a fence by @royq. This is a simple and effective way of softening the harshness of a fence. Instead of planting the climbers into the ground, you could utilise trough planters.

I'm a massive fan of these Merbau fence panels, and it might be worth considering their use in your project. We have a fantastic range of screening to be used alongside them, and @Shannon used them to create an amazing look with his Bamboo fence panel for extra privacy.

If you were looking for a feature, maybe this plant wall could be just what you need.

I'm sure our other members will have some great screening solutions, and I look forward to following along with your project.

Mitchell

[homeprojects12]

Thanks Mitchell, they're all great ideas! I particularly love the merbau fence panels, however I wasn't sure about the weight at 20kg each, especially if I put a few up. Would it create too much weight on the colorbond panels and potentially damage/warp them?

[ProjectPete]

I've installed these panels (and others) on many fences over the years @homeprojects12 and never had any issues.

Simply fix 30x25 treated pine battens to top and bottom rails with 14g 50mm Tek screws then fix your chosen panels to the timber battens.

If you choose to put posts into the ground, it's no problem to "peel" your fake grass back to dig the hole, concrete the post in, then cut the fake grass to suit.

[MitchellMc]

@homeprojects12,

If this is a concern, you could create a frame out of H3 treated pine timber which sits on the ground and is then attached to the fence, but only to essentially stop it from falling over. When the panels are attached to the frame, their weight is transferred down onto the ground instead of the fence. It's a bit of extra work, though it will ensure your fence stays intact.

As @ProjectPete has mentioned, though, he's never had an issue.

Mitchell

[ProjectPete]

This approach will help but H3 shouldn't be in contact with the ground/substrate that stays wet/moist as over time the H3 will fail. Fake grass is less of an issues as it has sufficient drainage.

You need H4/5 to be in contact with or within soil, grass, etc

[MitchellMc]

Good pickup, @ProjectPete! Perhaps spraying the bottom timber with TWA Woodcare 300g Ecoseal Tanalised Timber Treatment would suffice. Packing it off the ground with plastic spacers would likely be a good idea too.

Mitchell