How to screen above my fence from neighbours please?

[barbs01]

Hi, I have an ugly rear yard fence at my house and as can be seen from the photos, I can see into the neighbours houses, and into their yard and probably vice versa, which is not good, as well as having their ugly pergola on the boundary which looks unsightly. I am looking for any cost effective ideas or suggestions on how I could screen above the current fence line ( not sure how high I am allowed to go... 300mm  above maybe? Do i need approval from the neighbours or council? ) I would probably paint the fence in a dark grey first, so it looks even. The fence is post and rail construction, so it is hard to find something off the shelf which can just fix directly on the fence. I am thinking probably freestanding 90 x 90 timber posts with lattice infills in front of the fence could be an option, but may cost a bit. There is a vegetable garden in that area, so planting large shrubs or trees isn't feasible and also I am only here short term and want to sell in the near future. Thanks in advance

[MitchellMc]

Welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community @barbs01. It's great to have you join us, and many thanks for your question on fence screening.

Painting the fence first sounds like a great idea. If the Colorbond paint is in good condition, you'll need to go over it with a Scotch-Brite 155 x 100mm Non-Scratch Scourer Pad. If the paint is powdery or chalky to the touch, use the Scotch-Brite 155 x 100mm Heavy Duty Scourer Pads instead. You'll then need to wash the fence down with Sugar Soap to remove any residue. Rinse the Sugar Soap off with fresh water and wait for the fence to dry. Apply Dulux PRECISION Maximum Strength Adhesion Primer White to all surfaces. You can then follow that up with two coats of Dulux Weathershield. For the best finish and an easy application, I'd advise you to consider a paint sprayer. You'll achieve a far superior result than if you were to use a brush or roller.

An easy way to add screening to the top of the fence would be with the Matrix fence extension panels. You'll need to check with both your local council for regulations and with the neighbour. Chances are, if your neighbour is happy with the extension, you're not going to run into issues. Unless you are in a stringent council area, they would normally only get involved if there was a complaint from the neighbour. This minimum height is 450mm for the panels, though you could position them lower than the top rail, only elevating the fence 300mm.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

Mitchell

[barbs01]

Thanks for that information Mitchell, you have provided a lot of valuable information there. I am wondering with the fence painting if using a sprayer how to prevent overspray into neighbours property when painting top section of fence? would you need some sort of cardboard screen held in position or similar? Also with the matrix system, I do like it, and it looks like a good modular system, i just don't know how it would suit this type of post and rail fence, it looks made for good neighbour type of fence, and not sure how to fix the upright legs, would they go full height to bottom rail and get fixed to both horizontal rails? Will they be stable enough, they look a bit flimsy at 20x20 ? Also could look a bit messy with a lot of rails too, not sure. Thank You

[MitchellMc]

The cardboard would be a great idea to stop any overspray, and taping it to the top of the fence should do the trick @barbs01.

I apologise. From the images, it looked like a Colorbond steel fence. Is it a timber fence? If so, the information I provided above is an incorrect painting process. You'll just need to scrub the painted timber down and paint over it. No need for primer.

The legs on the Matrix screen are one metre long. If it is a timber fence, the legs can be screwed directly into either the top rail, post, or through the doubled up pailing on the shiplap. I wouldn't advise screwing through a single paling as your screws will probably penetrate the other side of the fence. If you weren't fond of the Matrix system, we have treated pine fence extensions like the Lattice Makers 2400 x 500mm Woven Fence Extension. You'll need to cut one side of the legs off (as these won't slip over your style fence) and then screw the others into the timber paling/top rail. I'd also advise adding some additional screws midway along the screen to secure it.

I think your idea of post and lattice could work well, though a little more involved than just fixing the screen to the fence.

Mitchell

[barbs01]

Hi Mitchell, thanks for your reply. The Fence is definitely Colorbond, not timber, sorry for the confusion, i meant Colorbond with post/rail construction. I like the Lattice Makers panels, much more cost effective and i could easily paint them to match the fence. Can I ask please, what would be the best way to fix these to the horizontal fence rails? Would it be best to attach full height uprights ( eg: permapine 50x50 ) to the legs of the panels first, then erect them and screw into the top and bottom fence rails? If so can you recommend fixing type please? or if there is another way to do this. Thanks very much

[EricL]

Hello @barbs01

I suggest using Treated Pine Outdoor Timber Framing 70 x 35mm. I recommend using Zenith 10 - 8 x 65mm Galvanised Countersunk Rib Head Timber Screws to secure them to both the bottom and top rail of your fence. Once you have the Lattice Makers 2400 x 500mm Woven Fence Extension, please measure the post of the lattice and get the same type of screw such as the Galvanised Countersunk Rib Head Timber Screws but in a shorter length so as not to go through the mounting post.

My colleague @MitchellMc will be back tomorrow, he might have another suggestion on how to mount the Lattice Makers.

Let me tag our experienced members @tom_builds and @JDE for their recommendations.

If you need further assistance, please let us know.

Eric

[barbs01]

Thanks a lot for that Eric, much appreciated. i will await your feedback from your colleagues.