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Hi all,
I am looking at recreating the picture below to screen my neighbors house. I currently have 2m high wooden fence which is not straight the whole length and wish to add an extra 500mm to the height and about 12 meters in length. We prefer to screen in front of the fence instead of adding fence extensions onto the fence. We will be painting the posts and slats grey to match the existing fence colour and to blend into the background as there will be planting in front of the screen. What should I be considering when purchasing the slats? We prefer a minimal gap between the slats for privacy. Should I be looking at hardwood or is treated pine ok for this situation? Is there anything i need to do to avoid future warping issues? Any tips or advice would be appreciated. Thanks.
Welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community @Alan__. It's amazing that you've joined us, and many thanks for your question on fence extensions.
It appears that something similar to SpecRite 69 x 15mm 2.7m Pre-Oiled Merbau FJ Screening has been attached to Tasman KB 90mm x 90mm x 3.6m Premium Wrapped F7 KD H4 RH Treated Pine posts.
If you are painting, then you could use primed LOSP pine for the slats. However, you'll likely need a vertical bracing piece midway between your posts as pine can tend to distort and sag over longer unsupported distances.
I was doing the calculations on these Merbau panels the other day. For the amount of timber used in them, they are pretty good value per metre squared. It would be slightly less than the height you wanted, but you could cut these in half down the middle and have two 1800 x 450mm panels per sheet.
If you're going to use individual slats, the gap used between them is entirely up to you. These Icon Plastics Deck Spacers will allow you to select from several gap sizes.
Please let me know if you have any questions.
Mitchell
Thanks for the great reply @MitchellMc
I'm assuming you were referring to these Merbau panels, pic shown below, as there was no link but this would be a great recommendation as the height could still work for us and may speed up the installation. Is it crazy to use this and paint it grey thinking that the merbau will maintain its integrity longer than pine? Would you suggest any paint prep for the merbau?
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Thanks again.
Hi @Alan__.
@MitchellMc will be back on the site on Friday and will be happy to help further with your project. Thanks for your patience in the meantime.
Let me also tag @diy_hausdesigns and @ProjectPete for their thoughts.
Stevie
Hi @Alan__,
Those are the panels I was mentioning.
Being a hardwood, the Merbau will last longer than pine outside. Preparing the Merbau for paint would either be a case of weathering it for up to a year naturally (This would allow you to see if you liked the natural timber look) or stripping the oil out with Cabot's 2L New Timber Prep. You can then paint over it with any suitable exterior paint.
Please let me know if you have any questions.
Mitchell
