Extending Fence Posts

gord

gord

gord

Soldato
Joined
18 Oct 2003
Posts
19,415
Location
Midlands
Hi all, our new house has a 6~ft fence, but our neighbour's garden must be about 8~ inches higher as it's quite easy to see each other when we're out back unless we're close to the fence our side.

We're looking at options for extending the height by about 18 inches and wondered if anyone had any experience doing this before? The primary criteria are:
  • Looks good, the posts are on my neighbour's side and we want the extensions to look relatively seamless, so no metal sleeves, cuffs or plates
  • Strong, because wind
  • We've got standard vertical feathered panelling, but the extended part will probably be spaced horizontal bars so they won't catch the wind as bad, they'll just be screwed into the fence posts
My initial idea was to drill a 6" corresponding vertical hole in the existing and extending post, probably use a bit of metal bar as a dowel and glue it, much like one of the suggestions here. However, I'm concerned about the accuracy needed for the hole, drilling in line with the existing posts and the extending piece, we could end up with wonky tops if the holes aren't perfect. The alternative feels more extreme, but would be to create half lap joints and use wood dowels so the holes aren't too obvious.

Our builders are pretty reasonable but we haven't approached them yet with this problem. I just doubt it's one they'll take on as there's nothing necessarily wrong with the fence.

Any advice is much appreciated.
 
If you drill slightly oversize holes then you can wiggle them to get them perfectly lined up.
Use some kind of resin to set them in place. It wont be cheap to do.

The height of the fence should be measured from the highest point, so the limit is based on your neighbours higher side
Although its supposed to be based on the natural.
 
Armageus said:
Can't help with how to extend the fence, but be aware you will likely need planning permission for a fence over 2m (approx 6ft 6)
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The fence posts are on my neighbour's side, so technically the fence is theirs, therefore the measurement for 2m above ground level should be from their side right? In which case I think we can safely work within that.

sja360 said:
Have the neighbours got decking or is the houses on a hill? 8" difference between you and them is a lot.
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The hill one. Their entire house probably sits 1.5ft higher than ours.

Mercenary Keyboard Warrior said:
If you drill slightly oversize holes then you can wiggle them to get them perfectly lined up.
Use some kind of resin to set them in place. It wont be cheap to do.

The height of the fence should be measured from the highest point, so the limit is based on your neighbours higher side
Although its supposed to be based on the natural.
Click to expand...
I guess there is the option of attempting perfect holes to start and adapting them as needs to perfect them. Not quite sure on resin though, surely there's something more cost-effective, I mean I was planning on using wood glue. I think we're on the same page as above with regards to the fence height.

Thanks all for the input so far.
 
NoobCannon said:
Have you tried speaking to the neighbour first?
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Yeh, we've spoken about it. We're planning the approach now so that it looks good from both sides.

alexakasloth said:
Trellis attached to the top?
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What did you have in mind? Below is an example of the type of fence we've got. My plan is to extend the main fence posts as described and then spaced horizontal battons up the extended part.
tqcU4pa.png
Click to expand...
 
Are you the feather edge side, or the upright side? I did a similar job for somebody (a mate) who wouldn't entertain the idea of using sleeves or anything - in the end, I used some oak dowel, and cut the extensions at the same angle (don't ask..) which looked pretty seamless from the back when treated. Only drove a few galvanised nails in - friction did the rest - the issue is feather edge warps like billy oh - I doubt you'd get it to match up perfectly. You can buy 300mm / 600mm / 900mm trellis panels which come in set lengths. Assuming your posts are at or around 6 feet? Might be a better job in my (DIY) opinion!

If you're the back side - at least you can reclad the whole thing should you wish - but throw a few climbers up there - you probably won't even notice the join..
 
itsallaboutyou said:
Are you the feather edge side, or the upright side? I did a similar job for somebody (a mate) who wouldn't entertain the idea of using sleeves or anything - in the end, I used some oak dowel, and cut the extensions at the same angle (don't ask..) which looked pretty seamless from the back when treated. Only drove a few galvanised nails in - friction did the rest - the issue is feather edge warps like billy oh - I doubt you'd get it to match up perfectly. You can buy 300mm / 600mm / 900mm trellis panels which come in set lengths. Assuming your posts are at or around 6 feet? Might be a better job in my (DIY) opinion!

If you're the back side - at least you can reclad the whole thing should you wish - but throw a few climbers up there - you probably won't even notice the join..
Click to expand...
We're on the feather side. What size dowel did you use, and just a single centered piece? Did you glue it too?

I'm less worried about the horizontal battons bit, although I am going to mock it up in Photoshop just to make sure it's the right aesthetic. I haven't measured up the fence post distance exactly yet, but I think they're about 3m apart.
 
MassiveJim said:
surely a dowel will just snap as soon as any decent wind hits it.
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That is why I was considering metal instead of wood for the dowel. If I do go for wood it'd have to be 1" in diameter minimum like Armageus says.

wildman said:
why he keeps walking around in the back garden with his dong hanging out all the time ?
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Are you my neighbour? Please stop looking over the fence!
 
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