# Forum Home Renovation Fences & Screens  Attaching fence extensions - screw or not?

## bcp

Just bought some treated pine fence extensions like this. Each of the three verticals has a matching vertical on the other side - so they slip over the top of the paling fence quite snugly.   
Do you think that is adequate or should I put screws (or bolts) through. My concern is that the palings tend to be pretty crap wood and a screw might weaken the palings, whereas the 'saddle' effect spreads the load. Or will a decent wind shift them?  
Anyone have experience with these?

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## melton2

do the verticals sit on the horizontal fence beams? you could also attach brackets for extra support... 
if you could take a photo of the extension sitting on your fence from both sides, we may be able to come up with a stronger solution, as it may not take too much wind blowing on the extension to cause it to snap the palings.. 
but from what you have mentioned, i would put a decent screw in each vertical on both sides (1 top, 1 bottom, alternating them between verticals..)..
if the paling you are screwing into seems a bit dodgy, simply swap it with another one 
if you are worried that the screw may weaken/crack the paling during screwing, then simply drill a pilot hole to minimize the chance of a split..

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## bcp

Thanks for your response. I can see that using a couple of screws will spread the load. 
Based on what you said, since the 'verticals' fall short of the horizontal fence beams, I will find a way to extend them down for additional stability - brackets make sense.

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## melton2

> Thanks for your response. I can see that using a couple of screws will spread the load. 
> Based on what you said, since the 'verticals' fall short of the horizontal fence beams, I will find a way to extend them down for additional stability - brackets make sense.

  since they fall short, i would be looking at attaching them to the horizontal beams for sure.
another option would be to cut the height of the palings so the verticle beams do sit flush with the horizontal beams, and then add an additional long screw from underneath the horizontal beam into the vertical, add some brackets and that should do the job... although it will reduce the overall height of the fence.. 
finally, give it the 'push pull and shake real hard' test to see how strong it is :Smilie:

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## Punk

I'd drill straight through and use nuts,bolts and washers.

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