# Forum Home Renovation Fences & Screens  How best to "screen" the underneath of a raised Queenslander?...

## Batpig

'Uppy Australia Day Folks! 
For my part, I'll have to use the time off to try and work out a relatively translucent way of further screening the inside face of the vertical-paling setup that currently screens the openings between each of the concrete stumps around the edge on the lower level of my raised-Weatherboard'er... :Redface:  
You can see an internal view looking outwards through the current setup in the photo below. I want to keep the palings in place, but add something extra behind them that still lets light through, whilst further shielding the underneath area from prying eyes at a moderate distance. The resulting product would have to be fairly weatherproof for the sake of its own durability, but woudn't have to necessarily keep all of the weather out of the place...   
The height and width of each opening between the stumps varies a little, but at their maximum they measure about 1.8m high and 1.6m wide. The horizontal rails in the photo that are supporting the palings are about 1.3m apart vertically. 
Thus far I've been thinking along the lines of using Shadecloth, but because it has no inherent rigidity of its own, it would have to be attached to the vertical nailing-plates that are bolted to the sides of the stumps. This would first require some fairly precise stretching and securing of the shadecloth to some type of "wrapped-up" support-piece, that would then have to be fixed to the said nailing-plates at each end of the opening. T'would not be easy by any means to get the tension just right each time... :Frown:  
I wasn't too keen on going for translucent Polycarbonate either, because there'd be a fair bit of "wastage" involved, and it would look fairly daggy anyway where adjacent pieces overlapped (or even just butted) in the middle. I don't suppose anyone has ever seen Polycarbonate in a non-corrugated profile? (ie. a squared-off profile like Klip-Lock or Span-Deck or similar?...) I'll have a look at some manufacturers' websites today. 
Another possibility would be some sort of durable "Pegboard". This would have the advantage of being easily removable when it was time to repaint the palings, but I'm quite sure it won't be available as a cement sheet, and I'm unsure whether it would be durable enough if it were masonite. This is because I wouldn't be able to get a coat of sealer-type paint into the drilled-edges of each and every little hole. And the translucency might not be too great either, because the holes I've seen in Pegboard aren't terribly large nor closely spaced. 
So all in all I'm all at sea on the subject, but with a fairly open mind in hope of some illumined suggestions from Y'all... 
Many Thanks,
Batpig.

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## jago

Shadcloth... 
I used to have shadcloth on the west side of the carport which was fixed to the carport using stainless steel eyes on the cloth and toggles on the carport...Now it looked to me manufactured not DIY  there are enough companies out there, I would google 'durable shadcloth'

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## d00biez

> shadcloth... 
> I used to have shadcloth on the west side of the carport which was fixed to the carport using stainless steel eyes on the cloth and toggles on the carport...now it looked to me manufactured not diy there are enough companies out there, i would google 'durable shadcloth'

  +1

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## stevoh741

Shadecloth would be great under there during the day but at night if you're there with lights on under the house the visual is reversed and you will be seen clear as day. I would stay away from polycarb etc as it will block ventillation under there. Why not blockout outdoor roller type blinds. Then you can up and down whenever you want privacy - could be a bit pricey though.

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## Batpig

Dear Gents - Thanks for your replies! 
Jago and Doobie - the concept sounds very interesting, but I'm a bit of a Shadecloth-novice. So could please tell me whether those stainless "eyelets" were preinstalled, or can you crimp them into the cloth yourself somehow? (which is what I'd have to be able to do with them...) Also, the mere concept of "toggles" sounds quite intriguing, except that I have no idea what the darned things look like  :Redface: . Are they spring-tensioned somehow, and do they swivel? (I'll have a look at the Coolaroo website, as well as do some Googling on the subject...) 
Stevo - The Awning-idea sounds functional, but the only problem is that they might look a bit out-of-place, because the row of stumps in question is flush in line with the weatherboard-walls above (rather than recessed inwards by one bay of joists...). I take your point regarding the ventilation issue; well said... 
Many Thanks,
Batpig. 
P.S. Stevo - maybe you actually meant that I should use the Outdoor-grade Blinds, but mount them on the inside of the existing palings. That could look okay; I'd be pulling them up and down a bit though. I'll keep the idea on the radar!

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## d00biez

gday mate, 
i think jago mightve been talking about those snap in "button" type things, similar to some shirts you buy these days with the metal buttons you just press together and they snap in?? least thats what i pictured as i read it! lol.   
my neighbours got shadecloth under his place in between the stumps and behind the timber battens and honestly i am envious and have wanted to do it for ages. i had a look round at bummings a few times last week but couldnt find the stuff. i know its there somewhere. he just stapled his on but if you want to have it open at times then thats not ideal. if privacy at night is a concern, just double up with the shadecloth. will cost a bit more but if you double up in the areas where you can be seen from the street or neighbours and not just all the way round, shouldnt be that much more. 
let me know if you find the stuff jago mentioned and i'll do the same if i find some. 
cheers

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## stevoh741

[quote=Batpig;829404]P.S. Stevo - maybe you actually meant that I should use the Outdoor-grade Blinds, but mount them on the inside of the existing palings. quote] 
Yes that is whatI meant. You should be able to buy shadecloth clips whereever you buy shadecloth and they work similar to carpet where you stretch it tight over the clips and the catch and hold it in place. I would use these as opposed to staples.

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## jago

I'm a shadecloth virgin myself but the previous owner was a salior type and he may have had them made by a sail company as they were heavy duty ...but I have found the toggles online so  you can visualize the concept. 
My neighbour said that he used the system so the carport and shadecloth could be cleaned.  Stainless Steel T-Toggle  :2thumbsup:

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## Batpig

Dear Jago, 
Thanks for that - That's a pretty good link in it's own right, as far as glimpsing a reasonable cross-section of what's available in the way of hardware for this stuff goes (Make sure you have a good look through the Product List, Doobie!) My Brother's mate has got those types of "toggles" on the sides of the carport at his place, and they do indeed fit through "eyelets" in the shadecloth, like you said. But the only thing is - they're obviously a static-fixture (ie. non-springy), so I reckon the correct positioning of the eyelets in the cloth would be fairly important, because I'm not sure how much the shadecloth is able to stretch?... :Confused:  
Mind you, I saw the required eyelets on-the-shelf in the Toolshop at Bunnings in 2 sizes (7 & 10mm), as well as the special Pliers and/or Hammered-Punch&Dies (both also in the Toolshop) that would be needed to insert the eyelets through what would presumably be doubled-over edges along the shadecloth. I'll have a bit of a poke around the Coolaroo website today to see if they mention any sort of a percentage regarding the "stretchability" of the cloth... 
Stevo - While I was there, I saw those shadecloth-hooking-strips that you mentioned that are similar to carpet "Smooth-Edges." They were 600mm long, fully aluminium, with only one-row of teeth, and work out to around $1 each in packets of 15 or 20. They're definitely on the radar, but I'm trying to conceive a method of stretching the cloth past the things when they would be fixed to the side of plates that are directly attached to the inner faces of the concrete stumps (ie. tight little vertical corners that leave no room to stretch the cloth past... :Redface: ) 
Doobie - I saw these at Bunnings too, which looked interesting: V-Grip | Shade Grip
They work on a principle somewhat akin to "splining" with Flyscreens, but they're not cheap at $18.80 for a 1.8m length. Whilst they're meant to be a permanent fixing for each edge or end of the cloth, you could also fit a couple of them to timber-sticks and use them as "grippers" to facilitate "even" stretching of the cloth over those hooking-strips that Stevo mentioned. 
I'm going to do some quiet comtemplating today on the whole matter, punctuated perhaps by periodic lubrication with Cups D'Tea... :Rolleyes:  Hopefully a little lightbulb will pop up at some stage above my head... 
Many Thanks,
Batpig.

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## Buzzman

Bit hard to tell from the pic, but assume the palings are fastened to the outside of the rails, and looks like the rails are 75 X 50?? 
In which case, what about fastening a length of 75 X 50 treated pine to the inside top and bottom ends of the palings first, like an extra set of rails, before you attempt to attach the shadecloth, as this would then give you something to attach the stretching or fastening fixtures to in each of the corners, as you said this is what you wanted to do. 
Depending on the thickness of the palings, it would make sense to fasten these new 'rails' from outside. Pre-drill the holes so that screws will pull the rails in tight. You could use 50mm hex head roofing screws, and screw them in with a hex bit in a battery drill. 
Another tip you might like to investigate is getting an automotive/marine trimmer to sew the doubled-over 'hem' at the top and bottom that you will be punching the eyelets through. Sewing up a hem is MUCH stronger and will take more stretching before tearing or buckling. 
If you try this, give the trimmer EXACT measurements (in case one side is longer, or there is fall in the rails) but make it short by the maximum amount of stretch you can get in the shadecloth. 
This varies depending on brand, but take a sample, fasten one edge and with a stapled 'wrapped' piece of timber at the other end, stretch it by hand OR drill a hole through the stretching batten and fasten a piece of rope which you can then stand on to pull it down (as you could with the cloth once in place). 
Measure it before and after, which will give the 'stretch' factor. If the sewn up lengths are shorter than required by this much then you will have to streeetch them to get the eyelets over the pins, thus keeping them taut. 
A marine trimmer is probably best, as they have big heavy duty sewing machines used to dealing with canvas and vinyls on boat screens and so on. Won't be expensive.

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