# Forum Home Renovation Fences & Screens  timber height extension on brick wall

## teaspooner

Hi all, this is my first time posting but certainly not my first time reading this great forum. 
I've looked through the Fence & Screens threads and haven't found the answer I need, so if it's in here somewhere I apologise for doubling up.  
What I'm looking in to is raising the height of my 1m rendered brick front fence. We live on a busy road which is only the footpath's width away from our property (and we face a t-intersection!) so I'm not expecting to block out the noise of the road (not an issue, we can't hear anything once the front door is closed anyway) but I would LOVE to get a bit more visual privacy from passing traffic and pedestrians.  
I'd like to go with a timber extension which screws into the existing brick construction, mainly for the low cost of materials, possibility of doing it myself, and aesthetics. I've thought a lot about a timber vs metal frame, horizontal vs vertical slats etc. The best idea I've heard is to use decking timber like merbau nailed/screwed on to a treated pine frame which anchors into the masonry. Size of the project is around 2m long x 1m tall so I'm guessing it would need a middle post as well to prevent warping of the slats if they're horizontal. Is it a stronger option to position them vertically? By the way, the rendered fence is as thick as two bricks ( :Biggrin: ). 
Any advice on materials, techniques and also the best way to anchor such a frame to the rendered brick fence would be excellent. 
It's the anchoring I'm mainly stuck on - the last thing I want is the whole timber construct to fall down in 6 months due to using the incorrect anchors/techniques in the masonry.  
Anyone heard of pre-made slat panels that might be good to use too?

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## r3nov8or

I'm assuming the project is actually 20m long? You could use pool fencing posts bolted to the top of the brick fence (using threaded road and chemset if there is a danger of blowing out the side of your brink). You need to ensure that posts you use are strong enough to take the force of a strong wind against the fence so I'd say posts made for glass pool fencing would be best.  
The other issue is ensuring the brick fence is strong enough so that bricks don't come loose at the mortar. You could place posts in the ground close behind the brick fence and clad above the brick line. Like all fences a post at every 2.5m would be best, and horizontal slats benefit from a vertical slat in the middle to tie the slats in place (inhibit twisting/warping etc). 
In my city the council expects permit application for any fence over 1.2m. Maybe yours does too.

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## stevoh741

I'd bolt the timber posts to the inside face of the rendered wall then pale/slat away. If you are doing timber slats bolting on top wont work due to the weight. You could placing posts in ground like renovator said but depending on the width of the block footing the posts will be offset from the existing wall somewhat.

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## r3nov8or

yeah, agree bolting to the inside would work, assuming the bricks are stable. If you have to go in ground and set back somewhat, you could add vertical battens to the front of the posts to bring the slats towards the back edge of the bricks.

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## teaspooner

Thanks for the thoughts.  
I actually meant to type 3 metres long. It's the front boundary of a narrow block (semi-detached terrace in Sydney's Inner West) so it's really not a massive job!  
So I think I'm going to go with metal posts and horizontally positioned timber slats. It all seems pretty do-able yet I'm still not sure of the anchors needed to fit into the existing masonry wall.  
How long should they be? Which type? What diameter? I'm assuming a masonry wall anchor around 10mm thick and a length that embeds in to the brick around 50mm?

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## r3nov8or

Just to clarify, have you decided to put the metal posts on the back of the brick fence? Do you know if the bricks are solid or (partly) hollow? What are the dimensions of the posts you will use

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## teaspooner

> Just to clarify, have you decided to put the metal posts on the back of the brick fence? Do you know if the bricks are solid or (partly) hollow? What are the dimensions of the posts you will use

  Yes I believe I'll put them on the back of the fence. I'm almost certain the bricks are solid but I haven't drilled into verify. based on the adjacent wall of our semi-detached neighbours who just had their brick fence rebuilt, I'm assuming theirs was built to match ours with solid bricks, two deep.  
Not sure on the exact dimensions of posts yet. I'm still just thinking about this project and haven't made any final decisions or purchases of materials.

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## stevoh741

masonry ankers are the go for fixing to your wall. dont waste your time with dynabolts.

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