# Forum Home Renovation Fences & Screens  Building a new fence...

## Roadhouse

Hey all, 
It's time to renew the timber boundary fences and looking for a gentle steer in the right direction.  
I need privacy due to the odd nudey run to the pool so was thinking a lapped and maybe capped fence is a must. I believe traditionally this is done with treated pine. Issue I have is the tendency of treated pine to warp over time. Looks great to start with but quickly loses its shine.  
This leans me towards hardwood, but has anyone lapped a fence using hardwood? If so, what is a good overlap? Was thinking 15mm each side - sound OK, or is 10mm sufficient? 
Also, I want to put approx 600mm tall 'boxed' lattice (example pic below) above the fence for a bit of added privacy but am worried about the durability as I'm sure it would deteriorate pretty quickly unless painted. I want to run some sort of vine etc along it so after being initially painted when new, that would be it as far as maintenance is concerned. How long should I expect it to last?  
And finally, was wondering the best way to attach the lattice. Hardwood fence posts would be 2400 tall no doubt, which will be 600 under the ground and 1800 for the fence, so how to secure the lattice to the fence? Will I just need to run extensions from the hardwood posts so the lattice sections can be attached? Presume bolting the extensions to the hardwood posts would be the way to go? 
Cheers  
Lattice:   
Finish I am after (well sort of):

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## rrobor

First point is have a word with your neighbour, its half his. He may object to your vision so its best to start by consulting him.

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## Roadhouse

Indeed - have already spoken to the lady behind and she is unwilling to put up her share so it is free reign!! Will get that in writing of course.  
Next door is a rental and the owner will probably only pay for the basic layout, so I will end paying about 2/3's of the total. Happy with that as I will get what I want..  :2thumbsup:

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## lazydays

I'd still go for treated pine palings but bring the gap down to 50mm which will give you a 25mm overlap using 100mm palings. 
Work right to left with the palings if you are right handed. Make a 50mm spacer out of some 50mm X 1500mm, put in a nail about 100mm from the end and hand this off the top rail for your  spacer. 
In the middle of every panel check your levels and if it's out a bit gradually bring the palings back level to be parallel over the posts. If time or speed is not a factor, level every paling. 
Use 3.0m posts for the lattice. 600mm in the ground, 1800mm for the fence and 600mm for attaching the lattice.

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## Roadhouse

Thanks mate - may I ask why the preference for treated pine? Hardwood is only about 20% more for the raw materials and presume it lasts longer (well at least looks straighter for longer). 
Oh and good idea on the 3m posts - cheers

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## Bedford

> I need privacy due to the odd nudey run to the pool

   

> First point is have a word with your neighbour, its half his. He may object to your vision so its best to start by consulting him.

  Yes he/ SHE might want an even higher fence. :Biggrin:  :Biggrin:

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## jamc0984

I personally dont think hardwood will last longer... As you say it may stay straighter for longer, but it defiantly wont last longer. My pine supplier guarantees their timber for 40 years. You wouldn't find a hardwood supplier willing to do anything near that. 
Pine is softer, treatments are far more effective. Hardwood is dense therefore the treatment will only do so much.

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## dazzler

For longevity you could use the colorbond lattice stuff.  I saw some once and it looked okay.

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## Bedford

> For longevity you could use the colorbond lattice stuff.  I saw some once and it looked okay.

  Yep, I agree, and there is also some uv protected coloured plastic stuff but pretty dear from memory. :Smilie:

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## sparksta

I see that you live in NSW so you may just want to check out the following link in relation to dividing fences.  I haven't read the whole act but would assume it is similar to the Fences Act 1975 that we work under in SA.  It gives you the information for doing it all legal and your rights.  DIVIDING FENCES ACT 1991

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## Roadhouse

Thanks for the info guys  :2thumbsup:  
One last one - a slight change of plan means that beneath my 1800mm (+600mm lattice) fence is going to be a 600mm retaining wall (treated pine 150 x 75 or 100).  
Retaining wall will obviously go in first, and it will have the agg pipe, geotextile material, appropriate backfill etc, but what will my fence posts now go into? Was originally going to dig the post holes in the ground, have a gravel base and then concrete the posts in, but with the addition of the retaining wall and its relatively "loose" backfill, how am I going to get my 3000mm posts to stay put? 
Don't want to load up the retaining wall with the force from the fence as well as the retained soil by attaching the fence posts to the wall posts, so at a loss as how to secure the fence posts. Surely they don't do 3600mm posts?  
Any ideas?  :Confused:  
For those of visual persuasion rather than text (google sketch-it eat ya heart out!!!): 
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600mm lattice
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1800mm fence
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600mm retaining wall
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## johnstonfencing

Yes you can get 3600 posts, in Melbourne they stock them, have done a job recently requiring this size!

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## Fenced Out

Maybe construct some thing like this with 125mm logs or square posts but lap palings.   
You can obtain posts in many sizes 3.6 . 4.8 and even 6mts
Much  of our work calls for logs as they don't tend to twist as much as square posts in our climate. Down south square is all the rage but rarely used in my area. 
Photo below of 4.8 mt x 150 logs for posts being used with 25mm treated palings.

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## Roadhouse

That first pic is close to what I want to do. Will be sourcing 3600 posts so it should give me the stability I need. 
And final issue I can think of before I start - I believe that it is good practice that the retaining wall has a 1 in 10 lean into the area to be retained, meaning about a 70mm 'lean' at the top of wall if 700mm high. Given I want to run the fence flush with the retaining wall, I am a bit stumped as to how I would minimise the gap between the base of the fence and top of the wall? 
I don't want the fence on a lean for obvious reasons, so how do I go about minimising the gap at the base of the fence? The only thing I can think of is cutting a section out of the base of the fence posts to allow me to butt them against the retaining wall, but if I have 150 X 50 mm fence posts, cutting a 70mm 'wedge' from the base of the post isn't the best way to go about it - I don't want to unduly weaken the post.  
Any ideas?  
A visual of what I am talking about**: Fence 1800.doc  *EDIT: my amateur drawing wasn't quite right - if I cut a wedge, it would need to be 600mm from the base of the post as that first 600mm is underground... In any event, I don't really want to cut the post as it will lose its strength so looking for any tips!*  
Cheers

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## Uncle Bob

> 

  Crikey, that's some serious fencing. When's the razor wire going on the top  :Smilie:

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## Fenced Out

Roadhouse there is no real solid way around it.
My suggestions is slightly lean your posts inwards but not enough that you will notice.
Use 125mm or 150 posts and dig a good size hole and do not skimp on concrete.
If you can afford to up size on posts and concrete do it, as there is nothing worse then looking at fence leaning over. 
Uncle Bob 
Yes it's an over kill and some times we will attached 28 electrified wires 100mm apart on the inside.
You cannot see in the photo but there are 8 x barb wires 100 mm running across the top. 
Picture below of gates for this design of fencing.

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## Bloss

Not sure why you think the treated pine will not last. The lattice and other above ground is H3 and unless you cut it and don't use the proper preservative on the cuts it will last at least 20 years an mostly longer - unpainted. It will go a greenish silver grey colour, but that's all. 
For in ground H4 or H5 - for structural use (such as fence support you must use  H5 to comply with BCA).  :2thumbsup:

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## Yonnee

> Indeed - have already spoken to the lady behind and she is unwilling to put up her share so it is free reign!! Will get that in writing of course.  
> Next door is a rental and the owner will probably only pay for the basic layout, so I will end paying about 2/3's of the total. Happy with that as I will get what I want..

  I'm intrigued by this, as I was under the assumption that if the fence requires replacing, each of the owners is required by law to pay for their half of a standard replacement fence. So the lady behind you will have to fork out for half of the replacement cost of her section of fence to the same as the area's standard. Over and above this is your responsibility.

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## Roadhouse

> I'm intrigued by this, as I was under the assumption that if the fence requires replacing, each of the owners is required by law to pay for their half of a standard replacement fence. So the lady behind you will have to fork out for half of the replacement cost of her section of fence to the same as the area's standard. Over and above this is your responsibility.

  Mate you're right, but I mentioned that I wanted to replace the fence and she said that she paid some money to the previous owner of my property probably 3 years ago to "strengthen" the fence - they put a few support posts in etc - and wasn't willing to pay for a new fence as it was alright from her side! I am ok with that as it is only 15m along the back fence so for the sake of me copping the lot - it will only be a few hundred extra - I get to do what I want. Happy to wear that.  
Cheers

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