Fence dilemma

Hi, I'm hoping some of you knowledgeable lot may be help me with a fencing dilemma.

I have footpath running along the rear of my property that is about 4th higher than the ground level of my property.There is currently a 4ft retaining wall with a 3ft high block wall on top, on top of that is a rickety excuse for a fence. There are also a few pillars/piers spaced about 6ft apart giving some rigidity. Unfortunately the whole thing needs replacing.

What I'm wanting to do is keep the retaining wall and use this as a base for a new fence. I also want to add some more pillars/piers along the whole length. So... i've got a few options as to how I could finish the fence but I'm unsure as to which is the best solution. My main concern is the cost - the whole thing is 45 ft long and I need 7 or 8 piers built so costs soon add up.

With the aid of a quick diagram I want to show my thoughts so far.
Options 1 to 4 (1 being the most expensive)

Option 1 - full height piers, 3ft brick wall with 3ft close board fence on top.
Option 2 - full height piers with full height close board fence.
Option 3 - full height piers with lighter weight panels.
Option 4 - 3/4 height piers with lighter weight panels and a filler panel.

I'm getting a builder to run up a quote for option 1 but with all the brickwork involved I think costs are going to spiral so will get him to price up just the piers. I'll be doing the non-brickwork myself.

My worry though is that the light weight panel might not be strong enough - could I strengthen them with horizontal timbers? Price wise these panels are going to be much, much cheaper than close board but will they last?

Anyone have any suggestions/ideas or any other method of doing this that i've missed?

Many thanks.

Are you 100% sure that the wall belongs to you?
A retaining wall is usually the responsibility of the landowner whos land is being retained by it.

option 4 is a no no. it will be weak and look crap. If you are going to spend the money on teh brickwork, then dont skimp on the fence. Closeboard will not be much more expensive and will last a hell of a lot longer. Also if any part of it fails, it can be replaced, whereas once a panel goes, then you need a whole new panel.

mattylad said:

Are you 100% sure that the wall belongs to you?

Click to expand...

Yeah, unfortunately it's our responsibility.

Thermo said:

option 4 is a no no. it will be weak and look rubbish. If you are going to spend the money on teh brickwork, then dont skimp on the fence. Closeboard will not be much more expensive and will last a hell of a lot longer. Also if any part of it fails, it can be replaced, whereas once a panel goes, then you need a whole new panel.

Click to expand...

Yeah good point about being able to replace parts of, rather than the whole thing. I might price up the job using closeboard then and see how it compares.

If money wasn't an issue I'd go for option 1 but as it is (expensive new baby) it's not really something I can contemplate at the moment. Option 2 does seem like the best compromise.

Tom - howsabout very long 6" x 6" posts with galvanised straps fixing them to your retaining wall (no need to bury the posts in the ground unless the wall is rickety; if it is then bury in concrete). 3 arris rails between each post (above wall level) and then close board it. Advantage of doing it this way is no need for expensive piers (or the disruption of them being build ... footings, etc).

youll need 10 feet for the posts above ground and if you need to put them in concrete youll need another 3-4 feet in the ground. That will work out expensive as well. there will also be a high wind loading on the fence at that height which could snap the posts.

Yeah I had thought about using posts from my ground level but dismissed it because I didn't think it'd be strong enough. I could attach posts to the retaining wall but I don't know how thick it is (and what's the other side of it - i'm assuming just earth) or how well it'd cope with the force of the posts and fence pulling/pushing on it in a high wind. So hit upon the idea of using the existing piers to attach the posts to... but i'd need extra piers built along the length of the fence.

My thoughts if I did go the piers route would be to bolt arris type timbers to the rears and attached closeboard straight to that.





Another option, but i'm guessing due to the brickwork involved it aint gonna be cheap, might be to built a 3ft wall the entire length and mount a fence on top using bolt down mounts. Has anyone had experience of these - and would they be strong enough? I don't think there's going to be a lot of wind hitting it but I'd hate to see it topple over just cos I decided I wanted to save a few quid.






Thanks for the input so far by the way, much appreciated[/img]

bolt down posts are crap and wont last. We have taken them out where they have simply sheared off. They wont give a decent sturdy fixing.

An easier way to secure the fence to teh piers would be to use a morticed wall plate. this is basically a 4 x plate that is pre-morticed for the arris rail to slot into. it can then be secured to the peirs by rawl bolts. It looks a lot neater than the metal brackets at the end of the arris rails, and needs less fixings. A decent fencing supplier will sort you out with these (not a builders merchant or a diy shed!)

Not entirely sure what a 'morticed wall plate' is - not one of these is it?
http://www.sabrefix.co.uk/products_fencefix_view.php?id=81
If so, I see how the arris attaches but how do I go about attaching the other end to the pier - or is it designed to be concreted in when built? Or am I barking up the wrong tree?!

Could I just bolt, say, 4x2" to the piers and screw my closeboard straight to that. Good or bad idea?


Many thanks

Looking at your side view, it looks very easy to climb over with the horizontal beams.

have you considered alternate sides of the horizontal, this also allows wind to pass through better & wont blow down.

Like:

--- --- --- --- ---
=================
--- --- --- --- ---