Increasing fence height

Hi there,

I want to increase the fence height (at the very back of the garden) for security (the low fence has been attracting some unwanted attention) and privacy. I don’t own the place, only rent (through a housing association), but as I’ll be living here for the next three years it is worth doing although I have limited funds for this project (I’d rather not spend more than £50 to £100).

The housing association said it’s fine to increase the height as long as the fence is similar (but doesn’t have to be exactly the same, main thing is similar colour).

I would prefer not to remove the current fence but instead increase its height. Perhaps not the easiest option though.

The posts are 100mm x 100mm at approximately 91cm in height, although the top of one is at angle (92cm at the highest point and 91cm at the lowest).

I’ve had a look around and found some metal supports (“fence post extenders”) for extending the current posts. I would also need to add two new posts to ensure that the fence can withstand the winds, I think. (I live not too far from the coast so the winds get pretty strong.)

Before I start investing in fence panels, posts, supports, cement, gravel boards, etc, I thought I best seek some advice as I have never done anything like this before as there may be a better way to do this?

A couple of photos:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/43332997@N02/4644823169/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/43332997@N02/4644823165/

In the top left corner there are a couple of bushes, so I won't raise the fence height there, just for the first two panels (153cm and 171cm in width and about 93cm height). (Between the bushes and the tree on the other side there should be enough privacy.)

Many thanks in advance,

Ryan

what style of fence are you putting up and how high?

I want to go up to about 2metres and as for style I guess what is currently there might be called "spaced picket fence" so I'd stick with that style, if possible.

you are more than trippling the load on the fence because off leverage so the old posts are unlikly to be so over-engineered that it will take the load

You will also need Planning Permission once you go over 1m high http://www.planningportal.gov.uk/en...ommonfenceswallsgates/workmoreppfencewallgate

@big-all, I was going to add some new fence posts to help deal with the weight or would that not be enough?

@freddymercurystwin, when I enquired about this I was told that I can take the fence up to 2m high without planning permission (I'm not near a highway or a footpath of a highway or near a listed building etc).

Edit @ 21:17 - I've decided to scrap increasing the fence height and instead use trellis and grow some climbers up it. Many thanks for your replies everyone.