Fence Advice

[SteCooper88]

Untitled

• SteCooper88
• 15 Mar 2015
• 1

Hi Guys,

May have to bare with me as a little new to the site, hope you can help!

I am looking at putting up a new small fence for myself and our neighbour to replace the old worn one however I am wondering about the best way to go about it.

I want to put up a simple post, rail and individual panel fence. How would you go about putting in the posts? I don't particularly want to be digging holes into the driveway, plus I don't have the tools for such work. My thought was to cut longer posts (to the bottom of the wall) and drill into the wall for the support.

However as I get further up I run out of wall and the current posts are dug into the concrete. With these I am thinking of drilling in some base supports?

Any advice or ideas would be appreciated!
Thanks
Ste

 

[ladylola]

Are the current posts rotten and need replacing? If not then I'd be inclined to think the simplest method would be to fix 3x2 rails between them and palings to those. I suggest palings ( small vertical planks just in case you don't know the term) because looking at the picture the posts don't seem to be regularly spaced so pre made panels would be out.
If you are happy with that idea but the posts are rotten then one possibility would be to remove the timber from the concrete and refit a new post in the same hole. It's a bit fiddly but would mean no hacking up of the concrete drive and it's definitely possible as I've done it myself. The other option if you require a more uniformly spaced fence would be to cut out pockets in the drive concrete and put in new posts and probably I'd go for concrete posts if I was going down that route.

 

[SteCooper88]

Thanks Lola,

Yeah i meant pailings (didnt know the term for them so thanks )

Wouldnt go with actual panels as wind would have it over in no time.

There not rotted just very unsteady currently.

Do they look strong enough to you to hold the rails? Think i need to spend my time keeping the existing wood but strengthen either be it by straightening and re cementing or drilling new screws in.

One of my thoughts was to put 2 small box/planks wood either side of the posts and drill them into the ground then into the posts for additional support?

Thanks
Ste

 

[ladylola]

Fixing rails in between would ridgify the whole thing although looking at the nearest post I could see that force sideways on the fence might push it out of the " pocket" . You could fix timber or metal strapping across that pocket and maybe an angle bracket to the side of the post and the surface of the drive concrete. Can't say that would look wonderful although if you extend the palings downwards it would hide a lot and allow for a few extra fixings . You could put in a rawl bolt through the post into the concrete assuming the concrete is solid enough which would look less obvious. As simple as it sounds but if the posts are a bit loose in their holes a long thin wedge of treated timber hammered in will help but watch that you don't knock them out of plumb.
I understand how some may have the opinion that ripping out and replacing with a " proper job" is the answer but also understand that not everyone wants to spend a small fortune on a fence so I applaud you for using and working with what you have.