Increasing Height of Fence

[Deryck Tintagel]

We have a 1.8m feather edge fence all around the garden. The neighbours' garden to the rear have decking to compensate for the slope of the land down to the boundary fence. On top of the decking they have erected another 1.8m fence / screen so that they do not look straight over onto our property (height above the ground level is about 2.4m). I am not too worried about this.

They have also erected another structure which is an eyesore but there is nothing that can be done about that. To detract from the sight of this structure I am considering increasing the height of the fence to 2.4m and painting it the same colour as the existing. Here I have two choices:

1. Add 600mm of feather edge to the top
2. Remove the existing feather edge and replace with 2.4m boards

Adding 600mm will involve quite some work to create the necessary support, but could be a bit cheaper. Replacing the existing 1.8m boards with 2.4m boards will be much easier (and some are already rotten at the bottom)

My question is would I need additional support for the extra height (another arris or cant rail)? The existing posts are 5"x3" at 2.7m centres. The top arris rail is about 150mm from the top of the fence so the top of an 2.4m board would be about 750mm above the arris rail.

I have talked to the local planning department about the increase in fence height and they said that they would turn a blind eye (due to the neighbours' fence) and that they generally do not bother to enforce fences.

Does anyone have comment or suggestions about the support needed for 2.4m fence?

 

[Nicetoseeyoutoseeyounice]

Personally I would start from scratch, I would use all 2.4m boards. You could always do this a section at a time, it wouldn't look great for a few weeks but it would soon all be complete and that way you can spread the cost a bit.
I would also treat each side of the boards BEFORE you use them, it's so much easier laying these things flat and just slapping the treatment on, that is, if you intend treating/staining them.