Non-motoring > Fences	Miscellaneous
Thread Author: Slidingpillar	Replies: 25

Mon 14 Mar 16 15:28   Fences - Slidingpillar

Hopefully someone here will go, "you want a couple of ......" I'm very close to getting the garden fence replaced. The replacement will again be a wooden panel something like this: tinyurl.com/jykkg3u and slotted into posts a bit like this: tinyurl.com/gtp95cd But at the house end, I have a bush/tree I really want to keep and sinking a concrete post will mean the end of it. (Said tree is a cutting from a bit of serious family history, the starter was probably planted in the mid 1800s). I'm pretty sure that there are U shaped galvanised steel (or perhaps better) plates to screw to the house that do the same job as the posts. But for the life of me, I cannot think what they are called. The brackets from Wickes could be used, but they do seem a bit weedy in construction; reviews suggest a poor lifetime too. Reply to this message | Report message

Mon 14 Mar 16 15:45   Fences - Focal Point

A standard galvanised steel u-bracket should be fine if you screw the bracket to the fence panel as well as to the wall. Reply to this message | Report message

Mon 14 Mar 16 15:51   Fences - Slidingpillar

That was what I was wondering, but the Wickes review suggested a rather pathetic lifetime! Reply to this message | Report message

Mon 14 Mar 16 16:33   Fences - Focal Point

In my experience they last a few years and are cheap and easy to replace. Reply to this message | Report message

Mon 14 Mar 16 16:42   Fences - smokie

I'm probably missing the point but my house has a wooden fence post screwed directly into the brickwork, then the panel nailed to that, wouldn't that work? it's been like that since I moved in 25+ years ago, and I had the fence replaced last year but that post wasn't changed. Reply to this message | Report message

Mon 14 Mar 16 17:07   Fences - Clk Sec

>>my house has a wooden fence post screwed directly into the brickwork, then the panel nailed to that, wouldn't that work?<< I had similar at another property, but into a 7ft high brick wall. A timber batten was screwed into the wall, and the fence panel was nailed into batten. Probably easier to fix a batten to the wall, rather than a fence post. Reply to this message | Report message

Mon 14 Mar 16 16:50   Fences - henry k

>>I'm pretty sure that there are U shaped galvanised steel (or perhaps better) plates >> to screw to the house that do the same job as the posts. >>But for the life of me, I cannot think what they are called. Fence Panel post clips loads on EBay including galvanized ones L shaped versions also available >> The brackets from Wickes could be used, but they do seem a bit weedy in construction; reviews suggest a poor lifetime too. Some sellers on Ebay refer to "Not cheap flimsy imports. " Reply to this message | Report message

Mon 14 Mar 16 23:06   Fences - Ted

I fitted a wooden post to the side wall of the house...I think it's 2"X4". ( the post , not the house, before anyone starts ! ) I needed something really solid to hang an 8' X 6' solid wooden gate on. The post was fitted directly to the wall with 4" brick screws. You drill a suitably sized deep hole in the brick and the screws just cut their own threads using a socket set with an Allen key. Never shift them after that ! Reply to this message | Report message

Tue 15 Mar 16 07:28   Fences - legacylad

Sounds like a Thunderbolt anchor. I've used them for all kinds of applications... Latest was using a few to fix a piece of substantial timber to a stone wall which formed part of a log store. A very useful fixing. Drill hole in stone. Hole in timber. Bray Thunderbolt into timber. Tighten with spanner. As Ted says, a very solid fixing, and I will put a SS washer around the head better to secure the timber. Reply to this message | Report message

Tue 15 Mar 16 08:00   Fences - Cliff Pope

I'm interested in your tree, SP. We too have a family tree, in our case a bay orginally growing in the walled garden of a house in Knaresborough, demolished in the 1930s and now the site of the bus station. Successive cuttings have been taken over five generations, and variously planted in other family gardens or kept in pots. When I discovered a distant cousin also descended from the originator I gave him a rooted cutting too. Our bay has frilled leaves, which is less common than the usual plain leaf version. You must take cuttings of your tree to ensure the succession. Last edited by: Cliff Pope on Tue 15 Mar 16 at 08:01 Reply to this message | Report message

Tue 15 Mar 16 23:36   Fences - Slidingpillar

You must take cuttings of your tree to ensure the succession. I did actually take six cuttings when we sold my fathers house. Five cuttings took, and one of them is now gracing my mothers house in Devon and is frankly, huge. No doubt about it, it certainly likes the location. Warm, dry and south facing. Mine is one of the others and the other three were given away to somebody who likes figs. Reply to this message | Report message

Tue 15 Mar 16 09:35   Fences - Zero

>> A very useful fixing. Drill hole in stone. Hole in timber. Bray Thunderbolt into timber. >> Tighten with spanner. As Ted says, a very solid fixing, and I will put a >> SS washer around the head better to secure the timber. I have fixed a 4 inch fence post to the side of the dwelling using these, from which hangs one side of the 6 foot high solid timber gates. Reply to this message | Report message

Wed 16 Mar 16 06:17   Fences - MD

What LL said and Zeddo confirmed, PLUS fix two or three 'packing' pieces to the face of the post (wall side) just so the post isn't in constant contact with water/moisture. When concreting or placing wooden posts in the ground I always paint the buried bit + 4" up with builders bitumen (spirit based) as the treatment used on timber today does not contain the nasty stuff which use to work! Typical lifespan of a modern treated post is about 4 years. Reply to this message | Report message

Wed 16 Mar 16 07:34   Fences - legacylad

All good advice MD. I use tannelised spacers, with a few coats of spirit based preservative. Thanks for the bitumen advice... I just used to brush on more preservative for buried posts. You live & learn Reply to this message | Report message

Thu 17 Mar 16 17:27   Fences - Dutchie

You can also drill a hole into the post base at a angle and fill with a thin preservative.Creosote will do.My wooden posts fitted into a metal spike has been up for over fifteen years. The post is holding a six feet fence.There are about 9 posts in line. At the back of our garden fitted concrete posts.They should outlive me. Reply to this message | Report message

Thu 17 Mar 16 17:49   Fences - CGNorwich

If you buy oak posts you can forget about preservatives. They will outlast you. Reply to this message | Report message

Thu 17 Mar 16 17:54   Fences - Dutchie

True Norwich used to be able to buy hardwood oak is hardwood isn't? Reply to this message | Report message

Thu 17 Mar 16 18:16   Fences - Slidingpillar

Balsa is hardwood... The definition of hardwood is a tree that is an angiosperm type that reproduces by flowers, and has broad leaves. Nothing to do with the weight or strength of the wood. Reply to this message | Report message

Thu 17 Mar 16 18:28   Fences - CGNorwich

True if you want to go all biological about it but in answer to Dutchie's question oak is indeed a hardwood and since its stuffed full of tannin and is very hard it take years to rot. Oak fence posts are still widely available. Reply to this message | Report message

Thu 17 Mar 16 22:02   Fences - Kevin

Contractor finished doing the fence around our back garden today. I got tired of having wooden posts and panels replaced so had the whole lot done with concrete posts, concrete gravel boards and 22mm closeboard fencing on 75 x 75mm arris rails. The boundary on all three sides is my responsibility so it wasn't cheap at £70 per linear metre but it should last a few years. Reply to this message | Report message

Thu 17 Mar 16 22:32   Fences - henry k

>> so had the whole lot done with concrete posts, concrete gravel boards and 22mm closeboard fencing on 75 x 75mm arris rails. >> A capping on the boards ? Reply to this message | Report message

Thu 17 Mar 16 22:47   Fences - Dutchie

I did notice on the continent they are using more galvanised fencing on new builds.Then they plant it full of fast growing ivy.No more rot? Reply to this message | Report message

Thu 17 Mar 16 22:51   Fences - Ted

My daughter's house has fencing supported by slotted posts made from some sort of dark brown recycled plastic material. Should outlast the house ! Reply to this message | Report message

Fri 18 Mar 16 00:17   Fences - Kevin

>A capping on the boards ? Yes, but it doesn't look too substantial so I'll be taking it off and sealing the board ends with bitumen before refitting the capping. She's added it to my job list for this weekend. In addition to putting preservative on the boards, mounting new trellis, then helping her tie back the rambling roses she had attached to the original fence! Luckily (for the guys who did the job) they did very little damage to her established plants. Reply to this message | Report message

Fri 18 Mar 16 01:11   Fences - henry k

>> >A capping on the boards ? >> >> Yes, but it doesn't look too substantial so I'll be taking it off and sealing >> the board ends with bitumen before refitting the capping. >> I have always thought that capping was a sacrificial part. Attaching it always seems a bit crude. Reply to this message | Report message

Fri 18 Mar 16 02:49   Fences - Pat

>>they did very little damage to her established plants<< That is very important for a gardener. The first thing we do when looking for a contractor to work in, or around a garden is check out the size of their feet and just how much control they have over them! Pat Reply to this message | Report message