How much weight can a paling fence hold for privacy screens?

Renan

I have this plan in mind to use Composite Screens against my side and back fences for privacy (these are 2.1m high) and to add a nice look to the backyard. I have 10 of these screens delivered, and the supplier initially told me they weight at around 20kgs each. But they feel much heavier, I'd say around 30-35kgs. So on each side of the fence, I'd have about 100kgs hanging from the battens/posts. 

My initial thought was to add 2.1m high vertical battens to screw these screens into them, but I was concerned about the total weight against the fence. My second thought was to then get longer battens and concrete them in place. 

In your experience, what would be the best way to secure these up? I've been trying to do everything as a DIY in the backyard, but I may need to go down the route of getting some help from someone who knows what they are doing this time. 

Next steps in this backyard reno would be to level the soil you see in the photos, run a plate compactor, then build a concrete slab on one side for a small outdoor kitchen, and pebbles on the other for a fire pit area. I'll sure have separate posts for those smaller projects later. 

Thanks in advance

These are 900mm by 2100mm

EricL

Hello @Renan

Thank you for sharing your question about your fence's weight-holding capacity. At an average weight of 4 kilos per pailing with an estimated 24 pieces of pailings between posts, you're looking at 96 kilos in total. But looking at the construction technique of the fence builder you'll notice that they placed a sleeper at the bottom of the fence to hold the weight of the fence pailings.

This means that the total weight load is on the sleeper and not on the fence rails or post itself. I suggest taking a page out of the fence builder's building technique and putting in sleepers under your composite fencing. In this manner, the weight of the composite fencing will be on the sleeper and the fence railing and post will hold it from tipping over. You can paint the sleeper black to match your composite decking.

You can still use battens if you wish, but the battens must be sitting on the sleepers as well. 

Let me call on our experienced members @Adam_W, @Remarka6le and @TheRenoDad for their recommendations.

If you need further assistance, please let us know.

Eric