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How to cover a Colorbond fence with timber palings?

I have moved into a new house with colorbond fencing around it. I hate the looks of colorbond fences and I want to cover it up without having to pull them all out. My idea is to simply screw treated timber palings from Bunnings to them, sitting side by side. I want to attach palings to both sides of the fence.

I’m not sure what the best way to accomplish this is. Any idea is greatly appreciated, cheers.

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Comments

Neo19

Hi @shahab, welcome to the Workshop community!

Do you have a standard 1.8 meter Colorbond fence around your house?

How long is the fencing that you need to cover up?

When you mention attaching palings to both sides of the fence, do you mean that one side faces your house and the other side faces your neighbor's property?

Posting a few pictures would be very helpful as well!

I suggest attaching attaching two horizontal timber pieces to your fence posts - one towards the top and the other towards the bottom - and then attaching the timber palings to them. This way, you won't have too many visible screws on the Colorbond side, which your neighbor may not appreciate.

Alternatively, have you considered using privacy screens like the 'Lattice Makers 1800 x 900 mm hardwood slat screen' or similar? These screens can be installed on posts without touching your actual fence, providing a stylish and effective way to cover up the Colorbond fencing.

I am sure the knowledgeable community of Workshop will be happy to provide you with more helpful suggestions!

Neo19

Also have a look at Eric's response in this thread.

EricL

Hello @shahab

Welcome to the Bunnings workshop community. It's marvellous to have you join us, and thank you for sharing your question about covering your Colorbond fence.

It's great that you've received excellent advice from @Neo19. It is possible to cover your Colorbond fence with timber paling, however, the drawback of attaching that many timber pieces to the fence is the added weight. When too much weight is added to the fence it will buckle and bend. Unfortunately, the Colorbond fence is not built to carry a large amount of weight.

However, there are ways to cover the metal fence without adding too much weight. I suggest having a look at this discussion - Attaching screens to Colorbond fence by @eemrun. The general steps are to attach horizontal timber framing to the Colorbond posts, and the cover panels are attached to the timber.

Panels such as the Matrix Screen Panels and the Lattice Maker Screens are lightweight and easy to install.

If you have any other questions we can help with, please let us know.

Eric

shahab

https://www.workshop.bunnings.com.au/discussion/comment/26582#Comment_26582

Thank you so much Neo19. That makes sense, @EricL has also suggested what product to use for the horizontal pieces.

my backyard has 3 sides, one of which is shared with the neighbour. I plan to cover inside and outside of the two sides that face the street and the inside of the one that I share.

l looked up the screens; they look good, of course, but I have to see them at close range which I will do soon.

I will post photos for sure.

once again, thank you so much.

shahab

https://www.workshop.bunnings.com.au/discussion/comment/26592#Comment_26592

Thank you @EricL , I loved @Neo19 solution and I will check the screens next time I visit Bunnings, which is soon.
also, thanks for letting me know the exact product to buy for the horizontal panels; saves me a lot of time.

shahab

Hi @Neo19 and @EricL , I promised photos of my fences. Here they are.

MitchellMc

https://www.workshop.bunnings.com.au/discussion/comment/26610#Comment_26610

Hi @shahab,

I like @Neo19's idea of installing horizontal rails into the vertical post of the fence to hang your pailings or screening off. Please consider @EricL's advice regarding the Colorbond fencing not being designed to hold the additional weight of the timber pailings. Adding screening would be a lighter-weight solution.

Mitchell

shahab

https://www.workshop.bunnings.com.au/discussion/comment/75970#Comment_75970

Hi @MitchellMc ,

thanks, yes I will follow his advice of attaching horizontal pieces first.
regarding the screens, they’re still see through and don’t cover the fence completely while pailings can be put side by side.
A solid screen might be what I want.

Neo19

https://www.workshop.bunnings.com.au/discussion/comment/101838#Comment_101838

Hi @shahab you are welcome!

Good luck with your project! Please share pictures once done 🙂

(I noticed from the photos you shared that there's a small gap between the Colorbond fence and the concrete, and it appears to be in a sunny location. Apart from attaching timber palings to the fence, you could also consider other options for covering up the fence, such as growing a creeper like star jasmine on a trellis or planting a narrow hedge like bamboo in troughs. Although this is not what you specifically asked for, I thought it might be worth mentioning).

MitchellMc

https://www.workshop.bunnings.com.au/discussion/comment/101838#Comment_101838

There are quite a few solid screening options available @shahab. I also like @Neo19's idea of using a climbing plant. Check out @royq's project on Climbers to dress up a Colorbond fence.

Mitchell

shahab

https://www.workshop.bunnings.com.au/discussion/comment/117887#Comment_117887

Hi @Neo19 , growing creepers is a fantastic idea but the problem is we want to plant a couple of cedar trees in the backyard. From our past experience, star jasmine would try to crawl up everything including trees which would turn out to be fatal for the trees.

I didn’t like the plastic light weight screens and I fear loading the fences with so many palings on both sides (even light ones) might lead to more issues.

what I will do is I will do one single piece of the fence and see what happens.
having said that, another option is to use these:

Extremely light but expensive! At $100 a piece, I’d be looking at a few thousand dollars because I’d need 4 of these for each fence; they’re 90cm wide and I think my colorbonds are 180 cm wide.

Neo19

https://www.workshop.bunnings.com.au/discussion/comment/127260#Comment_127260

Hi @shahab

I understand your concerns about the potential damage to the cedar trees from a creeper like star jasmine crawling up. It's always better to be safe than sorry!

Starting with one single piece of the fence and seeing how it turns out before committing to covering the entire fence is a good idea. This will give you an idea of what works best for your specific situation.

Please do keep us updated on your progress.

shahab

Hi,

Ok, now I’ve got a pair of treated pine pieces of timber (fig 1) to go horizontally on top and bottom of a single colorbond panel, and a bunch of Palings (fig 2) to be punched onto he horizontal pieces.

now, the question is, how to I screw the horizontal pieces to the colorbond sides (fig 3)? Should I unscrew and run the screw threw the timber and screw back again? As shown, the sides are not flat and the pieces will not contact the panel.

EricL

https://www.workshop.bunnings.com.au/discussion/comment/26936#Comment_26936

Hello @shahab

Since there is a slight gap between the timber and the steel post, I suggest using a longer screw such as the Buildex Timber or Metal Roof Zips C4 HexHead with Seal M6 x 65mm Bx100 or similar. Just keep in mind that the screw must be long enough to go through the wood past the gap and far enough into the steel surface.

If you need further assistance, please let us know.

Eric

shahab

https://www.workshop.bunnings.com.au/discussion/comment/76133#Comment_76133

Hi,

ok, that makes sense. Thanks.

shahab

A while back, I posted a question here asking for advice on how to hide my unsightly colorbond fences.
finally, I came up with this brilliant idea:

remove the metal sheets, leaving the frame, fit vertical and horizontal timber slabs inside the frames. The first photo shows before:

And here is the after:

Jason

https://www.workshop.bunnings.com.au/discussion/comment/35252#Comment_35252

Looks great @shahab. Well done and thanks for sharing the end result.

Jason

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