hi all, I have a short brick fence and no boundary fence with the neighbours at the front of the property. I need some ideas for a fence: * front fence: keep the brick fence and just add an extension on top of or on the face of. I like the look of the vertical batten hard wood fences or aluminium. One side of the brick fence is not very level, you can see it’s actually going up towards the driveway opening. So was hoping to fix the battens on the face of the brick wall but then it’ll protrude beyond the boundary line?? See example of something I saw just fixing some battens on the face of an existing fence.

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Need ideas for a fence extension

omnimaqq

hi all, I have a short brick fence and no boundary fence with the neighbours at the front of the property.

I need some ideas for a fence:

front fence: keep the brick fence and just add an extension on top of or on the face of. I like the look of the vertical batten hard wood fences or aluminium. One side of the brick fence is not very level, you can see it’s actually going up towards the driveway opening. So was hoping to fix the battens on the face of the brick wall but then it’ll protrude beyond the boundary line??

See example of something I saw just fixing some battens on the face of an existing fence.

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EricL

Hello @omnimaqq

Welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community. It's sensational to have you join us and thanks for sharing your question about putting up a fence.

Fences are primarily subject to lateral forces from wind, which push against the fence and create bending stresses in the posts and panels. They also experience vertical forces from their own weight, as well as occasional impact loads from people, vehicles, or animals. In most fence designs, wind load is the governing force because it generates significant bending moments at the base of the posts and can affect the overall stability of the structure.

Placing a fence on top of a small brick wall that is only supported by cement is not a good idea because fences are subject to significant lateral forces, particularly from wind. These forces create overturning moments and bending stresses that the brick wall may not have been designed to resist. As a result, the additional load can cause cracking, instability, or even failure of the wall, especially if it lacks adequate reinforcement or structural support.

My best advice is to remove the small brick wall and recycle the bricks where possible. Proper fence posts can then be installed directly into suitable footings to adequately support the hardwood fence palings. This approach will provide a much stronger and more durable structure, as the fence loads will be transferred into purpose-designed posts and foundations rather than relying on a brick wall that may not be capable of resisting the additional wind and lateral forces.

Here are some handy step-by-step guides:

Let me call on our experienced members @Dave-1, @Nailbag, @TedBear, @JoeAzza, @DIY4Knuckleheds, @homeinmelbourne, @redbournreno and @diy_hausdesigns for their recommendations.

If you need further assistance, please let us know.

Eric

MitchellMc

Hi @omnimaqq,

I thought I'd also add our Top 10 most popular front yard projects for some inspiration. Plenty of great ideas in there.

Mitchell

Dave-1

Good Morning @omnimaqq

:) Fun stuff! Your fence can change the whole feeling of a property and bring it up to a modern feeling. It just depends on a few things.

Rules, Check your local council on what the make up of a front fence can be, surprisingly there are rules about what can be blocked out and how much of a solid fence it can be. I am not sure if its enforced ever but worthwhile knowing.
$$$$ spent
Time spent
Length of expected life
Rental?
Resources you have that can be used.

With the old style of red brick that you have installing a paneled fence like your wish list separate but immediately behind would look pretty nice. It depends on how far the foundation of the bricks comes out.

You could have have it step off the brick wall on the inside of the fence by 50mm and it would still look nice, even could install an outside rail that effectively sits on top or the gap between the new fence and old fence.

You cant install anything on the footpath side as it looks like the footpath is hard up against your brick wall.

Anew paneled fence Would be nice but looks wise it may miss match your house with the fence, if you go the route of using but extending your fence it will blend and look more natural.

I am in agreement with @EricL about not adding load to the old brickwork, I think it will be asking for trouble standing up to wind and leverage forces.

Maybe a bit of a cross between replacement of all and adding to what you want? The driveway itself looks a little narrow in today's usage patterns, You could remove the shorter side (so can extend where you can park. and replace it with the wish fence you like, go for a long sliding gate in the same style as the wish fence and it would look quiet modern.

Dave

omnimaqq

Hi all! Thanks for all your insights and valuable input. Appreciate it! It’s definitely given me some thoughts about this.

My partner mocked up some renders for me which is very helpful for me imagining it 😅

so the idea is to retain the wall - we are thinking about rendering it because the short brick wall on the left is not straight in terms of the top of the wall. So if we render we can pack it up a bit to be level? Not sure what materials we would need for that.

Then there are poles which sits behind the wall on footings so that all the forces are not really on the wall per se.

Only issue with this design is we won’t really be able to close the gate if we also park the car, which is ok. Primarily we normally park on the road anyway since the front of the car sticks out a bit onto the footpath give how short it is. And the main thing is to prevent people from coming through to our front yard.

Not sure what people’s opinion about having a separate pedestrian gate is. The current design below is looking at opening one of the gates to get inside.

JacobZ

Hi @omnimaqq,

Those renders really help to visualise the finished result, and I think the design looks like it will suit the home well.

Having the fence posts installed behind the brick wall and set into their own concrete footings is a good approach. It means the fence loads are being carried by the posts rather than the existing brick wall, which should result in a much more solid structure.

The gate arrangement is really a matter of balancing convenience and how you intend to use the space. If you usually park on the street, using one of the vehicle gates as your pedestrian access may not be an issue. A separate pedestrian gate can certainly be more convenient, but it also adds cost and another opening in the fence, so there are pros and cons to both approaches.

Out of interest, how far out of level is the top of the brick wall? If you're planning to render it anyway, I'd be inclined to either add another course of bricks where needed or remove and relay the top course so it's level before rendering. That will give you a much better base for the finished fence than trying to make up the difference with render or a mortar product alone.

Overall, I think you're heading in the right direction. The renders have helped answer a lot of the design questions, and once the wall height is sorted you'll be in a good position to finalise the fence layout. Keep us updated as the project progresses, and don't hesitate to ask if you have any questions along the way.

Jacob

omnimaqq

Hi Jacob, I just checked and it’s about 10-11cm out of level at the end, and a course of brick with mortar is about 7-8cm on the short side? I can put some more bricks from one side until it’s too tall and then make the rest plumb with some mortar and render?

what sort of render materials would be best for diy that won’t be prone to cracking. I saw that there are some that also come premixed with a colour also.

You’re right about the pedestrian gate, it’ll definitely be more “DIY” friendly if we don’t open the bricks for a gate. We’ll see if it’s something we feel we need vs additional work and cost required.

Dave-1

Evening @omnimaqq

Why dont you look at the long sliding gate instead of the hinged gate? It may save enough room to park?

And admittedly I havnt seen a pedestrian gate that slides but :) why not?

Dave

JacobZ

Hi @omnimaqq,

If you were to build up the wall with a cementitious material, I'd be much more inclined to recommend using concrete, which would mean building a formwork atop the brick, installing reinforcing dowels into the brick, tying those dowels into rebar running along the top of the wall, and then pouring your concrete.

Mortar may be stable enough once dry, but I am not experienced enough with renderring that I would be confident saying you could use it in this situation. If the concrete cap idea I mentioned seems like too much, it might be worth consulting a renderer for their advice as they may have a simpler solution that I am unaware of.

For an exterior wall, acrylic render is generally the most crack-resistant, but the render system is only part of the equation. Most cracks are caused by movement in the wall or poor preparation, not by the render itself, which is why I would suggest speaking with a professional renderer about the levelling option.

Hopefully this helps a bit.

Jacob

omnimaqq

Hi Dave, have thought about a sliding gate but unfortunately there’s a water meter hidden behind the long side of the short wall where there’s enough length to slide. But then if sliding to the shorter side then would need to make a telescopic sliding gate of sorts and starts sounding very difficult.

R4addZ

Hi @omnimaqq

Have you considered a reticulated (I think thats the correct term) gate? One of the gates becomes two sections and you can open a smaller section of it or all of it, the smaller section becoming your pedestrian gate.