Browse Forums Landscape & Garden Design 1 Dec 07, 2009 12:59 pm We are about to undertake the job of building our own horizontal timber slat fence between the side of the house and the property boundary. We have to allow access to the meters at the side, so we are making an alcove of about 800mm wide by 1900mm long, then taking the fence in line with the front of the house from there to the fenceline (4800mm). All up the actual length of fence is 7500mm (7.5m) so I am rounding up to 8m to allow for offcuts etc, which when using 90mm wide boards with a 10mm gap, 20 boards high (2m) amounts to 160lm. I figure we will need a post against the house (screwed into the wall due to termite barrier tubing), one on the corner after 800mm, one on the corner level with the front of the house, and 2 more between there and the end post of the side boundary fence - making the gaps 1.6m between posts. These posts will be concreted into the ground. * We don't plan on including a gate - would this be a mistake? We have access to the backyard on the other side of the house through the single hinged door in the rear of the garage. * Has anyone seen a horizontal slat fence done in pine and stained in a Merbau stain? Does it look any good? The best price I can currently find for pine (90mmx19mm) is $2.15/lm which I could hopefully get Bunnings to beat by 10%, making the slat cost approx $300 (without posts, concrete and nails/screws). My reservation with this is that although it is nearly half the price of Merbau I would rather spend the extra and get a awesome looking fence... if there's going to be minimal difference I'll take the cheaper option. * Is nailing (nail gun) better than screws? * What is the best treatment when finished? I would like a low maintenance approach, so oil is sounding good - then it doesn't have to be stripped back before applying a new coat like a varnish type sealed finish would. * Lastly, any idea on what sized posts I should be looking at? We have a timber fence around the property, so want timber for the posts (not metal). I just want to have some idea of what I should be looking/asking for! Any recommendations welcome Second Time 'Round Re: Horizontal slat fence questions 2Dec 07, 2009 2:50 pm $2.15 for 90x22 treated decking is pretty good, I doubt you will get a better price than that. Bunnings are infamous for getting out of the 'beat it by 10%' deal. The pine will look fine in a merbau tint though I wouldn't use an oil, it will last 3-6 months at best on a fence. I'd look at something like Intergrain Naturalstain. I used it on picket gates/fence in the driveway and its been on about 3 years and probably due for another coat soon. Beware if you use merbau with the tannin leaching - it will do this for about 6 months and is near impossible to get out of concrete etc. You may have trouble buying it in the set lengths you need unlike the pine also. A standard size fence post is cheapest (125 x 75mm H4) though you may prefer to use square posts (100x100mm sawn or 90x90mm dressed) Just make sure the posts are H4 if pine (some large stores advertise cheap prices but they are only H3 rated) If you want to spend the money you could use 90x90mm merbau posts which are fine in the ground. Using a coil-gun to fasten is quicker than screwing though with the screws you can remove the slats if needed without damaging them. You can always add a gate in later but I would put it in now Re: Horizontal slat fence questions 3Dec 07, 2009 2:54 pm Hi, I don't have the answer to all of your techinical questions but I do have some pics that I have taken while stalking.... umm, I mean stealing ideas... I mean looking for inspiration. I want these types of fence/ gates when I build, so I am looking forward to seeing yours completed. The closer up one is cheaper timber I think it is stained pine and the other one is timber which looks like merbau. http://i851.photobucket.com/albums/ab75/andy_min/IMG_4109.jpg http://i851.photobucket.com/albums/ab75/andy_min/IMG_4110.jpg I think I have heard from someone wise ( most likely my hubby) say that it is better to screw as it holds tighter than nails and will be more likely to pull out and move as the boards weather. Stainless screws are preferred. I do want a gate on both sides of my house but it depends on your needs. I will use one gate for garbage bins as I dont have rear garage access. The other big side will be in case we need to move anything big into the yard like assembled trampolines, cubby houses and swing sets etc. I can always just choose to keep it locked if I dont need access. In our last house we had vertical merbau screens and we just cleaned and re oiled it when it started to look a bit dry. So usually every few months. Do you have any auctions near you where you can pick up small lots of deck? Might be able to get it cheaper than retail. Best of luck. Min Building at The Ponds Land reg 3/12/09, Land settled 18/12/09 Approved by Design Panel 16/11/09, Submitted to council 24/11/09, Approved by Council 21/1/10 Site Start 21/5/10 http://andyminpondsbuild.blogspot.com/ https://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=19800 Re: Horizontal slat fence questions 4Dec 07, 2009 4:03 pm My reservations with putting in a gate include the fact that the alcove will only be 800mm wide - only enough to access the electrical/gas meters, so putting a gate there (at the back) means it's going to be just as narrow as the door in the rear of the garage. If the gate goes on the 4.8m front then it's going to break up the whole piece and might look a bit funny seeing as we'll already have the alcove. Lastly, either side of the fence is going to be garden beds (to front and in the backyard) so there won't be a specific access point because I plan to grow plants there - meaning you'd have to trample the plants to open the gate or get through it. Our whole land area is only 450m2, the house takes up about 210m2 so it's not like we have a huge backyard - a swing set wouldn't fit. Think like a courtyard. The only thing would be later on when we either pave or deck, but I figure most of it could be carted from the other side, or lifted over the fence (we don't have neighbours to the fence side or the rear and never will). Second Time 'Round Re: Horizontal slat fence questions 5Dec 08, 2009 10:49 am Horizontal fences give the least amount of privacy because the tiny gaps (assuming it's not lapped!) matches the direction of eye travel. If you have the same gaps vertically you far less through the fence. I've seen some horizontal fences that although supposedly built with no intentional gaps, seem almost semi-transparent because of this effect. Do the hard jobs first. The easy jobs will take care of themselves. - Dale Carnegie Re: Horizontal slat fence questions 6Dec 08, 2009 12:21 pm Hey mate I just did the same thing a few months ago. A treated pine horizontal treated pine fence with merbu stain. It came up great. I'll take a pic for you. 3 meters at the side of house however I also needed a gate. I used 3 x 2.7m (100x100mm) treated pine posts and treated pine 70mm decking. I concreted 3 of the posts in about 700mm below the ground and like you I had the termite pipe around the house so dyna bolted either end of the fence to my house and the neighbours garage. I hired a nail gun and put 2 nails where each deck part met the post so as you can guess would be about 150 to 200 nails in it. So doing it manually was not an option....as I'm lazy! 10mm gap is a fairly big gap mate. I used a nail between my palings and still think it is too much. Don't forget that some of the wood is bent (no matter how much you think you bought straight wood) therefore some gaps are bigger than others. But each to their own. Also as you are using treated pine obviously place uncut end of post in the ground however a woodwork guy showed me that you can buy from Bunning's the treated pine treatment (the same as they treat the pine with) in a can which you spray over the cut part and it seals it (I did this for the palings too). It works really good as a neighbour did built a similar fence & his is already starting the split. Any questions just ask. Re: Horizontal slat fence questions 7Dec 08, 2009 1:54 pm Thanks for your reply moody. I thought 10mm was a pretty standard gap? That's 1cm. I suppose I'd better figure out the gap before ordering or I won't have enough! I'm now 99% sure we'll go with pine. I'd love to see your picture moody. I was going to grow pittosporum (sp?) on the backyard side, but have since changed my mind and I think Banksia and Grevillea will look better - which will be similar to the front of the fence. Both grow between 2 and 3m high so it will be a screen of plants as well as the fence. The fence is more to keep the kids in - lol. I really like the effect of the horizontal slat fences as opposed to pickets - which will also match the garage door which has the horizontal banding in the colourbond. Another option I would consider would be to paint the fence in the equivalent of the colourbond "Jasper" (the chocolate brown colour) to match the garage door - which is on the other side of the house, but I think a stained finish might look nicer. This is a pic of our house (a few months ago) and you can see where the fence will go to the right. Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Looks like we'll be making the most of the xmas long weekend Second Time 'Round Re: Horizontal slat fence questions 8Dec 08, 2009 6:22 pm 10mm - 12mm is normal for the gap, remember its a screen not a fence. Re: Horizontal slat fence questions 9Dec 09, 2009 1:33 pm We have just had our fence put in (gets finished today apparently)... and learnt alot about fences while doing the research. We saw many pine fences and even merbau that had palings that had warped and twisted. The house around the corner from us is a prime example... they have used merbau in a horizontal position.. and just nailed it in place... its starting to look awful in some sections.. and I know that fence cost them $400 a l/m Our fence guy says that you need to screw them in.. and not only that.. use special screws to stop them from pulling out or rusting or any of that. Cant remember what the metal he used was - mental blank! Depends how nice you want it to look and for how long ! Pine will also shrink so take that into account when spacing your palings. We went a bit overboard and have a steel frame with steel posts.. and the wood (cant remember the name) also has a steel backing piece down the middle of each panel to hold it in place. That sucker isnt going anywhere ! Re: Horizontal slat fence questions 10Dec 09, 2009 2:33 pm I have posted this picture of our privacy screen before. It has 2 rows of slats made from hardwood and stained. Because of the positioning of the slats you cannot see through it at all. Something to think about if privacy is an issue. http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/kk279/Neverfinished05/DSC02867-1.jpg Edited to add: Sorry about the size of the picture. Re: Horizontal slat fence questions 11Dec 09, 2009 6:58 pm Hmmm, screws... looks like the drill may get a workout then (and DH!). Got some prices today - Bunnings has 90mm T/Pine square posts (3m long) for $36 each. The fencing place has hardwood posts 125mm x 75mm (3m long) for $24.95 each. I'm 99% sure these are what we have for our boundary timber fence (they put it up). Does it matter square or rectangular? ETA - neverfinished, what sized posts are on the ends (as in how much gap between the front and rear slats)? I don't mind that effect either. Second Time 'Round Re: Horizontal slat fence questions 12Dec 09, 2009 7:43 pm Quote: neverfinished, what sized posts are on the ends (as in how much gap between the front and rear slats)? OK. Now we are getting technical so I checked with my OH. There are actually 2 screens which were made separately and then placed together. The horizontal slats (1 1/2cm. thick by 6 1/2 cm. wide) were nailed to the vertical posts with decking nails (Not by us so I have no idea if they were drilled first). This was done twice and the slats for each screen had to be measured so they were offset from each other. They were then placed together by my OH who joined them by drilling and placing stainless steel screws along the vertical pieces. These can only be seen from one side. The nails holding the slats to the vertical side pieces are hidden between the 2 . The gap between the horizontal slats are 5 cm. This allows an air flow. Re: Horizontal slat fence questions 13Dec 10, 2009 8:21 am The only downside to the privacy screens above are that they are a ladder for little people. Kids love to climb, and a 5cm gap is plenty for little hands and feet. Lets not think about the falls. Some people don't have time to do the job right the first time, but seem to have plenty of time to fix their mistakes. Build Thread Re: Horizontal slat fence questions 14Dec 10, 2009 10:25 am Agree. I think horizontal fences are very poor terms of practicality, privacy and safety. However, they are quite fashionable. Do the hard jobs first. The easy jobs will take care of themselves. - Dale Carnegie Re: Horizontal slat fence questions 15Dec 10, 2009 12:56 pm This is our fence. Treated pine posts. Merbau timber slats from Bunnings $5.90 ea @ 1800*69*15 http://i439.photobucket.com/albums/qq116/fredstar78/Photo0038.jpg Built The Huntley 290 with HomeXcellance / Cheviot Homes Re: Horizontal slat fence questions 16Dec 10, 2009 2:59 pm Fence posts (125mmx75mm) being delivered tomorrow, post hole digger booked for Saturday... video camera on standby - this will probably be hillarious! DH and I watched a guy with a digger do the post holes for the fence 2 doors up and it was so funny watching him try and control the thing... and he was a fencer I can only imagine what DH will look like!!! Second Time 'Round Re: Horizontal slat fence questions 17Dec 10, 2009 3:08 pm fredstar - are those slats screwed on? Is one screw per pole enough? I would have thought 2 on a diagonal? Looks good BTW - although your gaps look bigger, but maybe that's just because your boards are thinner. Second Time 'Round Re: Horizontal slat fence questions 18Dec 10, 2009 3:37 pm Quote: Kids love to climb, and a 5cm gap is plenty for little hands and feet. Lets not think about the falls. The 5cm gap is not between one horizontal slat and the one above it. Rather, I was answering First_Timer_Ray's question regarding the space between the horizontal slat at the back and the horizontal slat at the front. Fortunately my youngest is 21 and so fence climbing is not high on her agenda. A closer look will also reveal that lack of privacy is not an issue. Re: Horizontal slat fence questions 19Dec 10, 2009 5:57 pm 125x75 hardwood fence posts are cut from less than durable timber. I wold be applying a preserver to the bottom to prolong against rotting and termite damage. Re: Horizontal slat fence questions 20Dec 11, 2009 7:23 am First_Timer_Ray fredstar - are those slats screwed on? Is one screw per pole enough? I would have thought 2 on a diagonal? Looks good BTW - although your gaps look bigger, but maybe that's just because your boards are thinner. The boards are only 69mm high so one screw is enough.. I used 40mm screws with the head being counter sunk. The boards are only 15mm thick so alot of screw goes into the posts. 15mm gap between boards Built The Huntley 290 with HomeXcellance / Cheviot Homes 4 11208 Personally, considering your layout (study/work desks in bedrooms), I don't think you have any other option but to leave NW windows and make them as big as possible e.g.… 7 10470 |