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Closing up gaps in a fence

A customer has asked if I can close up the gaps in the fence between her and her neighbours. The problem is her 3 terriers which yap like crazy when they see a neighbour through the gaps.

There is approx 45m of fencing, 6ft high build with thin 4 inch wide vertical planks. The gaps are about 3/4". Her criteria is she wants something that looks nice.

I can't see an obvious solution to this. I thought the best way to do it would be remove all the planks and refit them butted side by side, then of course affix a number of new ones at the empty end. Not sure this would look very appealing though!

Alternatively, is it feasible to attach narrow 3/4" strips of wood between the existing planks, maybe in black or another colour that would complement the woodstain of the main planks?

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Dan

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  • Personally i think trying to fill in the gaps is always going to look a tad 'bodgy' and its likely you will still get, all be it small, more gaps and the dogs will still see figures moving about behind the fence. Better visually to replace completely with feather edge imo.

    But at the end of the day if the client is happy with your work around, then go for it, better you get the work than they go elsewhere.
  • Yup I agree the gaps might not all be spot on so could be messy....just as an aside filling the gaps might make the fence more prone to wind damage, is it strong enough to cope ?
  • How about attaching 2" wide x 1" thick treated roofing battens over the gaps and staining them the same colour as the fence. This would create a nice ribbed effect fence that would have interesting shadow lines etc. The battens would be best stained prior to securing to the pale (to one pale only to allow for expansion) with galvanised nails using a Paslode gun.

    Alternatively, if the fence is of timber post and rail construction, why don't you get the neighbour to rail/pale up their side and make a double sided 'hit and miss' fence that allows privacy and the wind to filter through. I can imagine trying to remove/re-use the existing pales is going to lead to a lot of them getting damaged/written off in the process and therefore it may be cheaper in the long run to double up.
  • Try this..

  • Ok michael, what is 'this'? Is it gaps that have been filled, or is it some kind of tongue and groove construction built from scratch?

    Michael Burt said:
    Try this..

  • Sorry, I should have described it a bit more. It is a vertically slatted fence (4inch slats) with approximately 1inch gaps but with a second lot of 4inch wide slats nailed over the top. The second layer are staggered to cover the gaps from the first layer. I think it gives a fairly contemporary looking fence with nice texture and interesting shadow gaps. It gives good privacy too.
    Whilst this was a new fence I am doing a similar remedial job to a clients fence to help obscure the awful view through their current fence.
    You can just see the top of the back garden fence peeking over and this bas been constructed using a similar principle but with the slats nailed horizontally and using only a 10mm gap.
    Hope this helps.
    Michael
  • Looks the best idea to me so far Michael, thanks. I'll make a suggestion when I see her on Monday.

    Would you pre-treat the slats?
  • The slats I use are all pressure pretreated. I would always use treated wood for fencing. This, however, may give you a problem matching in with the existing fence so you would probably need to give the whole fence a going over with a suitable woodstain after the fence is finished.

    Dan Frazer Gardening said:
    Looks the best idea to me so far Michael, thanks. I'll make a suggestion when I see her on Monday.

    Would you pre-treat the slats?
  • Hi Dan

    Micheal's idea was identical to mine except I suggest using narrower secondary pales/battens!

    "How about attaching 2" wide x 1" thick treated roofing battens over the gaps and staining them the same colour as the fence. This would create a nice ribbed effect fence that would have interesting shadow lines etc. The battens would be best stained prior to securing to the pale (to one pale only to allow for expansion) with galvanised nails using a Paslode gun."


    I'm not being bitchy, just highlighting a different effect you could achieve!

    Dan Frazer Gardening said:
    Looks the best idea to me so far Michael, thanks. I'll make a suggestion when I see her on Monday.

    Would you pre-treat the slats?
  • this is probably not immediately revelant but what about a hedge? (As well). 

    Dogs and gardens deserves its own topic of discussion!

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