Subscribe now and choose from over 30 free gifts worth up to £49 - Plus get £25 to spend in our shop
My garden has a fence on 3 sides backing on to 3 other properties. It’s your typical new build, smallish garden, and the fence is one of those types with a couple of cm between slats. Given how small the garden is I’d prefer not to be able to see through to the neighbours on all sides, and vice versa.
As the fence is shared I can’t just rip it down and replace with something solid. Growing bushes between us will obviously take forever so not an option. Looks like my choices are either..
A -just cover my side of the fence with fence panels..relatively easy and inexpensive to do
Or
B- fill in the gaps by adding an overlapping slat over each gap.
Option a is preferable, option b would look a bit crap. I’m assuming there is no reason I can’t do this? it’s a shared fence however I’d only be adding wood to my side (although obviously they would also lose the gaps in their fence also!)
Any other options or things to consider?
Ta
Plant bamboo along the border. Nosy neighbours will be the least of your problems.
B
or thats what we did in previous house, before we sold it as we got fed up with the neighbours.
Expensive but if there is a specific side that offends more than others or maybe torso/head height all the way around.
As the fence is shared
are you sure?
the usual deal is each of those 3 sides will be a certain homeowners responsiblity
Hazel fences in front of the shit fence, but they are spendy and maybe would look out of place in a new build garden?
I'd suggest artificial hedge too. That willow fence stuff looks nice at first but soon starts to look tatty.
I wouldn't put anything too heavy on (ie, more wooden slats) as the posts may not cope with the additional weight.
Another option would be to plant some fast growing climbing flowers like clematis but they would still take some time to establish and give good privacy.
Beware that putting panels directly overlapping means the wind has nowhere to go and you have effectively created a giant sail with huge loads on the fence posts. Nobody will probably complain until they have to replace the fence in a big storm. When people have done it here they have added the extra boards on the side of the horizontals so that there is a 1" gap behind the overlap and the boards are only a baffle not a block. I believe this fits with the convention of the owner of the fence being the fence post side - so they are added by the owner.
Beware that putting panels directly overlapping means the wind has nowhere to go and you have effectively created a giant sail with huge loads on the fence posts. Nobody will probably complain until they have to replace the fence in a big storm.
This.
Have you spoken with neighbours? They might be thinking the exact same thing. Share cost of replacement panels...
I think your option b like some of our fencing (6" horizontal boards with 4" gaps on both sides with the opposite board centered on the gap, as the post is 6" there is a horizontal gap between the opposing boards, if so, I can't see the issue.
Was trying to find an internet picture to show it but failed. Is the style called 'hit and miss' ?
Ranch style here https://edinburghfences.com/wooden-fence-designs.html
Maybe a picture of what you have already would help ?
As above, have a chat with the neighbours and see if they be happy turning it into a hit and miss style fence. Fix additional boards to the rail side, and stagger them for improved privacy but allowing wind penetration.
Option b is just double sided hit and miss fencing. Wind goes through the gap that will remain -unless the fencing boards on neighbours side are floating in mid air without any rails it'll be nigh on impossible to fit them directly to the back of the board and create a wind impervious fence.
Looks fine.
Edit - rails on neighbours side isn't it....
Well if they don't play ball all you need is some new rails on your side aligned with the originals then fit your new boards.
But do keep the wind path or the load on the fence will be considerably higher
Fence board covering the gaps with a spacer between is fairly normal for fences. I did this on a recent stretch of replacement fence as it lets wind and critters through better than solid boarding. I discovered that it's refered to as 'hit and miss' boarding or fencing. If you google it you will find pictures. I quite like how it looks but what fits your garden will be different.
N.B. I bought most of the fencing in March and when I went back to get a couple of extra boards in early May as I'd miscalculated they only had about a dozen left (I needed 5) and weren't expecting more for 6 weeks. This place supplies several local fencing companies so it may be get what you can rather than what you want if you want to do it this year.
This : How about something like Willow Fence Screening Rolls
Quick and cheap. Doesn't affect or upset the neighbours. Put some plants in front and by the time the willow has rotted, the plants will have grown
The hit and miss fencing looks ideal however the beam is at the neighbours side at end of garden so I'd surely need to do work from their side. Given I've only spoken to them once id rather not be knocking on their door asking if I can spend the day in their garden renovating their fence.
The willow screens are Interesting..not sure how they'd look though
You can work on your side by adding battens on top of your side, then boards over that.
All this is time, expense and you lose a little bit of garden by widening the fence. Start sunbathing naked every day and your neighbours will have screening up on their side before you can say "don't just do it, B&Q it".
I just had a thought (after remembering I had seen something similar on one of my local dog walks)
How about some strips of black mesh stapled to your side of the fence (get a staple gun and galvanised staples).
Just found this that shows the idea...
Give the neighbours something to gossip over:
