Adding privacy divider on top of block wall

[Fred]

Howdy doody folks!

Wonder if some kind soul can give me some advice on this project...

I have a 5-foot high concrete block wall between my house and the neighbor and we both would like to add some kind of 2-ft privacy extension on top of it.

This is one idea I had. It's just to block the view, so it doesn't have to be supported for kids climbing over, etc. And if it blows down once in a while, no big deal. But pls let me know if this looks like a good way to do it to you or whatever else you think about it...

Thanks!

Fred [e-mail]

[Old Nick]

On Mon, 06 Dec 2004 07:23:31 GMT, "Fred" vaguely proposed a theory ......and in reply I say!:

Ooh! We're just going to all sorts of Ngs. Oh! We just happen to have ads on our page. Ooh! I bet we're paid by the hit!

So slap away, and think of all the money rolling in just to make it work for ya!

[J. Clarke]

You might want to check out the Geocities home page. They offer "free" web hosting. Now why do you think they do that? Perhaps they put ads on your site in exchange for the free server space? Perhaps it's Geocities that's making the money and not the guy who posted?

[Edwin Pawlowski]

Looks like it will work. You may want to check zoning laws for maximum height of a fence though. Even though the two of you want it, the nosey bitch up the street may still turn you in.

[xrongor]

1) if it bothers you that badly, remove the link from your reply.

2) geocities offers free web hosting. the catch is the ads. the same adds that are on everyones free geocities site. new to the web are you?

3) a casual scan of posts in my newsreader shows this is the only thing you have offered to the group in the last week. unlike you im not in the business of playing net cop so i wont bother to google it, but i suspect none of your posts have ever offered useful advice. if you want to be a pretend policeman why dont you hang out in front of the local store and catch shoplifters. much more rewarding...

as for the original poster, looks fine as long as you dont get terrible winds. if it were me i would consider some sort of vine plant to enhance the looks and strength of it.

randy

[dadiOH]

The bottom piece will trap water. Not good even if you use pressure treated. You could mitigate that by making a rabbet rather than a dado in the bottom piece, sloping the bottom of the rabbet a bit, using solid lattice and nailing the bottom of the lattice into the edge of the rabbet.

-- dadiOH ____________________________

dadiOH's dandies v3.05... ...a help file of info about MP3s, recording from LP/cassette and tips & tricks on this and that. Get it at

[willshak]

On 12/6/2004 2:23 AM US(ET), Fred took fingers to keys, and typed the following:

Check with your local building department before proceeding. They may have restrictions on the height of residential fences. No sense going through the expense and time, just to have them make you remove it.

[Chuck Hoffman]

Your solution looks doable.

Here in Calif, privacy fences are a way of life and most of them are six feet high. If you reduced your top lattice work to one foot in height (or even fifteen inches), it would offer less wind load and you would still maintain your privacy. It seems to me that the wind load on a one foot height should not over-stress your solution, which I assume is lag bolts and concrete anchors in the top of the wall. If you're worried about it, here are a couple suggestions for added strength:

If you have access to the block cores, cut posts to fit and extend them down into the core a couple feet. (I'm assuming, however, that there is a concrete cap that covers the top of the wall and the cores.)

If you don't have access to the block cores, you can still erect posts by fastening them to the inside of the wall with concrete anchors.

[fredfighter]

Regarding widn loading, keep in mind that if you anchor the extension well to the wall the top course of blocks might break off and blow over with it.

[Badger]

Na, mound earth either side, then extend with more blocks, raise the earth so the "apparent" height is still within allowed limits. Around here the front fence must not exceed 3 feet, so those requiring privacy have 4 foot plus mounds and then a 3 foot fence on top of that!

[Fred]

Thanks, Randy. Good idea. Fred

[Fred]

Thanks, but won't work here - not enough space for the earth.

[Fred]

Gee whiz... it's a free website. They put the ads up, not me....

[Fred]

One of the folks replied to this and I accidentally deleted his message in mid stream. He was talking about changing the grooves and putting something at angle..... didn't quite get it because I was looking up every other word in the dictionary....

Anyway, would you mind sketching out your idea and posting somewhere, like at... alt.binaries.pictures.woodworking

Thanks! Fred

[GLT]

One option to rabbiting for the lattice, is to use a vinyl product that is a track that the vinyl lattice fits into to..I used this to build a privacy fence on top of a block wall just last month..Although theres a bit more work involved to attach the track to the 2X4, or 2X6 framing. Also, re: height, there are cities here in so. calif. that allow you to erect a 2' high privacy fence on top of an existing 6' wall, so check your local building code. As for attaching the sill, or bottom plate to the block wall, some cities require pressure treated lumber that has to be bolted, via all thread epoxyed into the block wall, once again, check your local building code, doing it this way will eliminate any possiblity of the fence coming down, or you could do it the cheap,fast way, by using liquid nails on the bottom, and shooting it down with a Hiltie.

[Fred]

Thanks!.

[dadiOH]

Basically, instead of this... ___ ____ | | _| | |________|

this... _____ ____| | |________|

with the bottom of the rabbet sloped out board so it will drain. The idea of using a grooved piece of plastic for the bottom is good too but I'd drill weep holes into it.

-- dadiOH ____________________________

dadiOH's dandies v3.05... ...a help file of info about MP3s, recording from LP/cassette and tips & tricks on this and that. Get it at

[Fred]

Thanks very much Chuck! Your advice is exactly what I was hoping for.

And, HECK (sorry ladies), I'll just go ahead and screw in a few eye-bolts to the top and if wind looks like a problem, I'll just string a cord and fasten them to the trees. Not a big deal. Plus... the lovely wife will have extra clothes lines, too! Everybody wins!

[Fred]

Good point! Thanks.

[Fred]