Welp! Thanks to all for all the good advice!! I just uploaded Plan B... What do you think about this one?
Changes: Now support the divider on vertical braces fastened to the side of the wall instead of the top - more stable, eliminates the grooviness and easier to install.
The idea of using the solid 1/8-inch luaun piece is to eliminate the peek-a-boo holes in the lattice. And it gives the other side a nice wood appearance.
Fred
Personally....I think you went through more than you needed to...otherwise it looks fine.
First off, what adverts? ;-) Adverts are a thing of the past with Mozilla Firefox.
Secondly, I think a solid slab of wood (luan) on top of a block wall will look a bit trashy. Like someone took an interorior door and laid it up there. I'd stick with the lattice work, even if there are peek-a-boo holes.
Is a 7' fence allowed in your area? Some places I've lived have codes against fences over 6'.
mikey.
Fred wrote:
1/8 luan? Ply? Exterior?
You still have the problem of areas that will catch and hold water...the two horiziontal pieces shown fastened with anchor bolts especially the top one. Additionally, the vertical space on the wall overlain with the luan.
The retention of water does two things...it encourages rot of the wood and water absorption by the block. The latter encourages mildew.
-- 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
A good point - especially after a few months. I'll take another look. If we use a solid wood on that side, we'll probably end up painting that side white or something.
"Permits are required when constructing any type of fencing (block wall, wood, wrought iron) over 42" in height or if retaining over 2' of earth."
Amazing but true!! This is because (a) the state took the property tax money away from the cities and now this city has essentially no money. Also (b) this fine city has been sued time after time for dishonest business practices, and they are about tapped out. In fact, several recent city officials are now under indictment. They now require permits (aka $$) for all kinds of teeny tiny work that most other cities would laugh at.
Now it's off to cut the grass -- hope the inspector doesn't come by and give me a ticket!
I appreciate the help! I'm not that familiar with wood types, but "5.2" is what they call it -- just under 1/4-inch. Not plywood - solid. Looks like door skin material only they say it's made for outdoors. I thought it might look better than plywood.
I don't need mildew - that's for sure. How about if, before I tighten down the bolts at the bottom, I run a bead of silcone where the wall meets the back plate?
We don't get much rain - only 10-inches a year or so. And very dry - desert like climate.
Fred
PS -- I just changed the drawing to show a water seal between the wall and back plate.
5.2 millimeters. Never seen solid wood that size (available for purchase). Where do you get it and what's its intendeed purpose?
Hmm...you said "they said it is *made* for outdoors". You sure it isn't plywood? __________________
Whatever it takes to avoid water getting in and to let it drain if/when it does. Less of a problem in your climate than most others.
-- 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
I could be wrong about being solid -- it might be plywood -- will take a closer look next time. I just did a quick search and found that Luaun is imported from Philippines and SE Asia and used a lot for kayak and other boat bottoms. Don't know why though. Both plywood and veneer are made - the one I saw was solid 5.2mm thickness at Home Depot. It was $10.52 for a 4 x 8 sheet. The thickness is usually listed in millimeters.
Some info here:
Lauan is highly undervalued, as Asian logging firms have cleared through millions of hectares of rainforest since the 1950s. Philippines, once the largest exporter, is now over 80% deforested. Thailand, once a large producer, is also 80% deforested. Malaysia and Indonesia, both recent top exporters of tropical plywood, have each lost half their forests to logging and consequent deforestation.
Indigenous peoples in each of these countries have attempted to stand in the way of the slaughter of their forests, but to little avail. In Malaysia, the army has beaten and arrested many indigenous Penan as they have attempted to block the ravaging of their homelands by Japanese logging firms and the Malaysian government.
In the Philippines, activists have been targeted for assassination by illegal loggers seeking to cut the few remaining lauan trees on private lands.
Undervalued and sold very cheaply, the real cost of lauan is extremely high.
Home Depot sells lauan plywood in the form of all-lauan plywood sheets of varying thicknesses (in the L.A. store, from La Mirada DC/Taraga Pacific), interior hollow-core doors, lauan-faced softwood plywood sheets (Roseburg Forest Products), and paneling.
Home Depot sells solid lauan (or other related species of Southeast Asian rainforest hardwoods in the Shorea group) as handles on wheelbarrows (True Temper) and possibly pre-hung front doors (Main Door Corp., Gardena, CA) (incorrectly marketed as "mahogany").
Welp! Thanks to all for all the good advice!! I just uploaded Plan B... What do you think about this one?
Changes: Now support the divider on vertical braces fastened to the side of the wall instead of the top - more stable, eliminates the grooviness and easier to install.
The idea of using the solid 1/8-inch luaun piece is to eliminate the peek-a-boo holes in the lattice. And it gives the other side a nice wood appearance.
Fred
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