Small wall/fence

[Benjamin]

Help wanted from the builders, please.

I intend building a low wall/fence between our house and our very friendly neighbours.

The wall part will be constructed out of standard 15cm wide blocks two high. The fence will consist of metal posts and supports where necessary let into the top of these blocks with three strands of wire to support heather brush (brande in French?) coming to a total of 1.5mtrs high. The length will be 15mtrs.

Speaking to our neighbour and agreeing exactly where the boundary was, he then suggested that I would need to use a reinforced footing 25cm wide by 10cm deep to stop the wall tumbling over (his words) and with reinforced pillars every 2mtrs or so. Two questions arise:

1. Do I really need to reinforce the footing with metal "grillage"?

2. What is the opinion of the need for the pillars?

Clearly I do not want to upset my neighbour by appearing just to ignore him but on the other hand, as an amateur, I do not want to do any more work than is absolutely necessary. The job is too small to interest an artisan so I'm stuck with D I Y.

Incidentally we are not interested in just a fence made out of "brande" as we want a solid base to stop the rabbits making unsightly holes in the bottom.

Thank you. Benjamin

ps I tried to post this yesterday but it got lost somewhere in the system so if it turns up elsewhere sorry in advance.

 

[BJSLIV]

What foundations were you proposing to put in? A simple trench with concrete without the reinforcing?  I suppose it partly depends on the nature of the ground.Most places have a fencing contractor who would be willing to give you a price for such a job. You could always pick their brains!

PS Don't forget you will probably need to complete a declaration de travaux to make sure that your fencing is acceptable to the council. This is especially true if there was nothing there before.

[Benjamin]

BJSLIV

Thanks for your response. By using the words "amateur" and "D I Y" I was trying to convey that I don't already know the answers to the two questions that I posed.

We're only in a small community so we don't have a wealth of fencing contractors locally. The two garden maintenance/landscapers that we approached in May to come and have a look and give us a quote never arrived despite assurances from both that they would come "before the weekend".

The secretary at our local Town Hall (only open two mornings a week) checked with the Mayor who said that as far as he was concerned and because the only people who would see the fence were us and our neighbours and because we were replacing an existing structure, then we didn't need any specific permissions.

Still hoping for a response to our questions.

[Nick Trollope]

OK, I'll stick my neck out....

a) If the wall (NOT the hedge part) is less than 1.5M high, you only need your neighbours permission (subject to all sorts of considerations, such as listed buildings & agricultural land. If your Mairie says it is OK, then it probably is).

b) If it is only 2 blocks high a simple concrete footing 500mm x 100mm will do (dig a trench sightly deeper, then throw in some hardcore first).

c) I think that the reinfoced posts are a little over the top. If you want a natural hedge on top, then set a few (wooden) fence posts into the block wall (say every 2M) and string some galvanised wire between them for the hedge to grow into. Or something like that, I am no hedge expert (whatever one of those is called)...

 

Easy Peasy!

 

[Benjamin]

Thanks Nick, you're a gentleman. Don't see any snipers.............yet!

Regarding the heather brush fencing (I've checked and it is Brande in French) this is not something that is growing but a panel made out of sustantial heather twigs for want of a better description. Not to be confused with your ornamental garden heathers.

It's used extensively on campsites on the west coast to seperate emplacements as it's very strong and stands up well to the winter winds.

Again, many thanks.

 

Benjamin