Attaching a woven steel fence to the top of a wall is a great way to add privacy, increase wind protection or screening and it’s pretty straight forward.
It’s the same system for building a fence on the ground except for the post fixing. We can supply you with brackets for either wall top or side fixing. We have listed the pros and cons of the wall top or side fixing options below.
| Wall top fixing | Wall side fixing |
|---|---|
| Requires a flat top | More secure as requires two brackets |
| A fence in the middle of the wall can look better | No rust staining |
| Requires a more sturdy wall | Can be secured to a weaker wall |
| Rust staining can be an issue on light coloured walls | Wall coping is not disrupted |
We mentioned rust staining in table above and we would like to draw your attention to this. If securing your fence to a painted, rendered wall some rust staining will be visible if your fence is attached to the top of a wall so we recommend side fixing to avoid this. On a common orange brick wall this is not visible.
Wall copings (capping) often protrude wider than the wall face, in these cases when side fixing you can either cut a notch in the coping to allow the pole to pass through or we can provide extended wall brackets which keep the pole around 40mm away from the wall. Please ensure this is far enough away to clear any coping.
Attaching the brackets
There are two methods we use…
Wall bolts also called rawl bolts, sleeve anchors or shield anchors !
These work in the same way as a screw and rawlplug but are all one unit and more substantial. Most of the fixing brackets have an 8mm hole so we recommend an 8mm thread wall bolt. These require a 14mm masonry drill bit. They are quick and “clean” to use. We would only recommend these for side fixing on walls with good structural integrity as like a rawlplug they force against the sides of the hole when tightened, this could crack the top of a wall or a weaker structure.
To install. Use the brackets as a guide for the hole location (See photo top right), the chalk pen enclosed is ideal for marking these. Take care to drill the correct depth hole, insert the wall bolt (they often require a gentle hammer down) and remove the nut and washer. Secure the bracket onto the exposed threads using the nut and spanner. Lastly cut off the excess bolt using an angle grinder.
Threaded bar and resin
In this process threaded rod is fixed into the wall using a resin glue. This option offers a bit more flexibility and as you are not governed by the length of the wall bolt which allows you to insert threaded bar deeper into the wall, resin fixing won’t exert forces on the inside of the hole so better for weaker walls or wall top fixing. Again we use an M8 threaded bar (with a 10mm drill bit) so the bar just fits through the wall bracket holes, fences over 70cm high will use a sturdier bracket with a larger hole, here a m12 threaded bar would be a better fit.
We use R-Kem 11 polyester resin glue, available from Screwfix for around £8.00, 1 metre long threaded bar, washers and nuts are also available from Screwfix. You will need to cut the bar to length when you know how deep your drilled holes are. A little tip – the resin will dry quickly when warm, drill a number of holes first so it’s not left open for too long.
Again use the brackets as a guide for the hole location and ensure the drilled holes are clean and dust free before pumping in the resin, we use a little brush or air blower for this. Push the cut threaded rod into the resin filled holes, allow the resin to dry, secure the brackets using nuts and trim off excess threaded rod if required.
A word of caution
Ensure you wall is structurally sound and capable of withstanding the additional weight and wind force. We would not recommend extending the wall height by more than a third unless it is a low wall. We would not recommend fixing to a single skinned construction (one brick width thick).
If your wall is weak and cannot be fixed to we can supply extra long posts so your fence can be secured into the ground with the weave starting at wall height. Just let us know when ordering.
We hope this helps. As always if you have any queries please get in touch.
