Leaning Super Six Fence

[Stu]

The fence between ourselves and the neighbour is on quite a lean towards the neighbour, made worst by the fact that the neighbours land is about 300mm lower than our place. Looking to straighten it up shortly as best we can but aware that it is likely to start to lean again. I dont want to spend much money so does anyone have any cheap suggestions on keeping the fence relatively vertical???
Cheers in advance

[echnidna]

Is it built with fence posts and rails or is it freestanding super 6

[Stu]

it is freestanding

[bitingmidge]

Was there ever a Super Six product that didn't have asbestos in it??
P :confused:

[Stu]

no idea, hadnt seen the stuff used as a fence until I came to Australia

[Barry_White]

I think you will find that it is the movement in the ground that makes the fence lean and even if you straighten it up it will probably lean again.

It will probably be 2 feet into the ground and you will have to dig down to the bottom of the supersix to get it to move and you will have to do the whole length before you can straighten it.

With it being super six it will have asbestos in it. My advise would be to dispose of the fence and replace it with either Colorbond or Hardwood.

[vsquizz]

If its Super 8 (8" between ridges instead of 6") then it isn't asbestos. Super Six will generally carry an asbestos warning sticker found on the corner of the sheet under the ridge capping or buried in the ground. You CANNOT tell wether it contains asbestos by looking at it.

If you can't retain then you will have to put timber or steel posts concreted into the gound 600 mm below the low side and rails. For 300mm a retaining wall is the best solution and can be done relatively cheaply yourself. Look around at all the options.

Stay friendly with your neighbour and share the cost/work.

Cheers

[echnidna]

Did you build up the ground against the fence (as a retaining wall) or did the neighbor dig his block out?

[macca2]

Had the same problem when the neighbour dug out his side. We straightened the fence a couple of times but it always developed a lean because of the ground levels. We eventually fixed it by using short pieces of fenceing and building retainer about 400mm from the fence on the low side. problem fixed ans neighbour as a nice little flower box

Macca

[Stu]

The neighbours whole block is lower than ours, I imagine the fence has always had a lean since shortly after it was put in.

[ptrott]

When the fence was originally erected the ground was obviously the same level both sides. If your block has been built up then you are legally responsible for cost to repair, and obliged to build a retaining wall to stop it recurring. If the neighbour has dug out his side then he is responsible for costs and a retaining wall. If there is a ground height difference of any more than a 60 or so mm then it WILL lean again eventually unless as previously stated, you do a post and rail setup, which is not recommended because James Hardie do not rate super six as suitable for retaining earth. There is also the possibility that it will lean anyway unless you put in a lot of posts and the ground is such that it will not give over time. If you are in clay, forget post and rail to retain earth unless you get very low rainfall. I have attended to many instances of this problem over the years and in my opinion a retaining wall is the only way to go if you want to be sure of no future problems. Keep in mind that it is a lot of work to dig up a long section of fence. A retaining wall would probably be cheaper than post and rail also.

Good luck:)