Fence Wall

[basjke]

I have to build a fence wall about 2,50 meter high but don't want a painted crocrete wall.Please give me your ideas about building it as cheap as possible and without the need to paint it.Should fit with a mediteranean style house.Pictures are welcome.

[xerostar]

Whatever wall you build, make sure the foundations are over-engineered.

You won't need to worry about ground subsidence causing cracks in the wall or worse, having the wall fall over in a few years time.

The cheapest option is to build the wall using the same technique as they use to build most houses in LOS.

(with a few added features to make it stronger.)

Use reinforced concrete stanchions planted to a depth of at least 2.5 metres.

Place these posts at each end of the wall and at about 3 metre intervals between.

The exact distance between should suit the brick/mortar specs, so you don't end up with non-brick sized gaps)

Check that all posts are exactly in line, are level at the top and remain vertical.

Pour a wide, thick, reinforced concrete footing between and around the end posts so that the posts are held firmly in place. This will prevent any movement of the posts. (see diagram below).

The top of the footing should be at least one or two layers of bricks below ground level.

Use the standard hollow concrete bricks.

Use Water-proof mortar until well above ground level to prevent rising damp.

Use brick-tie wires everywhere and mesh to help reinforce the mortar

For added strength the wall can be built thicker at the base level.

If you want a strong decorative wall you can lay bricks around the stanchions

to form pillars.

You can place "windows" between the stanchions for added effect.

The windows can have built-in decorative wrought iron grilles or even wooden-framed stained glass windows.

The top of the wall can have protective terracotta clay tiles set on an angle to allow rain water runoff.

The wall should be then rendered with cement.

This can be a rough stucco or a smooth finish.

I like the smooth finish because it's easier to paint and does not attract dirt and dust like the rough surface.

Leave the wall for a month or so to thoroughly dry out.

The surface should then be painted using an oil-based primer.

This will strengthen the surface of the cement.

Finally use a water-based exterior paint. Usually a light colour is best.

Plant some red-flowering Bougainvillea nearby to complete the picture!

[chownah]

I'm thinking that 2.5 metres of buried post is too much unless you're building in a swamp and 2.5 metres gets you below the muck. Also the picture shows a 30 cm tall beam at grade but it shows it over half a metre wide...20 cm wide should be adequate if you use some rebar reinforcing...I've never seen anyon build a wall with such a massive grade beam or large depth for the posts.