Whether you have wood, metal, vinyl, or concrete fence posts you can certainly find extenders. With this in mind, you may be wondering if it is better to extend your current fence rather than install a whole new fence.
Fence post extenders are good if you want to extend your fence a couple of feet. If you desire to extend your fence by more than a few feet, though, it is better to install a new fence. Many people extend their fences for reasons like privacy, to keep their pets enclosed, or for increased security.
Is It Worth It?
Replacing your old fence with a new one can be quite expensive. Extending your fence can be a great money-saving option. However, for your specific fence, it can be tough to figure out which option will be more worth it in the long run.
The size of your current fence will be a deciding factor in whether you should extend your fence. If you plan to extend your fence by more than three feet, then your extenders may not be strong enough to withstand high winds. Many other people who have extremely short fences experienced this problem when they tried to extend their fence to a greater height.
Extending your fence won’t save you money if you have to keep replacing the extension. In this case, it probably will be more worth it for you to install a new fence. Of course, if you live in a region with mild weather then this may not concern you.
A big objective for extending a fence is to make the extension look natural as if it was always a part of the original fence. This can be quite difficult and if it seems that there is no way to make the extension on your fence seem natural then it also might be more worthwhile for you to install a new fence.
If you plan on adding less than three feet of fence height and you don’t mind how the extenders look, the post extenders are a great option for you.
Concrete Post Extenders
Concrete fence posts can be the most difficult to extend and the most unsightly. You’ll have to buy or make an extender out of wood, plastic, or metal, that will slip over the concrete post. Then, you’ll need to screw the extender into the existing fence. The concrete post must still be in good shape. If it is not then you need to dig it up and install a new post. You can buy these types of extenders at most home improvement stores.
Metal Post Extenders
Metal fence posts are probably the simplest of all the fence posts to extend. You can easily find metal post extenders at any home improvement store or even online on Amazon, such as these here (Amazon link) although there are many sizes available so you can find one that’ll work with your fence.
Metal extenders will be smaller on one end so that the extender can easily slip right into the original post. After that, just drill the screw in the two posts so that the extender doesn’t come loose or swivel around.
Wood Post Extenders
There are a couple of different ways that you can extend your wooden fence posts. One way is simply to bolt an additional post onto the old one. The other way is to place the new post section on top of the old post and then screw metal tie plates around where the two posts meet. You can find wooden posts at most local home improvement stores.
Vinyl Post Extenders
Extending vinyl posts is quite similar to extending metal posts. Vinyl extenders come with one end smaller so that the extension can slip right into the original post. You’ll want to drill screws into the two pieces to keep the extenders in place. The hardest part of extending vinyl posts is finding extenders that match the original posts since they come in many different colors and textures. You can find vinyl post extenders at most home improvement stores or online.
Creative Fence Extending Options
The options listed above for extending are are the most common solutions. However, you are limited to them. Many people have found other ways to extend their fence. For example, you could easily attach a lattice to the top of your wooden fence. Or maybe you could use climbing plants to increase coverage. Here in this video, a woman extends her own concrete posts.
How she extends her concrete posts may not be the most conventional way, but she got creative and made it work for her own particular fence.
When it comes to extending your fence, really, the sky is the limit. If you can think up something, you can also probably make it work. That being said, you must have at least some basic home improvement skills before you try to do anything too fancy. If you’re not sure if your plan will work, you can always get some professional consultation.
Should I Get professional help?
Chances are that there are lots of fencing companies in your location. If the idea of installing post extenders on your own is starting to feel overwhelming, or you really aren’t sure if you should use extenders at all, calling in some professional help could be a really good idea. Even an associate at your local home improvement store might help you out in deciding what to do about your fence posts.
So Are They Any Good?
Knowing whether you should buy post extenders really depends on your situation. Of course, the quality of the post extenders themselves is going to depend on what brand you use and the quality of the original fence posts. If you’re only looking to extend a couple of feet and the original posts are in great condition, then using post extenders sounds like it would work out great on your fence.
Make sure that whatever you decide to do, talk about it with your neighbor. With them knowing your plan ahead of time, they will be better prepared when they see construction taking place. Remember that whatever you do to the fence affects their yard aesthetic and view too. You don’t want to create bad feelings over your fence and talking to them beforehand will ease most tension.