What Are Chain Link Fence Post Extenders, and Will They Work for You?
If you’ve recently moved into a home that has an existing chain link fence and found it’s too low (or adopted a dog that treats your chain link fence like the hurdles), you might be wondering what chain link fence post extenders are, and if they will work for you. In this article, we look at what chain link fence post extenders are, how they work, whether they might work for you and everything else you need to know.
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What Are Chain Link Fence Post Extenders?
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Chain link fence post extenders should be called chain link fence height extenders if you want to be completely accurate. That’s because chain link fence post extenders don’t actually fit onto your fence posts at all. Instead, they are galvanized steel tube post sections, usually with an attached cap, that you can attach to your chain link fence top rail. These short sections of fence posts are designed to give you a simple, easy-to-install method of attaching additional mesh or other fence materials above your existing chain link fence without needing to modify your fence posts. |
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How Do Chain Link Fence Post Extenders Work?
Like most fittings and hardware designed to be used to build chain link fences in North America, chain link fence post extenders are intended to be bolted onto your existing chain link fence.
More specifically, they have a U-shaped bracket at the bottom of each post extender that slips over your chain link fence top rail, and then they have a bolt that you tighten to secure the post extender in place.
These additional verticals can then be used to strain wire or attach mesh, whether that’s matching chain link mesh, welded mesh, hardware cloth, chicken wire or something else.
It’s important to remember that chain link fence top rails come in different sizes, though – and the most commonly used residential pipe diameters for chain link fence top rails are either 1 3/8” or 1 5//8”, so make sure you know what size you need before you order this product.
How Much Height Do Chain Link Fence Post Extenders Add?
Most chain link fence post extenders are about 25 inches long, which means you will be able to add about two feet to your fence height when you use them.
You can’t really go too much higher with this type of system than that because there’s only a single bolt holding them in place, and any mesh and wire you add to the fence will put a fair amount of weight on the extenders.
The only way we’d recommend going higher than that with a fence extender like this is if you also tack welded each bracket in place, but welding on-site is much more complicated and not usually a DIY solution to raising your fence height!
Talk to Your Municipal Building Department First!
Very often, the chain link fences around residential properties are already at or near to the maximum height limit for properties in that area.
Adding an extension to your chain link fence might put you in violation of local building regulations and bylaws, which might mean a fine and being forced to take the extension you’ve just added down.
So be sure to ask for permission first, and if there are any special processes or applications you need to make to be approved for a higher fence, do it before you buy your post extenders and install them!
Do We Recommend This Type of Chain Link Fence Post Extender?
If you are trying to extend the height of a residential chain link fence for added privacy or to keep dogs from jumping over your fence, then this type of chain link fence post extender is not a terrible idea. If you buy a good quality product and install it properly, you should get the desired result, and it will still look reasonably good.
However, if you have a chain link fence that is intended to provide some level of security or is for commercial purposes, this is probably not the solution for you. You probably want to speak to a chain link fence company in your area about welding additional sections onto your chain link fence posts and installing taller mesh instead.
