Screen a Chain Link Fence With Lath

When I purchased my house there was an old plastic wrap that made the chain link fence semi-private but it was in horrible shape. Actually, it was so fragile that when I would give friends and family a tour I would tell them that it had a funny texture and they should touch it.  As soon as their finger touched it, they would poke a hole in it. Because it was in such bad shape I removed the plastic, but I missed the semi-private nature of the wrap.

Later, I gutted my living room and ended up with a large stack of Lath and stacked it in my backyard next to the fence.  One day I picked up a piece and and thought how it would look if I covered the fence with it.  Since I didn't know how it would hold up I did a test where I covered one section of gate and left it up for a year.  It actually held up so well that you can't tell which side is "new".

This is an extremely easy process, just time consuming. This section of two 6' x 6' gates took a full day each.  OK, "full day" included sleeping in, long lunch, talking to neighbors and having a beer or two. 

If you don't have a big stack of lath from gutting your living room, just ask around.  All older houses have this in abundance and it is usually considered "garbage" .  In all honesty the only reason I was keeping it is because 100+ year old pine tends to make really good kindling for fires. 

Step 1 What You Will Need

Tools:

1. Drill (I prefer cordless)
2. 5/64" Drill Bit
3. Hand Saw
4. Vice Grips
5. Wire Cutters
6. Needle Nose Pliers
7. Hammer
8. Paint Brush

Materials:

1. Galvanized Steel Wire (won't corrode)
2. Lath
3. Varnish

Comments

[Shawn Stanford]

The slats from cheap plastic mini-blinds work for this, too.

[bfarm]

Good way to hide the pile of beer cans in the backyard.

[zazenergy]

Great to see, thanks!