Cladding/gabion wall

worlds goodest teecher

Hi,

We are looking into ext wall finishes for a 35sq.m extension that we have planning granted. Going to go with stone cladding externally, we like donegal slate. The thing is I like gabion boundary walls (not retaining), which we also need to do but I'm not sure the slate would work in a gabion walls. Can anyone suggest a grey cladding that could work?

Lumen

Are you absolutely sure about the gabion walls?

I went quite far down that path before concluding that they were best suited to larger installations, i.e. civil engineering projects. The small ones are awkward and quite ugly up close.

worlds goodest teecher

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123257310#Comment_123257310

Not tied to it. I could have 100m of wall to do. Was thinking clad the front, gabion to the rear. For the rear I was thinking about around 2m high. Cost would come into it.

Mellor

What approved on your planning grant?

Gabion Wall are quite wide, are you happy losing that much width of space in your garden? Gabion will be fully on your ide of the boundary

Lumen

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123257331#Comment_123257331

Amongst the issues with gabions is that the small ones designed for landscaping applications are quite tricky to fill, and the larger ones are...enormous.

The best way to think about them is like string bags, to work properly they need to have the right amount of tension, so filling them requires a bit of skill.

And they tend to settle, leaving the tops looking a bit gappy.

They're also not cheap, once you include the labour, and look a bit industrial.

The final nail in the coffin for me was when I visited a local garden centre that was using them beside walkways, and the wife approval factor was not met.

Have you found a local installation of them that you like?

worlds goodest teecher

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123265951#Comment_123265951

Not concerned really about planning, looking at rear of the house in a ruralish location.

blackbox

A gabion wall that is 2m high will need to be quite wide.

That's a huge amount of stones.

worlds goodest teecher

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123266274#Comment_123266274

No, it's more through pictures online. It's for a coastal dwelling. We got battered a few weeks back. We bought the house second hand 5 years ago and are only really getting around to the external stuff now.

Mellor

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123266678#Comment_123266678

you said planning was granted? That must have included finishes for the extension?

worlds goodest teecher

There was cladding/solid stone approved for the house. As for the boundary wall, we are replacing old fence with gabion potentially to the rear

worlds goodest teecher

See the council has a water bund, about 20ft tall overlooking our property, about 10ft from our boundary. Right now the house only has a post and wire fence that is in a very bad state after the storm a few weeks ago. We are about 200m from the Atlantic on 3 sides. I need something high to hide the bund but also something that is maintenance free and block out the wind.

Mellor

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123267469#Comment_123267469

If solid cladding was approved on the planning application, tat is what you can do. It's up to the professional signed off on it whether a gabion wall meets that requirement. (Not a gabion wall is very large on plans, so it will likely not aligned to the approved plans).

Exemptions exist for boundary walls. Gabion should be ok.

monseiur

You are fortunate to be so close to the Atlantic, no doubt there are minor downsides especially on stormy nights like 24th January ! Would a 2 metre wall not block you view of these huge rolling waves on a stormy day ? Would you consider a 1 metre high block wall finished to match your extension and on top fix 1.2 m. high clear perspex/acrylic panels fitted in aluminium slimline frames

worlds goodest teecher

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123351222#Comment_123351222

We have the council water bund directly behind our home, an eyesore I know. I'd like to hide as much of that as I can.