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I have a fence which I would like to raise by 1ft. The posts are 4x4'' pressure treated wood. I would like to cut a new 4x4 post into 1ft pieces and put on top of existing ones.

What's the best way to attach the new 1ft pieces to the existing posts without the hardware used to hold it being visible? I saw a couple of neighbors used caps, angles or ties for that, but it visually sticks out -- metal on wood is too much contrast.

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    I don't think anything short of bondo and paint will hide that joint, at least not past the first two freeze/thaw cycles. Maybe not that.
    – keshlam
    Aug 5, 2015 at 17:57

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Unless you stain or paint the fence, you will see the joint no matter what since the grain will not line up.

For this type of project I would recommend using a scarf joint.

enter image description here

This provides a much stronger connection than a simple butt joint. You get an increased glue area and the fastener geometry combined with the scarf will prevent the two pieces from bending apart. (You can use dowels or carriage bolts or screws. Dowels would be the least visible.)

A square scarf joint (as pictured) is pretty easy to make and very strong, but if you really want to hide the glue line as much as possible, you can make a diagonal joint.

enter image description here

That's a bit more work, though, especially if you have to do a lot of posts. The square scarf will tolerate a little less cutting precision as well.

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    Just at elaborate: In my neck of the woods the first type of joint is called a "half-lap splice" and a scarf joint always involves a diagonal cut.
    – RedGrittyBrick
    Aug 6, 2015 at 16:39
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Drill holes in both and connect with dowels.

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  • Will dowels be strong enough to hold 4x4s and then 3-4 of 6ft pickets?
    – Nikita R.
    Aug 5, 2015 at 20:53
  • Is there a metal analogue of dowels? Like a two-way nail or something like that.
    – Nikita R.
    Aug 5, 2015 at 20:55
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    @NikitaG. You can use a threaded rod with tee nuts
    – TylerH
    Aug 25, 2020 at 1:14
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Could use metal rebar as dowels on the faces of the 2, 4x4's. Will need to be very precise at drilling the holes parallel and centered so they line up precisely.

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    Aug 25, 2020 at 0:54

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