Gave my neighbor the "good side" of my fence...

[mefordis]

...both my mil and mom think we are crazy for giving my neighbor the nice side of our new fence. They say we paid for it so we should get the good side. It runs along our backyard and they are behind us.

I thought this was proper fence etiquette. His side is smooth and ours has a board running across the middle. I think both sides look good, imo, but clearly his is nicer.

What would you do? Good side to the neighbor's yard? I don't plan on taking it down, just curious.

 

[design_mom]

I always thought the smooth side was the "outside" and the side with rails was the "inside" so I'd install it like you planned. (Our neighbor has board fence and the smooth side faces us... but it also faces their front yard.)

 

[mjkacmom]

I've never seen a fence with the "good side" on the inside, that would be backwards.

 

[Pkltm]

Me too! I would do it how you did!

 

[smokeyblue]

You legally have to put the "good" side of the fence towards the neighbors or the street in the township where I live and the adjoining city.

 

[gotomu212]

You legally have to put the "good" side of the fence towards the neighbors or the street in the township where I live and the adjoining city.

Same with our HOA.

 

[disneychrista]

I always figured that is how you knew how "owned" the fence. The owner of the fence got the smooth side.

Honestly, right now if we were to replace the back fence (I think it is "ours" I would put in chain link with privacy slates. We have that on one side and LOVE IT.

 

[RedAngie]

Get a "good neighbor" fence. Looks the same on both sides. Many styles of vinyl fencing are constructed this way. Even some wood fences are too, but they're more expensive.

Otherwise, yes, giving the neighbors the good side is sometimes required and is always proper etiquette.

 

[AnnaFloridaLover]

We just put up a new fence. Smooth inside/my side, absolutely. There is a driveway in between though. Otherwise, I would have considered smooth on both sides, although I don't know how that would work.

I just looked and our back fence is the same on both sides but it's a different, older style fence. City living means different fences.

 

[mefordis]

Get a "good neighbor" fence. Looks the same on both sides. Many styles of vinyl fencing are constructed this way. Even some wood fences are too, but they're more expensive.

Otherwise, yes, giving the neighbors the good side is sometimes required and is always proper etiquette.

We weren't able to find this type of fence in the good neighbor style. It is a tongue and groove style, 6 feet tall privacy fence. I'm sure they make it but we had a heck of a time trying to find one without having it custom made at $200 a piece. We have a similar style along the sides of our property but it is lower than 6 ft. We definitely wanted a fence along back to be as tall as legally possible.

Thanks for the input, everyone!

 

[disneyeveryyear]

I know the rules in our area require the fence posts to be on your property. I remember when my dad's neighbor ran the fence posts on his side of the property line, but put the flat part of the fence facing his own yard. My dad was a little miffed, so he (dad) installed his own fence the same way so he wouldn't have to look at the neighbor's fence. It created a 6" gap between the fences.

 

[piglet too]

I always thought the smooth side faced out to make it look better for "curb appeal".

 

[chicagodisneyfan]

OP - you are correct. And a wonderful neighbor.
If someone installed the smooth side towards their house, I would think them ignorant.
Photographs of your property look better if the "nice" part of the fence is outward.
Safety to not have posts or slats that would enable bad guys or critters to more easily hop the fence.

 

[DeniseJH]

We had a fence installed about 20 years ago with the "good" side facing us. The installers said it was up to us, and that is what we chose. All of the fence borders others' property, none the street.

 

[aprilgail]

By me the person paying gets the good side- if the neighbor wants the good side then they pay for the fence.

 

[Micca]

Good fences make good neighbors.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

We went in with our neighbors (on 3 sides) to put up a block wall all around our back yard. Same on both sides.

I've always felt, if it's a shared line/fence, it's a good idea to get input from the neighbors. I'd probably put the flat side of a wooden fence (the "good" side) toward my property, if I was paying for it.

 

[GaSleepingBeautyFan]

I would do it with smooth side facing the neighbor. I thought that was always how it was done. Plus I wouldn't have to worry about kids climbing on the wood of the other side and just standing on it or climbing over the fence.

Had to have a chat with the tween kids on the one neighbors side about not doing that - the fence is theirs and it needs to be replaced. It's extremely wobbly. Mentioned it to the Uncle and he about had a fit that his nephews were climbing on it.

 

[Colleen27]

I've always thought of the "good" side simply as the outside. It wouldn't occur to me to keep it facing inward on the two sides of our lot where there is a shared property line because we have it facing outward (for curb appeal) on the two sides that face the street.

 

[TipsyTraveler]

I've always assumed the smooth side was the outside and never even considered someone might elect to do it the other way. To me that would be "inside-out." I live in a townhouse and we all have shared-fence backyards. For the side lengths of fence, all the smooth sides face in the same direction, so each yard ends up with one of each (except for the first end unit) and then the back-of-the-yard pieces all face smooth side out.