I feel sick inside-fence budget buster!

[piglet33]

My goodness, where do you all live that this is enforced? I can see a development, but just a random house in a city/town can be told what to do? I pay my city taxes, I keep my property nice, and I am a good neighbor. If I want to pay $6000 for a fence and have the nice side face in so I can see it, I will. And nobody around here can tell me otherwise.

I don't live in a development, but in a regular house in town. The building inspector said it's because it looks a lot nicer to neighbors and people driving by.

 

[r&kmommy]

I don't live in a development, but in a regular house in town. The building inspector said it's because it looks a lot nicer to neighbors and people driving by.

SO weird!! I always thought it was just developments that did that kind of thing... I mean I know my town can approve/deny fence permits, but they don't deny for stuff like fence facing a certain way... they're on the lookout for wierdos who want to erect a 10 foot barbed wire fence around their property LOL!!!

 

[piglet33]

SO weird!! I always thought it was just developments that did that kind of thing... I mean I know my town can approve/deny fence permits, but they don't deny for stuff like fence facing a certain way... they're on the lookout for wierdos who want to erect a 10 foot barbed wire fence around their property LOL!!!

That's nothing. When we were putting a shed in our backyard, we had to draw it and where we wanted to put it to spec on the permit application. We were told if we didn't know how to do that, we could have someone do it for us (ie, pay someone). My hubby learned how to do that real quick! It's amazing what they enforce and what they don't.

 

[r&kmommy]

Cities and towns need to put some of the money they pay these housing inspectors towards schools and hospitals. LOL!

 

[piglet33]

Cities and towns need to put some of the money they pay these housing inspectors towards schools and hospitals. LOL!

 

[msmayor]

SO weird!! I always thought it was just developments that did that kind of thing... I mean I know my town can approve/deny fence permits, but they don't deny for stuff like fence facing a certain way... they're on the lookout for wierdos who want to erect a 10 foot barbed wire fence around their property LOL!!!

Actually it makes perfect sense to have the crossboards INSIDE your yard and the smooth side facing out.

It makes it harder for someone to climb OVER your fence and gain access to your yard.

Our town in almost all cases will require the smooth, 'finished' side of fencing to face out, especially in situations where there is a swimming pool in the yard.

 

[taitai]

It all goes back to the covenants. Does your Covenant say that 1) the Architecture Committee must review and approve plans before construction? If so, did they? If they did and said okay then you should be fine. If they did not review and were supposed to then you need to rebuild. That is fairly clear.

Does the fence violate neighborhood rules regarding structure/appearance, etc? If so, you need to remedy. You agreed to the rules when you bought the house. If there are no such rules or your fence does not violate any rules, then once again you are fine and ignore them, politely or agree to disagree.

If you are fine but the neighbors are being a nuisance then decide how important keeping the peace is to you. Maybe they will pay for part of the new construction.

Finally, don't bring the chicken wire family into it. Yes, it might make you feel better, temporarily, if someone else has to share the pain but in the end this is between you, the Arch Commitee and the other family. The Chix wire fence people are a separate case and should not be brought in on yours.

Good luck

 

[bettymae1121]

..and this is why I'll never live in a HOA developement!!!!

Sorry about them giving you a hard time about this. I can maybe see complaining about the cross beams (having the "smoth" side facing out is pretty standard in most places) but complaining that they can't see your trees????

 

[LuLuO]

I agree that it is generally accepted that the pretty side has to face out, whether there is an HOA or not. Though now that I'm looking at the privacy fence that the previous owners put at the back of our property, the pretty side faces in. I guess that is something we'll change when we get a new fence some day.

I just don't understand why people have to be so uptight about things, especially in this case when there is no uniform fence in the neighborhood. Stuff like this is the precise reason why DH and I refused to buy in a neighborhood that had an HOA. We can do whatever we want to our house, paint it purple and neon green if we want, and as long as it is not against county regulations we're fine.

 

[maggiew]

Can you maybe go after the original fence dealer to pay for the reconstruction? It seems that if this is a "common" rule, he should have known better. (I have never had a fence, so don't really know the accepted rules.)

Maggie

 

[bored]

..and this is why I'll never live in a HOA development!!!!

I second this, its not worth the hassle!

 

[bumbershoot]

... they can't see our tress anymore, etc, etc.

If a fence 2 feet taller than *their* fence is preventing them from seeing your trees...how short are the trees??? What a petty thing of them to complain about...I would never ever do it (I love trees and hate when people cut them down, even when they are looming over rooves...would rather replace a roof than cut down a huge old tree), but it would make me WANT to cut down my trees just to spite them.

They need to either change the by-laws or enforce them for everyone to be fair.

Agreed.

Actually it makes perfect sense to have the crossboards INSIDE your yard and the smooth side facing out.

It makes it harder for someone to climb OVER your fence and gain access to your yard.

Dang, good point.

 

[Swimalie]

Actually it makes perfect sense to have the crossboards INSIDE your yard and the smooth side facing out.

It makes it harder for someone to climb OVER your fence and gain access to your yard.

Our town in almost all cases will require the smooth, 'finished' side of fencing to face out, especially in situations where there is a swimming pool in the yard.

That's exactly what I was going to say.

Sorry you are having to go through this. We just took down our deck and had to go through hoops to get approval to put in a paver patio. Now we're going to submit for a pergola. More paperwork and headache to do it right but others won't cut their grass right. But I love having someone to watch out for the neighborhood so I won't live anywhere else.

 

[chicagodisneyfan]

..and this is why I'll never live in a HOA developement!!!!

Sorry about them giving you a hard time about this. I can maybe see complaining about the cross beams (having the "smoth" side facing out is pretty standard in most places) but complaining that they can't see your trees????

Goodie for you! However there are many CITIES that it is a requirement for - in the Chicagoland area I know Naperville and Lake Forest have that requirement.

Not an HOA thing!

 

[princessmorgan]

I should have known better about the cross beams, but I didn't and now I'm paying the price. Technically I could go after the builder, but technically I gave the authorization, so I feel bad. I think our most economical solution is just going to be to add boards on the back of the beams. And btw our trees are very tall, at least 40 feet, so I don't know what the problem is with that. We just happen to have a lot more trees in our yard than them. The neighbors also said they just don't want a fence. I'm trying to keep the peace as best as I can, but it still drives me crazy! Trying to maintain a double fence now is going to stink!

 

[LilyWDW]

Goodie for you! However there are many CITIES that it is a requirement for - in the Chicagoland area I know Naperville and Lake Forest have that requirement.

Not an HOA thing!

I want to say I remember it also being a requirement in Vernon Hills when I lived there. Not 100% sure as I moved after high school...

 

[deedeetoo]

I may not understand how fences work (we've never had one), but why did you need to put a fence on the side of the yard that already had a fence. Couldn't you have just fenced the other two sides?

 

[wdwfan16]

I know in our town, the slats on the fence have to face your yard and the nice side face the neighbor's yard. Maybe that is why they want you to redo it? Didn't the building inspector come by to see it? Is that when you found out it has to be changed?

As for them seeing your trees, I'd tell them to plant their own trees to look at. You don't have to redo your fence for that!

I have always heard that the person putting up the fence puts the "nice" side to the neighbors yard.

I really don't understand why it could not be put in properly. It would seem moving it into your property a few inches would have allowed the other fence clearance.

 

[mrodgers]

I have to wonder.... Are we that lazy now as a country that one couldn't take the weekend with a spouse on either side of the fence, one person removes a board and hands it over to the other person to reattach it to the "correct" side?

All this stress... all this fighting with neighbors and ridiculous HOA crap... It would be a weekend worth of work! What do you folks do when you want your car washed? Hire a contractor for that too?

I ripped the siding off my house, ripped the sheathing off my house, insulated, resheathed with OSB, stripped all the paint off the cedar siding boards, and reattached them. It was a 2 year project. Imagine the horror of that! I would bask in the simpleness of just having to switch a bunch of fence boards so they were facing the opposite direction.

In the time it took this thread to reach three pages, the job could be halfway done!

Sheesh...

 

[MightyMom]

Mrodgers is kickin' it old school.

Are you a middle aged man??? lol Hate to sound presumptuous... but you sound like a middle aged man with a lot of time on the weekends.

You don't know what these people's schedules are. Maybe they work 3 jobs and can't find the time to do it.....if they want to spend money paying someone to do it... more power to them.

And heck yeah.... I hire someone to wash my car! I've got better things to do then deal with that. lol