What's the proper etiquette...

[ThreeMusketeers]

for fences and neighbors?

We just moved into a brand new house, and we would like to put up a fence to block our neighbors from both sides from seein' all our good times.

Do we put the fence a few inches from our property line? Do we notify our neighbors first?


My husband is all over the just Puttin' it up an inch from our line...I'm not sure.
What's your opinion?

 

[MizTink]

i've always mentioned it to the neighbors. some have split the cost of the side they shared, some didn't. the ones who didn't help pay, had no say in where it went. the fence company handled that (property line).

 

[NotAmused]

Two of our neighbors told us when they were going to put up a fence, but we were fine with it. However, both of them put up the privacy bushes rather than an actual fence and "promised" they'd keep it trimmed nicely. We are constantly having to keep it looking nice and out of our powerlines, which is the reason we didn't put anything like that up.


But if it's a regular fence, then I'd say it might be a nice idea to mention it if you see them outside, but I don't think it's necessary since it won't affect their property.

 

[AKL_Megs]

We put up a privacy fence at the beginning of the summer.

My husband went over and informed our neighbors that we were putting it up. (They didn't offer to pay for any of it, so we opted out of the "good neighbor" fence, which was about $15 more a section, and opted for the plain "dog ear" fence. We took the good side. ) It's also about 2" on our side of the property line.

I just have to say that our neighbors are VERY MUCH enjoying their "free" privacy. (So are we... )

 

[kaytieeldr]

I would go close to the property line without going over - no, I didn't get that from a game show. I got it from someone I know whose neighbor infringed on their property with a fence and who didn't 'care' at the time ("less to mow") and now is having a bit of trouble proving who owns which land .

In the interest of cordial relations, I'd put the 'nice' side facing out.

 

[Ceila]

Many towns have regulations on exactly where the fence can be (how far in from the property line) as well as which side faces out. Many stipulate that the "good" side face the neighbors. Fencing contractors should be able to give you this info since they deal with it every day.

You might want to mention it to your neighbors as a courtsey, but I'd never heard of them sharing the cost until the Dis. Growing up and now as a homeowner we have always paid for our fence ourselves with no expectations of splitting the cost with neighbors. This way, our fence is completely within our control.

 

[NHdisneylover]

yes, definitely check regulations and put the nicer side out (or choose something equally nice on both sides).
I would not ask the neighbors for opinions (no one will ever agree) OR money. I would mention to them you will be having it installed around such and such dates and ask if they were planning a back yard get together in that time frame so you can be sure not to have work going on during their party. It is the kind of consideration that would go a long way towards building great neighborly relations in your new home.

 

[aprilgail2]

Ours goes on the property line- also unless we are splitting the fence, whoever pays for the fence gets the good side.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

Ours goes on the property line, however the neighbor behind us put his about 6 inches off his property line on the backside.

He has 2 dogs and wanted spaced between my dogs and his and he says he prefers the small gap so he can weed eat.

We used the black aluminum so there is no "ugly side". We are not allowed a privacy fence.

 

[CleoPahd]

We also bought a new house a few years back and wanted to put up a fence. Where we live the good side has to face away from your property, but you can put the fence right up to the property line. We chose to mention to our neighbors what we were doing and it almost turned into WW3 because they were also new home owners, but they were doing a fix and sell on their property. They insisted the property line was 20ft more to their favor. They were actually tying their dog to a tree in our yard and letting it go to the bathroom all over the place...in our yard! Luckily having just purchased we had all the plans ready...and so did they. When we finally got them to bring out their own plans since they didn't trust ours they measured and realized they were way off. We ended up putting the fence a few inches off the line so that we would have room for maintenance if needed. I'm still not so sure giving them the courtesy of telling them was the right thing to do. They were terrible neighbors from that point on until they sold the house.

 

[Christine]

Where we live, the fence must go on the property line. Whoever builds the deck gets the plat "map" and it clearly shows property lines and that's where the fence goes.

Just think, if you put it inside the propertly line, when your neighbor hooks on to your fence one day, now 3 inches of your property is in their yard. Not a big deal but this is the rationale for putting the fence right on the line.

Our neighborhood HOA demands that fences join and you can't have two separate fences that come right up to the propertly line with a 2-3 inch strip down between the fences. So the first fence built needs to be on the line.

 

[barkley]

make sure there are no easements on your property that limit or preclude fencing (there are utility company easements around us that make putting in fencing a very risky proposition-unless the homeowner is up for paying to have it removed if one of the utility companys decides to do an inspection, repair or upgrade).

another issue to check is if your city and/or county have line of vision restrictions. where we used to live there were different height rules depending on what side of the house a fence was going on (and it got realy complex if it was technicaly the side of your yard while it would face your neighbor's "back" yard) and if you were on a corner lot then your neighbor's line of vision across the corner of your yard further restricted if you could put any fencing in.

 

[golfgal]

I agree, your city code will dictate where you put the fence. If your neighbors were also putting up a fence it is quite common to split the cost of the shared side but if they are not going to put up a fence, it is not reasonable to ask. Our neighbors added to their fence and put it over the property line by about 6" which isn't a big deal but they didn't get a permit and it could cause some problems down the road. We have a fence and this extension of their fence is behind our's. (that and they left a 6" gap between their fence and ours where they dump all their dog crap into our yard .

It will be your responsibility to maintain all sides of the fence. I would HIGHLY recommend going with a maintenance free material like trex and DON'T get an all white one as they can be BLINDING in the sun. We just stained our deck to the tune of almost $1000 in stain and about 100 hours of time (we have a big fence but still).

 

[mjkacmom]

I'd check with your town. Any fence over 4 feet tall has to have a varience here (get approval from your neighbors), and even 4 feet tall fences need a permit, and have to be 4 feet in from your property line.

 

[Eeyore'sthebest]

Many towns have regulations on exactly where the fence can be (how far in from the property line) as well as which side faces out. Many stipulate that the "good" side face the neighbors. Fencing contractors should be able to give you this info since they deal with it every day.

You might want to mention it to your neighbors as a courtsey, but I'd never heard of them sharing the cost until the Dis. Growing up and now as a homeowner we have always paid for our fence ourselves with no expectations of splitting the cost with neighbors. This way, our fence is completely within our control.

Our town dictates where the fence can be placed on the property.

And what's up with someone asking neighbors to pay. I think that's odd. You want the fence, you pay to put it up and maintain it. Not saying the OP is doing that but this is all new to me.

 

[luvmy3]

I'd check with your town. Any fence over 4 feet tall has to have a varience here (get approval from your neighbors), and even 4 feet tall fences need a permit, and have to be 4 feet in from your property line.

Wow that would equate to a ton of "lost" yard.

 

[RitaZ.]

I would go close to the property line without going over - no, I didn't get that from a game show. I got it from someone I know whose neighbor infringed on their property with a fence and who didn't 'care' at the time ("less to mow") and now is having a bit of trouble proving who owns which land .

In the interest of cordial relations, I'd put the 'nice' side facing out.

I can't imagine doing it any other way. There is no way that our city would allow the ugly side of the fence to face out. They'd make the homeowner remove the fence and install it again the correct way.

OP, if you intend on doing the work yourself, make sure that you install the fence according to your city or town's regulations. This way you can prevent unexpected problems down the road. If you hire a company to do the work, they should be familiar with the requirements.

 

[bgirldeb]

In the interest of cordial relations, I'd put the 'nice' side facing out.

I can't imagine doing it any other way. There is no way that our city would allow the ugly side of the fence to face out. They'd make the homeowner remove the fence and install it again the correct way.

I've seen this lots of times, but I agree that the nice side should face out. It's tacky IMO to build a fence with the 'ugly' side on the outside.

 

[barkley]

I agree, your city code will dictate where you put the fence. If your neighbors were also putting up a fence it is quite common to split the cost of the shared side but if they are not going to put up a fence, it is not reasonable to ask. Our neighbors added to their fence and put it over the property line by about 6" which isn't a big deal but they didn't get a permit and it could cause some problems down the road. We have a fence and this extension of their fence is behind our's. (that and they left a 6" gap between their fence and ours where they dump all their dog crap into our yard .

It will be your responsibility to maintain all sides of the fence. I would HIGHLY recommend going with a maintenance free material like trex and DON'T get an all white one as they can be BLINDING in the sun. We just stained our deck to the tune of almost $1000 in stain and about 100 hours of time (we have a big fence but still).

can't the extention over your property line cause issues if you sell your home at some point?

i seem to remember an issue with one of our former neighbors where some fencing extended onto their property, and after they sold the new owners came to the realization that lot was off in size from the survey. the newbies wanted every inch of what they paid for (i can't blame them), the prior owners went to the neighbors to get them to remove the fencing but the neighbors got a lawyer that fought that since the prior owners had permitted it for so many years it created an easement that allowed for the fence.

ended up being a major financial nightmare for the prior owners (who found out after the fact that if they had just put the neighbors on notice before a certain time line about the fence, even if they had'nt forced the removal at that point, the courts would have immediatly order the fence taken down at any future date).

 

[Heidict]

Ours goes on the property line, however the neighbor behind us put his about 6 inches off his property line on the backside.

He has 2 dogs and wanted spaced between my dogs and his and he says he prefers the small gap so he can weed eat.

We used the black aluminum so there is no "ugly side". We are not allowed a privacy fence.

Huh? What is weed eat?

I've seen this lots of times, but I agree that the nice side should face out. It's tacky IMO to build a fence with the 'ugly' side on the outside.

Well, some people are just tacky. They don't care if they are being rude by placing the ugly side out. All they care about is their view. The house next door to us was renovated and when they put the fence up they put the ugly side facing us. I don't really care because we rent and plan on buying our own place in a year or so, but I was surprised.