New fence and neighbors

T

The Over Cusser

100+ Posts
We are having a new fence put up this week and I wanted to tap the hornfans well for advice.

I am thinking about just putting the new fence right in front of the old fence, that way I dont have to mess with the neighbors and I also dont have to worry about them not taking care of it or letting kids / pets ruin it. The new fence will be considerably nicer than the old one (board on board /cedar) and judging from the fence I am replacing, my neighbors wont do their part in maintaing it.

So, do I come off as a jerk for doing it this way or is this no big deal?
 
The old fence is on its last legs. The fence is leaning and is at least 10 years old. The previous owners did not seal / stain the fence so its a lost cause.
 
Will you think they are a jerk when they take down the old fence to enjoy your new fence?

My biggest concern would be fuzzying the property line.
 
I will be doing metal posts for sure. The property line shouldnt be an issue since I wont be encroaching on either side. I will just set the posts directly in front of the existing posts. I will lose about a foot of yard all the way around by doing it this way but I'm fine with that.
 
why not see if they want to just replace it. what is the worse that can happen? hell even if they paid me 1/4th of it and bring me beer it would sound like a deal.
 
my dad is trying to do this now... we're gonna buy the wood, replace it and they don't want us to because of the whole property line mess. it'll be off by a few inches in their favor. the old fence is crap and leaning.
 
Unless you've had some issues with them before I would bring it up to them...you want to stain/treat both sides of the wood, and fence builders would rather do that when the fence is up. If there's another fence directly on the other side, they won't be able to...
 
Just talk to your neighbor about it. If you put up a 2nd fence and they take down the original fence then you're in no better situation. Also find out on what side of the property line the fence is. If the fence is on your side of the property line and their kids/pets have destroyed the fence, then they are liable for the damages.

Bottom line is that it never hurts to ask.
 
without a doubt - a jerk (you asked).

You definitely gotta keep them in the loop. Everyone is so non-confrontational these days, they will just go along with it, especially if you press them to consent when you bring it up.

Couldn't they hassle you with permit, dig-test, HOA, etc. nonsense if for some reason you tick them off?

I have very odd neighbors on all sides, but we say hi and tell them when we are doing any kind of work like this and they think it is the greatest thing in the world that they were "consulted".

Life is too short to have a neighbor bad-mouthing you the whole time you live in that house.

Good luck!
 
definitely talk to the neighbors. If you are uncomfortable asking them to split the costs, simply let them know you will pay the whole thing. You may find they are interested in helping with the costs .
 
Thanks for the advice. I'll let my fellow neighbors know my plans for the fence. I do not expect any of them to contribute to the cost, especially with this economy. I hate living in a subdivision.
 
"Good fences make good neighbors."

- Robert Frost


I put up a fence in a subdivision we lived in about 11 years ago and deliberately came one foot back from my property line all the way around my backyard so AS TO NOT have any hassles with my neighbors concerning property lines when selling the surrounding houses. However, about 2 years later the neighbor on the right side of the yard wanted to build a fence on his property. He wanted to hook up to my fence post in the front and use my fence to the back of his lot then hook up to the back fence post. I told him that, in fact, my fence was back away from my property line and he really needed to put his fence on his own property. Needless to say he was pissed (I am guessing he was counting on not have to pay for that part of the fence). Then he build his fence exactly on his property line so there was only a foot between the fences. Oh Well.
 
Of course, you can build a fence anywhere on your property. But you are conceding one foot of your property, in effect, to your neighbors. It would be better to include them in the plans, they probably would be happy to have a nice looking new fence, and just can't afford it. If you are paying, you would have the choice of how it is build, stained, etc.
They could be jerks about it, but I don't see why.
 
If these fences are about 1 foot apart, how do you keep grass/weeds from growing up between them?
 
One thing to consider regarding the "foot or so" that will separate your property line from the new fence. If the neighbor tears down the old fence and begin to maintain that land as their own, the courts could eventually rule that it is.
 
That whole "losing your land" stuff is largely a bunch of malarkey. I would take over a decade before they would have any colorable claim to the dirt and even they would have to prove "OCEAN":

Open
Continuous
Exclusive
Adverse, and
Notorious

All you have to do is send them a letter that says that you know that your fence allows then access to your property (6 inches?) and that you not only don't mind, you give them permission to walk on it for now. That takes away both the Adverse and Exclusive elements. Title companies won't insure against "discrepancies in boundary lines" anyway. In fact, they really don't insure much of anything and certainly not any real risks.
 
UPDATE

I followed the advice of the horn fans members and it could not have gone any better. I had to talk to three neighbors whom I share the fence with, and they were all as nice as could be. I feel so much better doing it this way, so thanks to everyone who shared their two cents. Posts are going in tomorrow and it should be complete by Friday.
hookem.gif
 
We are going through the same thing-we are going to replace the fence, trying to decide on a good design. One neighbor is willing to help, probably with some labor, he is a home handyman type, and the other side is a rental, so we are just going to replace it where it now stands. I will inform the tenants, but I think they will like a nicer looking fence, shouldn't be a problem.
 
You are right, Summer of 79, but they did rebuild their backyard fence one foot inside the old remaining fence just recently, without asking me about it. It doesn't seem like there would be an objection to me replacing the fence along the existing line.
 
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