NF Building a fence

[Tinman]

I bought a new house in the fall, and noticed the fence in rough shape, think it is at least 20 years, notice the neighbor or formor owner has use wire in several spots to hold it up. Over the winter one section has fallen down and been put back up, but it looks rather unsafe. Being a new homeowner, who pays for the fence, is it split between neighbors or is it up to one person?

[Fisherman]

All depends if it was installed on the property line or inwards on your own land. The last guy that tried to attach his junk to mine found out very quickly, my fence on my property with my cash.

[cheaptackle]

First you need to determine who owns the fence. If it's even one inch inside your property line, it's yours (on the line, you share & over the line it's theirs). Technically, that means you bear all costs unless the neighbour wishes to participate. If you can locate the survey stakes this will help, otherwise a surveyor will be needed to determine exactly where the property line is. As it is a recent purchase you should have received a plan of survey when you bought the house that may help as well. It would also be good if you could determine who put up the existing.

In MOST circumstances it should be a shared fence, meaning split costs. But don't expect that to be the case without verifying.

It wouldn't hurt to "feel out" the neighbour & see where their thoughts might lie. Could be they are as ready as you are to rip it down & put up a new one. Cooperation is always best!

 

Michael

[irishfield]

http://www.mah.gov.on.ca/Page2106.aspx

 

and http://www.e-laws.gov.on.ca/navigation?file=home&lang=en

 

has all the documents you need under the line fences act. Type Line Fences Act into the search window and hit go..

Edited March 13, 2010 by irishfield

[fishing n autograph]

Your neighbour has to pay for the equivalent of a 4 foot chain link fence and you havwe to put the nice side facing your neighbours property.

 

But if there's already a fence and you're willing to rebuild it I doubt you'll have problems

[misfish]

It,s things like this, that makes me so pissed..

 

 

Talk to yer neighbour ,get to know him(filtered try again please chat and a beer,if he dont drink beers have a coke).Get the job done peacefully.Ya ,some are pricks.Then you have to get into the bylaw thing.Like ,you pay,build ,then they (the city)put it on their taxs.

 

It,s a bloody fence.

I had a neighbour ,a great neighbour.We Had a gate built into the fence between our proprties, so we could get into each yards to check out the property when either one of our family was away.

 

Guess we were lucky to have great neighbours.

[pikehunter]

I was under the assumption that the cost is to be shared, I could be wrong though. I do know that my neighbour at the back needed a new fence because of their pool. He had a contractor come in and build a fence that is at least 6' high all around the 3 sides of his back yard. Fortunately he never asked for a dime. Did a really nice job of it too....really nice I can't complain one little bit even if I didn't like it because I can't beat the price!

 

However he put 2 new prefab sheds in his yard and both are about 3" from the fence and they are supposed to be 18" from it. Too bad they were built so close as there is no way for him to control the weeds so I will have to battle with them...still can't complain though and I don;t want to make an enemy by expressing my minor concern to him or city hall.

 

Better for you to check with city hall and get it right from the horses mouth.

[Dara]

You could start by asking your real estate agent to ask the previous owner who owns the fence.

If you do then great. If you want to share it with your neighbor you could ask him to share the cost. It seems your neighbor is maintaining it somewhat since somebody put a section back up during the winter.

Get along with your neighbors if you can. Have a filtered try again please chat about it. Fences do make good neighbors.

 

I own all 3 sides of mine and am moving to a new subdivision and the first thing I am doing is fencing it.

 

PS my house is up for sale now with part of the reason being a neighbor with no regard for other people.

[Terry]

good fences makes good neighbours

[misfish]

I own all 3 sides of mine and am moving to a new subdivision and the first thing I am doing is fencing it.

 

If you do,make sure like said,good side on yer neighbors side.Weather it be on yer property or his.

Yer best bet is to go with the sloted 2x4,s with the 5/8 x 5.5 panels.That way,you both have the perfect finish sides.HAPPY HAPPY ,BOTH SIDES.

[Dara]

If you do,make sure like said,good side on yer neighbors side.Weather it be on yer property or his.

Yer best bet is to go with the sloted 2x4,s with the 5/8 x 5.5 panels.That way,you both have the perfect finish sides.HAPPY HAPPY ,BOTH SIDES.

 

 

I build from scratch and i just put alternating boards one side and the other..both look the same. The first one I did was a weave with 16' boards horrizontal but its too easy to climb.

I also like the security of a 5 or 6' high fence...I have 5 now and had always planned to put a foot of lattice at the top but could never part with the money

[uglyfish]

just talk to ur neighbor. express ur concerns for the fence, and ask if he would like to split the costs on a new one. if not, for whatever reason they may have, then just do it urself if u feel it should be replaced. we have lived next to our neighbors for 24 years, and we've put up 2 fences in that time. we split the costs for materials. the first time they did the labor, the second time we did the labor.

[gdelongchamp]

We lived in our house for about 8 years. Our neighbour was a little old lady who lived by herself.

 

The fence between us was a mish mash of chain link, chicken wire, shrubs, a shed and a rock wall and larger trees all connected together. Not designed to keep dogs in or out but impassible for children. I had already re-built two sides of the fence of the back yard. I decided to rip out this last section of collection of fences to replace it with a new one. She didn't have a problem with it. However when I ripped it out, all of her children came out of the woodwork and were seen walking the property line checking the location of the old fence and the holes I dug for the new fence and talking surverys. To myself I said, "Uh oh!"

 

I inquired about the cost of a survey to locate the prop line and the cost quoted to me was in in the area of of $3,000!!! Way more than the $600 in materials required. So I pulled out my surveyor's tape from the shed, a leftover tape from my days as an underground supervisor ( we were measuring work headings on a daily basis as the engineers only made it in once or twice a month) made a big show of locating what pegs were available from adjoining properties and measured off to about 4" give or take to where the line should be and built the entire fence 6" inside that line. And if the children of the neighbour wished to dispute it they could hire and pay for a survey and most likely discover that the fence is well within my property.

[BUSTER]

Your neighbour has to pay for the equivalent of a 4 foot chain link fence and you havwe to put the nice side facing your neighbours property.

 

But if there's already a fence and you're willing to rebuild it I doubt you'll have problems

 

you can make your neighbour pay up to HALF the cost of a 4ft chain link fence

[Daplumma]

In the country,ownership and repairs were explained to me by the old farmer next door.Face the common fence,divide it in half,you are responsable for the half on the right.However,if you have animals that you are trying to keep in and the neighbor has none then you pretty much take care of the fance yourself.

Joe

[lew]

That's one thing that I really like since moving here to the country, is the fact that there AREN'T any fences anywhere, nobody on this entire road has one infact.

 

Kinda nice not having that big wooden box surrounding everyones property

[bigugli]

Most large municipalities also have a collection of bylaws pertaining to fences and no two towns are the same. There are rules about height, setbacks, permitted materials, etc... you must do the homework. I put up a series of fences for 3 homeowners in a new subdivision who insisted on a 6' fence. A week after completion I was called back to chop a foot off. Building inspector saw the fences and threw a fit.

[JohnF]

Sometimes, if the house has been built in the 35 years or so, you might receive a drawing variously called a site plan or plot plan. What it really is is a graphical depiction of the location of the house relative to the true property lines and is often confused with the survey. So, even if you can't locate any survey stakes or monuments showing the property corners you should be able to rely on the dimensions showing the distances from the structure to the lot line. Make a couple of marks on the ground using these dimensions and shoot extended lines across them. This will fairly accurately mark your lot perimeter.

 

I generally suggest to homeowners that they talk to the neighbours before building a fence. If it's a fence that will benefit both of you the neighbour may agree to share the cost. If the neighbour is a bit of a knob and knows you're over a barrel he might leave you to bear the cost. That's when you mention some really butt ugly style you intend to use if you're paying yerself. He might not be able to run the bluff then.

 

The other benefit of talking to the neighbour is that between you you'll probably come up with a reasonably accurate idea of lot lines and it might even work in your favour later if he takes exception to where your fence is located.

 

I'm not aware of any standard municipal ordinance requiring residential neighbours to share the cost of any minimum type of fencing but there may be local covenants in effect. Arguably if a fence becomes a hazard and is located on the neighbour's land you might be able to force them to repair or replace it. Of course, if they don't really care about the fence they may just remove it and there will be nothing.

 

JF

[Tybo]

Nice Fish!

[Cookslav]

Keep it simple,

If you want to replace it...just ask the neighbor if he wants to split the cost.

 

If he says no you have a few choices.

-Build it on your own, on your property, on your dime.

-If its unsafe, and its yours(not his) tear it down, and let him deal with no fence for year...see if he changes his tune?

-if its his fence, and he feels its fine, and you think its unsafe...call the municipality and let them sort it out.

 

Simple thing to do is ask the neigbor.

Chances are he'll see it needs fixing and help

[Tinman]

Thanks for the advice guys!

Edited March 14, 2010 by Tinman