Random fence question

[Mommy Of A Little Angel]

I did not grow up with fences so this is all new to me! The neighbors on either side both have fences. We have small, cookie-cutter plots of land. If I want to put up a fence, do I need to also put it up along the sides or can I connect to theirs and essential just do the back? Or do I need to put up a fence right against theirs? I hope this makes sense!

Thanks!

[Octobermommy]

You can just connect to theirs. A lot of times if neighbors don't have fences and want one up they can share the cost. But you can put it up on your property without a problem. Just make sure it is on your property.

[rlu]

Couple of things to add to PP, consider how old the other fences are. Is it time for those to be redone - I'm thinking discount if you give the contractor more work. Also, do you have neighbors behind you where you are putting the fence. If you put it on the property line, would they be willing to go halvies?

Here the city law generally covers fences or purposely doesn't leaving people to work it out themselves. I'm presuming no HOA where you live.

[daniele_ut]

You actually need permission from both neighbors to connect to their fences, but yes it can be done.

[crl]

I think legally it's going to depend on where you are located and whose property the fences are actually on--which may not be all that clear. Your plat should show what your surveyor thought when you bought the property. But that may or may not mesh with what your neighbors' plats show.

Assuming you don't have any problems with your neighbors, I think the best thing would be for you to talk with them about your plans.

Catherine

[o_mom]

It depends on where their fence is relative to the property line. When we put ours in, the one neighbor was like 3 inches off the line and we actually could set the corner posts entirely on our property and still enclose the area (the gap on one corner was less than the space between fence rails and the other one they made a floating piece to fill.

On the other side, the fence abutting part of our line was 12 inches off the line and we had to come 12" into ours because of trees on the line. What we did there was set the corner posts as if we were putting the fence 12 inches in our property, but then hung what they called a 'dummy panel' between their corner and ours, with the neighbor's permission. This way there wasn't a 2 foot corridor between the fences to maintain, but if they ever take down their fence, we can just have fence set between the two corners.

So, it all depends on where the fence is relative to the property line and how your neighbors' feel. Most times, you can share the fence line, but the fence is owned by one person or the other.