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It depends on the region. Where I live, homeowners aren't required to put the good side facing towards the neighbors.
There's no unofficial or official "good neighbor/bad neighbor" rule with regards to how the fence is facing.
It's not about the good side facing the neighbor, it's about whether you want to keep someone in or out of your property.
Always put the boards, link, planks, etc. on the outside to make it harder to break in. Of course if they really wanted to get in they would just jump over the fence.
I'm guessing the unofficial rule exists. Just the "some" choose to ignore it.
It's not "some." It's like 50/50 around here. Some fences are better for it than others.
I live in a region where people are very tollerant of each other. We're very into personal liberty here.
Quote:
Originally Posted by bustaduke
It's not about the good side facing the neighbor, it's about whether you want to keep someone in or out of your property.
Always put the boards, link, planks, etc. on the outside to make it harder to break in. Of course if they really wanted to get in they would just jump over the fence.
We're talking privacy fences in this thread, not security fences. Regardless, I'm not trying to keep anyone off my property. I don't really understand the concept.
In some jurisdictions it is in fact about the "good" side facing the neighbor. For instance where I live now - the "good" side must face out, as well as where I lived previously in MI.
And a security fence - for keeping people out - is usually not an attractive fence anyway. Attractive/decorative fences are usually more for keeping your family (children/dogs) inside, and to stop minor trespassing (children cutting across your lot to get to a park)...
In some jurisdictions it is in fact about the "good" side facing the neighbor. For instance where I live now - the "good" side must face out, as well as where I lived previously in MI.
I acknowledged that. I merely pointing out that it doesn't apply everywhere. Someone asked how to know if a fence was his or not.
It would be a shame for him to go by the "good side facing the neighbor" if that's not the case in his region. What if he tore it down and it wasn't his? LOL
Generally, by how the fence was installed. If the "good" side is toward you, it's your neighbor's fence. If the horizontal support rails are facing your yard, it's your fence.
Plenty of F/U fences around here, some to the point of offense (no pun intended) by their sheer ugliness. The only thing to be done is go to the trouble and expense to cover the other side.
As for the original premise, asking others to chip in for something that an individual solely wants? Seems to be the new American way. I am constantly amazed by what people are able to talk themselves into under the guise of fairness.
Re: "good side of fence" and ordinances. I assume the OP is in fact checking with their local juridiction and complying with whatever restrictions or regulations before undertaking this project??
That way you will know whether you have a "good side" out restriction or not. Where you must be in relation to the property line, etc...
Plenty of F/U fences around here, some to the point of offense (no pun intended) by their sheer ugliness. The only thing to be done is go to the trouble and expense to cover the other side.
That's not an option if the fence is on the neighbor's property. You can't change it without the owner's permission.
And it's unlikely you'll get permission if the fence was purposely installed with F/U intentions.
That's why there are so many fences built right next to fences.
havent read all the posts but in terms fo the origional question ...
YOU want the fence...YOU pay for it...
if all the neighbors are plannng on putting in privicy fence too then sure discussi it and splt the cost of the pannels adjoingn the properties (asking neighbor # 1 to pay for a stretch not bordering their proeprty would be ridiculous in my opinion so if its going to take 2 boards to partition that part of the property then they could then share the cost of those 2 pannels ect...)
but if they are not interested in putting up a fence, then NO...your the one that wants it, so your the one that needs to put up the cost...sorry...
not to mention, what if neighbor number 1 wants a white fence and neightbor # 2 wants a dark fence and neighbor #3 wants a picket fence and neighbor #4 is only willing to pay towards it if you put in vinyl, ect....
personally id suck it up, get your property line arked if not already and get the fence YOU want on YOUR dime, that way noone can complain that its not what they wanted, not what they paid for or why their paying for 1/5the fence when only 1 or 2 fence pannels border their property.
mean i think of my own house with this question, we have a fence because we have dogs, we wanted it we put it in...plain and simple...
I can tell you for nothing, if one of our neghbors came up to us and said they were going to tear down our fence bordering their property and put up a privicy fence AND we needed to pay 1/2 the cost...you can bet we wouldnt be on good terms with that neighbor anymore LOL!, dont like our fence thats fine, either put your fence up on the other side of our fence to hide our fence, or replace that stratch of fence yourself...but were not paying for it...
havent read all the posts but in terms fo the origional question ...
YOU want the fence...YOU pay for it...
if all the neighbors are plannng on putting in privicy fence too then sure discussi it and splt the cost of the pannels adjoingn the properties (asking neighbor # 1 to pay for a stretch not bordering their proeprty would be ridiculous in my opinion so if its going to take 2 boards to partition that part of the property then they could then share the cost of those 2 pannels ect...)
but if they are not interested in putting up a fence, then NO...your the one that wants it, so your the one that needs to put up the cost...sorry...
not to mention, what if neighbor number 1 wants a white fence and neightbor # 2 wants a dark fence and neighbor #3 wants a picket fence and neighbor #4 is only willing to pay towards it if you put in vinyl, ect....
personally id suck it up, get your property line arked if not already and get the fence YOU want on YOUR dime, that way noone can complain that its not what they wanted, not what they paid for or why their paying for 1/5the fence when only 1 or 2 fence pannels border their property.
mean i think of my own house with this question, we have a fence because we have dogs, we wanted it we put it in...plain and simple...
I can tell you for nothing, if one of our neghbors came up to us and said they were going to tear down our fence bordering their property and put up a privicy fence AND we needed to pay 1/2 the cost...you can bet we wouldnt be on good terms with that neighbor anymore LOL!, dont like our fence thats fine, either put your fence up on the other side of our fence to hide our fence, or replace that stratch of fence yourself...but were not paying for it...
this is what I'm going through right now with the neighbor to my left. I bought my house couple of years ago and the fence was already up along both sides and back. The fence is fine, seems to be in excellent shape. Neighbor to the right has informed me he is getting estimates to replace the fence on that side. Asked if I am going to pay my half I told him (A)no as I don't have the moeny to spend on replacing a perfectly good fence (B) he can go for it and do whatever he wants as long as he can afford it.
I honestly thought ALL the fencing was mine as the fence along the back looks as though it were put in so as to accommadate the retaining wall in the back and also because I'm the one with a gate on both side that are attached to the fence. Neither neighbor(left or right) have a gate -just me.
We're talking privacy fences in this thread, not security fences.
We're talking privacy fences, too. Picture the inside of a typical stockade fence. It has horizontal rails. If those rails face away from your property (the "bad" side toward your neighbor), someone could use those rails to climb over the fence and into your yard.
If the "good" side faces away from your property, there's nothing for anyone to climb on, therefore making it more difficult for someone to climb the fence and get into your yard.
In some areas, facing the "good" side away from your property is part of the municipal code; in others, it's just a common, friendly custom probably born out of a combination of safety and aesthetics.
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I told him (A)no as I don't have the moeny to spend on replacing a perfectly good fence (B) he can go for it and do whatever he wants as long as he can afford it.
