What did you do to provide backyard privacy? (Texas, sold, replace)
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Bought my first house in Jacksonville Oregon 1975 and it backed up to a mobile home park, with 4 trailers up against the back of my lot and several more in view with just a hogwire fence and mud in between. I put up a cedar fence about 15 feet from the back sliding door and planted a lot of cheap (they were $.99 each at the time) trees and shrubs where I thought they would do well. After about 3 years I took down the fence, had complete privacy. Worked out great since the mobiles were full of geezers and I was a hippie pothead.
We moved. Got tired of whispering every time we went in the back yard so the neighbors couldn't hear our convos and we got tired of hearing all their convos, especially the lady directly behind us who would literally come out on her back deck every 30 minutes to smoke, slam her back door and talk loudly on her cell phone.
I just had a neighbor build a brand new house next to mine. He built it as close to mine as code would allow, and he graded his yard so he can see right over my privacy fence. Both are retired and outside all the time, and when they are inside they are in their sunroom that sits right next to my home. They can see everything I do in my backyard and it really pi**es me off. I guess I should be a nice neighbor to them but I refuse to talk to them over my fence. I never look into their yard or make eye contact, because I'm pi**ed I no longer have any privacy. I don't give a damn if they like it.
It must be a regional/cultural difference. In the area I grew up in every house had a fence or wall around the backyard, many of them 6-8 feet tall. I recently moved to the Midwest and many HOAs prohibit any type of fencing. I bought a house with no HOA and immediately installed a 6 foot tall privacy fence the most that local code allows. In the span of a few weeks, I had three neighbors come talk to me about my fence - they were all at various levels of pissed off. They all accused me of ruining the neighborhood and their views - keep in mind this is a suburban tract in the middle of middle America, I am not sure what view they are referring to. My wife and I just laugh and shake our heads, we never knew that wanting privacy would be such a big deal.
This exact thing happened to us in NJ this year. We live in a 20-year-old suburban tract house in a very boring and not particularly beautiful town
I was laughing my head off, trying to see the "views" that I was blocking.
Tree "whips" that took hold a lot faster than I thought. Douglas fir in our coastal area, and spruce up here at 3,000 feet where I am now. There are no fences in our development --- just lots of spruce, fir, apple, and cherry trees.
Last edited by thedwightguy; 08-22-2017 at 11:40 AM..
Reason: miss spelled word
I planted lilac bushes and other shrubs. Around the patio facing my neighbor's house, I installed a lattice and trained clematis to grow up both sides.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
