neighbor... fence.... neighbor wants money, what would you do? (1 Viewer)

[Philip_G]

So 2 weeks into my new place and I'm gearing up to piss off the new neighbor already

The day I closed I was working on the garage and the lady next door dropped by to BS and was talking about getting a fence built and blah blah I wasn't really paying attention because I was epoxying my floor, anyway I think I said "yeah let me think about it I'll probably do that" referring to having the company doing her fence do the other side of my house.. so today the fence people show up and so does she, she's like "do you want them to do your other side?" I declined, thinking I'd wait until those people move in and hash it out with them later. Then she's like "well did you want to just write them a check or write it to me" I'm like, uh.....

so, it's not a lot of money, about 300 bucks which is cheap for 50' of cedar fencing I don't have to build, but other people I've talked to have been pretty much like screw them.

what would HTF do? My only thought aside from the way they went about it is that they're getting the "nice" side of the fence, so half probably isn't completely fair, but I do get use of a fence (on my property I might add, it's not exactly dead on the line, every inch counts )

keep in mind I'm not very "neighborly" never have been, never will be. Aside from a disgruntled wave on occasion I really don't speak to my neighbors and have no desire to.

 

[Garrett Lundy]

$300 for a fence and a happy neighbor?!?! Thats far less than the costs a crappy neighbor can cost in a month

 

[Philip_G]

oh, they're crappy neighbors anyway, but I see your point

 

[Bruce Hedtke]

If I'm reading this right, they decided to have a fence built and have you pay for it? Maybe they can decide to buy a new car and have you make the payments as well. What am I missing here?

Bruce

 

[BrettB]

He wouldn't have use of the car?

Pony up already. Don't be one of those people.

 

[David Williams]

You might try negotiating it a bit since you feel that the 'nice side' faces your neighbor, but I generally agree with Garrett... $300 is a decent price for the fencing and it keeps the peace. A happy neighbor is much more likely to call for help if you are getting burglarized/house on fire/etc.

 

[brentl]

I think you only need to pay for a chain link fence by law. Anything above that they will have to pay for.

Brent

 

[Philip_G]

Just half of it. 12.25 for a 5' cedar fencer (per foot) is a really good price too.

 

[Greg Morse]

That's an amazing price. The neighbor over here tried the same thing with myself and the guy in the unit above me. For about 25' actually paid something on the order of $1000. I kindly declined to be part of it when they showed me the estimate before work would be done. Amazingly, the next door neighbor (they were selling their place so were anxious to replace the existing fence) and the guy above me still split at that price. In your shoes, I don't know what I'd do as cordiality with the neighbors is always good, but at the same time they shouldn't give you a bill without getting an estimate and approval from you first. Damned if you do, damned if you don't. If you do pay, they might just decide on some other common beautification project, but if you don't, you're the neighborhood jerk.

As an aside, in my neck of the woods, typically the nice side of the fence is facing outwards from the property owner as a sign of respect to the neighbors. Take that for what you will.

 

[Philip_G]

I don't care, really. The neighborhood is full of rude little children and loud, annoying stay at home moms yelling at them all day. Fairly irritating when you work nights and want to sleep.

though a guy driving by was kind enough to stop and help me move something the other day, I wouldn't have expected the hand considering everyone else was standing around watching.

 

[BrettB]

Edited by poster because it seemed obnoxious and rude. Please accept my apology Philip.

 

[Henry Gale]

A dozen posts and nobody is asking about THIS?!?

Do I understand the fence is NOT on the property line, it's on YOUR property? How far in?

We need details on this Philip....this is NOT a good thing.

 

[Mark Philp]

Before you decide what to do, check with the code enforcement officer in your community, in many places it's required that the "good side" has to face out. I know somebody who put up a fence without getting a permit and the town made him take it down and turn it around because it faced the wrong way. Cost him almost as much to have that done as it did to put up in the first place.

 

[Philip_G]

interesting, never heard of that. The other thing is the HOA requires the fence match what the builder has put up between houses, well the builder used pine and painted it, they're using cedar and I'm sure won't paint. I'm torn on that seeing how I despise the HOA and also have no desire to paint a fence every year :b


the whole thing really isn't a big deal, I figured since the 8 fenceposts cost 13-15 bucks each, plus cement, an auger rental, time, more wood etc building something would cost me more than 300 just in materials and it's worth splitting it, even if she did go about it funny, but my dad and GF had a little different reaction so I thought I'd test the waters a little.

 

[Jon_Gregory]

I actually was the first to put up a fence between both of my neighbors. And my philosophy was that I wanted to own all sides of my fence outright and not deal with neighbors. I wanted to know that when the fence started to look bad and need replacing, that I could take care of it and not have to fight and deal with neighbors to get them to fix their half and pony up the money. It just seems to never work when neighbors share a fence. I paid more, but I know that my fence will always be kept up, without the hassle of neighbors involved.

 

[Philip_G]

that's probably the best way, but I'm poor :b

it's something like 1300 bucks to do both sides, while not much for fencing, it's fundage that needs to go elsewhere, like for central AC on this 91 degree day so I can sleep in peace and not listen to the construction, or the screaming kids, or the screaming moms yelling at the kids etc.

 

[Kyle McKnight]

 

[George_W_K]

Philip,


Have you tried sleeping with a fan running next to your bed? That's what we do and it keeps out all of the noises from outside, regardless of the temp outside.

I don't know what to do about the fence. Part of me would be offended about the way your neighbor went about it. Not to mention having it face the wrong way. But, the other part of me would be happy to have the fence there for a cheaper price. I'm really hung up on the fact that the fence was installed backwards, though. That seems a little arrogant in nature to me.

 

[DaveF]

I don't understand this situation at all. If my neighbor wanted build a fence, that's project, their property, and their purchase. Why would I be involved in the expense at all?

But, I've seen subdivisions in Boulder where the houses are on top of each other, and there is a (presumably) shared fence along the property line. Is this how it is for you?

 

[Philip_G]

pretty much dave, I think there's 12' between me and the neighbors. I guess we're stopping urban sprawl one house at a time these days.

Another hot one today, almost 90.