Neighbor installing fence utilizing part of mine

[madscotsman]

I have been in my neighborhood for almost 8 years and had a 6 foot privacy fence installed the first week we were in our house. I am the last house on the corner of my street and for some reason the builder built the first house on the corner of the next side street right next to my house. That house is perpendicular to my house (from above our house's profiles would make an upside down "L" shape with about 25' between the long (my house) and short (neighbors) pieces of the "L". The side of my house, outside my fence, is their very small (maybe 15 feet from their house to my fence) back yard, but they have a huge side yard if that makes sense. They have 3 large dogs that they just let run and crap everywhere and approached me letting me know they wanted to put in a 4' fence. They do not keep up their yard, do not pick up their dog's crap when they go on the sidewalks, and I often have to trim their weeds out of my fence from the inside since I can't mow the outside of fence anymore (The previous owners put a garden in right against the outside of my fence that runs about 50' along my fence which these new owners have let become overrun with weeds). I told them I was OK with them putting in the fence (what choice do I have), but didn't really want them to tie into my fence so their fence company put the end posts right next to mine. I also told them that I would need access to the outside of my fence in the future if/when I need to power wash and reseal it, or might have to temporarily remove and pay to replace the front part of the fence next summer of we decide to get a pool, which they agreed to. My concern is that I will no longer have open access to the outside of that 75' run of my fence (It is probably 6" inside my property line, I willingly gave up access that 6" when the previous owners installed their garden as it would have been a hassle to try to mow), and I don't want the neighbors tearing up the outside of my fence since it will be the entire back side of their fence. My wife and I argued about me not asking them to pay half the cost of that run of fence and my argument was that if they paid for it, they could let their dogs destroy that side, shoot arrows into it, ...etc, since they would basically own it.
I know it is a blessing that their dogs will be contained now, but I'm wondering if I should tell them to enclose their yard with their fence leaving the 6" gap between the 2 fences (I would definitely be responsible for weeding/cutting it as they just don't care, but this would also absolutely prevent me from being able to access the outside of my fence. Just wondering if anyone else has gone through this and if they have any insight. It's driving me a little crazy because I am OCD about my yard and house upkeep on the outside just like my car (Murphy's law, the Clampetts move in next door...), and the neighbors fence company just put the posts in yesterday evening.

 

[Rct851]

Initial response is hell no

 

[sleek98]

Mountain out of a mole hill. That is the way that every fence company puts it up, they tie into what is already there. When you put your fence 6" back you gave it up, couple feet it would be a different story. Also how are you going to cut the grass without going onto their property? 6" is not much room.

How are they going to put a fence up 6" away from yours? The nail gun is bigger than that.

 

[black92]

I am in a similar spot as I have a 6' privacy fence and my neighbor behind me tied into mine with a 4' fence. Main thing that sucks is he doesn't trim along the fence, so I always have weeds/grass sticking through. I jumped his fence two weeks ago and finally trimmed it all down in hopes of him seeing that and he'll continue which I doubt he will.

Personally, let them tie into your fence and work something out that if any damages happen to your fence they'll have to cover it. If you need to jump back there to powerwash/restain, just give them a heads up and I'm sure they'll more than comply with you.

 

[madscotsman]

Mountain out of a mole hill. That is the way that every fence company puts it up, they tie into what is already there. When you put your fence 6" back you gave it up, couple feet it would be a different story. Also how are you going to cut the grass without going onto their property? 6" is not much room.

How are they going to put a fence up 6" away from yours? The nail gun is bigger than that.

Yea, I wasn't concerned about the 6". I used to mow just one mower width outside the fence until the old neighbors put in the garden. I'm more concerned about the outside of my fence getting tore up/or dug under by them because of their lackadaisical attitude currently toward their yard and dogs. I am under the impression that this fence is not just to contain their dogs when they let them out, but more of a way to leave the dogs out all day and not have to worry about tying them up. We have a small dog and their dogs run to the fence and try to stick their heads under it if they are out at the same time. Right now I CAN walk through their weed patch/garden and trim weeds/plants growing through my fence from their side when I mow the outside perimeter of my fence. Was just wondering if most on here thought a verbal agreement for them to repair any damage and to allow me future access was enough, or if I needed to try to come up with something requiring signatures, based on others' similar experiences. When my wife and I took our daily walk yesterday we saw only one shared fence in our neighborhood, all the others had two fences right next to each other (few inches apart), or a wide enough space for a mower to get between. Thanks for all the replies ...

 

[Blackness03]

tldr

 

[Never_Enough]

All this over 6"?

 

[jbs$]

Is the fence on the property line? If so, I suspect that they are in their full rights. As others have stated "mountain out of a mole hill".

 

[HISSMAN]

Nothing you can do about it. Butting up to an existing fence is pretty much SOP.

 

[GT Premi]

As stated, fence builders always butt against or tie into neighboring fences, unless there is a huge setback from the property line. We got the yard fenced at our previous house and the installer tied in with the neighbor's fence. We later had our fence weather stained, and they also cleaned and stained the part of the neighbor's fence that was "enclosed" in our yard.

OP, you don't get to see that side of your fence. They do. Whatever upkeep they do to theirs, I'm sure they'll apply the same to that side of your fence. Unless they actually damage your fence, you really have no cause for concern. You gave up 6" of your property to the previous owners. You can't take it back now unless it was expressly written in the real estate contract when the new neighbors bought the house. Just relax and don't worry about it. If they do damage your fence, then you can sue them for damages/repair.

 

[Black2010]

I wouldn't worry about it. If your true concern is their dogs digging under the fence or messing things up than rather than talking to them about putting up another fence that is 6" away from yours you should talk to them about that concern. Tell them what you have seen (polity) and what you are concerned about and see if they have any suggestions to help prevent that from happening.

Their are a lot of ways to help prevent dogs from digging under fences or messing them up. Easiest way is to put in an electric fence wire at the bottom of it.

 

[rotor_powerd]

That would piss me off and eat away at me too, but it doesn't sound like there's much you can do about it. Things like this are exactly why I'm glad I don't live close to other people, I would be out of my mind.

 

[Screw-Rice]

Here it is common to have a shared fence, to avoid the hassle of a 6" gap. I am assuming their side of the fence is the unfinished side (visible post, no slats) Why not have them finish that side of the fence. You'll still have a small gap between their slats and yours.

However if two fences is the plan, put in a few layers of weed mat and rock in that gap. Make it low maintenance.

 

[madscotsman]

Here it is common to have a shared fence, to avoid the hassle of a 6" gap. I am assuming their side of the fence is the unfinished side (visible post, no slats) Why not have them finish that side of the fence. You'll still have a small gap between their slats and yours.

However if two fences is the plan, put in a few layers of weed mat and rock in that gap. Make it low maintenance.

My fence is a 6' shadow box design so it looks the same on both sides. The horizontal support posts are centered in each post and "doweled" down on each end so they plug into 3" holes drilled through the 6" square fence posts. They are installing a 4' privacy fence. I'll just keep my fingers crossed that their dogs don't try to dig under or through the fence to get my dog and that they don't decide to start doing archery practice against it... I really just wonder if I have ANY say as to what they can do to it since it is mine and on my property. In other words can they hang stuff on it, lean stuff against it... I spent around 6K on it and don't want to have to replace/repair it prematurely. Oh well FWPs.....

 

[smitty2919]

Hmm...well you came back 6" from your line, I believe technically you are responsible for the upkeep of your fence. That said 6" is not enough and the fact that you need to enter a neighbors yard to do so.

IMO, I would try not to piss anyone off and ask he keeps up with his yard/side of the fence to avoid weeds. I don't see that you have much choice unless you redo you fence 2' inboard of your property line and make sure he builds a fence ON his line so you have access to it. In which case you just forced him to spend a lot more money...which I doubt will go over well.

OR since you are 6" inboard, go on the other side of the fence ans spray weed killer (it is YOUR property)...it will leave a ugly ass yellow strip of grass from HIS view and you won't need to trim

 

[motoman991]

Hmm...well you came back 6" from your line, I believe technically you are responsible for the upkeep of your fence. That said 6" is not enough and the fact that you need to enter a neighbors yard to do so.

IMO, I would try not to piss anyone off and ask he keeps up with his yard/side of the fence to avoid weeds. I don't see that you have much choice unless you redo you fence 2' inboard of your property line and make sure he builds a fence ON his line so you have access to it. In which case you just forced him to spend a lot more money...which I doubt will go over well.

OR since you are 6" inboard, go on the other side of the fence ans spray weed killer (it is YOUR property)...it will leave a ugly ass yellow strip of grass from HIS view and you won't need to trim

I was going to say something similar to this, but I was going to suggest using motor oil lol. Kill everything that grows in that area.

 

[ford fanatic]

This is one of many reasons I built on a 40 acre lot, I hate neighbors. Good luck.

 

[HISSMAN]

Now take down your section of fence that butts up against theirs. See how long it takes for them to fill in the gap. Think of it as a sociology experiment.