Shared fence contract...

[Brittany1116]

Casually interested in the prospect of sharing a single fence line with new neighbors vs rebuilding solo and them building alongside. Anyone have a contract like this? Shared maintenance and expense for natural disaster, responsible party for pet or child damage pays on own, etc?

[Katy]

You should consult a local attorney or at the very least real estate agent. Fence laws have been different in every state we’ve lived in, and some cities have their own rules.

Where we currently live backyard fences can go on the border of the property except on corner lots where there are setback rules. Only the person putting them up pays for them and their maintenance, and pays for a survey for where to put them. Then where the fence is becomes the property line after something like 20 years. 

We just went through this, found our property is about 5’ into what appears to be our neighbor’s yard, and chose to put the fence line where the sod type changes instead. In 20 years that portion of the yard will become theirs legally, but we’d rather that than destroy their beautiful landscaping. 

[Brittany1116]

If it helps, the 6' easement has been legally split, steel rods in ground marking property line. There can be zero new construction in the area/down the road because of how the parcels have been split, so fence in question could only ever be disputed by future owners of his house or mine if one no longer wanted to share a fence. The only other options are 2 fences butted up to eachother with weeds growing through the cracks, or one of us replacing and the other "tied in", which sounds messier to both of us. 

Edited November 25, 2022 by Brittany1116

[Jean in Newcastle]

We just talked with our neighbors.  Agreed to put it right on the property line (which is not in dispute).  For one neighbor we paid half of the cost of materials and dh and the neighbor worked together to put it up.  For the other neighbor he paid all of the cost of the materials because we agreed that dh and I would do all the labor.  No actual contract.  If it gets damaged etc. we will just talk to them again about how to fix it. 

[Pawz4me]

19 minutes ago, Jean in Newcastle said:

We just talked with our neighbors.  Agreed to put it right on the property line (which is not in dispute).  For one neighbor we paid half of the cost of materials and dh and the neighbor worked together to put it up.  For the other neighbor he paid all of the cost of the materials because we agreed that dh and I would do all the labor.  No actual contract.  If it gets damaged etc. we will just talk to them again about how to fix it. 

That's sort of what we've done here, although our situation has been with repairs, not original installation. Our house shares a fence with our side neighbor and our back neighbor. None of us are the original homeowners and other than sighting down the property lines where we can find stakes and more or less guessing, nobody really knows who the shared fences belong to or if they are truly on the property lines and shared. Thankfully we all get along well, so things have just kind of worked out over the six years that we've lived here. The next door neighbor did some repairs and said "don't worry, I've got this." And we had some rails replaced and told our back neighbor "Don't worry, we've got this." Now, would I be a little bit happier having something in writing? Yes, I would. But so far it's worked out okay. And at our previous house we did the same thing--we had an existing fence and the back neighbor asked if he could tie into it and we just said "sure, whatever helps you out and makes sense."

Edited November 25, 2022 by Pawz4me

[KungFuPanda]

Where I live, the first person that puts up a fence chooses the style. The fence can go on the property line. If the neighbor wants to fence in their yard, they’d only pay for the other three sides of the same type fence. We have height restrictions so most fencing in our neighborhood is split rail with a wire lining that’s mostly invisible. I only maintain my side of the fence. 

[Brittany1116]

These are interesting perspectives. It would FURTHER clarify the situation if I explained we have nearly 200 linear feet that is my backyard and his side yard. Our fence is old and in need of replacement in the next year, two TOPS. He just bought the brand new house next door and wants privacy but also a prettier option. I don't blame him at all. The cost split that he is proposing based on his spot quote from the home builder would save us atleast 1500$ on that span alone. I told him I wanna see it in writing because the number was shocking, and he said the builder was sitting on materials and basically offering free installation if he could recoup material cost.

He has a new baby and a large dog, we have two kids and yard chickens whose part of the yard requires that fence line. He is brand new to the US from PR and there were a few words we had to clarify. I asked many questions to be sure we were even starting the discussion on the same because he originally said the builder offered HIM a cheap replacement of what is obviously MY fence, a foot to my side of the clear corner markers. I met the builder as the house was going up specifically about markers in relation to my fence because one of his guys moved the markers twice. We have since established the legal markers and they are not in dispute with this neighbor. 

[Brittany1116]

Also, no HOA or restrictions on what type of fence. Whatever we agree on is fine. We have our back half fenced in and will replace the same. He will fence his entire perimeter.  

Others on the street have decorative garden fences or horse fences. It's a mishmash of 7 minimum spec houses by 3 builders that all went in different times in the last 15 years. No space left for any new builds. 

Edited November 25, 2022 by Brittany1116

[Farrar]

We have shared fences in our backyard. There's no contract. There's something about how the fence is built that makes it legally yours or theirs - if the posts are on your side, it's yours. I replaced a fence that was there and just used the exact same post holes so there could be no doubt. I actually told the neighbors when they moved in, by the way, that's your fence. This other side belongs to us, but that stretch is yours. They were like, oh, good to know. And promptly made changes to it, lol. But that was fine.

[Halftime Hope]

It really depends on your HOA, if you have one, or any municipal code...if you have one. Our HOA even specifies which side has the fenceposts! 😄

In our case, we have a neighbor in the back who has happily split costs and labor with us on a shared back fence. (We went the extra mile and paid more out of pocket ourselves, for the flat steel fence posts so he wouldn't have to look at the old round/brackety ones, so we won his friendship.) He is younger, first gen immigrant, and he has appreciated learning DIY skills from my husband, so it's been mutually beneficial for us, and we like them as neighbors.

On the other side we have a neighbor who is very neglectful of his yard and home, so we asked him if we could split material costs and we'd do all the labor. Getting him to cooperate and getting the good cedar fence we wanted was SO worth shouldering more of the shared labor, even though the HOA specifies it is a jointly owned fence. We're grateful to have finessed that one.

And we're glad to live on a corner, and only have two neighbors.

Maybe write the contract with the contractor, with both you and your neighbor as equal clients, just like you would if you were hiring work done by a contractor yourself.

 

 

[Halftime Hope]

1 hour ago, Brittany1116 said:

These are interesting perspectives. It would FURTHER clarify the situation if I explained we have nearly 200 linear feet that is my backyard and his side yard. Our fence is old and in need of replacement in the next year, two TOPS. He just bought the brand new house next door and wants privacy but also a prettier option. I don't blame him at all. The cost split that he is proposing based on his spot quote from the home builder would save us atleast 1500$ on that span alone. I told him I wanna see it in writing because the number was shocking, and he said the builder was sitting on materials and basically offering free installation if he could recoup material cost.

He has a new baby and a large dog, we have two kids and yard chickens whose part of the yard requires that fence line. He is brand new to the US from PR and there were a few words we had to clarify. I asked many questions to be sure we were even starting the discussion on the same because he originally said the builder offered HIM a cheap replacement of what is obviously MY fence, a foot to my side of the clear corner markers. I met the builder as the house was going up specifically about markers in relation to my fence because one of his guys moved the markers twice. We have since established the legal markers and they are not in dispute with this neighbor. 

This really sounds like you 1) need a couple of quotes from other contractors on a fence so you know if it is a reasonable offer, and 2) if there is any doubt about the legal markers, be sure that is settled, and 3) be absolutely sure your contract specifies the quality of the materials and the exact method used to set the fence posts. (Beware improperly set fenceposts.)

[Brittany1116]

1 hour ago, Halftime Hope said:

This really sounds like you 1) need a couple of quotes from other contractors on a fence so you know if it is a reasonable offer, and 2) if there is any doubt about the legal markers, be sure that is settled, and 3) be absolutely sure your contract specifies the quality of the materials and the exact method used to set the fence posts. (Beware improperly set fenceposts.)

Good points. The quote he got is more than reasonable in this market. We have recently run numbers for various materials for our own purposes. I am just curious to hear if he heard right and can get it in writing. He mentioned having me confirm corners with him if we didn't want to go in together on the line, and seemed to defer to me on that. We have verified that the markers are on the legal drilled-in iron rods so that is good. Good reminder on the posts- when our original fence went in, they only cemented in every other post. In Florida, that's not enough. We learned too late.

[Halftime Hope]

3 hours ago, Brittany1116 said:

Good points. The quote he got is more than reasonable in this market. We have recently run numbers for various materials for our own purposes. I am just curious to hear if he heard right and can get it in writing. He mentioned having me confirm corners with him if we didn't want to go in together on the line, and seemed to defer to me on that. We have verified that the markers are on the legal drilled-in iron rods so that is good. Good reminder on the posts- when our original fence went in, they only cemented in every other post. In Florida, that's not enough. We learned too late.

Every other post? Yikes. I don't think that's up to code for anywhere that has municipal code.

When we were setting our posts, after digging out the prior owner's rotten wooden posts in big heavy concrete plugs (sheesh), we replaced them with galv steel posts, the heavier kind even though thinner were allowed. I asked our then teens if they ever wanted to "help us" re-do the posts again, because the next time we'd definitely not be physically capable of the physical labor. 😉 Since then we've replaced the panels once, this last time with wonderful dipped cedar. (The pine panels didn't last in our heat even with the good penetrating epoxy sealant. We'll upkeep the ReadySeal religiously, because that's what seems to work best in our region.)

I tell you this detail so that your fences will last as long as possible. If you have the option, buy the best materials to being with. It's a big job, just to have to redo it in 5 years. Sigh. (My goal is to move into assisted living before we have to replace this fence again. LOL!)

[Laura Corin]

In Scotland,  where records can be vague - some properties aren't even registered, if they haven't passed outside a family for generations - walls are built with a niche on the side of the property that owns the wall. We own all our walls.

The next door farmer puts up a temporary electric fence though, inside his property, when he grazes his cattle, otherwise the cows might well demolish the old walls just by leaning on them.