Fence…who pays?

[Hornbeliever 712]

I’ve somehow gone through various home purchases and never had to replace fence until now.

Who pays?  Is it traditionally split with neighbor or is it a game of patience to wait out your neighbor and hope they get tired of a shitty fence before you do?

[Surly Bevo 24908]

8 minutes ago, Hornbeliever said:

I’ve somehow gone through various home purchases and never had to replace fence until now.

Who pays?  Is it traditionally split with neighbor or is it a game of patience to wait out your neighbor and hope they get tired of a shitty fence before you do?

Just go talk to your neighbor.  If they give you the cold shoulder on splitting it and you feel compelled to do it yourself just make sure they get the shitty side with the posts.

Edited September 4, 2023 by Surly Bevo

[beer 3220]

determine who's property the fence is on now, whether or not the neighbor is a nice guy and is his daughter hot

[Sandman 3403]

25 years ago, the fence at my former house was shit and needed to be replaced. I went to the neighbor and said I was getting quotes and asked him if he wanted to split it. He hemmed and hawed and said something about how he was planning on replacing it himself but just hadn't had the time right now. My dogs were getting into his yard, so I said this shit can't wait, are you in or out? He got sheepish and said he was out. I had it replaced and ate the whole cost. Never cared for the guy after that.

Just a few years ago at my current house, my neighbor came over and said he was going to replace the fence himself and wanted to know if we wanted to chip in on the cost of materials. I cut him a check for half of it right then and there. Had a new fence a few days later. When the fence on the other side needed replaced, me and that neighbor got bids and split everything. No bullshitting around. 

Always ask them if they want to chip in. Worse case scenario, you get no money but find out your neighbor is kind of a dick and you can ignore him from then on.

[Hate 20106]

I approached my 3 neighbors and they all split the cost of their share with me. 

[bernorange 8359]

Make sure you agree on details if you are splitting the cost - type of wood (cedar/pine), height, facing (or alternating face sections), who is building it (diy job or insured contractor), etc.

I was going to split the cost of replacing a fence damaged by a storm years ago, but my dipshit neighbor hired some folks before we agreed to anything and the crews were trying to set posts in concrete during a downpour and then they used skinny pine planks that didn't match the rest of the cedar plank fencing literally everywhere else.  I was not going to and did not pay for that bullshit.  

[After irth 1243]

No one.  No one pays.  Even if they said they would.

People suck.

[wackawacka 177]

Approached three of my four neighbors. Awkward lot where fourth is maybe a 10 ft span so didn't approach them. The longest part of the shared fence neighbor refused to even discuss how to think about splitting the cost. Every other one was fine to split 50/50 for their side of the fence.

Still have not replaced it because longest and shared fence neighbor is an asshole so will let the fence fall down before I pay for it.

[YGIFS 19449]

We all live in different cities across Texas, but I was under the impression in most muni's (not HOA's, but muni's)...if you have a swimming pool, you are required by law to have a fence between it and your neighbors.  No?  Or at least some kinda metallic gate.  

[Catpfish 618]

I don't have to worry about fences anymore (live in the used to be country), but I must be the outlier.  I always wanted the rough side in my yard.  Makes it a lot harder for neighbor dogs to push through pickets and kids can't climb on the smooth side near as easy.  

[UTPhil2006 3805]

If your neighbor is that Akita guy from Texags he will tear it down for you 

[T-shirt Sip 2097]

On 9/3/2023 at 9:31 PM, Hornbeliever said:

I’ve somehow gone through various home purchases and never had to replace fence until now.

Who pays?  Is it traditionally split with neighbor or is it a game of patience to wait out your neighbor and hope they get tired of a shitty fence before you do?

I'm a Production Manager at a fence company in Austin so I'm able to answer your questions and give some advice. As mentioned above, you can ask the neighbors to split the cost but don't count on it. 99% of the jobs we sell are to just one buyer. Rarely do they split the cost of replacing the fence. 

On 9/3/2023 at 10:58 PM, bernorange said:

Make sure you agree on details if you are splitting the cost - type of wood (cedar/pine), height, facing (or alternating face sections), who is building it (diy job or insured contractor), etc.

I was going to split the cost of replacing a fence damaged by a storm years ago, but my dipshit neighbor hired some folks before we agreed to anything and the crews were trying to set posts in concrete during a downpour and then they used skinny pine planks that didn't match the rest of the cedar plank fencing literally everywhere else.  I was not going to and did not pay for that bullshit.  

This is very good advice. It'll make it easier to communicate your wants with your estimator. It'll make it easier to ask specific questions if you're just talking about 1 style of fence rather than asking about multiple fence types. In my option, ask for round steel posts as they will last much longer than your wood fence will last and you can reuse them in the future. Go with Western Red Cedar rails and pickets. We also offer treated rails and import cedar pickets but they don't last as long.  

On 9/4/2023 at 10:24 PM, YGIFS said:

We all live in different cities across Texas, but I was under the impression in most muni's (not HOA's, but muni's)...if you have a swimming pool, you are required by law to have a fence between it and your neighbors.  No?  Or at least some kinda metallic gate.  

Yes, under Texas residential law you must have a fence enclosing your pool. It must me at least 48" tall. The gate must be self closing, open outward and the latch must me at least 54" above the ground. 

Some advise. Make sure to inform all your neighbors of the project ahead of time and the day before even if they are not splitting the cost. As an install company there's nothing worse than going to a job and we can't start because a neighbor's dog is loose in their backyard because they weren't informed to put them in the house or tie them up.

Its standard practice to remove the old fence and install the new posts on the first day and return the following day to nail up the rails and pickets.

Usually the fence company will submit the request to 811 on your behalf but verify they came out to mark all underground lines (gas, electric, phone, internet) before the work is to start. They can't locate water main lines or sprinkler lines unfortunately. Inform the fence company a day or two prior to starting if it hasn't been marked so they can submit a no response to 811. Being proactive will avoid delays starting your project. Let me know if you have any questions. 

[YGIFS 19449]

30 minutes ago, T-shirt Sip said:

Yes, under Texas residential law you must have a fence enclosing your pool. It must me at least 48" tall. The gate must be self closing, open outward and the latch must me at least 54" above the ground. 

Some advise. Make sure to inform all your neighbors of the project ahead of time and the day before even if they are not splitting the cost. As an install company there's nothing worse than going to a job and we can't start because a neighbor's dog is loose in their backyard because they weren't informed to put them in the house or tie them up.

Its standard practice to remove the old fence and install the new posts on the first day and return the following day to nail up the rails and pickets.

Usually the fence company will submit the request to 811 on your behalf but verify they came out to mark all underground lines (gas, electric, phone, internet) before the work is to start. They can't locate water main lines or sprinkler lines unfortunately. Inform the fence company a day or two prior to starting if it hasn't been marked so they can submit a no response to 811. Being proactive will avoid delays starting your project. Let me know if you have any questions. 

Long story, but could be some business in it for you if you're in Central Texas.  We live at the end of a cul-de-sac in a fair-sized trapezoid shaped lot.  We back up to another cul-de-sac in another neighborhood/HOA and so most of our back fence is shared with this one other neighbor.  About 50 linear yards/150 feet with another 75 feet with our South neighbor and 75 feet with our north neighbor as well.  There's 2-3 panels shared with another neighbor back there in another goofy shaped lot, and last we just showed them the design, explained the schedule, and never brought up money (wasn't worth it over a few hundred bucks).  Our two neighbors on either side of us on our street, last time (10-12 years ago) shared in the expense because they have kids and pools. 

But the folks behind us, are not malicious---they're just obtuse.  We walked them through the whole process last time and offering to pay, even though that was their legal obligation never occurred to them.  So them not covering their half of that stretch cost me several thousand dollars.  Worse yet, they don't keep up their fence.  I re-stain mine, every few years, they let their sprinkler heads just pop off and spray directly at the fence, and then the bottoms of several pickets just fall off and lay in his yard.  When a higher stretch of a picket falls off, he just lets it dangle for weeks until I grab it when they're outta town and toe-nail it back in, the caps fall off into his yard, they just sit there and rot in the sun and water.  In the end, it's fucking annoying because it's only a matter of time before my daughter's realize they can breathe on certain parts of the fence and just walk over into their pool (they don't have one of those safety nets around the pool proper).  They don't even have side gates from their driveway. 

Anyway, we're gonna replace this all in the next 1-2 years.  They're completely afoul of every law and exercise of human decency.  And the shitty thing is I'll end up paying for it right before they sell their house (their kids are set to graduate and leave home in the next 2 years as well).  I kinda want to tell him to pound sand and chip in.  /csb, end of rant. 

We used Viking last time and our design on shared linear feet ended up catching on with 7 other homes on our street so they certainly made a pretty penny.  But their fuckup of every other post and rail, despite our upkeep, has been beyond annoying.  They've been out many times to try to correct their mistakes at no charge, but they just make it worse.  First and foremost-quality construction this time around, no half-ass buried posts that snap off underground in the water runoff to the creek given our undulation.  Proper pours.  Aesthetics are way down the list, along with timeline.  We're not in a rush.  We can keep the kids from the 3 adjacent pools and dogs with some diligence.  And we'll follow all the notification and underground lines protocol.  But I think I need a good cop/bad cop routine with my back neighbor.  Somebody from the ciy or the fence company to basically say, "Good news, your back neighbor is splitting the cost with you, if you like the design, and it meets all of the mandatory city requirements because you know---your deep end is fucking 12 feet."   I dunno, it's just fucking said the amount of disrepair the guy let the fence fall into from his side.  And their backyard is tiny, you take out the pool, it's maybe 800 square feet and it's just every window in house looking at this unpainted, dilapadated, fence with chunks of it missing.  And they have no fucking clue.  Whatever we do though, it'll domino effect about 6-8 other houses on our street, so to the tune of 2-3k linear feet.  NOt nothing.  /thanks for listening. 

Edited September 7, 2023 by YGIFS

[Serak The Preparer 3431]

Shouldn't these questions be delivered to @ROFL BOX? After all, a fence is basically just a roof on it's side.

[Hornbeliever 712]

1 hour ago, T-shirt Sip said:

I'm a Production Manager at a fence company in Austin so I'm able to answer your questions and give some advice. As mentioned above, you can ask the neighbors to split the cost but don't count on it. 99% of the jobs we sell are to just one buyer. Rarely do they split the cost of replacing the fence. 

This is very good advice. It'll make it easier to communicate your wants with your estimator. It'll make it easier to ask specific questions if you're just talking about 1 style of fence rather than asking about multiple fence types. In my option, ask for round steel posts as they will last much longer than your wood fence will last and you can reuse them in the future. Go with Western Red Cedar rails and pickets. We also offer treated rails and import cedar pickets but they don't last as long. 

All this is supremely helpful, thanks.

Random questions when you have time that I would DM you but figure could be helpful for other useless people like myself:

1) is there a best time of year?  And by best time of year, I mean lowest cost for consumer due to materials or limited demand or some other variable?

2) I have 250 feet of fence with two gates.  What is rough rough estimate given your suggestions of steel plus western cedar for those parameters?  Standard size height (it’s a rental so I ain’t building the Alamo).

TIAA

[T-shirt Sip 2097]

2 hours ago, Hornbeliever said:

All this is supremely helpful, thanks.

Random questions when you have time that I would DM you but figure could be helpful for other useless people like myself:

1) is there a best time of year?  And by best time of year, I mean lowest cost for consumer due to materials or limited demand or some other variable?

2) I have 250 feet of fence with two gates.  What is rough rough estimate given your suggestions of steel plus western cedar for those parameters?  Standard size height (it’s a rental so I ain’t building the Alamo).

TIAA

1) Avoid installing posts between April and September. I wouldn’t deny anyone a fence if they insisted on it during that time period but it’ll take some work on your end to ensure the post footings will last. You have to water the footings weekly for at least the first 4-5 months so the soil can properly adhere to the concrete. The summer heat and drought dries out the soil quickly and separates from the footing causing the posts to loosen and fall over. We also install fences in new subdivisions that are on water restrictions.  We install a new fence And it starts to lean within a few weeks because they can’t water. Some have even stopped laying sod promising the new homeowner that they will come back in October to install it. It’s worse this year than it’s been in previous years but the watering rule still applies even in moderate summers. I understand that the answer I gave wasn’t what you were looking for but thought I would mention it since it’s important and not many people know about watering the footings. To answer your question, there’s not a definitive best time of year when it comes to cost. Lumber costs fluctuate from week to week sometimes. We adjust our prices at least once a month up or down depending on material costs. Cost of materials do seem to be steadily dropping since the spike in Q3 2020. Hopefully they continue to drop but they will unfortunately never go back to pre Covid prices. 
 

2) I don’t have anything to do with sales or costing so I have to no idea what a fence costs. I’ll look into it tomorrow and give you a ballpark price. 
 

Keep the questions coming if you have any. 

[T-shirt Sip 2097]

I just wanted to show a video that one of our service guys took about a week ago. This is a perfect example of the post footing separating from the soil from lack of watering. This is a fence we installed about 2 months ago. I don’t think it’s been watered once. 

[T-shirt Sip 2097]

A rough price range for a 6' tall fence consisting of steel posts, 3 rails and 1x6 pickets is $35-$42/lf depending on types of materials. 

Gates with wood frames are about $225 each. 

[Hornbeliever 712]

@T-shirt Sip  any recs on fence companies in Central Austin?  We have called a couple and it’s been difficult to get a quote, with one company even coming to take measurements and then ghosting without ever providing a quote.  

[That Guy 955]

I used these people a few times a couple of years ago:

 

Edited December 25, 2023 by That Guy

[Alex Karev 1030]

I built this for my In-Laws and the 2 Neighbors on each side paid me for their part without question.        Poured the foundation 8 inches deep by 9 inches wide with 2 runs of steel rebar inforcement. I used Western Red Cedar 2x4s and Pickets from Home Depot.

For Post i used 2 1/4 oil field pipe.

This fence will be there for years to come.

[T-shirt Sip 2097]

3 hours ago, Hornbeliever said:

@T-shirt Sip  any recs on fence companies in Central Austin?  We have called a couple and it’s been difficult to get a quote, with one company even coming to take measurements and then ghosting without ever providing a quote.  

I work for Austex Fence and Deck. I really hope we weren’t one of the companies that you’ve met with because that would really piss me off. We do really good work. Let me know your info if you decide to go with us so I can send the very best crews that we have. I’m the Production Manager and am in charge of crews and job assignments. Call the office and set up an appointment. 512-258-5000. We open again on Wednesday morning. 
 

Other companies that do decent work:

Viking, Pflugerville Fence and Discount Fence. 
 

Let me know if you have any questions even if you don’t choose us. I’ll help you through the process. 
 

PS. Austex is owned by an aggy but he and his wife are the best people I know regardless of school he chose. 

[T-shirt Sip 2097]

1 hour ago, Alex Karev said:

I built this for my In-Laws and the 2 Neighbors on each side paid me for their part without question.        Poured the foundation 8 inches deep by 9 inches wide with 2 runs of steel rebar inforcement. I used Western Red Cedar 2x4s and Pickets from Home Depot.

For Post i used 2 1/4 oil field pipe.

This fence will be there for years to come.

Damn good work. That fence will be up forever. Just replace the rails and pickets every 7-10 years and you’re set. 

[YGIFS 19449]

Karev, 

I am jealous.  What would you say that cost per linear foot/yard/220-221?  

And do not use Viking Fence if you're in Austin.  Those guys could fuck up a cup of coffee.  

[Alex Karev 1030]

2 hours ago, YGIFS said:

Karev, 

I am jealous.  What would you say that cost per linear foot/yard/220-221?  

And do not use Viking Fence if you're in Austin.  Those guys could fuck up a cup of coffee.  

I think it was about $40 $50 per foot including the concete work. This was about 6 years ago. The only Labor i had was for a couple concrete finisher's. Half the cost was for redi-mix, rebar, pipe and 3 man concrete crew to set forms and finish the concrete. 

I am retired and i found it relaxing to attach the  hangers, runners and attach the pickets. Thats the easy part.

I used to get a good discount on my Home Depot Pro Account and free delivery but they stopped a lot of that after covid and doubled the prices.

I helped son-inlaw build his fences a couple years ago and the cedar pickets were $3.99 each and  2x4's were over $2.00 a foot and 30% of them were culls. They dont like the customer hand picking through their shitty lumber anymore.

I still act like a bully and do it anyway.