Would this bother you? WWYD?

[Deleted]

We had a fence installed around our yard about 3 weeks ago. The fence contractor said on the last day of the project that someone in our neighborhood had called him for an estimated since they saw his company trucks in front of our house, so I was expecting to see him back soon.
We got a permit for the fence, as required, and asked the township to come inspect it when the job was completed. Note: our fence contractor did not get the permit for us, we had done so some time ago in preparation for the project. The township inspected it, everything was fine so we are in compliance with our town's code.
Yesterday, I came home to a trailer in front of my house with fencing on it, which is how our fence contractor transports his materials. There is fencing up in my next door neighbor's yard, and it appears the job is almost done except for gates. Except this morning, I notice it is not our fence contractor - different sign on the truck in front of my house right now - but a different company. The house on the other side also has a fence.
The town code requires that the fence be set back 3" from the property line on each side. This new fence butts up directly against our fence, because they are not double-fencing, they are basically hooking up their back fence and short front pieces to our long side pieces.
They either did not get a permit, or the work is being done not according to code.
I can either leave it alone in the interest of being a good neighbor, DH or I can approach my neighbor about it - we're not going to be home most of the rest of the weekend, so we'd have to find time next week to do it - or I can call the township on Monday.
FWIW, I'd usually be inclined to leave it alone but my fear about doing so is in the event of a storm or something, one of their pieces falling down and bringing our fence down, then fighting with our contractor or theirs, or our insurances, over fixing it. WWYD?

[Deleted]

That is unbelievable! (Regarding the audacity to just use your fence posts without asking you. I think you have to pop over to the neighbors ASAP, unfortunately. I can't imagine that this is okay given the little limited knowledge I have about fences.

Good luck.

[bostonmichelle]

Good luck. I would try and go there this weekend and let them know about the code and necessary permit. I know my town you don't need a permit unless the fence is over a certain height but there are still set back requirements so they may be ignorant on the permit and setback rules.

[LoveTrains]

I would find a time ASAP to talk to them. I think its incredibly rude to tack onto your fencing without discussing it with me. Meanwhile now they are getting 3 feet of your property to enjoy, as well. What happens when you both sell? Everyone is going to think the land belongs to the neighbors. I would worry about things like adverse possession, etc.

In my area, we don't have double fencing and it is common to tack onto the side pieces like that. But my area is comprised of older homes and the fences are on the property lines.

[Deleted]

Hmm. If it's not code, I might say something.

In the neighborhood where I owned a house, this was common. Our neighbor did the same thing - adding his fence to my fence - without asking and it never even occurred to me to be upset or that he should have asked me first. I was like "oh man, they got a better deal and were lucky we put ours up first!" but I figured that was just luck. I assume that if their fence causes damage to your fence (and you have documentation with the city that your fence was the original) then I would assume their insurance would cover it.

IDK. I think you should do whatever you want because it's your fence and you wouldn't be in the wrong to talk to them. Personally, I probably wouldn't bother.

[rubytue]

If two neighbors have fences, how does one care for the 6 inches of grass between them?

I think I'd talk to the neighbors about hooking on to my fence without permission.

[lys]

Would the current fence posts support 2 fences?
Would the codes allow for this?
Would neighbors be willing to chip in $$ to help pay for the current posts and their use of them?

[sapphireblue]

In my neighborhood people do this too. I have never thought it was a big deal. Like, we paid for a full fence around our property, and neighbors in back of us and to the side tacked on side fences to that.

However, what I am really wondering about is--if you did your fence 3 feet back from your property line per the requirements, are they encroaching on your property to attach their new fence to yours? That would definitely be an issue! Is that the case? If so, I would not let that happen.

[rubytue]

Folks, " means inches and ' means feet. OP said 3", which is 3 inches. 3 feet is more like a building setback.

Unless she really meant 3 feet, and then, yeah, all the comments about losing property to the neighbors are very valid, but my guess is she did mean the 3 inches she said. That's so small that I can totally see neighbors hooking on to a fence. 3 feet? Not so much.

[Deleted]

Yes it is 3 inches not 3 feet. If it was 3' and encroaching on my yard I'd have marched over there in my PJs holding my baby bc DH was still asleep.

[Pom]

Our neighbors just hooked on to our fence without asking. Meh, it's normal here, but I get why your unhappy. Ours is metal fence, but the wind liability of wooden fence would concern me more.

[treedimensional]

Dec 20, 2014 8:19:22 GMT -5 @mrsspunky said:

I can either leave it alone, approach my neighbor, or call the township on Monday.

Or, you can warn the contractor to observe the setback or face legal action.

[Balki.Bartokomous]

It's strange to me that the code would be written such that there's a 6" gap between fences if both parties put up a fence. Are you sure that the code doesn't permit them to hook up to your fence?

It really wouldn't occur to me to be upset about this. Both here in CA & back in PA fences have been shared so what your neighbor is doing seems normal to me. If you are upset about it, I would probably go talk to the contractor right now.

[vanillacourage]

The neighbors should have talked to you as a heads-up before hooking onto your fence, but beyond being irritated I wouldn't do anything.

[barefootcontessa]

I think I would contact both the contractor and the neighbor. It might not bother you all that much but it could affect resell if this is unusual for your area.

[ewall]

I would be bothered that they didn't ask before hooking in. Regarding potential storm damage, we've been through that with our neighbors on either side of us and both times it was NBD.

[cheezer]

I would not be okay with my neighbors hooking into my fence without asking me. I'd say something. Other than that I wouldn't care if they met the code regarding their fence.

[imojoebunny]

Dec 20, 2014 9:38:07 GMT -5 rubytue said:

If two neighbors have fences, how does one care for the 6 inches of grass between them?

I think I'd talk to the neighbors about hooking on to my fence without permission.

This is where I am.  It is a huge pain to have weeds and scrub trees grow between fences.  I would let it lie, unless you feel like they damaged your property in some way.  If you wanted to take out your fence, you could, since it is on their property, and they couldn't do anything about it.  I am assuming that you put up your fence with the nice side facing you, and they just put pickets on your backside.  Should have talked to you first, but still better than having two fences with weeds in between or worse, different heights.  One of my neighbors put in a fence that was three inches higher than ours in some places, and it made our side look like crap.  

[msmerymac]

It's the not asking that gets me. I have a small lot and one neighbor has a fence down one side of our yard, so we'll probably hook into it if we decide to enclose the whole yard, but it would never occur to me to not ask! Or to not offer to split the cost of repairs, replacement or upkeep when needed.

[LoveTrains]

Dec 20, 2014 9:38:07 GMT -5 rubytue said:

If two neighbors have fences, how does one care for the 6 inches of grass between them?

I think I'd talk to the neighbors about hooking on to my fence without permission.

Ok I misread and got all riled up about her losing 3 feet of her yard to this d bag who would now be getting it.

3 inches?

I would be pissed that they didn't talk to me first but forget that other stuff.

[dancingirl21]

I'd be pissed. Our entire side fence just blew over randomly in really strong wind. We had to pay our $500 homeowner's deductible to get it fixed. What if that happened to their section, thereby damaging yours in the process? Maybe their policy would cover your section too, but that assumes they would fix it right away, etc. I'd at least have a conversation about it and see if they realize they are outside the code.

[thatgirl2478]

If you are inside your property lines by 3' and they aren't fencing that side of their lot line, they are in essence, stealing your land. I would say something along the lines of 'you may not know this, but city code requires a 3' set back from property lines for all fences. So our fence isn't on our property line, but 3' inside our property.' Hopefully they wouldn't be stupid about realizing that they are taking over your property. I wouldn't be.

That said, our fences are built on our property line here, and 2 of our 5 abutting properties already had fences. So we ran our fencing in the open areas. If our neighbors decide to take down their fences at some point in the future, we'd have to call in the fencing company to re fence (though, we'd probably offer the neighbors $$ rather than go through a re fence).

[krystee]

I have never seen two fences that were six inches apart. How on earth would that be maintained? I put up a fence that hooked onto the community's fence and didn't need approval, and I wouldn't expect my neighbors to ask me either. Everyone here has connected fences.

If you talk with them, I would do it while the contractor is still there and be very friendly about it. I doubt they realize they are doing anything wrong.

Also, I feel like I need to see a picture to understand the concept of two different fences so close together. Off to google!

[jennistarr1]

I would say something

[Deleted]

For those who are saying you'd only be upset because the neighbor didn't ask - why? What difference does it make? I guess it would be nice as a courtesy, but I don't see the point in getting pissed if someone doesn't do something as a formality. If the neighbor had asked, would you really have said "no"? If you would, what purpose would that serve? I agree it would look worse/be more of a PITA to maintain if there were 2 fences running alongside each other 6 inches apart. I think it looks cleaner if there is just one fence between the yards.

The neighbor gets the benefit of your fence, true, but that would be the case whether they asked or had their own fence anyway. By putting up your own fence, you're putting up a barrier that affects both yards.

[vanillacourage]

Dec 20, 2014 17:43:23 GMT -5 @buckybells said:

For those who are saying you'd only be upset because the neighbor didn't ask - why? What difference does it make? I guess it would be nice as a courtesy, but I don't see the point in getting pissed if someone doesn't do something as a formality. If the neighbor had asked, would you really have said "no"?g up a barrier that affects both yards.

They're hooking their fence onto a fence the OP paid for. They're basically borrowing the non-exclusive use of someone else's property without asking. So yeah, I'd expect them to talk to me beforehand even if only a courtesy.

[10nille]

I wonder if they would consider you are giving up those feet of your property to them if you do not complain? Would they consider it an easement? Yes, I would say something, because I am not willing to give up 3 feet of my property. If the fence was on the property line I would not care. Seems a cheap way for them to have a fence yard without paying half of the cost. Also, now their yard is 3 feet bigger to enjoy. Not cool.

[Deleted]

Dec 20, 2014 23:59:24 GMT -5 10nille said:

I wonder if they would consider you are giving up those feet of your property to them if you do not complain? Would they consider it an easement? Yes, I would say something, because I am not willing to give up 3 feet of my property. If the fence was on the property line I would not care. Seems a cheap way for them to have a fence yard without paying half of the cost. Also, now their yard is 3 feet bigger to enjoy. Not cool.

As I said before its 3 inches setback not 3 feet.

Update: We've knocked on neighbor's door twice - once yesterday and once today - when we saw their cars in the driveway and lights on inside. No answer. They seem to be avoiding us (wonder why?) Unless we see them later today or tomorrow morning before work I'm calling the township.

[Deleted]

I think what they did is way better than having two fences 6 inches apart. What's going to happen to the 6 inches of grass? It would look ridiculous. I wouldn't do anything.

[gardengal]

I hate double fencing. Invasive shit grows in there like crazy & it hard to get rid of it. As long as the have their own posts (like, they didn't attach their panels to your post), I don't think this is a big deal and it's definitely not something I would have expected to get permission for.