Nieghbors & Fences

[pdizzle]

Hi everyone,

I was just wondering if anyone has built a new house, and if so, how did you approach your neighbors with respect to building and paying for a new fence?

Thoughts?

[jar_e]

Knock on their door and ask?

[Fobulous]

I had to go through this a few years ago when we built our place. Didnt have any issues at all.

What i would suggest is maybe have a quote or 2 in your back pocket when you go to talk to them so at least there is some substance to your conversation as well as a starting point.

[Kybosh]

I hurled a brick through their window with a note attached.

[Pinner]

Somebody has to buy the steaks and beer and the other guy gets the "smart" end of the measuring tape...

[Traditional_Ale]

Arm your children with supersoakers, water balloons, slingshots, and anything else you might need, then have them battle to decide who gets the bill. Oh yeah, invite them over for beers and watch the carnage unfold in style!

[Madman]

Keys in a bowl.

[Zee]

When we built ours, 2 of 3 neighbors paid no problem, the other didn't because the fence "wasn't the type he wanted" (He didn't pay any of the neighbors). It usually isn't a problem, but sometimes you have to swallow a few bucks.

[Rhettzky]

It's funny how such a simple thing can cause so many problems between neighbours.

A coworkers neighbour built a common fence between their properties without any type of consultation asking for cost sharing, hiring someone or just what type of fence would be preferred. Upon completion he approached my co-worker with an invoice for his share. Pretty dick move, if you ask me.

I'd just go and talk to them.

[corporatejay]

I would just ask them and if it's not something they're interested in and you want it, then you'll foot the bill. They way I see it , it's not worth having crappy relations with your neighbours over a couple of Gs.

[macker]

Originally Posted by Kybosh

I hurled a brick through their window with a note attached.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CZJLKoSmgWw

[Zee]

Originally Posted by Rhettzky

It's funny how such a simple thing can cause so many problems between neighbours.

A coworkers neighbour built a common fence between their properties without any type of consultation asking for cost sharing, hiring someone or just what type of fence would be preferred. Upon completion he approached my co-worker with an invoice for his share. Pretty dick move, if you ask me.

I'd just go and talk to them.

Agreed, best to talk to them before building the fence, that's what we did, and it makes it easier.

[flamesfever]

I would use it as an opportunity to develop a positive relationship with your neighbour. My approach would be to sit down with him/her and try to find a suitable fence that you both agree on and are willing to share the cost. I did it with my neighbour and we've been friends ever since.

However, this was in an older district and we were replacing old pre-existing fences.

[The Yen Man]

Originally Posted by Rhettzky

It's funny how such a simple thing can cause so many problems between neighbours.

A coworkers neighbour built a common fence between their properties without any type of consultation asking for cost sharing, hiring someone or just what type of fence would be preferred. Upon completion he approached my co-worker with an invoice for his share. Pretty dick move, if you ask me.

I'd just go and talk to them.

If I were your coworker, I wouldn't pay it. I mean, what if the neighbor builds a really expensive fence and asks for $5K? I'd laugh at him and tell him TFB, I'm not paying for it. What's he going to do? Rip up the fence?

[Northendzone]

ugh - i had a beef with the cost sharing of the fence with one neighbor - he finally coughed up some of the money - but our relationship have enver been the same.

i dicussed the fence with the neighbor, we agreed on a style, provided him with an estimate, even built the thing myself, and then gave him a detialed bill that was close to the estimate - and when it came time to pay he was suddenly poor......his share of the fence was $450 - I thought man throw me a $50 here and there........he paid me about $325 and shortly after he bought himself a Harley.......i should also note that i suspected that there may be some cash flow issues on his part, so i built the fence 6 inches inside my property line. at one point i told him i was ready to buy orange paint to paint my fence........neighbor on the other side was great - just gave me a cheque and apologized for not helping build it.

My suggestion is that everyone pay for thier share of the materials upfront - your buying a new house, it is not an unexpected expense.

[stampsx2]

I can't ask either. I will be stuck with the bill one day.

On the other hand, if there are only three sides to your fence, then each neighbor only has to pay 1/6th of the full cost. Doesn't sound too bad.

At least if you pay for the full fence then your neighbor can't complain about materials, type etc.

[Rathji]

I talked with both my neighbour and said I would do the work, if they foot the bill for 80% of the materials for their respective fences. They bold said sure and I got my fence the way I wanted, when I wanted.

One of them couldn't come up with the cash right away so he paid $100 a month for it.

[Gundo]

I built a fence this past summer, I live on a corner lot with a neighbor to the north and to the west of me. I knocked on the door and asked them, neighbor to the west was great more or less said just let me know what I owe you, north neighbor didn't speak english until after it was built.....weird.

I priced it out and realized that hiring it out worked out to cost about Material Cost x 2 roughly, so $2000 in material would mean roughly $2000 in labour. I got quotes in the $28-$35/ft range from contractors. I went to the Home Depot Do It Yourself workshop about Building Fences and had NEVER build one before took notes did some research and was confident enough to build it myself with some help my friends and my old man.

To make a short story long......Im too nice and only charged my neighbor to the just the cost of materials and never got even a thanks or a smile from the other neighbor. I also waited until Rona had a 15% off one item sale, they gave me 10% off the fence package, I also applied for a Rona Card and used that to save an extra 10% I believe. Building it on my own worked out to roughly $12-$13/ft.

If you do it yourself take the time to do you posts correctly and measure measure measure I spent 70% of my time ensuring they were straight and the rest was easy, I think my fence looks great and Im super proud of how well people tell me it looks.

Im done my ramble

[ma-skis.com]

My folks never cared much for fences since we didn't use the yard much, so when someone approached them about the fence, they still ponied up the cash and didn't complain about it.

They were never going to initiate, but they also knew it was going to happen sooner or later.... funny thing though is it's been about 15 years and one neighbour still hasn't cared for a fence either, they don't use their yard much either.

[vtec260]

Originally Posted by Rhettzky

It's funny how such a simple thing can cause so many problems between neighbours.

A coworkers neighbour built a common fence between their properties without any type of consultation asking for cost sharing, hiring someone or just what type of fence would be preferred. Upon completion he approached my co-worker with an invoice for his share. Pretty dick move, if you ask me.

I'd just go and talk to them.

Sounds like what happened to me and my neighbour right after we moved into the house last year. Never mentioned any type of cost share, quote, etc. during the time they did the landscaping, even though we talked several times while they were landscaping. After 3 months of putting up the fence, they brought an invoice over, apologizing for late billing, right before Christmas. They "expected and assumed" that cost should be shared according to some kind of bylaw of the neighbourhood. I asked them to produce proof that I HAVE to pay and they couldn't. Once they talked about going to the small claims court, I shut the door. Never talked to them in last 3 months. Not my loss.

I probably would have paid half if the cost was discussed and got some quotes to support their cost. But the way they approached really pissed me off so they are getting $0. Money is not the issue, it's the principle that is at stake.