And when the dog barks at a squirrel at 5:00 AM and you find that the fence didn't stop the noise, and it won't, where tripple glazed windows and heavy drapes in your own house may have?

Faces the facts, treat your neighbor like you'd expect to be treated.

Start with hello.

You'd be far better off just installing the fence on your property and leaving his alone. That way, if your neighbors have any complaints, it won't matter. It would be less work for you as well because you wouldn't have to take down his fence and dispose of it.

I agree just put the fence up on your property. Save the hassle of dealing with a moody neighbor. If you really want to deaden the noise and add some distance between you and the neighbor add some trees to the front of the fence.

Another vote for putting up the fence your your property. I think your approach has far too many pitfalls in terms of neigborliness and liability (actual and perceived).

Not exactly the encouragement I was hoping for. :)

Additional information is that the neighbors yard varies from about even with mine at the back of our properties to 2' higher than mine at the houses. Considering that a small retaining wall separates us, my yard would be about 1' smaller if I put the fence on my property.

They say that good fences make good neighbors, and I feel that a chain link fence isn't a good one.

Your neighbor may like the fence and prefer it. He may think a chain-link fence will outlast a cedar replacement.

Put it on your property. A one-foot variance is not much if you want this fence so much.

A 3/4" board is not going to silence a dog or neighbors. Change your windows, plant some trees, insulate your house better, but don't fool yourself into thinking a board fence is going to lower noise levels.

I will have to weigh in with another vote for putting in on your own property... what if mr. neighboor decided he wants to PAINT the fence.. LIME GREEN.. or since you have legally GIVEN it to him by putting it on his property.. he decides he really does not like it and takes it DOWN..not good. 1 foot of back yard is not much to give up for piece of mind :)

maddiemom

This is a joke, right?

Put the fence on your own property and just deal with the fact that you'll lose 12".

What's more important? A fence or 12" of dirt?

Don't expect the fence to be any real barrier to the sound. We have a neighbour that is about 1,000 feet away from our house. There are two tall hedges, another house, a highway and lots of trees in between us. When his pheasants start making noise at 5 am we lose sleep.

Save your money. Don't bother with a fence. Talk nicely to your neighbour about the noise.

I agree with Scotland,I would think hed take it the wrong way.A 6' fence speaks for itself.Put it on your property.You could make your life He%%,I know we had this at our other house.We moved

ChloeCat,

Sadly, not all of us have as much experience as you, and that's why we ask the questions. No, it's not a joke.

But I appreciate your sarcastic input.

No, I don't want to lose the yard at all. There are trees right under the retaining wall and I'd rather not have to relocate them or otherwise remove them in order to install my fence.

Thanks to others in the forum, I understand why I should let it be, thanks to you, Chloe, I know not to read your posts anymore. If your purpose in this forum is to help, you've missed the mark.

why not line the chain link fence with a fast growing evergreen.... place them very close together, buy one's that are 5 ' high already, and enjoy your privacy while blocking the dog from seeing into your yard.

I doubt the neighbor would allow plantings on the fence,Your best bet is to put your own fence in and let it go at that.

"I doubt the neighbor would allow plantings on the fence,"

how could the neighbor stop plantings next to the fence on hooka's own property?

Agree with typo queen. Depending on where you are, plant a row of arborvitae. It'll grow much taller than any fence and be more beautiful IMO.

I miss read Excuse Me... geeze I thought he meant on fence....We had a neighbor use to steel,gas plants near property line.He was nuts We finally planted a privet hedge about 6' tall.

We looked into this when we had our cedar fence installed. We had existing chain link all around, and before the quotes came in, we spoke with neighbors on all sides, told them that we were planning to erect the cedar fence, and asked if they minded if we took down the chain link. Nobody minded. The deciding factor came when the quotes arrived. It would have cost us several hundred dollars to have the chain link removed and disposed of, so we opted to leave it in place, and just have our cedar fencing erected, butting up against it (or nearly). (We told the neighbors that we were leaving their chain link in place, and they were ok with that too, after we told them that it was cost-prohibitive for us to remove it.)

no problem bull dinkie ... i should learn to type clear sentences :)

You may decide to erect a fence but have you tried talking to this neighbor about the dog yet? Use "I" statements and assume that the neighbor is unaware of the fact that the dog's barking is waking you up (I know, he ought to be aware of it but many people just don't think). Statements like "I'm sure you don't realize it, but Fido's barking has been waking me up at 5:00 and it's been really hard for me to fall back asleep." Beginning or ending with "I thought you would want to know" is good. Hopefully you have at least said "hello" to him in the past. If you haven't, I would be on the lookout for opportunities to call out Hello, how are you? to him before I approach him with the complaint.
I had a neighbor two doors down who was setting off bottle rockets on July 4 (all fireworks are illegal in my city). Even though my dogs were in the house and I had all the windows and doors closed and the music turned up loud, the explosions were still driving them crazy. I had never spoken to him before but I went over to his house and said "I'm your neighbor. I live 40 feet away over there. I'm sure you don't realize it, but I have one dog who won't stop barking and I have another dog who is hiding in the bathtub. (it was true). I would appreciate it if you would stop with the fireworks." He was so apologetic I couldn't believe it. Happy ending. Dog climbed out of the bathtub. Other dog shut up (kinda).

If putting the fence on your own property isn't an option, and if you're friendly with this neighbor, I would approach him. In another house, we had a chain link fence and I hated the thing, even though we're the ones who installed it. I would have loved to have someone approach me with what you want to do. Cedar over chain link...not even comparable in my mind. You do have to be aware that you are giving it to him and he can do with it as he pleases. If he decided he doesn't want it and removes it, or paints it some color you don't like, you have to live with it. Because you are giving him the fence. If you want to proceed knowing this, I would approach him with the fact that one on my property isn't feasible with the retaining wall, the trees etc. How you would like a fence out of cedar and would he mind...yadda yadda. I would leave out anything to do with the dog or his fights with the wife. And make sure he understands it's all on your dime. And the fence will belong to him. If he doesn't want to do the maintance, offer to do it for him, on his schedule. "I" think, if you approach it like that, you wouldn't look like a "jerk". Just my .02 for what it's worth....