This thread got a second wind. This summer We put up our first fence after living in the house for 18 years. It is lattice and about 16 feet long and affords us some privacy on the patio. I'm still surprised to see it when I drive home. And I still find it has somewhat unfriendly feeeling, even though I chose to put it in! Without fully thinking it through at the time, the fence is part of a larger plan to make the patio usable. It is very very hot out there and inhospitable to lounging. The glassand iron table, iron cushioned chairs and large umbrella just don't meet my criteria for relaxing. Eating a meal, but not reading a book with a drink in my hand I would like to redesign the space and plant a tree for shade then I really could lounge out there...and appreciate my privacy For those who read the earlier posts, the horses across the street still get out. Last week I drove by neighbors (unfenced) yard and there was "Bella" (I think of her as Big Fella Bella) chomping on the lawn. When I couldn't find the owner's telephone number, I went back up the street, took her bridle and led her home. It was daytime and I was afraid if I told her to go home, she'd dawdle in the street and cause a car accident. Not bad for someone who 's only ridden horse at one birthday party back in the dark ages. People's answers were very interestingl. Here only one neighbor has a 'real fence. It is fancy iron and part of a plan for keeping up appearances (and surpassing the Joneses) It is the biggest butt ugly house and totally inappropriate to the neighborhood's age, history and style. Everyone who comes to the neighborhood for the first time asks about it, rolling their eyes. Yes, it needed a fence: an eight foot solid one to spare the neighbor from seeing this ostentatious eyesore. Next, finally getting around to screening our neigbor's white aluminium shed which is on an elevation, and right on the property line (totally illegal now) But he's such an old sweetheart I don't want to appear unneighborly. We often meet over the water faucet up there; he lets me hook up to his well water for summer irrigation. Love thy neighbor, love his shed. Marie

I agree with you Klimkm, We have a neighbor who always made a point to come on our property - daily - and then rub it in our face. He would brag how he had keys to our home with the prior owners. He would come and touch the garage hours after I painted it to see if it was dry, and then tell me about it later (and he's walking all the way across my lawn to do so). He was really upset when we moved some pavers that came a foot onto our property along the side of the garage. Then he was even more upset that we put up a fence, and literally for two years, every time we walked outside our house he was making a comment that we're trying to keep him out of our yard. Yeah, we are. Deal with it! He would complain that the lawn mower doesn't get all the grass along the fence, so not only does my husband mow what isn't our property on that side, but I also go over there and pull the grass along his side of the fence so I don't have to hear him complain. If I don't, he sprays grass killer and kills my plants in the process. He's an old, rude, chauvenistic man. Really nosey too, like creepy nosey. There were days that I'd check through my window to see if he was out there before I'd head to the garage, and I'd move swiftly because I was so tired of hearing his complaining. I think a lot of long time homeowners don't deal well with newcomers and are afraid of change, especially the older crowd. They are accustomed to having rights to property that doesn't belong to them, so when you block it off, they take it personally. I told my husband that I wanted to put the fence up right when we bought the place, but we waited. Looking back now, it would have been easier if we had done it right off the bat. That was the neighbor to the north of me. I'll call him Joe. The neighbor on the other side of me recently purchased the home, and we both agreed to fence on that side between the properties because she also has little dogs. The neighbor on the other side of her now complains to her about the fence she put up. He's an old retired guy too. The neighbor behind us basically threatened to replace OUR fence in the back - it was an old ranch style fence that went around the perimeter, but the previous owners stapled this ugly lattice work on it for privacy and put it this really shabby "patio" (if that's what you want to call it) back there. It did look bad, and I can only imagine how tired they were of looking at it, but at that time, we were planning a wedding, doing major remodeling on the interior of the home, I was taking care of a sick parent, and money only goes so far. Replacing the fence at that time was not a priority, and everyone in the neighborhood could see everything that we were doing with the place - we were complimented all the time. So, we put up some cheap, Home Depot wooden fence in the back and along the nosey neighbors side that very weekend that she threatened us with replacing OUR fence. It's ugly, but I don't care. I planted trees along the perimeter, and I don't have to look at it. I don't think that people should threaten homeowners with replacing their own property. In contrast, she has this ugly wooden, broken down playset that stands about 20 feet tall, and that's what we see when we look out into our back yard. The green tarp on the top of it became frayed over the winter, and we looked at that thing blowing around all season. It's horrendous. I miracle grow my trees in the back every week. They cannot grow fast enough. The same neighbor - we have about 3 feet between our garages in the back where her garage meets mine. We have our wood pile back there, and it does not go beyond our property line. We have about a foot back from the garage. She takes broken cinder block and throws it back there. There are chunks laying everywhere, and most recently she had a pile of unbroken cinder blocks up against my wood pile. I could not even access my woodpile (it is under a tarp). So, after having had problems with them in the past, we decided to send them a certified letter and kindly asked them to move the cinder block away from my property so I can access my woodpile, so as to "avoid potential injury" should I fall on those rocks. It was moved within a week. Damn right if I fall on those rocks my homeowners insurance is going after her homeowners insurance(there have been other problems with these same neighbors, and I can say with confidence that they do it intentionally).

i am lucky to be alive, i was attacked by a pit bull in a family's home, they kept it locked up in the cage/kennel because it had become vicious throughout the years. i clean homes and all was good til one day the woman forgot to lock the kennel! he came around the corner and slowly approached me -i stood still but when he got close, he just ripped right into me. he was an older dog. i think he could not really see me in the lighting, bad sight.... so, when he sniffed me, it was over! 3 hospitals, surgery on my left leg, inner thigh, nursed coming 3 days a week, for about 4 months hooked up to a wound vac! i am surprised that i still have a leg let alone survived! the husband was somewhere in the house, but it was a big home, so it took him awhile to hear the noise..... by then the dog had already gotten me to the floor and was attacking me on my back etc. he got him off of me -otherwise the dog would have probably kept going til i stopped moving. when they attack, they do not stop. unlike other breeds that might bite and stand back, bark at you like a warning. pitbulls have it in them that once they attack, they intend to kill their victim. be very careful. i think you should maybe have some pepper/bear spray on you at all times.... maybe look into a gun too, even a strong Pellot gun would at least be something. i am not one for guns and would not normally suggest such a thing, but it could save your life if he comes through that fence. stun gun? flare gun, any of those things might help ---some of my customers keep a can or hornet spray nearby, because it shoots so far out they can use it to give them time to run. i could not figure out why the old ladies seem to have a problem with hornets! lol that is some kind of trend with the older women. but smart as can be! aim for the eyes, and run!

Sometimes resurrected threads are helpful. We have a house that family is in that we will move back to. I've considered an 8 ft fence for screening an ugly property. The lot behind has 4 acres and it is a bit of a family compound. Rather nice but they use the part of their yard that butts ours as somewhat of a trash bin. They have been there for a long time and the previous owners of our house deforested the backyard - so I don't blame them. We currently have a 4 ft chain link - which is to say nothing visual blocking. The town probably would allow 6+2 and HOA probably would allow since this backyard property is not in the HOA and it would not be visible from the street and barely visible by the one neighbor. One solution to fence height rules is decorative walls that are not continuous - "not a fence". For now I have planted a lot but there is tall trees on the 4 acre property which block a lot of sun so the screenings planted may not be enough in our 4-5 year time line. It is the worst right now as the weather is nice but the trees aren't leaved out yet. We are planning on adding windows and probable extension back there with lots of windows so it wll matter more than current situation. On our current house, we have a section of 8 ft that was done for security. It is the one entry point to backyard that wasn't visible to neighbors (and wasn't through a neighbors yard). Of course a criminal could climb it but it certainly would slow them down. The gate has a deadbolt So sometimes height can be helpful - or at least can feel like it is helpful....