Yikes, probably should have stained before installing it. I'd just do the top, go as low as you can, and leave the bottom. See if they take issue with it...

I would not do it half way. Put a drop cloth over the neighbors fence, then roll the stain on to yours. Touch up with a brush.

Around here we put the smooth side out if there are ppl next door. Makes it easier, and nicer for them.

Yikes, are those nails sticking out? I wouldn't be happy with that. Hope that they are galvanized at the least or the rust streaks are going to be a problem.

Note how your neighbor installed their fence...the polite, proper way..."good side" to the exterior of their yard. Since you have already committed one error don't compound it. Paint the neighbors side to match their fence color.

Where I live we usually share a fence with a neighbor so all you need is to put boards on your side and stain this IMO is just weird. Did you even discuss this with your neighbor because honestly this will look awfu from their side side even after you stain. IMO this was a way to make bad neighbors very quickly I would be pissed if someone built that fence without even talking to me about it. Right now you need to have a conversation about them allowing you into their yard to stain your fence GOOD LUCK

yeah, i thought there was a law, or at least common courtesy that the nice side of the fence faces outward. The advice about the drop cloth is probably most helpful, in terms of function. Man, you must have really nice neighbors if they havn't complained about your fence.

There aren't any rules about installing fences around here; the neighbor put up his fence and we used the same fence installer as him a few months later. The people on the other side of me put up a chain link fence that barely contains their dogs, who routinely jump as high as the 4' fence but haven't yet jumped over it. As I've been staining the fence I've noticed a lot of problems with the boards and with nails sticking out. The fence installer made the recommendation on how the fence should look in terms of which side should be facing out. I'm thinking the fence installer wasn't quite the expert we all thought he was...

Haven't seen a fence like this one isn't there normally 4x4s for support

And how do you maintain the grass/ weeds between fences?

After the neighbor installed his fence last year (and before I installed mine), the neighbor's lawn company sprayed down the property line with weed/grass killer. I assume he'll be doing the same this year, or something similar. I would've preferred that the company not use the pesticide it used, but that's the kind of thing that is his choice entirely.

I agree that your fence installer could have done a better job and also instructed you better. I'd be pretty mad at the use of pesticides so close/ over my property.

Your best bet is to just talk to your neighbor. When we were putting up our fence, our neighbor decided to take his down and use ours since it was taller. I agree though that it doesn't look very good from the neighbors side. You may offer to "finish" their side of it with the same design of 2x's and pickets. It will also make both of your yards more private.

i'd not worry about what is below their pickets. stain the support board (covering their fence with dropcloth) and above, don't worry about the rest.

ask before entering their property, for the obvious reason.

i dont know how it looks *through* their pickets, but i'm guessing not objectionable. mainly you need to do the horizontal support because of the drips.

if these folks sprayed herbicide to the edge of your yard without consulting you, i'm guessing they wont be picky about the paint job below the top of their fence, but who knows.

Also be sure you check with the HOA or any governing association. My neighbor across the street found out the hard way that they may care about this. He stained it and then they tried to make him replace the whole fence since it didn't match everyone else's fence. He finally won, but it took him months of fighting it.

You should always face the good side of a fence toward the enemy.

(No I'm not cranky, in the old days that kept them from climbing up and attacking)

woodteam5, that makes a lot of sense. I've wondered if there was a reason why (other than politeness) so many people think the smooth side faces out. As for the herbicide- an alley runs behind our houses and neighbors take turns moving the grass. This neighbor decided he was tired of paying someone to mow grass that wasn't entirely his so he used pesticides/herbicides and nuked at least three feet (his half) of the shared alley. The alley is the best way people on our block have for taking dogs out for walks, so all the dogs have walked through that area since early this spring. Not a sprig of grass has grown since the initial treatment. Clearly, there's no HOA in our area and when one group tried to get an historic overlay passed, it was voted down resoundingly because it meant limits on what people could do with their houses. I'm not thrilled with some of the choices neighbors have made with their historic homes, but at the same time, I would never live in a neighborhood with an HOA.

Does not look like HOA is having much to do with this or the fence would never have been built and I too wonder how this fence is supported I see no posts that are the right size and IMO that side facin the neighbor is just plain ugly and i sure would not want it to be visible from my yard.

Not only is it ugly, but it would be very easy to climb over your fence.

This fence would have never been built in my neighborhood, Our HOA guidelines are the same as the county we live in.

I wonder if you could ask your neighbor if they want their fence still? I've honestly never see two neighbors lining up fences together, I thought people typically shared. But at the end of the day if you put a drop cloth over their fence I'm sure you'll be safe staining the rest. Good Luck :)

I like jmm1837 suggestion to use plants instead! Two sides of our backyard are privacy bushes that have now grown taller then our house. They're awesome, even more private then having a fence and prettier too.

Ask the neighbor if you can go onto their property to stain the part of the fence that they can see. If they say no, leave the fence 'as is'. It may be a bit dick'ish but "you can't see it from your house". It's your neighbors problem if they don't like the view.

Other than "spite", I've never seen two fences like that. I assume the property line is that little space between the fences? With both fences "smooth" side facing your direction, it almost appears that your neighbor put up both fences.

But your question was about staining. You'll have to ask your neighbor for permission to use his fenced yard for how else would you do it -- it would have to be from his side. I wouldn't worry about anything below the pickets and I would use a drop cloth over his fence so you don't get the stain on his pickets.

I can tell you that if I were the neighbor, I would take down my pickets and let your fence be the yard fence. Was he okay with what you were doing?

Yes, the neighbor whose fence you see was fine with our fence; he's complimented us on it more than once. Of course I'll ask his permission before going on his property, and I'm sure he'll be fine with us needing to be on his property to complete the staining. The reason for the tall fence was the neighbor on the other side. She brought in two pit bulls who don't get adequate exercise; she leaves them outside while she's away at work and that's the only exercise they get. She has a chain link fence so her dogs go nuts when I and/or my dogs are in my yard. Her dogs act like they want to rip my face off and it's only a matter of time before they figure out they can jump over her 4' chain link fence. The fence installer suggested a 6' fence because he and his crew were concerned that the pit bulls were going to attack them when he came to give an estimate. In staining the fence, I've found multiple problems with the fence - so many boards have warped - and I'm having problems getting the installer back out to fix the issues. He did such a good job with my neighbor's picket fence that I thought he knew what he was doing, but apparently that wasn't the case.

It would be very hard to have all perfect boards. We just installed our own fence and I hand picked the wood and when installed I could see a few boards are warped it won't be perfect

Yes, the good side of the fence should be on your neighbour’s side. You could add lattice screens along the sides of the fence. I think that would solve the staining problem. If your neighbour allows you to go to his side of the property, then that’s great. But what about the other neighbour? (the one with the pit bulls) How would you stain that side of the fence?

I live in an HOA community and we have similar crappy fences that are between each home. The fences were built with 4 by 4s as the posts, but no treated wood and most of the fencing is becoming wobbly after 20 years.

We share the fence with our neighbors, no double fence. I stained my fence and had to be extremely careful to not let the stain drip to the neighbor's side. I'm using a thick stain, not a drippy one.

How can I protect my neighbors property