Fence and trouble with neighbors

[Anonymous]

I built a fence fully within my land and with all required permits. Now my neighbor despises me. It is a very nice fence, very classy wooden fence that cost a lot of money and is complemented by all who see it. Neighbor got severely, extremely insulted that I blocked his "open views". Now neighbor won't even nod at me. (I have a dog and kids and wanted privacy rather than an unfenced backyard where any stranger can look into what we are doing.). Anyone deal with this kind of problem?

[Anonymous]

If it's on your land and you have the permits, then he can pound sand. I wouldn't worry about it.

[Anonymous]

Former owners put up a fence and when we moved in, neighbors wouldn't acknowledge us despite my friendly overtures. Another neighbor reported that she is still holding a grudge over the fence the former owners put up because it ruined her view. Sometimes there's no pleasing people.

[Anonymous]

Wait- wasn't his posted already??

[Anonymous]

Same thing happened to us. Our HOA even specified the exact height and type of fence. We had NO choice on kind of fence. Neighbor still pissed. Told us we "destroyed the soul of the neighborhood and told us she was 'going to the board!!" - nothing she could do. It was preapproved and 100% compliant. Haters gonna hate.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If it's on your land and you have the permits, then he can pound sand. I wouldn't worry about it.

+1000
A neighbor who will complain like this will likely be troublesome in other ways too.

[Anonymous]

This adds to their property value. Ridiculous.

[Anonymous]

Is it common courtesy to speak to the neighbors before putting up a fence, by the way? I've heard that in NOVA, the fence companies will only build a few inches in from the property line, but I've also heard others say that they had their NOVA fence installed ON the property line and that a neighbor or both chipped in.

[Anonymous]

Good fences make good neighbors, or some such sh*** I read in a poem or something.

[Anonymous]

I am always polite to my neighbors even when I can't stand them.

However, a real privacy fence does create a feeling of confinement and indicates poor social skills because it's not neighborly to block the view completely.

There are many fence options to choose from, including ones with alternate slats, or ones with minimal spaces between slats so that some light peeks through. There is no reason that children and pets should have you completely shut-in, because the important thing is having a high-enough fence that the dogs can't jump over it, and that the children can't fit themselves through the slats.

A sealed privacy fence basically means: "I hate my neighbors". Seems like your neighbor got the message loud and clear.

[Anonymous]

I like a fenced yard. Unless you put up some sort of wire fence that is totally unattractive (which you did not), this is silly and childish. A fence adds value to their property as well.

[Anonymous]

Does the good side of the fence face the neighbor?

We have cedar fencing all around our back yard. The fence we had built looks the same on both sides.

[Anonymous]

Was it a privacy fence OP? Because those are awful. We left messages with all our neighbors to give them a heads-up and we chose a pretty, open fence. It contains our dogs and children just fine. All of our neighbors are actually happy about it because it does define and enhance our yards.

[Anonymous]

Did you mention the fence to the neighbors before putting it in?

I'm not saying that you had to ask permission but friendly communication can go a long way. We recently redid our siding and our HOA requires that we mention our projects to neighbors before the work starts. I was worried about approaching our elderly eccentric neighbor about it because she has had wacky responses to other neighbors on our cul de sac. She was actually very pleasant and pleased that we talked to her about it before the work began and as a result no one gave us any trouble.

[Anonymous]

Here's the deal: thanks to your seller, you know your neighbors are nuts. Go with that knowledge and just ignore. Then Tg for that fence every day.