Neighbor Friendly Fences
There are many types of fences to choose from when considering a fence to put onto your property. One type is a “neighbor-friendly” fence, where it looks the same on both sides of the fence. Fortress Iron and Trex composite fencing automatically look the same on both sides. The type of fence that is usually a little harder to make neighbor friendly is cedar wood fencing.
There are a few styles of wood fences that are automatically neighbor friendly. They are on the higher end of the price scale, but there are also options for a basic dog ear or flat top wood fence. Generally with cedar fencing, the side facing the neighbor’s property is the side without the rails, and the side facing your property has the rails showing. To make these fences look similar on both sides, every other panel can be flipped around to face the opposite direction. So every other panel has rails facing one way and the next panel is just slats.
Some customers split the cost of the fence they are installing with their neighbor. These customers generally try to decide on the fence specifics together, and make it look similar on both sides.
Top Six Reasons to Own a Wood Fence
1. Owning a wood fence improves the look of your property.
Having a wood fence will improve the aesthetic quality of your home or business. For example, Coastal Western Red Cedar’s earthy luster and pleasing aroma is enjoyed by most people and reminds them of the outdoors. If you ever want to put your property up on the real estate market, having an attractive Cedar fence will be a sound investment to make.
2. It shields you from the elements.
While your wood fence won’t keep the rain from falling on your head, it will help protect your property and family from the elements. Wood fencing helps shield your yard, home and gardens from blistering wind driven rain, freezing snow and the baking sun.
3. Having a wood fence brings you privacy and added security.
A wood fence keeps unwanted pets and visitors from wandering on your property, and they also keep the smaller members of your family and furry friends from wandering off! A gate can be easily built into your wood fence that can be locked from the inside; preventing strangers from entering but also letting you enjoy quick access to the outside.
4. You can make your fence fit your personality.
There are many different kinds of Cedar fencing styles to select from including Privacy Fencing, Dog-Eared tops, Estate, Lattice-Topped, Board-on-Board and many others. You can also choose whether to have your Cedar fence stained. Ultimately, there’s no wrong way to pick or personalize your fence design – it’s entirely up to your own personal preference.
5. It will be around for years to come.
The built-in durability of a wood like Cedar makes it tough to stand up to the elements and changing temperatures. Cedar also exudes natural oils that bugs and fungi don’t like. With occasional maintenance work every 5-7 years, your fence will still look great 20 years or more down the road.
6. Affordability.
There is no other fencing material on the market which looks as appealing, last as long at such an affordable price as wood.
Neighbor Friendly Fence Designs
As a homeowner and deciding the right fence style for your property lines shared with neighbors, I recommend choosing a neighbor friendly fence design. What is a neighbor friendly fence design? A neighbor friendly fence design provides the same look on both sides without adding additional materials to have the same look. For instance, a dog-eared wood fence usually has 2 or 3 2×4 rails on one side and the pickets (slats) are on the other side. On the property line with this fence style, one property owner is getting the good looking side of the fence which is the picket side and the other property owner is getting the ugly side of the fence with the 2×4 rails which is the rail side. Yes you can alternate the fence sections so each property owner will be getting a good side of the fence every 8’ on center but this does not keep a consistent uniformed neighbor friendly fence design along the property line. See the picture below to know what a typical dog-eared alternating section fence looks like.
Now selecting a neighbor friendly fence design can be sometimes difficult because these fence types typically cost more than a dog-eared wood fence but usually have virtues such as low-maintenance: no painting or staining, product warranty, resistant to insect damage and won’t warp, rot, or splinter. The following fences are known as neighbor friendly fence designs without modifying the original design: Trex fencing a wood composite (www.TrexFencing.com), SimTek Fence a simulated rock wall (www.SimTekFence.com), vinyl fence a poly vinyl chloride, Ornamental fence a manufactured galvanized powder coated product (www.FortressFence.com), or Jerith an aluminum alloy product. (www.Jerith.com), and depending on the style of wood fence there are options for a neighbor friendly fence design.
Not known as neighbor friendly fence designs without modifying the original design: Fiberon Fence, TimberTech Fence, Nature Composites, Moisture Shield, WoodShades, Veranda, cedar wood.