I need help! Will those of you who have time please read through this and if you have any suggestions, please let me know. The fence is being put up Tuesday (if the weather cooperates).
Vince and the fence man decided where the fence was going to go and it was a done deal by the time Vince showed me. I said NO!! That is not a great plan.
Bad Idea #1: The back of the fence is 6″ off the property line into our yard and Vince had a walk thru gate on that back fence. I said . . if the neighbor ever puts up a fence, and they go 6″ off the line (which they wouldn’t if our fence was already up), then we’d be opening our gate up to a fence! While they probably wouldn’t put a fence up with ours already there, they could build some kind of structure (raised garden beds) or park cars right there. I just didn’t see us needing a fence to go to the neighbor’s since we never go to the neighbor’s! Also, Vince had the drive thru gate on the north side which meant to get to his shop, he’d drive completely across the back yard. NO! I want more raised beds and I want to be able to plan things back there. If the only place he’s going to drive to is the shop, then put the drive thru gate on the side by the shop. We can still leave enough room that he’ll have room to turn around and do what he needs to do but the garage door side of the shop is not even inside the fence so . . not sure about any of that but he did agree to move the drive thru gate to the other side.
That issue was easily resolve.
Bad idea #2: Here’s where I need help.
Just to the right of that stone retaining wall is where Vince had the south side of the fence starting. It would be right at the edge of that wall, up to the deck and come out from there.
Here are the problems I have with that:
- Those steps that go up to the deck are not inside the fence. On the other side of the deck are stairs that go down to an area inside the fence.
- Oscar could go up the stairs on the other side, cross the deck, down these stairs and escape. We’d never find him or catch him.
- If we had uninvited guests, they could go up these steps, cross the deck and go down the other stairs and be inside the area we’re trying to make more secure!
- If we wanted to keep a pizza oven or smoker or grill on the deck, there’s no security with one set of stairs not being inside the fence.
None of that makes any sense to me.
We had the fence guy come back out yesterday and help us with ideas. Honestly, we’re just not seeing any great ideas.
If you look at that picture . .
- There’s no way to anchor the fence posts between the a/c unit and the stairs.
- I mentioned attaching the fence post to the end of the stairs and the fence guy said if there was an intruder, he just hop those stair railing. I know a fence is no guarantee no one can get it but I don’t want to make it easier than it needs to be.
- To the left of the a/c is where the electric line is that goes to Vince’s shop. The box is Mediacom for our internet. To the left of there, just on the edge of the shrub you see is where the power from the solar panels come in and all the “guts” to that system go into the garage. Just to the left of that is where our electric meter and main power supply comes in. Not the least of the problems is the clothes line that Vince said he will not move and there’s really not another good place to put it. How can so many obstacles be in one place??
As it stands now with the revised plan, the fence is going to go up against the house between the Mediacom box and the a/c. It will be about 18″ from the a/c which will hopefully allow air circulation for the a/c. The fence will come towards the clothes line but not up to it. In that section, there will be a walk thru gate so a/c repairs/replacement can happen when needed.
Then the fence will go behind the clothes line pole (even though my drawing shows it coming in front of the clothes line pole, then turn and go farther south toward Vince’s shop.
We cannot go farther toward the front of the house because of a tree and another retaining wall.
The fence will go up to the shop between the two windows. Honestly, I think both windows should be inside the fence. Somewhere down there, where we get back to level ground, we’ll have a drive thru gate and a walk thru gate. This is the side we mostly will be going outside the fence to do things anyway. The other side, the fence will go almost to the edge of our lot and then there’s a road so we don’t do much on that side that’s outside the fence.
Vince is still going to have to build gates to put at the bottom of both sets of deck stairs to keep Oscar off the deck. The deck railing isn’t nearly close enough together to keep him from jumping or falling off. He doesn’t need to be on stairs anyway.
Also, the area between the a/c unit and the short stairs . . that’s open to underneath the sun room. It isn’t a big drop off but it isn’t some place Oscar needs to be and once he gets under there, he would be able to jump off the retaining wall to the patio under the deck and that’s about a 6′ drop so we will probably put lattice work or something there.
I just feel like there’s a better way and I hate to be missing it and then see it once the fence is installed.
I’m sure my pictures and my diagrams make it not real easy to understand the layout. Here are a couple of photos from when the house was for sale that might give more perspective.
This is the longer stairs on the other side of the deck and you can see the concrete retaining wall in the back. If Oscar went under the sun room from the opening by the short stairs, that’s where he would end up and he could easily go over that wall to the concrete below.
You see the deck. You see under the deck. We came out and added the 16′ x 17′ pergola in that area straight out from the patio. The trees to the left of the patio – those were two Bradford Pears and they are no longer there. Except for the pergola, we could have brought the fence straight out from that concrete retaining wall and avoided that whole area but with the pergola, we don’t want one wall to be a fence – we want to have it all open but I do believe we need that short set of stairs to be inside the fence.
Anyway . . any ideas you have would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!
RuthW in MD says
Possibly an overhead shot of your property might help someone have better ideas…
Judy says
In the overhead, all you can see are trees – not much of the ground level or where stairs are positioned.
vivoaks says
Seeing the whole house picture lets me see that the house is bigger than I was thinking. I’m just a tad jealous! 🙂 Anyway, is there any way to start the fence at the corner of the house, rather than clear over past the air conditioning? It might not go over the retaining wall very well, and probably wouldn’t look the best, but the stairs would still be inside… Probably not the best suggestion, but I’m no expert, as I’m sure you know! 🙂
MRH says
Jeez Louise, my massive comment just disappeared before it posted. Anyway, I would go back to revisit the goals of putting up a fence? Security? Gardening? Jeep deer out? Keep dog in? Do all of those spaces have to be the same thing? Dog area could be smaller than whole yard. Same with garden.
MRH says
Also, a/c should be fine with fence at 18”, ours has been that way for 25 years. I would not put in all of those extra bends to accommodate a clothesline. But we can’t have them in our neighborhood anyway.
MRH says
And I agree with the lattice idea for under the building. My personal preference is for the square ones, not the diagonals.
Teri says
Sorry I don’t have any good ideas but just wanted to say that your home is BEAUTIFUL!!
Laurie says
Eliminate the short stairs off of the deck and extend deck railing across the opening. Move the wash line poles. Include both windows inside the fence. I would not have a gate to the neighbors. It always looks odd and unless you are best friends what’s the point.
louverna says
I would not put a gate to the neighbors if you are not going to visit them. Also, the gate is an extra expense. Why put a fence 6′ inside your yard?? You’re wasting your yard space. Also, how are you going to mow it? You have to go clear around the yard with your mower. I would put both windows inside the fence for security purposes. All the fence angles around the clothesline looks odd. Do you want the clothesline inside or outside the fence? Do you use it? Just some thoughts I have all my backyard fenced so I have easy access and security. I’m old.
judy.blog@gmail.com says
I think I said 6 inches (6″), not 6 feet.
Elle says
I would start the fence even with the front of the house and square it off so it goes to the front edge of the shop. Great big rectangle. No fussing about all these little details on the side or the back. The last thing you want to do is….to do it again! I wouldn’t go inside he property line either. That 6 feet could become a huge problem down the road.
judy.blog@gmail.com says
We can’t start it at the front. In fact, we’re only supposed to start it at the back but there has been a waiver to go 1/3 towards the front.
If I said 6′, I was wrong – it’s 6″ and without permission from the neighbor that he agrees to the boundary, we have to to in 6″ from where we thing the line is.
Laura Haynes says
Put it on the property line or 1” in, so you don’t establish a new legal line. It happened in my family, they lost a noticeable wedge of land because they didn’t have the neighbor correct the encroachment. No gate to neighbor. Inclose both windows. I like someone’s suggestion to square off the fence lines even if it takes more fencing; easier mx, better sight lines. Also like the idea to remove the short set of stairs.
Li says
Both windows should be inside the fence.
Build gates to put at the bottom of both sets of deck stairs.
Sherry Bobak says
Did you say what kind of fencing it is? Is it see through chain link or board fencing? If board fencing, can you see over it or does it block your outside view?
judy.blog@gmail.com says
6′ cedar. I can’t see over it but I suppose someone about 6’6″ could see over it.
Julie Thomas says
I would want all of my property inside my fence. I would come off each side of the house and go to the property line (or within the inches that’s legal), then turn and go all the way to the back property line and have the back fence stretch the entirety of the property. If you bend and turn at other places, I feel like you are losing access to parts and making it more difficult to mow.
judy.blog@gmail.com says
But we don’t want it all in the fence. We have reasons why we don’t – mostly because of access to solar panels and the shop garage.