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Wood Fence School > What kind of Fence Can I build in my yard?
Wood
Fence School
What type of fence can I
build?
Many Municipalities and County in North America issue
directions as to what type of fence you can construct and where. Called
Fence Bylaws, these give residents and businesses many different
examples and rules for wood fence installations.
Furthermore,
every planned community and condo-corporation will also issue
instructions for fencing. They may allow wood only--maybe they only
want to see plastic or vinyl fences, maybe only 5' tall.
If
you are in an area deemed "Historic", you may well be limited by other
statutes governing the style of fence, and possibly a historical
commission that will vote on your choice of design.
In
brief you need to contact your municipality or county and ask first if
there are any statutes governing the construction of fences in your
yard.
In
general most residential areas will allow a fence that is roughly 6' to
6'-3" in height. Most favor wood and if you want to build a taller
fence you need to make a special application or go to "Comittee of
Adjustment". Committee of adjustment is a group put together
by your local council to judge the reasonability of requests by the
public to get exceptions to the normal rules.
Most
Commercial Areas offer an 8' Max Height for Fences.
Where
can I build it?
Typically, you can build a fence
within your property or on your property line.
The
rule is generally that if you build on the property line, it is then
community property. You typically do this when the neighbors are in
agreement and both share the cost.
When one
neighbor chooses to build what they want, they place it within their
property line slightly and if they choose to paint their neighbor's
side of the fence pink... they can legally do that.
I
wouldn't suggest building the fence a couple of feet inside your
property to be safe... many areas have a grandfather clause which
states that when you maintain property for a set amount of time -- you
then own that property. To avoid zoning and boundary issues later, keep
it as close to the line as possible.
Some areas
will allow you to build a taller fence (privacy screen), so long as you
keep it within your property a certain distance. So you would build the
standard fence, then build a privacy screen further in, typically 3-7'
for privacy purposes. They do this to avoid complaints from neighbours
complaining they have no light because of their neighbor's huge fence!