Recommendations on fence/retaining wall problem..

10 years ago

We are nearing the end of our build and as such the builder is rushing the final outside items.. Especially since winter is now inevitable here in NJ and temps are going to be drastically falling.. With that said I got a phone call from the builder and he inquired about the retaining wall he would be installing and our fence plans.. I told him we are planning to install a vinyl fence all along the side the property where the wall would be going.. He gave me two options.. He said he could push the wall as close the property line as possible and then we could build our fence behind/on top of it, OR, he could leave a space so that we could put the fence in front of the retaining wall.. The retaining wall ( as per our site plans) was supposed to be no more then 10-12 inches in height.. He said he needed an answer asap.. Based on the site plans I figured we would be better off putting the fence closer to the neighbors property and then having our wall behind the fence on our side. After-all, our grade would be close to even with the height of the wall... Well, I just stopped by the site and see they left about 1ft-1.5ft of space between the wall and neighbors property so we can install the fence, however the wall is looking like it will end up becoming a 2 - 2.5ft high wall.. Granted I could still plop down my fence between the wall and neighbors property, however the ordinance in my town specifies that I can only have a 4ft high fence in the front of the property.. Obviously if I put a 4ft fence in front of the wall we would only end up with 2ft of fence on our side.. Just wanted to see if anyone had any ideas on what would be the best method for handling this.. We could still put the fence behind the wall, however we would then essentially have given up 1.5 feet of our property.. The other option which I am not sure if it will meet the town ordinance is to drop a 6ft fence between the wall and the property line.. This would give us the 4ft at our grade level, but like I said, I am not sure if this will be "violating" the township ordinance.. The other option, and again not sure if it "violates" the ordinance, would be to install a 4ft fence but have it raised on the post.. Any ideas?

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njbuilding143
Original Author

10 years ago

Dlm2000 - there actually used to be a fence on top of that red "curb" which was taken down due your mentioned issue.. But realistically how much of my property should I be "giving" to my neighbor for his use.. I am all about being neighborly and fair.. If we put the fence between the wall and property line then they would still have more space then they did when the prior fence was in place..

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Comments (6)

DLM2000-GW
10 years ago
Your neighbor's house is the red one? Be a good neighbor and think about this from the neighbor's perspective. If they park a car next to the house they can't open the car door with a fence right there.
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just_janni
10 years ago
I'd put a fence ON the retaining wall to make it look the cleanest.
njbuilding143
Original Author
10 years ago
jannicone - This would probably be the best option.. However I am not sure if it will be possible to do.. I have the fence installer coming tomorrow to look at the wall and I will see what his recommendation will be.. The holes in the blocks all line up and are big enough to accept a 5x5 post, but will be tight so I don't know if it will work as I know they normally have to set the post in concrete....
njbuilding143
Original Author
10 years ago
So just a quick update.. I spoke to the builder and the fence crew.. Fence guy says he highly recommends not putting the fence between the wall and neighbors property.. He was concerned with the space but also said that if he puts the fence and "raises" it on the post it will not look right.. He recommended putting the fence on top and behind the wall..

Well here is the new problem.. Builder obviously said that he does not want to move the wall.. He said that it was my decision to put it there and if I want it moved I would have to pay the cost to move it which is two days of manpower consisting of three guys and also the use of the excavator.. He didn't give us a price but the last time he gave a price for his excavator it was around 1k for some trench work.. So I am going to assume he would want 2k to do the wall over.. The wall would get moved about 1ft closer to the neighbors property but still give them an extra 6inches more then they are supposed to have.. I am not sure if its worth the money to gain the extra 1ft of space along that side.. Right now we are losing 1ft on a 80ft run.. One of the big concerns is that I have seen this exact same issue come up in the past where people had a space like this that the neighbor took over without them knowing and was using it for YEARS.. And when they went to sell the house there was a problem as the neighbor claimed the property was his and had been using it for X amount of years.. I know everyone was in a court battle but I dont know the end result.. I just remember being told that the neighbor actually had a valid argument since they were using it for X amount of years and were never told not to..
rwiegand
10 years ago
You can avoid an adverse possession claim by writing a letter explicitly not giving up claim to the land in question.

Seems like you can either pay to move it, live with it where it is, or skip the fence. The latter would be my first choice, increasing the perceived size of the lot and reducing visual clutter. From your neighbors point of view the retaining wall is already a fence, why block your own view (especially with a plastic fence)? Perhaps you could just build the retaining wall a couple blocks higher and have a low stone-looking fence instead of the plastic.