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laurenjohnsonrdh

Waterfront Fencing Options

7 years ago
last modified: 7 years ago

Hi all, my husband and I need some guidance on the best option for our new fence. We've just purchased a new waterfront home on .7 acres, but the majority of the land is in the front. I would say 2/3 is front yard and 1/3 is backyard. Anyways, my main concern is this huge drop off/bank in the backyard. We know we need to put up some sort of fence for safety measures because we have an infant and will likely have more children. I have no idea what sort of fence to install because I want to keep as much of the views as we can, after all its why we bought the house in the first place!

My second dilemma is our two dogs. I would love to fence off the entire property so that they can have room to run without having to
worry about them, but there is 2 driveway entrances so that means 2 gates which is $$$. Would a better option be an underground fence for the dogs and then just a fence line along the back for safety reasons?

Sorry for the long post! I would love any and all suggestions. Ive attached photos, but they are of the listing. This was an auction
bought house so the pics aren't the greatest.










Comments (6)

  • 7 years ago

    Some dogs adapt very quickly to the restrictions of an electric fence so get that installed now. Check with your HOA / City / neighborhood group as to any restrictions on fencing. Take a boat ride along the shore to see what others have done. Drive throughout the neighborhood to see if fencing is present. Older areas such as yours aren't usually welcoming to fencing as it "spoils the look". It will be a few years before your child is old enough to be outside without supervision. Perhaps a modest-sized, fenced play area off to one side of the back yard / side yard will suffice.

    Lauren Johnson thanked chiflipper
  • 7 years ago

    Thanks so much for all the suggestions Lindsey! I didn't even think about the county not allowing us to place a fence, you are probably right because they require you to have a permit to even remove a shrub in what is considered 'critical area' where we are at.

    The man in the picture you see is cutting back the insane amount of bamboo that has grown, we've been told after cutting back the bamboo for about 5 years it should die off and then we can do a terrain of some sort. He's actually harnessed to the two trees! Our neighbor a few houses down has done that and it does look very pretty. We do have a ramp that leads down to the pier and boathouse to the right of the picture.

    We have already hired a dog trainer to help teach our dogs about new boundaries and of course interacting with our infant. Hopefully we will not have any troubles if we choose to go the underground fence route.

    Any suggestions on what sort of shrubs to plant if we end up doing that? When you immediately walk out the back door there is a large deck, and we plan on putting a gate up there so that our son can't leave the deck. I just worry that one day someone may accidentally leave it open!

  • 7 years ago

    Thanks for the suggestions chiflipper. I believe some of the older homes do have chainlink fences, but they are pretty unsightly. The neighborhood is a big mixed bag of older smaller homes (think 2 bed 1 bath) and newer builds (10-15 years old). Our home was built on a double lot after 2 homes were torn down. There is a community play area at the end of our road, maybe this will be enough for us until we can teach our son some boundaries.

  • 7 years ago

    This would be my suggestion. Put temporary fencing in for piece of mind. Deer fencing is not unsightly and you can put it in by yourselves. By the time they are 6 you won't need it anymore.

  • 7 years ago
    last modified: 7 years ago

    I agree with above poster to try and keep it as open as possible. But if you must have a fence, framed welded wire mesh between nice cedar posts looks sharp and preserves the view.