Privacy is not going to be possible in the situation you describe, no matter the height of the fence. Give up on being able to screen out nude sunbathing at all. Or noise. You would need a much larger piece of property, with less tall buildings so close. In addition, you really should verify that 8' dimension is allowed. That would be a true anomaly in most urban areas.

Plants take up more space than fences, and take away more light. But they are the ultimate solution to provide some screening that is less hostile than a fence. Screening isn't total privacy.

It was stated in the original post that all except the poster's house (after the ongoing addition of another story) are 1 1/2 stories. And that the location of the neighborhood is suburban.

8’ is the height of our doorways...I literally cannot imagine a wall that high encircling my yard...I’d literally feel like I was in jail.

“big city suburb” with 8 foot privacy fences would never be allowed in any desirable neighborhood in my area. Creating the jail or compound look is generally frowned upon by HOAs, if there is one to consider. Part of why they are not allowed in our area is due to the long term look of them, they do not age well especially when done in wood. Home owners tend to repair sections over time creating a patchwork quilt look of mismatched fencing in different stages of aging, not a good look. Seems if one needs such a tall fence on a small lot in suburbia they may be better off a little further out on larger acreage.

Security is another concern with a high fence--indeed any fence--as B&E artists are further hidden away from any potential neighbouring eyes. (I was saved once when a neighbour who liked to garden after midnight saw strangers on the back deck of my darkened house and politely asked if they were looking for me.)

@queenvictorian - I don’t think of the fence as meant to block prying eyes from above, more so from the side :) Thank you for your input; it’s a real struggle between my hermit half and my desire for a neighborly community!

@Laurie Schrader - Thank you for your comment; well, the helpful parts at least. I’m sorry you don’t think it’s worthwhile to seek the perspectives of others who might have dealt with a similar situation, simply because I don’t want to engage our future neighbors directly. Fortunately, I felt differently and it’s already proven helpful!

Raise chickens and goats, park an abandon car in your back yard, and take your trash to the curb once a year; and your neighbors will want a ten foot high fence.

@MarkBischak - The nude sunbathing someone else mentioned might accomplish that as well, but I’m more interested in how living alongside them has been for those who have experienced it. Not so much interested in manufacturing an appreciation :)

If I were your neighbor, I wouldn't think twice about an 8' fence. If I thought about it at all, I'd suspect you were planning to buy a large dog and were trying to be sure you could contain it. Specific thoughts:

- I'm looking at my 8' ceilings right now, and I'm thinking, "That's a lot of fence!" I'm not going out in the yard, but I think my fence is 4'-4 1/2' -- not that it's any great example of fencehood, and it's always been enough. What's your motivation for this tall-tall fence?

- Until someone said it upthread, I hadn't considered that this would block out sunlight to my yard. With that in mind -- if the yards are so small that this would matter, or if it would shade my driveway -- I do prefer the idea of 6' fence + 2' lattice.

- What type of fences are common in your neighborhood? I think a fence that "stands out" would be unattractive.

- How tall is your house? Will this 8' fence fit into the overall look, or will it dwarf your house?

- At some point you're going to need to re-paint (or otherwise repair) your fence, and an 8' fence will be considerably more work because you'll have to use a ladder. Especially with a tall husband, you could paint a 6' fence from the ground.

- I don't think your husband -- even being over 6' -- will have his privacy compromised if people can see the top of his head while he's standing next to the fence.

- 8' is going to cost more than 6' . Probably a good bit more -- and for what point?

- If you're in a neighborhood, chances are good that you have two story houses; thus, neither 6' nor 8' will give you privacy for nude sunbathing. (And this is from someone who completely missed the modesty gene.)

- I'm thinking about my daughter's house, which is on a very small 1/3 acre lot. She has a fence (I'm guessing 6' ?) so we have privacy when we're in her pool ... but we can definitely see into the neighbor's back yards from the upstairs windows. (Not that we're nosy, but it's impossible not to notice.) Something I've admired: Her neighbors on both sides have nice covered porches behind their houses, and they are truly private. Perhaps you'd be better off sticking with a standard fence and building yourself a small under-cover area that'd really be private?

- I do think it'd be wise to speak to the neighbors -- you ought to get to know them at least on a superficial level anyway -- and let them know you're about to put in a fence. It's just good for them to know that workmen will be around, and they won't need to worry whether they're legitimate or not. No, I wouldn't ask them what they thought about a non-standard sized fence -- it is your own business -- but I would inform them of my plans.

I live in an area which is rapidly being redeveloped, often with two or three two-story houses replacing the original single, one story house. So, walls and fences everywhere, and houses overlooking backyards. Privacy isn't something you're going to get in this environment no matter how high the fence is, because you're being overlooked by those second story houses, and because even if you can't see the neighbors, you can always hear them when they're in they're own yards. People still value their sunlight, though, so that would be the prime consideration for me. If an 8 foot fence takes away access to natural light, the neighbors will not be pleased. So think about the impact that extra two feet might (or might not) have on their windows and decks. And ask yourself whether you're really going to get more privacy with that extra two feet, because it may not be worth irritating the neighbors over it.

Hmmm. I have neighbors and the neighbors have fences. The major one to my North is 6 ft. (Well, 5 with 1' of lattice). I'm unbothered by that one, and in fact have used it to espalier some fruit trees that can bake happily in the sun. There is an identical fence belonging to another neighbor along the back of the property. That one DOES keep the back of the property quite dark AND provides a "skunk highway" in the 1 foot between our garage and that fence. My driveway runs along the south border of my property, and I'd be fairly irritated with a fence on that side as it would, yes, keep my driveway from ever thawing out, all winter long.

I don't know that I'd have bought it at all if I had an 8' fence on three sides, as that would feel very boxed in. But then, I feel boxed in already and have bought acreage to build on.

How large is your lot? If youre talki g about a neighborhood of acre+ lots, I think it’s less of a concern than with smaller lots. That said, I live one two acres and my six foot fence feels plenty tall, even on the side that is close to the neighbors.

@MrsPete - Thank you so much for the very thoughtful response! We did the wall test too and are now leaning away from the fortress like feel we think 8’ would bring. Many excellent points you have raised for consideration :)

@jmm1837 - The balancing game definitely feels like it’s tipping towards 6’. Sunlight is precious in the north midwest, and community being valued over privacy is part of why we’re leaving the west coast. Thank you!

@HollyStockley - We’re building this as our forever home, so I hadn’t thought about potential negative affect on resale, but that’s a good point. We will want to sell eventually. And, as was mentioned, less maintenance is always a plus!

@KristinS - The standard lot is 0.15 acres, so not big at all!

and community being valued over privacy is part of why we’re leaving the west coast.

Yes, don't make it hard for your neighbors to hand a casserole over the fence! (Or hotdish, if you're in MN)

Thank you to everyone who took the time to comment and provide helpful food for thought :) We’ve decided to go with 6’. Our primary goal is really just a nice looking fence that keeps our dogs in and property lines clear. It seems like a 6’ fence will accomplish those goals, for hopefully for a bit less, and without losing any significant benefits. Since security isn’t our focus, it doesn’t seem worth it to go 8’ and risk hating the fortress like-feel, while also potentially negatively affecting the neighbors for little gain on our end. And as @HollyStockley wisely points out, it’s much harder to pass baked goods over an 8ft’ fence! Worst case, I imagine it’s not too difficult to add a lattice after the fact, so I will keep exploring that option as well. Thank you again all!

Fences in the right place can be good, create some privacy, and become a backdrop for a garden or patio. Fences also block out sunlight, reduce views and make nice open places feel artificially enclosed.

At our current house and the new one we're building I like the view of being able to look out across multiple neighbor's yards. Both neighborhoods would feel massively different with a bunch of tall opaque fences.

I think that 3-4' high picket or similar semi open fences along lot lines can be quite nice. Higher than that can begin to have negative impacts as can being more solid.

FWIW, I personally really dislike chain link (fortunately they've now been disallowed in our community) as well as plastic (that doesn't look great when it's new and goes downhill every year from there). If you're going to build a fence use natural materials and make the fence attractive.

@opaone - I absolutely agree and intend to! It will be a simple dog eared wooden fence in a natural stain :) Hopefully the neighbors see it as an improvement to the current fencing (which is lower, but much older and overgrown with shrubs at this point)

Your neighbors will definitely see and appreciate the improvement. 2 things:

First- I apologize. I think I got confused by the title and the the little WT! hit me. Thank you for your patient explanations.

Second- I second your thoughts on trellises. Big time. I have them in my backyard, added after fencing by the landscapers. Upon them, we chose a whole bunch of star jasmine- Evergreen, the flowers have a spicy smell and whew- they grew fast.

They add height and interest, and simply don't let me down in what I call our "psycho climate" in Central TX. Find the greenery that fits best in your climate/orientation and do it!

@LaurieSchrader - That sounds gorgeous! I’d love to see if a picture of you have one! And thank you very much for the acknowledgment of misunderstanding and helpful advice x 2 :)

I live in an old subdivision (part built just prior to WWII, and the rest in 1948), that at one time did not allow fences at all. When we bought the house in 1984, we were very careful to ask about fences as we'd already discarded one neighborhood where they were not allowed. Yes, we could have a fence, but only in back (from front of house line to the back property line), and they could only be 6' tall.

We had little money and DH bought ready-made stockage fence sections at our local big box store (no national chains yet). But we had a Beagle and had experienced the difficulty of keeping a Beagle in a fenced yard. They have a natural ability to find that slight dip in the ground and will go under.

So, DH decided to put railroad ties UNDER the fence in order to level the ground under it and to avoid digging. Railroad ties are very heavy, and with heavy clay soil, it would be compacted as hard as concrete very quickly. Of course, this made our fences on the side a bit over 6 ft; in the back where he had built a retaining wall to hold back the soil we had put in our backyard to level it, meant that while it was about 6' on OUR side, it was about 2-3 ft higher on the back side, where it abutted a utility easement. We went ahead and did it, the old lady behind is was very disappointed that we had the previous owner take all 150 rose bushes, planted in rows in the back yard, with him when he left. We tried to make it look better by planting any shrub that we discarded as not having worked where we planted it, back there, and dug up every orange daylily when it appeared in the garden, and planted it back there as well. Considering she had a chain link fence with no shrubbery, we didn't feel we'd done her a disservice.

There have been countless owners of that house since, and not one has ever replace that awful chain link fence, nor have they complained about ours.

Don't know how much space you have but have you considered a 'living fence'? A line of closely spaced Nellie Stevens (as an example) planted about 3' inside the line?

An outdoor spaced hemmed by creosoted railroad ties would be an unusable one in my book.

These were old discarded railroad ties - not much creosote left. They have not hampered anything growing near them in any way. I have quite a lush back garden. Nothing unusable about it at all.

If the treatment is gone how have they not rotted away?

@Anglophilia - Thank you for the anecdote and additional option to consider for a little more height!

@Horseback Rider - A living fence sounds lovely! But I don’t think it would keep the dogs in :/

Yes, a motivated dog will find any possible way to get through and will make one if none exists. At least you don't have cpartist's concern about alligators finding their way in...

Consider which side of the fence is finished, and that your neighbors may not like the unfinished side!

You should finish both sides for longevity.

Yes to finishing both sides. Most muni's here require the 'decorative side' of a fence to face out from the owners property.

Depending on the material, you can add a bit of linseed oil in with your primer coat. This will help it to penetrate the wood better and provide a bit more resistance to water intrusion. This is particularly important for any wood that will be below grade.

We've done this with cedar posts set in concrete and set in gravel and have gotten 20+ years out of the posts before needing replacement (and even then about half were still useable).

BTW, we often build 'ground boards' in to fences. These are typically the same width as the posts x 4" with a convex cut in the bottom (e.g., the bottom is a V shape so that soil pushing up against it will not push the board up. These are set about 1/2" below grass mowing height. This reduces wild grass having a chance to grow up in to the fence and makes it easy to run a string trimmer along the top of the board and keep the grass on each side neatly trimmed.

Embothrium, a few have rotted and had to be replaced over the past 34 years, but I'm amazed how well many have held up. My husband found a place in southern Indiana where old railroad ties "go to die" and would take our Suburban and load up a few and bring them home, a few at a time.

I can tell you what has NOT rotted is the bottom of any fence in the yard! Some had to be replace when the nails that held the slats of the stockage fences to the cross pieces finally rusted away and I was tired of constantly having to vigilant about re-nailing them with galvanized nails - replaced the fence, but railroad ties stayed and fence company was astounded that there was no bottom-rot. DD does not have dogs but had her custom built fence done the same way.

I will definitely inquire as to the "finish plan" for the fence. Thank you for the longevity suggestions!

An 8 ft fence in our area would be considered a declaration of war on the neighborhood-- but then so would a 6 ft fence. We don't do fences here except to corral animals, then as small and unobtrusive as possible. Folks with dogs 90% use electronic collars. A "privacy fence" is considered a declaration of extreme anti-socialness. At the same time there are pretty strong taboos against looking at or intruding on your neighbors uninvited. We sit around in our wide open spaces studiously avoiding eye contact. :-)

Rwiegand - That made me LOL. Thank you.

Our neighborhood doesn't allow 6ft privacy fences. Only those iron fences. So if you want privacy, you would have to use plantings to accomplish that.

rwiegand - what do those with dog breeds for whom an electric fence doesn't work well do? Or are they the 10%?

Our dog-owning relatives have had a number of dogs who would run right across an electric fence in the heat of the chase of a squirrel, cat, etc.. Then they'd be stuck on the wrong side when the chase was over, unwilling to endure the shock to get back home when the chase wasn't on.

I don't think I'd trust an electric fence, especially with one of our current terriers. He regularly runs around the yard in a frenzy "defending" our house. Solid fencing is the only thing we've considered because he will bark at anything he can see, but not get to (he can see under/through parts of our our current rental house fence made of dilapidated wood). It's been a learning experience with our current (very patient) neighbors, and we'd like to avoid the issue going forward!

Our last home, we built a 6ft wood fence. Stained it on both sides for protection and looks. Worked well to contain the little ones and big pups. Also kept the wondering neighbors dogs at bay. Re-stained once and replaced just a few boards in 18 years. Still holding strong. Enjoyed the privacy of the back, front porch for being more social. It was a decent sized yard and didn't block anyones windows, so no issues with surrounding neighbors. In fact, an older gentleman in the neighborhood who liked to tinker, helped with the construction. Quite a few 'home improvement' style conversations took place atop that fence along with numerous baked goods being passed over too. :)

@kmg11 thank you for the photos; that is exactly the type of fence I am picturing, and it is reassuring to hear that it has worked well for you for so long! May I ask what type of climate your are in? I love your landscaping :)

we're in the midwest too :)

The actual open wire electric fences added to any decorative fence will work on any dog. Scent hounds and sight hounds both. The invisible fences with the collars will have dogs blast right through.

Its just a simple wire run on porcelain insulators about 7" off the ground. They won't get close enough to dig or to climb. Some people in deer country add a wire at the top too.

I would make sure you know what your legal rights and what you can get a permit to do. In my county you have to provide a survey anytime you replace more than two slats in the fence. You may find the fence is on the neighbors property and not your fence to mess with. If on the property line you may find your neighbors have to approve the change. If the fence is 5' from the neighbor's house, I would assume they have legal rights concerning what happens to the fence.

I would not change a fence without making sure it is OK with the adjoining neighbors. If your neighbors are unhappy with you raising the height of your house, messing with a fence could be the last straw and you could fiind yourself tied up in lawsiuits. If it is an affluent neighorhood they may be quick to sue. You have to live their, you are setting the tone as whether you are a good neighbor or the neigbor from hell. So far its sould like you be the later.

@FredE - I’m not sure who pissed in your Cheerios this morning, but I would think the fact that I’m concerned about potential inconvenience to my neighbors would suggest the former. Clearly you didn’t read the post or comments, or you would see much of your unhelpful and uncalled for speculation has already been addressed. The second story was being built with or without us, we are just the custom buyer. And please rest assured that, as an attorney, I am both well aware of the legal implications and that you have no idea what you’re talking about :) I hope your day gets better!

8 ft.

I recently installed an 8 ft fence and lighting. It's the the best thing I did. I went with the tallest my county would allow. You won't be disappointed. Additionally, I added poured stamp concrete, a walkway and adding a 100 inch tv. Go for it.

Entertainer Drake was allowed to build a nearly 15' wall and fence around his Toronto estate. Fortunately, it mostly sits behind a million dollars of 20' cedars he had planted. https://nationalpost.com/entertainment/celebrity/city-grants-drake-permit-to-build-fences-twice-as-high-as-set-out-in-bylaws-due-to-security-concerns

Sometimes resurrected threads are helpful. We have a house that family is in that we will move back to. I've considered an 8 ft fence for screening an ugly property. The lot behind has 4 acres and it is a bit of a family compound. Rather nice but they use the part of their yard that butts ours as somewhat of a trash bin. They have been there for a long time and the previous owners of our house deforested the backyard - so I don't blame them.

We currently have a 4 ft chain link - which is to say nothing visual blocking. The town probably would allow 6+2 and HOA probably would allow since this backyard property is not in the HOA and it would not be visible from the street and barely visible by the one neighbor.

One solution to fence height rules is decorative walls that are not continuous - "not a fence".

For now I have planted a lot but there is tall trees on the 4 acre property which block a lot of sun so the screenings planted may not be enough in our 4-5 year time line.

It is the worst right now as the weather is nice but the trees aren't leaved out yet. We are planning on adding windows and probable extension back there with lots of windows so it wll matter more than current situation.

On our current house, we have a section of 8 ft that was done for security. It is the one entry point to backyard that wasn't visible to neighbors (and wasn't through a neighbors yard). Of course a criminal could climb it but it certainly would slow them down. The gate has a deadbolt So sometimes height can be helpful - or at least can feel like it is helpful....