My shared fence with one of my neighbors has been down since 12/24/25.
I quickly received 3 quotes to replace fencing between this neighbor and 3 other of my neighbors. One of my neighbors and I have already been talking about replacing the fence. My back neighbor fence also partially went down.
I gave notice to all 4 neighbors of my plans and the shared cost on 1/9/25. This included shared discount and info from the vendor regarding warranty. I got quotes from local vendors as well and they were both more than a larger company, and provided no warranty gauranteed and both did not seem to understand permit laws. All but this one neighbor agreed to split the cost rather swiftly. The fence is a little taller (1 foot) and includes privacy screen, but again all my neighbors saw this benefits them too, and were fine with spitting the cost.
This last neighbor said they were working with insurance, and so I waited patiently in good faith. It took almost a month before they got back after many back and forth with them. I myself dealt with insurance the same day they said they were going to and my insurance paid out within a few business days.
At this point this neighbor is only offering their post-deductible and depreciated value to “repair” the fence. It’s about 10% of the value of replacing the fence. This neighbor did no work to get quotes or work with me beyond telling me they only want to repair. Repairing in this case essentially means replacing half the fence. The other half is made up of rotting boards since it failed previously and the prior owner put it back up with only new posts and so will most likely not last long either. I don’t trust it won’t fail again in the near future and would rather gaurantee it stays up and provides security and privacy. I can see into their backyard from inside my house and they can see into my house from theirs. With the new fence neither will be possible.
Am I the asshole here?
INFO: Who is legally responsible for repairing/replacing the fences in question?
Which way are the posts facing? Fences are not shared property. They are on one homeowners property line. It’s either your responsibility or theirs. Not both.
Have you considered that they cannot afford it?
Yta. So the reality is that it’s not your place to force them to pay into your fence, even if it benefits them. They probably can’t afford it. Thats why its been down so long.
The fence is either on your property or theirs. It’s either your legal responsibility or theirs. You got one neighbor to pay in, and the other will pay in minimally.
Take the deal you’ve got before the other one realizes they don’t have to contribute a dime.
Shares fence or not, youre the one who wants it up and it will only go on your property.
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NAH, as I see why you would rather just get a new fence, but I also understand that your neighbor, who is already supporting the housing needs of their sibling and parent, might not want to invest more money into a fence that literally does them absolutely no good.
My suggestion is take them up on their offer and be grateful that your other neighbors are willing to chip in. We had to pay for our fence being replaced because our neighbor didn’t want to, even though the reason for the fence is their dog was lunging through the old fence and barking his head off!
i mean do you want a cookie for doing all the quotes? don’t ever tell other people how to spend “their” own $. yta
Why not just set your new fence back by like 6 inches and stop sharing a fence? That way the new fence is just on your property and you won’t have to deal with this again. Or grow a backbone, get the fence completed and bill them after.
Esh but as NAH in a way.
Doesn’t really sound like you’re trying to work with the neighbor.
Sounds like you’re set on replacing – and upgrading – and he only wants to repair.
Maybe he doesn’t have the money to take this on right now.
The fence is on someone’s property. If it is on yours, you are financially responsible for replacing it if you want to keep it. If it is on theirs, they are responsible, but have no obligation to repair or replace it. Unless in an HOA type situation, any cost sharing around things like fences is voluntary.
Small YA. Your values and priorities are not necessarily your neighbor’s values and priorities, maybe he doesn’t really care about a privacy fence or he has other priorities for his money than installing a fancy new fence that suits your preferences. So now you’ve gotta find the point of compromise (at least until this neighbor is gone and then you can work out this fence with your new neighbor.
Your fence
Your costs
YTA, you want the fence you pay bro, he isnt obligated to pay a single cent
YTA….they are not required to pay anything for the fence . Doesn’t matter if they share land with you or benefits them. Technically your replacing your fence and neighbors are nice wnough to chip in