Set fence on property line or slight back from property line ?

[dennishoddy]

If the future forecast calls for trouble, leave enough room to maintain without getting on their property. You'll be glad you did for the classic argument, the tree issues. Put the fence on the line, and you can't cut the tree down on the other side that's jacking your fence up. Also, they can't stack or lean crap up against your fence accelerating rot or rust. If you have room, make it a two row mower pass, be it push or ride. Make sure survey markers are easy to find for the future. Put a yard ornament on top or something. This will be most important if they sell and you have to deal with new neighbor ownership. My dad had the fence on his property in a standard residential neighborhood house. The neighbors put a privacy fence up right against his without communication. It was just there in a day. He told the neighbor that they built the fence on his property, and they argued that the first fence was the property line. He had the surveyor come out and it cost the neighbors a shiny dime to move that fence. If the neighbors put their house up for sale, flag the boundary through their process to save trouble. The amount of room you leave is contingent on the size of your property, and how much you're willing to give up if smaller.

A little copper sulfide in the root system will eliminate that tree hurting the fence issue.

 

[Hooper]

No matter where you build a fence, disputes over it can arise.

Using a recent survey from a licensed bonded survey, is the best way to establish boundary lines.

Telling your neighbor before you start, what your intentions are can prevent problems too.
By informing your neighbor that you are using an established survey, you will probably find out if there are going to be problems or not and whether or not they want to challenge the survey.

Been many a fence built that has had to be moved due to they did not establish a property line.

Also it is hard to own the backside of a fence, when it comes to dogs or livestock.

 

[trekrok]

In short to make this as easy as possible for everyone . Yes when we purchased our home we paid for a survey and had markers set , but none the less our neighbors are not what I would call bad neighbors but not good neighbors . Everyone shares a road and they do not want to or like the idea of helping keep the road maintained its a bone of contention with them they feel like its some kind of hardship that's not bearable and I want to have minimal and as good a relation as possible with them so as we prepare to fence our back yard we are considering the pros and cons of setting it back slightly per Oklahoma law or placing it directly on the boundary. As I said we have a survey so they have no leg to stand on per se if we elected to , but I know the law actually does state boundary fences are the obligation of both to maintain and I have zero confidence they would.

Knowing all this would you place the fence on on the exact property line or set it back slightly per Oklahoma law no more than 5 feet back keeping in mind we have clearly defined and visible property line markers in place ?

That way I can maintain full control of the fence and keep it maintained, mowed

If it was me I'd set the fence as close to the property line as I could. If you move it several feet and plan on mowing a strip on 'their' side, I envision potential issues.

 

[BryanDP]

We asked our fence installer to make it so the holes didn't impede on the neighbors which ended up putting the chain link posts about 1" in to our side of the property line. Both left and right neighbors benefitted from our fence in that all they had to do is go across the back of their yard to also have a fully fenced yard but we didn't ask anyone for anything other than to not tie in to our fence. One had a contractor that tried to do so but we got it corrected.

 

[Ahall]

The fellow who won't contribute to maintenance of community roads is unlikely to contribute to the fence between your properties, and might take advantage of adverse possession laws to establish a new property line.

They are also unlikely to respect your fence and use it as the back of their wood pile or stack things on it.

I bet most of us have seen the solution where a cow pasture borders a new subdivision.
Two fences - on made from rusted, spliced, second hand barbed wire barely hanging on to old osage orange posts on the property line. Then a mowing strip and a good privacy fence so the neighbors don't have to look at the unsightly fence.

If you chose this solution, you get extra style points for.

Splices in the barbed wire. (double points if the splice is not fence wire)
Broken wires
Twisted wires
cattle panels
double spaced or obviously missing posts
random post heights.
Wires with small trees grown around them
Mis matched steel posts driven next to wooden posts with the wood posts wired to them.
Electric fence insulators on trees

 

[Aku]

On the surveyed property line. If you can afford it, build a 10' to 15' stone fence, a foot or two wide, with arrowslits, just in case.

 

[WoodsCraft]

On the surveyed property line. If you can afford it, build a 10' to 15' stone fence, a foot or two wide, with arrowslits, just in case.

That is a fine plan but it will end up being a 8 ft vinyl fence as I do not want to deal with the ongoing maintenance costs of cedar . If I had mad money then yes it would be stone with observation slits , parapets and cauldrons for the molten lead

 

[gunnut918]

Front of my property is highway frontage. Rebuilt other thre sides. Two on property line and other where had been for more than fifty years. Don’t understand offsetting and giving way property. Four owners on three sides and no help from any. I maintain them also.

 

[turkeyrun]

When I bought my pasture, the survey that had been ordered by realtor, shows and states property lines as existing fences. Neighbor to the north was wheat field. They built a new fence, did not contact me. New fence was 3' north of old fence. I removed old fence.

They sold their quarter. Survey filed stated fenceline was property line.
I gained 3'xhalf mile.

I have mine for sale. Ordered a certified survey. Met surveyor on location. Made sure he placed survey stakes at corners and marked fenceline as property line.

Survey complete, abstract filed, lawyer certified, County recorded. CYA.