Getting a fence installed can make your backyard a more inviting, private, and useful space at home. However, the process of getting it installed can be more complicated than you might think. This checklist will help you avoid making any costly mistakes and make sure that you get exactly the kind of fence you wanted for your home.
Determine Why You Need a Fence
The reason you want a fence will goa long way toward determining the design and materials that best fit your situation. Common reasons for wanting a fence include:
- Privacy from neighbours in your backyard.
- Safety concerns, such as making sure children can’t get into a pool unattended or making sure that your pets stay in your own yard.
- Security concerns, such as making it harder for someone to trespass in your backyard or keeping wild animals like coyotes out of your yard.
- Establishing boundaries to clearly demarcate your yard from your neighbours.
Decide How Much Privacy You Want
The next step is to decide how much privacy you’re looking for. Landscaping and fence installation companies provide basic and total privacy fence designs to fit different needs.
Find Your Property Line
One of the biggest mistakes homeowners make is getting a fence installed before they triple check where their property line is. Just because you think you know where it is, doesn’t mean you shouldn’t double check. Get the surveys of your property to confirm exactly where that property line is.
The law can be pretty unforgiving to a fence built over your property line. It’s very likely that if your neighbour complains (and they would be right to if your fence crossed onto their property), you will have to tear it down and rebuild it.
Talk to Your Neighbour
Before you get started installing a fence, you may want to talk to your neighbour about the possibility of sharing a fence. You can build a fence along your property line if you and your neighbour both agree to it, and you are jointly responsible for it.
Splitting the cost can be a great way to save money if you have an amicable relationship. However, you can also build a fence on your own, it just has to be entirely within your property line.
Check Your Local Bylaws
In most municipalities, there will likely be bylaws governing things like how high your fence can be. It’s worth checking these bylaws to make sure everything is by the book. Otherwise, you can face fines and have to pay to have it re-installed to meet regulations. Working with a contractor who will design your fence to fit local bylaws can also help avoid any mistakes.
Choose Fencing Materials
The last thing to consider is the fencing materials you want. Work with a contractor who always uses premium lumber, never big box stuff. Usually you can choose between a number of woods, such as cedar, redwood, and pressure-treated pine, or composite, which may not have the look of natural wood, but can prove to be much more durable.
Before you get a fence installed, make sure you this checklist to get exactly what you want.
