<p>Hi all,</p>
<p>I have a bucket list of items for my house - new basement windows, storm doors, etc. These will probably get done in the spring once I get some home depot gift cards for the holidays (lol!) One thing I’ve been contemplating since I bought the house is a fence - but I have some questions on this as it’s a much bigger purchase and I’ve never lived at a house with a fence before. If I do go through with this idea, it won’t be till I have saved up the appropriate amount of money.</p>
<p>I mainly want a fence along the back of my property as an alley runs right by there and on the other side of the alley is a bar. It’s not a loud, rowdy bar, and you barely notice it’s there… but on the off chance that you’re sitting on the back patio at night people who come and go could in theory look right in at you, or their car lights shine down on you as they are coming or going… </p>
<p>Would it look dumb if i only fenced in that portion of the yard? I actually don’t mind having my back yard open into my neighbors back yard… we both extend our back yards to each other for use of family and friend gatherings and such. I also have a corner lot, so on the other side of me is a road (fairly busy). Maybe the fence should go around the whole back yard? Or maybe just the back portion and the portion that goes along the road, and then leave the other side open to my neighbors property? I would go broke if I put a fence around the ENTIRE yard… i’m just not quite sure what the normal thing to do is here.</p>
<p>Also, i really like the fences with the white material around them. They look very sharp and seem like they would last much longer then a wooden fence - though they are priced accordingly higher. Is it worth it for the extra or is it a better deal to go with a wooden fence and try to maintain it?</p>
<p>We have a 17 year old wooden fence that has been falling apart for about 6 years. I can hardly wait to replace it with the white fencing I want!</p>
<p>You certainly can fence only the back boundary of your property. You might want to “edge” the fence and the boundary between your house with some plantings. Make it so that if you decide to fence the whole yard someday, you will be able to do so.</p>
<p>People here fence just the back or just the front of their property ALL THE TIME and it looks totally fine to me. Many people do it for the same sorts of reasons you do. Around here I think it’s popular because the neighbors behind you can see into your yard much more easily than the neighbors next to you, but if you have an alley and a bar back there or a road that makes even more sense.</p>
<p>We just got a quote for a vinyl fence for our whole backyard and it was 11k. 
I wont consider wood because I know BF won’t maintain it, it will be vinyl or no fence until we can afford it. With how much fencing costs, I wouldn’t dream of spending so much money for a fully fenced yard if you don’t even want one.</p>
<p>I have a detached garage in my back yard, so if I did the back I was thinking of just running it from my neighbors shed (right at the end of the property line) over to my garage. They are pretty much even with each other… and I don’t think this would be more then like 40 or 50 feet (I haven’t exactly measured it, just eyeballing…) so that wouldn’t cost horribly much. the moment i go to the other side of the garage and start bringing it up along the side of my property and then back into my house again is where it starts to really add up.</p>
<p>also, if you have family that is quite handy, is it worth it to buy them some pizza and drinks and put up the fence together to save on installation, or is this something that pretty much must be done professionally? I know you have to dig down x feet and cement in the posts. We put up two really nice decks at my parents and my grandfather is/was a carpenter his whole life.</p>
<p>i also had thought about purchasing some arborvitae shrubs and planting them in stead of the fence idea - but that can get very expensive as well - especially if buying them big enough in the first place to actually make a difference. I found small ones for a very cheap price but i figure it will take years for them to actually grow into something that blocks out anything.</p>
<p>I’ve also got ‘finishing the basement’ on my bucket list - but that’s for wayyyyyy in the future!!!</p>
<p>Personally I think running a fence along the back property line, but not the sides is a little weird, but if that’s what works for you, I’d go for it. People often do enclose just the backyard ( with fence on back and sides), or just the front yard (fence near property line, but sometimes set back to allow a sidewalk area and sides), but not just one edge. I think I’d want the fence to end in some plantings or something so it doesn’t just float there. </p>
<p>We have a chain link fence (very ugly) running down one side yard, nothing in front, a low retaining wall in the back yard and a hedge on the other side. We are getting no prizes for a put together look!</p>
<p>Anyone can put in a fence, you just have to have the right muscles or the right equipment.</p>
<p>My house and garage are also like a beige colored siding… and i know i’ve seen those white vinyl fences in the beige color also, so I’m thinking that might look really nice also.</p>
<p>If you want a boundary for screening not for security, I wouldn’t necessarily go with a fence, in your case i might dig a trough, line it and plant bamboo. 
It generally better to buy small plants for a hedge.
If the soil is prepared properly, after a couple years of setting down roots, some broadleaf shrubs can grow quite fast.
I like the old classic- buxus, or English box, just not english holly or english laurel although there are other cultivars that don’t grow so out of control.</p>
<p>However if I lived anywhere near a place that sold liquor, especially if that was their main service, you can bet i would secure my property.
It may not seem rowdy now, but how long do bars have the same owners? Owners and clientele can change much faster than you could put up a fence.</p>
<p>We recently put in some wood fencing and it is not that tough. We did approximately 8’ sections and luckily have easy to dig dirt for the posts- you need a hole 24" deep at least,</p>
<p>If you do it yourself be sure it is straight and level, we still have the survey pins in so ran a fence line from front to back and put in 4"x 4" posts consistently touching, but not moving the string. We also ran a fence string (get it at Lowe’s etc, it’s stretchy line that rolls up on a spindle) from the top of the farthest two fence posts, pulled it tight with a hanging level on it and made sure each section was level. We chose to follow the change in grade so the fence slopes a bit, but the entire thing is straight and leveled. You could also level the ground if need be, but we had a slight grade for drainage. It’s really not that hard once you figure it all out.</p>
<p>my neighbors on the side of me have a fence to the back of their property, and it also runs between their property and the house next to theirs, but again is open to me. Theirs is an old wooden fence that has seen better days. I thought about doing the whole back yard, and that would close off their whole back yard to them as well. </p>
<p>I guess i’ll get some prices. Again, i know it’s going to be expensive so it probably won’t happen for quite some time. </p>
<p>Thanks for all of the suggestions.</p>