Stupid Question – Fencing

[mellaw6565]

Short of getting a surveyor, how do I tell whether my fence is mine or my neighbor’s? The neighbor’s house has a renter, so she doesn’t know and I just bought my house 2 years ago with the fence already up. Would it be on any of the docs from the sale?

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[karen]

When we put up our fence last year our understanding was that if the fence is on your side of the property line, it is yours. If it is on the actual property line it is co-owned. I don’t have anything to back that up, just remember the fence guys telling us.

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[beachdrivegirl]

Are there wood stakes in the ground that line up with the fence or on either side of it? sometimes they have been pushed up in a bit but were probably marked when the fence was built and represent your property line.

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[PDieter]

generally the person building the fence (owner) builds it with the stringers on their side and the finished side of the fence facing out. That might give you a good guess as to who’s fence it is and which side of the prop line it sits on.

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[RonM]

One of my neighbors put up a fence years ago (40’s) and to be certain they didn’t cross their property line, set it back at least a foot, both sides and rear. Several decades later, the owner had died and his children sold the property. The new owners tried to replace the fence to the original property line. The other neighbors objected and it ended up in court. The neighbors won their case, reasoning that the original owner surrendered the property. I think there were some rules about how long the fence had been in place and how long the neighbors had been “using” their extra foot. I’m not a lawyer, but I think it would be wise to consult one if you’re in doubt. It would be a shame to loose any part of your property in such a way…

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[mellaw6565]

Thanks for the advice – I think the first place I have to start is determining the property line – how do I do that cheaply without paying for a surveyor?

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[MargL]

During the time we were getting a quote from West Seattle Fence James pointed out that in some neighborhoods there are little metal lot/survey markers embedded in the side walks. They could be as small as a nail head and sometimes hard to find but it might be worth a look. We couldn’t find ours.

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[mellaw6565]

thanks – I’ll look. That would make things a lot easier. I think that’s my basic question – how do I find my property line and determine who’s fence it is without hiring a surveyor?

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[Bernicki]

I’m here to agree with RonM. A similar situation happened to my brother. If the property line shifts at any point and stays that way for a certain period of time, it stays that way permanently, especially if there’s any sort of structure placed on it.

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[PDieter]

you can go to the DPD site and look at your side sewer map which should tell you your setback from your property line, then just measure out from the side of your house (usually 5′ in older homes) also a good chance that it’s halfway between the homes (especially if the total is 10′)

http://web1.seattle.gov/dpd/sidesewercardsv2/

The conversation about loosing property has to do with the legal aspects of “adverse possession”

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[mellaw6565]

Thanks for the tip – the website’s tools won’t let me connect – but I’ll try again on Monday.

PD – My dad always told me that you put the “nice” part of the fence inwards towards your property and the “stringers” facing your neighbor?? That’s the way my fence is now in the backyard.

Also, isn’t there a website where you can identify an owner of a property, especially in this case since it is a rental?

I’m thinking that it is my fence because on the other side of the yard my neighbor has a chainlink fence up against the wood fence and also the wood is the same as the fence on the side I’m questioning. But I just want to make sure.

Is it customary if the fence sits on the property line and both neighbors benefit that they split the cost of replacement?

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[j]

Here’s King County Parcel Viewer and yes you can see who owns the property.

http://www.metrokc.gov/gis/mapportal/PViewer_main.htm

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[r26]

Parcel maps.

And BTW – you do not have to give the neighbors the nice side.

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[Jerald]

I always thought the nice side was to face the street, but it was a toss-up when it came to the sides and back.

I wonder, does anyone know how much it does cost for a surveyor?

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[RonM]

The properties on our side of the street were surveyed in the 40’s, each property owner paying a share. The surveyor drilled a small hole in the sidewalk pavement and filled it with fresh cement and a tack in the center indicating the property line. The corners on the other end weren’t so well marked with wood stakes driven into the ground and a tack in the center. I would think that if neighbors could get together they could share their part of the cost. That may be more easily said than done though!

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[JeffSavoie]

“I’m thinking that it is my fence because on the other side of the yard my neighbor has a chainlink fence up against the wood fence…”

Mellaw6565,

There, you’ve just answered your own question.

The chain link fence, in my opinion, constitutes the “surrender” previously mentioned.

My rule of thumb for determining who built the fence, is to turn the corner… and follow the design around a given property. If you have three different fences closing you in, you can begin to assume they’re not yours.

To the subject of nice side in or out. That will vary by individual owners, but when I’ve built fences the front yard generally has the nice side out (so it looks nice on the drive up), and the back yard has the nice side facing in, improving the “garden room” effect of a back yard.

Beyond that, the side the skin is on is the more impenetrable, and then the choice comes to whether it’s more important to keep things in, or keep things out. Back yards often “contain” kids and pets, so they are finished skin in.

Jeff

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