How do I replace a neighbor's fence with my own?

Our jerkish neighbor did the hard part because they had to. See below.

We’re in a rather remote central Sierra Nevada village - no cities within a half-hour drive. Our property is basically an isosceles triangle-oid with the road as the jogging hypotenuse and neighbors on the straight X (short) and slightly jagged Y (long) sides.

Old survey marks showed the short X property line; that side’s ratty, scrappy fence ran inside the line and the new owner, up from the SF Bay Area, had no problem with our building a view-blocking redwood fence one foot on our side of the line.

The long Y side was trickier - not fenced until recently, and only because the county ruled they either got rid of their dogpack that terrorized the neighborhood, or restrain the beasts, the jerkish neighbor wife’s “babies”. So they had their plot surveyed, our side too, and erected an ugly chain-link enclosure. We made no agreements, merely built our view-blocking redwood fence one foot on our side of the surveyed line.

Our county requires permits for fences over six feet high so ours are five foot ten. After two years, their height can be extended to eight feet, and gee! those two-foot lattice panels look just fine there! Yes, we called the county to verify requirements.

What we needed for our non-shared fences outside a municipality were: 1) a consult with the county; 2) a firmly surveyed line; and 3) no firefights with neighbors. Check with your jurisdiction’s planning agency for requirements on setback, height, permits, surveys, materials, utility easements, etc.

PS: We built a view- and dust-blocking redwood fence along part of the hypotenuse / road side of our property nearest the house. Our county requires a 20-foot setback from the center of the dirt roadway for fences or any other structures. No survey was needed - I just measured a 22-foot parallel line. One nearby asshole’s fence is only 15 feet back from the center. That’ll be taken care of the next time a big truck comes through. :cool: