Good neighbor wood privacy fences are a common sight in backyard spaces throughout residential Sacramento neighborhoods. The classic “good neighbor” style wood fence, with alternating fence panels, is particularly prevalent. There are several reasons this type of fencing is a popular choice among Sacramento homeowners:
Affordability
A shared good neighbor fence has clear budget advantages over both neighbors installing their own separate fence along the property line. With a shared fence, the costs are split, saving each homeowner significant expense compared to funding their own individual fence. This budget savings also allows most homeowners to also share the cost of upgrading the durability of their new fence with hidden steel posts. Unless both neighbors want a different style of fence, it makes way more sense to install and share the cost of 1 shared fence, instead of both neighbors installing two independent fences back-to-back.
Aesthetics
The good neighbor wood fence has a clean, classic look that blends into almost any backyard landscape design. A harmonious look is easier to achieve with one uniform shared fence on the boundary versus two fences that may use different materials, heights, or designs right next to each other. The neutral wood tone doesn’t clash with plants or other backyard features. This shared fence design gives the fence an approachable and inviting appearance, rather than looking overly private or closed-off. This aesthetic works well with both traditional and contemporary home styles that are common in Sacramento neighborhoods.
Maintenance
With one fence shared between neighbors maintenance is much simpler for a couple reasons. First, by having one shared fence on the property line instead of two, gets rid of the whole issue of the odd gap between two independent fences and which is a basically inaccessible and not maintainable. one shared good neighbor fence on a property line, both neighbors can manage their landscape and drainage right up to the fence which will help extend the life of the fence.
Second, the maintenance on a good neighbor fence is significantly easier than back-to-back fences. As the fence ages, maintenance of a back rail or rotten post is much easier on a good neighbor fence. This will allow many homeowners to see and address the issues before they get increasingly worse and expensive.
Privacy
The good neighbor fence style offers an awesome level of privacy between neighbors, but it also allows for easy upgrades if more privacy is desired. Two of the most common upgrades neighbors share on a good neighbor fence is making the fence taller and overlapping the pickets so there are no gaps when the wood dries.
Making your new fence taller than 6 feet tall is allowed in many cities, and this is normally done by adding a kickboard to the bottom of the fence. This can bring the total height of the fence up to 7 feet tall. This is structurally and budget wise the smartest way to install a taller fence!
Have you ever thought “I wish our current fence didn’t have any gaps between the pickets”? This is a common statement that we hear when visiting homeowners who want to replace their fence. The best solution to this is to install the board in a board on board “overlap” style when replacing the fence. Board on board can be done in a variety of ways from the dog ear style all the way up to the style with the cap on top and trim. It is best to talk with our consultant when they come out to look at your fence project about which style of good neighbor board on board is best for you!
Easy Neighbor Relations
The good neighbor moniker comes from the fact that this style of fence looks the same from both sides of the fence. This equality helps maintain positive relations with the neighbors. This shared fence style also reduces disputes over fence maintenance duties compared to other solid fences where only one neighbor sees the “good” side. When neighbors split the cost of a shared fence, the good neighbor design ensures both get an attractive view and equal benefits. With each neighbor getting the same uniform, issues around fairness are avoided. The comparable appearance from each home also incentives both neighbors to upkeep their side. Good neighbor fences are a great choice when building a shared fence with neighbors to keep everyone happy.
Blend of Form and Function
With its clean aesthetics, affordability, ease of maintenance, versatile privacy effect, and neighborly qualities, the good neighbor wood fence combines the best elements of form and function. Sacramento homeowners looking for a timeless backyard wood fence choice find the good neighbor fence difficult to beat.