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After 6 1/2 months since Katrina, we finally have a beautiful new fence around our yard. A friend of Daddy'sGirl offered to build our fence for the cost of materials (plus BBQ & beer). Our cost of the materials is double what our insurance said it would cost to have it done by professionals. Of course our battle with our insurance company is ongoing since we had well over $20,000 of damage to our house and property. Since so much litigation is going on now with the insurance companies in our area, we are finding they are more willing to pay the cost of the repairs.

It will be interesting to see if my neighbors help with of the cost of the fence. We built the original fence and all had attached to it with never sharing the costs. I suspect that they all got money from their insurance companies for the damages to the fence, so we'll see.

I'm reminded of the line in Robert Frost's Mending Wall, "Good fences make good neighbors." While the narrator of the poem questions the necessity of a wall, the neighbor wants it there. After some of the problems we've had lately with the neighborhood kids using our yard as a major thoroughfare and garbage dump, I'm glad to have my fence back up. Dixie can now roam the yard again unleashed and I finally have my privacy back.

And I helped!.................Shake and bake!

It's our fence, purchased with the house. There were no neighbors back when we bought this house. As other houses were built, they attached to our fence but never made the offer to pay their fair share. The fence is 6 inches inside my property line. The insurance company tried to say it was a community fence, however they couldn't answer the fact that the good side all faces my yard. Or the fact that the original mortgage papers show the fence is mine. In Louisiana if you attach to your neighbors fence you are suppose to pay for your share. However most people don't pursue it. In light of being a better than average neighbor, I didn't pursue it in the past nor will I probably pursue it this time. However I would be within my rights to disconect anybody that attaches without paying for their share.

Hope this helps.

Coals? Who uses coals? We use real wood down here in the pit!, LOL!

forged,

please forgive my ignorance, but what do you mean by attaching to your fence and disconnecting them if they do?

i'm originally from australia and have never heard the expression before. as an aside, back home, both parties pay for the fence.

matt

Y'all make fun of Forged's Road Kill BBQ, but it was good enough for the young man who worked on our new fence, that he is now looking for other things he can help out with to come back for more! However, in South Louisiana, we are known to eat just about anything.

congrats on your fence. ah yes, the simple things of life, lol.

And remember the saying, "Fences make good neighbors." And it still holds true,lol

The neighbors set posts on the side of their houses and nailed boards from the side of their house connecting it to the corner of our fence, thus enclosing their yard with that side of the fence. In order to do that, they are supposed to pay for the side they have connected to. If they don't, we have the legal right to make them take that part down since the fence is on our property.

thanks for that...i know what you mean now, just never heard those expressions before.

matt