Monday, May 13, 2013

Good fences make angry neighbors

It was really hot this weekend, so rather than enjoy our deliciously cool house, we decided it would be a good time to put in the fence posts on the west side. There's nothing like digging really deep holes and struggling with bags of concrete when you're concerned about heat stroke.

We're bringing the fence forward just enough to hide the air conditioning unit from the street. We're also going to install a gate so we can enter and exit through either side of the yard.

We found the buried property line pin at the sidewalk and ran a line back to the fence post in the very back of our yard. There was a lot of measuring and remeasuring and debating about how to deal with the fact that our existing fence practically meanders, it's so crooked.

You know how there's always telling you, "Call before you dig!"? If you call as a normal civilian they will mark where your lines are in your hell strip but they won't tell you where they are on the main part of your property, which is pretty useless. We know our gas line runs somewhere through this area, just not exactly where.

We got two post hole diggers from the Tool Library because we're only digging six holes. Also, I'm scared of puncturing our gas main with an auger. It really wasn't bad at all; it took us about an hour and a half to dig five of them. And I found our gas line! Thank goodness I was working on pulling out small rocks but hand when I did, so I didn't puncture it.

THANK YOU, UNIVERSE. Not blowing up is the best!

I don't have any progress photos but we dug our holes 24" down, put in six inches of dry quickcrete, then filled the rest of the cavity with wet quickcrete. It's what the bag said to do and I always listen to bags. We got everything all level but some of them settled so they're a little bit off. Have I mentioned that Greg is an engineer? These little booboos didn't bother him at all.

Just kidding, I thought he was going to have a stroke. Those little errors reallllly bother him.

I was like, look, our fence meanders anyway, and there's a huge cedar tree in the middle of it. Let's drink a beer and not think about it! This is why I'm not an engineer and why I'll never design bridges or spaceships or heart valves.

We ran out of concrete when we had one post to go, so we took a little break. At this point our next-door neighbor came by and he seemed . . . concerned. I had talked to him last summer about the fence and he was like, "Whatever! Do whatever you want, I don't care!" We stopped by that morning to talk to him but he was out. I figured he didn't care, which was not very neighborly of me. I wish I had waited long enough to talk to him again because I feel terrible now.

We have some hard decisions to make now, like whether to bring banana bread or pie when we go back to apologize again for not talking to him first, again.


  1. You are so funny Heather! So, you talked with Neighbor Grumpy Pants about this last year and he said to do whatever you wanted so you were already being good neighbors. I'd make both pie and banana bread, put one in the freezer for later and eat the other one while painting a nasty sign to hang on the neighbor's side of the fence but then you're much nicer than I.

  2. You crack me up! :) If he wasn't such a good nice neighbor I would totally follow your plan. Pie is so much work and so delicious.

  3. You are making such improvements to your whole area that the neighbor should be bringing you pie for making things looks so nice. And banana bread and muffins too.

    I live with an engineer. You have my sincere sympathies. (Your posts look absolutely fine to me. I love the way the cedar is actually part of the fence!)

  4. Thanks so much for saying that. He has hinted that he misses my house being empty, I'm guessing because it was quieter and more private for him. But it looked so BAD that you'd think even the worst neighbors would be an improvement. It's funny, Greg always asks me, "Do it want it done fast or do you want it done right?" and I'm like, "Fast. You know this." :)

  5. So, I don't get it. What was the guy's beef? He was fond of your air conditioning unit as borrowed landscape? About that wavy look: give it a bit more wave and it will look like a deliberate Art Installation.

  6. I think he was actually worried that we wouldn't get the property line right, or that we were running it the entire length of our side yard. He's a really great neighbor, so I don't want to upset him in any way. He didn't actually say anything was wrong but Greg and I both sensed that he was unhappy. Hopefully we're just being paranoid.

  7. I wouldn't feel too bad. You did talk to him last year, after all. But it wouldn't hurt to bring him some baked goods. I think the offense doesn't rise to the level of pie. Maybe cookies or muffins. If you're going to make pie, make two and keep one. My favorite is blueberry, by the way, though strawberry rhubarb is very good. Just saying.

  8. Yeah, I always start projects with the best intentions, then, about 10 minutes in, decide that "good enough" really is good enough! What's the deal with your seems so odd that he suddenly took issue with things...especially since everything you've done to the house/yard have made it better!

  9. I would think this neighbor would be jumping up and down with joy for having folks next door who actually give a hoot about how their house looks. Property lines are tricky, no doubt, and I'm in the camp of....if you make pie, make 2 and treat yourselves as well. Fence building is tough work!

  10. people will always hate you for putting up something that excludes them.
    Just make sure you are on your property and do whatever tickles you. Forget about the neighbors. I had a problematic neighbor who threw a complete fit when I put up my fence. I put it up because he was always using my property. Now he cant use it anymore - oh the horror.