Building a fence requires homework. You can’t just go shopping for materials and start digging and hammering away. Did you consider local codes?
For example, how tall will your fence be? Depending on your answer, you may need a permit from the local government. And when it comes to fence codes, one size does NOT fit all. Portland, for example, allows a homeowner to put up a fence no taller than seven feet in height. That Portland fence, however, won’t fly in Grants Pass, where a six-foot fence is allowed, but anything taller needs a permit. Medford likes to keep it a bit of a mystery as to what fence heights they allow. On their website, they do provide a nice table listing various projects to help one determine if they need a permit, but in the fencing category, it tells you to call for height restrictions. Apparently this is a highly fluid planning situation. Must be some serious politics about fences in southern Oregon’s largest city!
The complexity of codes on fencing only increases – it isn’t just fence height. It’s fence heights in the front yard, side yards, and back yards. It’s fence heights on properties with two frontages. It goes on. You probably get the point – don’t make a move before you read the codes! Better yet, have a fencing professional install your fence. This way, the contractor will navigate all of the codes. Bliss!
It doesn’t stop at local fence codes. The state of Oregon, as do all states, has quite a slew of laws. Here are a couple of notable tidbits.
One, you may be required to conduct a boundary survey – in fact, you will if there is any doubt about the property line. There are a couple of ways to go. If you take the risk and just slap that puppy up, you have a 50% chance of being okay, because you, quite by accident, built the fence on your own property. The downside is, that the other side of that bet has an equal chance of occurring. In this other case, you have built a fence on your neighbor’s property – legally not okay, so this would mean you have to rip that fence out unless the neighbor never catches it. Yes, good luck with that. Plan A? Get the boundary survey.
Another interesting Oregon law: if you decide to put up a fence, and part of your plan is to use the neighbor’s fence to help enclose your yard, you must pay one-half of the agreed-upon value of that portion of fence. No such thing as a free lunch, nor is there such a thing as a free fence either!
The point here is this: If you are going to DIY, then part of the Doing It is doing your homework. Read up on your state’s laws, and on any county and local government laws and codes that may be in play for your property. There is an old saying: Better to beg for forgiveness than ask for permission. That may be true in some circumstances, but certainly not when it comes to putting up a fence!
Thinking about putting up a fence? Another important step: give us a call, we are here to help you put up a beautiful, long-lasting DuraBond Steel Privacy Fence.
Build it right, build it once.
DuraBond Steel Privacy Fencing, Contact US
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