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Fence Question- HELP please! :)

marksugarsmarksugars Posts: 5
in Garden design
Hi, I recently removed some conifers to reveal concrete posts. I am responsible for this boundary. My neighbours garden sits lower- and the current fence sits on a retaining wall. I am wanting new horizontal panelling without seeing the posts. Do I completely remove and rework or do I mount in front of the existing fence? Any help/advice would be appreciated. Thanks, Mark 
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  • JennyJJennyJ Posts: 10,079
    edited May 2021
    It probably isn't possible to put in posts closer to the wall without compromising the structure.
    You can mount a new fence on the "inside" of the concrete posts, but you'd effectively be giving up a strip of garden. You'll need to do something to stop weeds growing up in the no-man's-land between the two fences, or take down the old fence and leave the strip above the wall to your neighbour. If it was mine I'd paint the fence and posts the same colour (maybe dark grey or black) and have a nice deep border with strategically-positioned shrubs to mask the concrete posts.
    Doncaster, South Yorkshire. Soil type: sandy, well-drained
  • marksugarsmarksugars Posts: 5
    Thanks for taking the time to reply Jenny- some good info there
  • valerierobertsvalerieroberts Posts: 726
    Hi mark, What does your neighbour feel about the fence that is there. If you take it down  would there be a problem putting one back. Valerie 
  • Nanny BeachNanny Beach Posts: 8,669
    Does the fence have posts in between each panel I can't see from the picture.Those concrete spurs are normally used when a post has rotted and can't be removed. if it's on your deeds as your responsibility,it doesn't technically matter what the neighbour thinks. Is the wall yours? Are you intending to do the. Work yourself? 
  • marksugarsmarksugars Posts: 5
    valerieroberts said:
    Hi mark, What does your neighbour feel about the fence that is there. If you take it down  would there be a problem putting one back. Valerie 
    Hi Valerie, I will speak to my neighbour. The current fence could do with an upgrade. I assume my neighbours would expect a like for like replacement- with the new fence fixed in the same way, which still causes me problems with the ugly visible posts
  • marksugarsmarksugars Posts: 5
    Nanny Beach said:
    Does the fence have posts in between each panel I can't see from the picture.Those concrete spurs are normally used when a post has rotted and can't be removed. if it's on your deeds as your responsibility,it doesn't technically matter what the neighbour thinks. Is the wall yours? Are you intending to do the. Work yourself? 
    Here is a close up of the concrete. Yes the panels have a wooden post in between them. These posts are mounted to a wooden post (approx 100mm wide) which is then bolted into the concrete post. I'm not entirely sure if the wall is mine or not and can't locate detail on the deeds. I'm intending to outsource the work. Regards
  • Nanny BeachNanny Beach Posts: 8,669
    You can find out from Land Registry records who owns the wall. Always better to be safe than sorry. Have shown hubby your photos he can't see anything other than put another fence up just inside that one. That is what solicitors usually recommend,(fence issue and neighbours, consulted solicitors, not told neighbours that)
  • JennyJJennyJ Posts: 10,079
    If it's your fence you can have it whichever side of the posts you like. Custom in many places is to have the posts on your own side and giving the neighbours the good side, but it's not a rule. In this case though, because the concrete posts need to be inside the wall, the wooden posts and fence have been fixed to the concrete posts so that they are on top of the wall so that you don't lose any garden area. If you want to fix new wooden posts and fence panels on your side of the concrete posts, you can do that, but it would mean you have the new fence further into your garden, effectively giving up a strip of garden, the width of the existing wooden posts and the concrete posts plus the new posts, so probably 12 inches or so assuming standard 4 by 4 posts.
    The thing to absolutely avoid is compromising the structure of the wall. Irrespective of who owns it, it's holding up the weight of a lot of soil and you don't want your garden collapsing onto the neighbour's property.
    Doncaster, South Yorkshire. Soil type: sandy, well-drained
  • didywdidyw Posts: 3,350
    If it was me I'd put in some new posts to the height of the old fence alongside the wooden/concrete posts, put down gravel in the gap and then put up your lovely horizontal fencing on the new posts.
    Gardening in East Suffolk on dry sandy soil.
  • Nanny BeachNanny Beach Posts: 8,669
    Not alongside the original posts you would have more stability putting them in between
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