Fence questions

[Krich]

So, what if you had a home and the wooden privacy fence around the backyard has the nice looking flat side facing the neighbor's yard and the side facing your backyard is the side where the fence posts are exposed along with the horizontal boards that go from post to post...

How would you go about making the ugly side look nicer?

I was thinking of putting vertical boards in between each fence post just like what is on the neighbor's side.... but, I''m thinking that may create a nice space for bees to build nests in which I definitely don't want to see.

Unless, there was some sort of filler I could put in between the board so there's no hollow space (I ruled out spray foam insulation cause it's too expensive.

I guess I could put in horizontal boards and there would be no hollow area like the other idea above would leave

Any ideas on how to make the ugly side of a wooden privacy fence look nicer would be appreciated.

 

[Eddie_T]

I always thought the inside of a board fence was less boring than the outside. I might try emphasizing the posts and cross pieces by staining or painting them a darker color than the vertical boards.

 

[havasu]

I'd just lined my side with matching vertical boards. It makes it stronger and both sides look great.

 

[Krich]

I'd just lined my side with matching vertical boards. It makes it stronger and both sides look great.

That was my thought too... but, now the bees have some nice places to make some big bee hives in between the boards on both sides

Any idea what to fill the hollow space up with beside spray on insulation which is way to expensive?

 

[bud16415]

My guess is the fence was put in by your neighbor and is likely on their side of the property line. I would at least check with them before doing anything as you might be asked to remove what you do at some point.

 

[havasu]

There is established case law that if a fence is built at or near the property line, the builder of said fence presumes the fence is correctly built and what you do with the fence on your side only matters to you after some unknown amount of time. Being good neighbors, what Bud stated is the proper thing to do.

 

[Krich]

Actually, this is about a property I was thinking about buying and according to the survey the existing wooden privacy fences on both side of the back yard are right on the property line.

The problem is that both fences are very old and have areas of rot and need to be replaced.

So, I was thinking if I bought the property I would replace the fences on both sides at my expense and let each neighbor have the nice looking flat side facing them.

But, the house in question I was thinking of buying is in a neighborhood with quiet a bit of riff raff going on so I'm most likely not going to be buying this property after all. (I just went out there to walk the property today)

On another note... putting the flat side out makes it slightly harder for someone to climb over the fence (I know, this only keeps the honest peoples out!) so I'd still like to hear ideas about how to make the side with the horizontal boards look nicer.

If I just put vertical slats on in between the posts, I think that would look nice, but seems to me that could be a great place for bees to build nests in.

I suppose spray foam would be the best way to fill in that gap but that would sure be expensive to do. If there was some other filler to use that wasn't so expensive, that's be good.