Is it normal to put a fence up to a neighbor’s even if on their property or have I messed up?
We bought our house five years ago and it was part of a large property that was subdivided when we purchased, and a bunch of new builds went up behind us. The developer did a survey, and the fence that went up between our house and the new build next door is squarely, like probably 18 inches, on their property.
I recently put up a length of fence of my own perpendicular to theirs. I made sure to match it exactly so it would look cohesive. I talked to my neighbor before breaking ground and he said initially said I could tie into theirs, which I wasn’t even expecting but did appreciate. He mentioned how their neighbor on the other side did the same and he saw border fences as though shared. For what it’s worth, I do indeed treat our side of their fence as if it were mine by keeping it clean, don’t put anything on or against it, and don’t let my kids kick balls near it, etc.
So the day I actually started installing, neighbor came over and said he’d rather we not tie into theirs, and said ya know just in case we ever move and it creates an issue with the new owners. I can respect that, of course. So I placed my first post just as close as I could get to their fence.
The whole point of the fence is to help us keep our child with autism safe so an 18 inch gap would have defeated the purpose, but ever since putting it up I have this nagging worry I’ve overstepped by doing this. They haven’t complained so maybe I’m just being extra, but being a good neighbor is extremely important to me ahhhh