Residential fence rules

[Alan Rutherford]

About 20 years in Seattle my neighbor built a fence from the middle of the side yard to the back. By building his half-fence, he blocked me from using his driveway, which was the only way to get my utility trailer into my back yard. I had done that once. Fortunately the trailer was not there when the fence went up.

The fence builders showed up one day and started digging on the property line. I had no idea it was coming and chased them off. They came back the next day and did the job on his side of the line. Some time later I built my own fence on the front half of that side on my side of the line, so the completed fence had a one-foot jog in the middle. It was not a matter of communication or cooperation - there was none.

[Bill Dufour]

Attachment 520032Attachment 520033
"Bad Side" "Good Side"

To me that is a poorly designed fence. It has no grass board. Here every box store sells eight foot redwood 1x12 for grass boards. Trimmed to fit the slope. They will last a few decades then be replaced with no work on the main fence. When they rot away the second time the upper fence probably need some repairs or with second growth wood a full replacement top and bottom.
Bill D

[Jim Becker]

Bill, I have never, ever seen a "grass board" use on any kind of fence in this area and that's living here since the last year of the 70s. It must be a regional thing.

[Bruce Page]

Bill, I have never, ever seen a "grass board" use on any kind of fence in this area and that's living here since the last year of the 70s. It must be a regional thing.

I've never seen or heard of grass board.
Bill, can you provide a picture?

[Doug Garson]

Never heard the term grass board but here's a typical fence design in our area. On the ground is , I think, a 4x6 PT beam, posts are 6x6 PT and 8' long 6' high panels are cedar (no good/bad side, both look the same). Bottom of the fence panels never touches the ground. This fence is about 3 years old.
fence.jpg

[Stan Calow]

Interesting. Never seen or heard of a grass board around here, at least not on a nailed-up cedar or PT fence. I can see that would be helpful in preventing damage from string trimmers. Not many paneled fences in my neighborhood. Most of the fence replacement here is due to the pickets splitting from the seasonal heat and cold, and weathering of from UV. That happens before ground rot which I've not heard of as an issue around here.

[Bill Dufour]

Common in the SF bay area. Not much used except on older fences here in the valley. reason being is the fence builders assume it is flat here. Older fences the lower 2x4 was laid flat. Here it is laid on edge. This mean they can make a fence and only cut the last three boards with no toe nailing required. Also no careful lower nailing required.
Bill D.

[Bill Dufour]

A grass board fence designs big advantage is two fold. Rot from the ground up is contained to one board, easily replaced as needed. The other thing is on a slope the grass board is tapered on the bottom edge to fit. No need to measure and cut each picket to length.
The grass board should float slightly above the ground so it has no direct contact with soil moisture. This will make it last longer. What really happens is dirt and leaves build up over time on the bottom edge and it never really dries out even in summer. I used some Hardi plank siding to try it about seven years ago. It is holding up fine.
Some people extend them into the ground with more wood or metal to stop gophers and dogs. Hardi plank will fall apart if buried in dirt.
In the attached image only the grass board had to be cut. In fact it looks like it may be treated wood and they dug a trench to save the trouble of cutting any wood to build a fence.
Bill D.

PS: Did I mention my Great Grandfather invented an improved machine to cut fence pickets and made enough money to retire and buy a orange ranch in California. Near as we can figure he patented having a piece of scrap under the workpiece to prevent blowout as a giant shaper blade cut the end shape. His idea was to screw the backup board, part H, down instead of just clamping it down along with the workpiece.

[Mel Fulks]

Bill, I have never, ever seen a "grass board" use on any kind of fence in this area and that's living here since the last year of the 70s. It must be a regional thing.

Yep , and my guess is it has a different name in every town. “Grass board”, “Thing a ma bob” “The stick” “that’s the stick you
borrowed from me 2 years ago ! …. and when are you gonna return my wife ! ! ! ?

[Jerome Stanek]

Attachment 520032Attachment 520033
"Bad Side" "Good Side"

To me that is a poorly designed fence. It has no grass board. Here every box store sells eight foot redwood 1x12 for grass boards. Trimmed to fit the slope. They will last a few decades then be replaced with no work on the main fence. When they rot away the second time the upper fence probably need some repairs or with second growth wood a full replacement top and bottom.
Bill D

Do they even have grass in CA

[Jim Becker]

Do they even have grass in CA

California is a very, very big place...and has pretty much any climate you can imagine somewhere in the state. So yes, there is grass in the non arrid portions of the place.

[Bill Dufour]

We have automatic sprinklers and gravel. No children so no grass needed.
Bill D

[Mark Wedel]

Grass is slowly disappearing due to water restrictions during various droughts. When this area was built up, every house had grass in the front and back yard. I'd estimate now that somewhere between 10-25% have removed their grass.

For a lot of folks, this also makes sense - folks are out there mowing their lawn every week (or hiring a yard service to do so) but never actually use their lawn for anything (playing sports, having pets run around, etc). And for lots of cases, less water thirsty alternatives exist which can be just as functional, depending on what is needed.

[Bill Dufour]

Do they even have grass in CA

My sister in N california, inland a bit, gets around 60" a year. Good redwood coastal areas run 80-100" per year. Probably add 40% or more for fog drip. Fog drip is why redwood roots are fairly shallow.
My father always said grass in California was not natural it belongs in Connecticut. Connecticut gets around 60" per year, including snow melt when the grass is dormant.
Bill D

[Jim Koepke]

I live south of the Hoh Rainforest on the Olympic Peninsula. It rains a lot up here, though we my only get about 45" a year in SW Washington.

jtk