I just keep being amazed at how many complicated details there are to this house renovation. For example, fencing. I went over to the house and talked to neighbor Ron, and I think we have a tentative plan for fencing, pursuant to Kevin signing off on it:
1) Starting at the northwest corner of our porch:
- add stretch of metal gate and fence from that corner to line up with north apartment building metal fence (just a very short stretch)
2) From northwest corner of yard:
- add metal fence across front (Kev -- how tall?) and down south side of lot to rear corner of porch (third pillar back)
- add metal arbor / gate / fence from south lot line to rear corner of porch
3) Stretch on south lot line from end of metal fence to start of Ron's six foot tall fence (near back end of his house):
- wood fence, possibly stepping up in grade if heights differ for front and back fences, possibly with gate (maybe we split cost with Ron/Liz? or we can just do it)
4) South lot line from end of Ron's house to alley:
- wood fence Ron is putting in -- 6', possibly Arts & Crafts decorative top, possibly just 6' privacy (we will duplicate wood fence on that side later, if we feel the need for planting, etc.)
5) East lot line bordering alley:
- 8' wood privacy fence (Ron says it's okay to go that high bordering alley?) with gate
6) North lot line:
- 6' wood privacy fence, to meet up with bit of metal fence at gate
Whew!
Not a fence answer but I just came across this site and thought you should check it out if you havn”t alerady seen it. http://www.onlinepropertyshowcase.com/showcase/10328/
Thanks, Andrea — I’d seen it before, on the steampunk design blog, but they’ve put up a lot more photos since. Cool!
It’s all a little more overtly steampunk than we’re likely to go, but you may see similar touches in our house, here and there. 🙂
Just a word of warning, check with the Village/town too on height restrictions…. I’m not a big fan of metal fence…
Catherine, you know the kind of fence I mean? Not a chain-link fence — a steel or wrought-iron one, the kind they would have had in front of a Victorian house back in the day.
What don’t you like about metal?
Hi, Mary. I would not go less than 36 inches to confine a dog–any dog. 36 inches is fine for our mastiffs. Some dogs will be able to jump over a 4 foot fence, but I don’t see a Bassett Hound managing it. However, I would not want to see you invest in a shorter fence and then fall in love with a bouncy dog that will cause you a lot of trouble and expense. One thing to consider is that no matter what the breed of dog or style of the fence, you probably don’t want your dog in front of the house where he can bark at passers-by. That is a short trip to madness and one of the most un-neighborly things you could do. It’s annoying enough to have them in the back yard or at your front window barking. So you could use your 30 inch fence in the front, then create a more secure dog run with a higher fence in the back yard when you’re ready to get your dog. I think this is what I would do. You also have to keep in mind that some dogs DIG under fences, so it may be better plan your landscaping for different possible dog-fencing options, rather than committing to one thing right now. Just a word to the wise–I don’t know anyone who has had any luck long term with any of the invisible fencing options. We failed with a zone fence system that gives the dogs a full thirty second electric shock. Those things may work with some dogs, but the bigger, thicker skinned (harder headed) breeds seem not to care. And I think Bassetts fall into that category. LOL.
Somehow, I read ‘metal fence’ and envisioned chainlink. The only real problem I’ve seen with some metal fences is that they can rust easily.
Also, keep snowplows/shoveling in mind too, when you are putting up fences and gates and such. You want something that isn’t going to get stuck easily or that you can move when its half an hour before work and you are frantically trying to get the driveway shoveled out.
Heh. Thankfully, we have no driveway. Our garage is in back, and opens onto the alley.
I think we’ve decided to go with the standard 4 ft metal in front; the 30″ is just too low.