A Montana homeowner was preparing to put up a fence at the end of his garden when he received a text from his neighbor that stopped him in his tracks.
Jack, who asked that his full name and location not be disclosed, has been eager to fence off the end of his backyard for some time now.
“The main reason we thought we needed a fence was so our kids could go in the backyard and play without having to worry about random dogs wandering into our yard, which has been an issue in the past,” he told Newsweek. “One of my daughters has an extreme fear of dogs, and we’d like her to be able to play outside without having to worry about that happening.”
Fencing off the garden seems like a straightforward enough undertaking. Both of the neighbors to the left and right of the property already have fences up. To Jack’s way of thinking, all that was needed was to simply “close off” the end of the backyard.
Jack approached both of his neighbors before moving forward with these plans. “They both agreed that there is no need to run fences parallel to each other,” he said. “Our fence won’t be attached to theirs. Just getting right up to the end of our property.”
Jack provided Newsweek with a basic diagram showing how the new setup would work.
A Montana man provided this diagram of his plan for a fence on his property. One of his neighbors took exception to the project.
u/StockmanBaxter
He set about hiring contractors, and they had already laid cement foundations, with the next step being to simply install the panels and gates. Then, out of the blue, Jack received a text message from one of his neighbors.
It read: “We’ve decided that we don’t want you to use our fence as yours. You should put up your own fence on the side that borders our property. While you’re putting up your fence now.”
Neighborly disputes can happen. In fact, a survey of 2,000 U.S. adults, conducted by OnePoll on behalf of Homes.com, found that 36 percent of those polled had had disagreements with neighbors that became full-blown arguments.
The survey also said property lines and privacy matters ranked among the top 10 things that led to arguments with neighbors.
Jack said the response wasn’t all that surprising given what has happened in the past.
“He’s always been super nosy with our business,” he said. “We bought a couple trees to plant in the past. Didn’t even have them in the ground yet. Just had them on our back patio when I receive a text telling me not to plant it anywhere near his property or fence. We never intended to plant them on that side.”
This latest text has left him “completely flabbergasted” and unsure of how to respond. “They have had a fence since we moved in,” he said. “Have we been ‘using’ it the whole time?”
Jack was so incensed he shared his story to Reddit, under the handle StockmanBaxter. It got a huge response, with most users siding firmly with him. “I think it was popular because of how odd and petty it seemed by my neighbor and how many people have similarly odd interactions,” he said.
Eager to avoid starting a full-blown feud and also keen not to simply “roll over and let him dictate everything,” Jack has hit upon a solution.
“The plan as of now is just to go about our lives. Maybe plant some privacy trees on that side of our backyard. Since their deck in their backyard is raised enough that they can see everything that we’re doing in our yard,” he said. “I’m sure that will upset them. But we’ll deal with that when the time comes.”
Do you have a dispute with your neighbor? Let us know via life@newsweek.com. We can ask experts for advice, and your story could be featured in Newsweek.
