The Fence Situation

March 26, 2024

I walked out into the backyard after work today, figuring on doing a bit of yardwork. I looked up, and my heart sank… as I realized I needed to do some serious repair work, and fast.

What I saw (and failed to get a good photo of): my fence had more or less split in the middle, with one panel coming detached from one of the posts. And two large sections of the fence were swaying back and forth.

The lean was so pronounced that it seemed like another few minutes… and it would have pulled the rest of the fence down with it.

It’s hard to see, but the fence became detached on the top left. I spent a long while trying to figure out what to do… and ended up with an approach to cut some 2x4s as support (on both sides of the fence).

On the neighbor’s side of the fence – two lengths of lumber, screwed into the fence posts directly. And at the ground, I had them pushed into the ground. And a small stake driven in, near the base of each – to prevent them from moving.

On our side, I did something similar. It’s not the most pleasing thing to look at. But it should serve as a temporary support.

A thing I hadn’t considered, until talking with Bob: I could call in this damage, and make a claim against my homeowner’s insurance. Not sure why this option never clicked, but I’m glad he mentioned it.

Here’s hoping that this gets classified as damage, and not as normal wear and tear.