Can I Build a Fence On My Minneapolis & St. Paul Property?
Looking out at your property, you can already visualize where you want to put a new fence. There are many different reasons to build a fence where there wasn’t one before, including security, privacy, or containing a new pet. Perhaps the fence is the beginning of further building plans or it would aesthetically complete your current property design.
Whatever the reason, the next issue to address is whether you actually can build that fence on your property. Most of the time, the answer will be yes, if you take the correct steps. But before you get started, it’s important to ask yourself the six following questions to properly plan your fence building project:
1) Where Is My Property Line?
The exact location of your property line matters when it comes time to build a fence. A border shared amicably with neighbors for years or even unsold empty land can suddenly matter once you start fencing off your property. To be precise, you will want to check your actual title including the precise distance-marked map delineating where your property ends and the property next-door begins. Plan your fence right up to the edge of your property, but not across.
2) What Will It Take to Sink Fence Posts?
Different terrain requires different fencing techniques. Soft soil will need deep holes and reinforced concrete foundations to keep your fence in place. Rocky soil, solid rock, and old concrete may need to be blasted or jack-hammers to create holes for your fence posts. Be prepared for the amount of work it will take to sink the posts that will become the foundation of your fence.
3) Does My Neighborhood Allow the Kind of Fence I Want?
If you live in an HOA neighborhood or a resort community, there’s an extra question to ask. Whether or not you are allowed by the neighborhood by-laws to build a fence. And, if so, what kind of fence you’re allowed to build. There are a great many neighborhoods with surprisingly specific mandates about fence height, color, material, and style to keep the neighborhood attractively homogenous. Make sure to check before setting your plans (and fence posts) in stone. This way, you can be sure to build a fence that is kosher with the by-laws and cause disputes with the neighborhood after it’s built.
4) Where Will I Put the Gate(s)?
Gates are an important part of any fencing project. You will need a gate wide enough for wheelbarrows, lawnmowers, tree branches, and other equipment that may need to move from one section of yard to another. So figure out where those wide gates are going based on your property design the natural pathways through and around your fence.
5) Do I Need (And Can I Get) A Building Permit?
Building a fence usually involves getting a building permit before you begin. Building permits are an important aspect of any construction. They are there to ensure that no one plans or builds something that is unsafe or illegal. Find out if you need a building permit and who to get it from. Don’t worry too much about approval. If you’re working with a professional fencing team, they’ll know how to design a safe, legal fence and run it through the building permit process.
6) How Do I Check for Utility Lines?
Finally, make sure you’re not planning to build your fence over utility lines. And if you are, that you know exactly where those lines are and don’t try to sink a post into one. Contact your local utility company to get a map of the local lines, then mark them with neon flags or string to be positive no mistakes are made.
7) Contact Security Fence & Construction in Minneapolis, Minnesota
Wondering if you can build a fence on your property? The answer is almost always an affirmative, but you may need to take a few extra planning steps first. Fences can be built on almost any grade and in almost any ground material, as long as you know what you’re doing and account for all the local factors ahead of time. Contact us today to find out more about the perfect type of fence for your building plans.
