The original post: /r/amitheasshole by /u/Gold-Application-201 on 2024-10-26 14:58:07.

I replaced the fence on all 4 sides of my house.

One of the sides backs up to a neighbor, I thought the fence was no doubt mine because the posts of the fence are on my side and it connected to the rest of the fence which is clearly mine.

However as the fence contractor took it down, the neighbor came out panicked and asked why we were taking down their fence. We ultimately measured the property lines with a survey and the fence was built exactly on the property line between my house and theirs.

To keep the peace, I paid all costs to rebuild the fence promptly and it was complete within 2 days. I purchased materials and paid my fence contractor to build it exactly where it was and in the same style of fence. I then had my fence contractor build my new fence up against this fence but on my property line so I wouldn’t have any further issues. (In my opinion, all fences should be built within one’s own property to avoid these issues…)

I thought that was sufficient, however, now the neighbor is pressing me to also pay to have the new fence we built them stained. The old fence was so old and falling over I hadn’t even noticed it was stained, but they claim it was stained on their side.

Thoughts? Do I need to pay to stain the fence as well?

Additional context for why I didn’t talk to the neighbor originally, for those asking: I gave a property survey to the Fence contractor when I had him plan out the fence. I mistakenly thought he would have used the survey to ensure they only work on my property line. First fence I’ve installed so now I’ve learned to cover all potential bases.

Curious, no one has mentioned anything about the posts. The posts were on my side of the property. Does that make a difference? If they built the fence, why wouldn’t they put the posts on their side anyway? That’s primarily what led me to the assumption (again I’ve learned) that it was mine in the first place.