AITA for not staining my neighbor’s fence?

After a homeowner replaced a fence shared with a neighbor, the neighbor claimed it was their fence and requested it be stained as it had been previously. Although the homeowner replaced the fence at their own expense to keep the peace, they are now questioning if they are obligated to pay for staining it as well. read the original story below…

‘ AITA for not staining my neighbor’s fence?’

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.

Here’s how people reacted to the post:

_s1m0n_s3z −  At this point, he’s trying to take you for a ride. He figures your one mistake is going to get him a brand new fence, good for another 20 years. NTA

Loquacious555 −  You didn’t ask them to split the cost of the new fence so they don’t have a leg to stand on. You’re not obligated to beautify their side. NTA.

setaetheory −  To keep the peace, I paid all costs to rebuild the fence promptly. YTA. It’s your *obligation* to pay for undoing the damage you caused, not some generous favor you’re doing to placate an unreasonable person. (In my opinion, all fences should be built within one’s own property to avoid these issues…)

Really? Everyone with neighbors should have a few inches cut off the edges of their property so that everyone can have their own, separate fence? Just because you didn’t want to talk to your neighbor before replacing a shared fence? Come on.

AnalogyAddict −  YTA How thoughtless do you have to be to not talk with your neighbors before taking down a property line fence? Or doing surveys beforehand?  Stain the man’s fence and stop being THAT neighbor. 

SPlNPlNS −  YTA why did you not do a survey before any fence work? Why did you not ask the neighbour if they know who’s fence it is? You absolutely need to stain the fence. If they have an enclosed yard and now one side is different because you took it upon yourself to rip it out, you do everything you can to make it match.

Shak3Zul4 −  YTA Why in the world should your neighbor have to pay any amount for a fence you took down that you weren’t supposed to? Besides staining a fence isn’t that much money and even though it wasn’t your property you still got the fence you wanted

No-Names-Left-Here −  YTA. Pay it since you decided to replace a shared fence without even discussing it with the neighbor.

buttweave −  YTA clearly. You did more assuming than actual confirming and now you’re half assing replacing your mistake

skempoz −  YTA My neighbors and I share fence along our property line. Our side is professionally stained, they do not have their side stained and you can see how decrepit the fence looks on their side.

If they had taken the fence down without telling us and then left us to pay for restaining our fence, I’d be pretty pissed off. Is their fence stained on other parts of their property line? Or is this the only fencing they have on their property?

cndnsportsfan −  YWBTA because you didn’t do diligence or have a conversation prior to the work being done.If your neighbors can’t afford to upgrade their old s**tty fence, do you think they could afford to stain their new free fence?

I know it seems like you’re incurring a lot of cost and they’re getting a new fence, but they didn’t ask for it, and you didn’t do your homework.

A backyard scene showing two neighbors near a shared wooden fence, one looking confused and the other assertive.