Salt Lake City was platted a long time ago, and plenty of the fences standing today were built by replacing whatever was there before, in roughly the same holes, without…
Salt Lake City was platted a long time ago, and plenty of the fences standing today were built by replacing whatever was there before, in roughly the same holes, without anyone pulling a plat. Do that a few times across several decades and the line on the ground drifts. It is common here to find a fence sitting a foot or two off the recorded boundary in one direction or the other, and nobody notices until someone tears it out and starts fresh. That is why the first real conversation about a Salt Lake City fence is usually not about material or height. It is about where the line actually runs.
The awkward part is that the drift always favors somebody. If the old fence gave you extra yard, moving it to the true line means handing that strip back, and your neighbor may have been mowing it for years. If it gave them extra, you get the strip and they get a surprise. Neither outcome is improved by discovering it mid install with a truckload of posts in the driveway. Establish the line first, tell your neighbor what you learned before a crew shows up, and decide together how you want to handle it. A fence set on a line both households agree on is the one that stays put.
A plat shows how the block or subdivision was recorded. A survey shows where those lines land on your actual dirt. They are not the same document and they do not do the same job. Salt Lake County records are a reasonable starting point for understanding the shape of your parcel, but a plat will not tell you whether the iron pin at the back corner is still there, or whether it got moved during a utility trench years ago. If the boundary matters to you, and on a tight older lot it usually does, a licensed surveyor setting corners is the version that holds up when somebody disagrees.
Fence contractors are not surveyors, and a good one will say so out loud. What a contractor can do is build to a line you give them and set posts where you mark. What they cannot do is settle a boundary question for you, and you would not want them trying. If pins are found and clearly undisturbed, plenty of homeowners are comfortable working from those. If corners are missing, the old fence wanders, or your neighbor has already voiced an opinion about where the line sits, spend the effort on a survey before anything goes into concrete. Concrete is unforgiving about second thoughts.
Once the line is settled, the rest is ordinary fence work done properly. Post depth and how the posts are set decide whether the fence is still standing straight years from now, and frost depth matters in Utah, so holes dug shallow to save an afternoon tend to heave and lean. Post size, spacing, and how much concrete goes in the hole all get chosen around the panel style and the exposure of the yard. Solid panels catch wind, so a run facing open ground is a different design problem than a run tucked between two houses. None of that is exotic. It simply has to be done.
Material comes down to what you want to do with your weekends. Wood needs staining and sealing on a schedule to keep from graying and checking. Vinyl and aluminum do not, though each ages in its own way under Utah sun. Chain link is honest and nearly upkeep free but does nothing for privacy, and composite sits somewhere in the middle. Before you commit, confirm current height, material, and setback rules with the city, and with your HOA if you have one, because those rules vary and change and nobody enjoys taking a fence back down. Call Fence 801 at 801-823-6018 and we will connect you with local contractors.
First find out whether it actually does. An old fence sitting off the recorded line is common on older platted lots and does not by itself mean anyone did anything wrong. Get the boundary established by a surveyor rather than by measuring off the curb, then talk with your neighbor with that information in hand. Most of these end in a handshake and a fence rebuilt on the agreed line. If it does not, that becomes a legal question rather than a fencing one.
Not always, but it deserves the conversation. If your corner pins are present and undisturbed, the existing fence matches them, and your neighbor has no objection, many homeowners simply build to what is there. If pins are missing, the old fence wanders, the lot is tight, or anyone has questioned the line before, get it surveyed first. Tearing out an old fence removes the only physical reference you had, so decide before demolition rather than after.
Sometimes, and sometimes setbacks apply, particularly near corners, sidewalks, and front yards. Requirements vary by city and by zone, so confirm with Salt Lake City before ordering anything. The other half of the answer is practical. A fence centered on the line is a shared structure, which gives your neighbor a stake in it, now and later. Some homeowners prefer to set the fence just inside their own line so future maintenance is unambiguously theirs.
Cedar or treated pine, built board by board on site, which is why wood follows a slope and an odd corner better than anything else. It moves with the seasons, it takes stain, and it wants that attention on a schedule.
Learn more →Vinyl keeps its color and never asks for a stain rag, which is most of the appeal. The real questions are how the posts are set and how much wind those solid panels are going to catch out where you are putting them.
Learn more →Ornamental aluminum and steel where you want a boundary you can see through, chain link where you want dogs contained and a back line marked. Both let wind pass instead of fighting it, which matters on an exposed lot.
Learn more →Gates are the moving part, and moving parts are what fail. Width, post size, hinges, latch type and whether that post was set to carry a swinging load are what separate a gate that closes from one you lift.
Learn more →Leaning posts, wind-broken panels, a section a falling limb took out, a gate that quit latching. Sometimes a whole run has to come down and sometimes four posts are the entire problem, and those are very different jobs.
Learn more →Get quotes from contractors who set posts properly. No fee to be matched.
Call 801-823-6018A few details about the yard is all we need to route it correctly.