We Have No Privacy in Our Backyard
The neighbour's deck looks straight into yours, the second floor windows see everything, and a taller fence is not allowed. Privacy comes in three layers: the fence to the limit, a screen on the deck, and trees that grow above both. Lumen Landscaping builds privacy fences and screens, and plants privacy trees, across Hamilton: call (905) 906-0671 or send the form for a free written quote.
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The problem
What you are living with
You bought the house for the backyard and you never sit in it. The neighbour's deck is a metre higher than yours and looks straight down into it. The house behind has a second floor window that sees the whole patio. The fence is a chain link, or a wood fence that stops at shoulder height, and the lot is small enough that every conversation is shared. You have priced a taller fence and found out you cannot build one.
That last part is true. In Hamilton, the fence by-law allows a fence up to 2.0 m on a residential lot, and only 0.9 m inside a corner or driveway visibility triangle. Burlington is the same 2.0 m in the backyard, with 1.2 m in the front yard near the street and 1 m for solid fencing in a visibility triangle. A fence alone will never block a second floor window or a neighbour's raised deck, and the law will not let it try.
So privacy in a small yard comes in layers. The fence does the first two metres. A screen on the deck does the next bit, where you actually sit. Trees and tall shrubs do the rest, above the fence line, and they do it better every year.
Our Work
Fences, screens and privacy planting we have built
Why a small backyard has no privacy
The problem is geometry, and each part of it points at one of the three layers.
- The fence height limit: Hamilton and Burlington both cap a residential fence at 2.0 m. A fence that high hides a neighbour standing on their lawn. It does nothing about a window above it.
- Second floor windows: Most of the newer subdivisions in Waterdown, Binbrook and on Stoney Creek Mountain are two storey homes on narrow lots. Every backyard is overlooked by the upstairs windows of three houses.
- Raised decks next door: A deck off the back door of a two storey house sits well above the lawn. From there a 2.0 m fence is waist high.
- Grade differences: On a sloping street, the house uphill looks over any fence you can build, and the house downhill looks up at yours.
- A fence that was never a privacy fence: Chain link, a low picket fence, or a board fence with gaps lets the whole street in. Replacing it with a solid fence to the limit is the first layer, and often the biggest change.
- Nothing above the fence line: A yard with no trees is a yard with nothing to stop a sightline from above. Trees and tall shrubs are the only layer that works against height, and the only one that gets better with time.
Google reviews
What our customers say
“We greatly appreciate Dan's attention to detail. Our deck also feels incredible sturdy. He is clearly a skilled carpenter and we have gotten many compliments on our backyard.”
“Thank you for helping my mother with the fence and patio, everything turned out beautifully.”
“Lumen Landscaping built our new beautiful fence on time and well within our budget. … If you are looking for a new fence, I highly recommend Lumen Landscaping for the job!”
The fix
Three layers, in the right order
The fence, to the limit. A solid privacy fence built to 2.0 m, with the posts set deep and solid to handle Hamilton winters, takes care of every sightline from the ground. If the old fence has good boards and bad posts, the fix is cheaper, and our page on a leaning fence with rotted posts explains it. See our fences and gates page for the fence itself, and remember a fence on the line is a conversation with the neighbour before it is a quote.
A screen where you sit. A privacy screen built into the deck or beside the patio, a slatted or solid panel the height of a standing person, blocks the neighbour's deck and the near windows from the one spot you use most. We build privacy screens and railings as part of our decks and fences work, matched to the deck or the fence, and a pergola with a slatted side does the same job over a patio. In Hamilton, a deck attached to the house needs a building permit, and new or replacement railings do too, so a screen that is part of the deck is planned with that in mind.
Trees above the fence. The only layer that beats an upstairs window. Columnar trees and tall shrubs planted along the fence line grow above it within a few seasons and keep going. A large plant or a small tree in a seven gallon pot is set at the right depth, backfilled and watered in, and billed at cost with the nursery discount passed on, which is our gardens and planting service. We help you choose them for the width of the strip and the light it gets, and we plant them in the bed we dig along the fence, with soil and mulch, so they take. One customer did exactly this beside a pool, and the before and after is in the gallery above.
If the privacy you have now is an overgrown cedar that is swallowing the yard, our page on overgrown shrubs and hedges covers what to do with it before the new layers go in. And before any post hole or planting hole, Ontario One Call gets a locate request, which the law requires and which takes about five business days.
Check this yourself first
Half an hour with a chair and a notebook will give you a privacy plan before we arrive.
- Sit where you sit: Put a chair where you actually spend time, the patio table or the deck, and look around. Write down every window, deck and sightline you can see. Those are the lines to block, and nothing else matters.
- Sort them by height: Which lines come from ground level, which from a deck, which from upstairs? Ground level is the fence. Deck height is a screen. Upstairs is trees, and nothing else will do it.
- Check your fence against the limit: Measure the existing fence. If it is under 2.0 m, or chain link, the first layer is not done yet, and it is the one that makes the biggest difference on the day it goes up.
- Find the planting room: Look for a strip along the fence where a tree or a tall shrub could go, and note how much sun it gets. A narrow strip takes a narrow plant. Check the lot line too, because a tree planted on the line is a conversation with the neighbour.
- When to call: Once you know which sightlines bother you and where they come from, call (905) 906-0671. We will walk the yard with you and plan the three layers together, with a free written quote.
Planning
What a lasting privacy plan includes, and what changes the price
A lasting privacy plan always includes
- The sightlines from where you sit, sorted by height, before anything is built
- A solid fence to the by-law limit, with posts set deep
- A screen on the deck or beside the patio, built to match
- Trees and tall shrubs along the fence line for the lines from above, planted in a proper bed, at cost
- The neighbour spoken to about a shared fence, and a locate before any digging
- The permit sorted where a deck or railings are part of the work
What affects the price
- How much fence is replaced or built, and the style: horizontal cedar costs more than vertical board
- The size and height of the screen, and whether it ties into an existing deck
- How many trees and shrubs, by pot size, at cost
- The bed dug along the fence for them, with soil and mulch
- Access to the backyard for posts, panels and plants
- A permit, where the deck or railings need one
A typical job, in plain words. Picture a small backyard in Waterdown, overlooked by two second floor windows and the neighbour’s raised deck, with a builder’s fence that stops at shoulder height. We replace the fence with a solid one to 2.0 m, build a slatted screen along the deck side where the table is, and dig a bed along the back fence for three narrow trees that will clear the fence in a couple of seasons. The day the fence goes up, the ground level sightlines are gone. The screen takes care of the deck. The trees take care of the windows a little more every year. On a wider lot in Binbrook the same plan uses a longer hedge of shrubs instead of three trees, and in Burlington the fence rules are checked first, because the front yard limit there is 1.2 m near the street.
Every quote is written and free, and materials are billed at what they cost us with no markup.
Related
Related pages
Services: fences and gates, decks and fences, pergolas, gazebos and sheds and gardens and planting. Related problems: a leaning fence with rotted posts and overgrown shrubs and hedges. Areas: Waterdown, Binbrook and Glanbrook and Burlington. More answers on our FAQ page, and more problems we fix.
FAQs
Backyard privacy questions
In Hamilton, Fence By-law 10-142 allows up to 2.0 m on a residential lot and 0.9 m inside a corner or driveway visibility triangle. Burlington allows 2.0 m in the backyard, 1.2 m in the front yard near the street line, and 1 m for solid fencing in a visibility triangle. We build to the limit and not past it.
The height limit is the height of the fence, and a lattice on top is part of the fence. The better answer for height is a screen on the deck or beside the patio, where you sit, and trees along the fence line that grow above it. Both are allowed and both work better than a taller fence would.
Columnar trees and tall, narrow shrubs along the fence line clear a 2.0 m fence within a few seasons and keep going. We choose them for the width of the strip and the light it gets, plant them properly in a bed with soil and mulch, and bill them at cost with the nursery discount passed on. A larger pot size gives you a head start.
If the fence is on the property line, it is shared, and the conversation comes before the quote. A fence set inside your own line is yours alone.
Yes, and it is the best way to do it. One crew builds the fence, builds the screen into the deck or beside the patio, digs the bed and plants the trees, in one project with one written quote. The fence works on the day it goes up and the trees get better every year.
In Hamilton, a deck attached to the house needs a building permit, and so do new or replacement railings, so a screen that is part of the deck structure is planned with that in mind. A freestanding screen beside a patio usually is not a permit matter. We tell you before we quote.
How it works
Getting started is easy
- 1
Call or send the form
Tell us what you have in mind. We reply fast, usually within the hour.
- 2
Get your free quote
We look at your project and send you a clear, written quote quickly.
- 3
We build it
We start quickly and back our craftsmanship with a 1-year warranty.
Get Free Quote
Get a Free Quote for a Backyard That Feels Like Yours
Tell us which sightlines bother you and where they come from, and send a photo from where you sit. We will plan the three layers with you and get back to you fast with a free written quote.