My fence is in need of repair/replacement. The "good" side is facing me and the fence is shared with a neighbor behind me whom I have never met. I have never had to replace a fence before and am not sure of what the protocol is on splitting payment. Am I expected to pay for the entire job since the good side faces me or do we go in halves? I fear that I will have to pay for the entire thing and am not even sure how costly it will be. If anyone knows of a good affordable company that can do this I would appreciate that as well. 

I've had to replace fences on all three sides of my house. Here's how I always handled it. If the good side is facing your property, you should spear head the replacement, take full responsibility for the work, but, your neighbor should share equally in the expense. In other words, if I have the bad side facing me, I would expect to pay for half, but, I wouldn't expect to do much in the way of helping to find a reputable contractor or over seeing it's completion.

The only exception to that rule is if my neighbor is doing the work themselves. Then I would be more than happy to pitch in and help and I would still expect to pay for half the cost of materials.

During Ike, this worked out well for all three of my neighbors. Two wanted to pay for the repairs and not have to work and one wanted to tear down the entire fence and rebuild, by hand. 

Build a "good neighbor" fence. Every other section is good/bad. More interesting to look at. Everybody's side is the same. 

You need to tell your neighbor you intend to replace the fence. They should pay for half. They do not have to. Our house backs up to 7 other houses and of those neighbors only 2 paid half. Only one helped with the labor as my husband did the work. 

Do you have a pool? Fences are not required unless you have a pool, so be prepared to pay for it 100% on your own since you are the one wanted to replace it. 

I have the "good" side on all sides. I replaced the fence at my own expense. 

Tell your neighbors what you want to do, and make sure it fits within their time/budget.

Nothing worse than the neighbor who surprises you with "hey I am having the fence replaced next week, I need xamount of $$$ for the work." 

I need a fence. Only allowed wrought iron under deed resctrictions. Don't want to find out what it's going to cost lol 

I would get an estimate for the cost of replacing the fence then go talk to the neighbor and ask if they could possibly pay for half of it and show them the estimate. JMHO 

i have a good neighbor fence and i have had to replace all the fence just because my neighbor thinks her side is her side and because i have dogs i should fix it so my dogs dont have a way out if i want to keep them on my side. my solution to that problem was i just put planks on my side of the fence of the side that faced them. good luck hope you have better experience 

Ask the Fence people, the "good" side is the railing side so that no one outside can climb over it because it is on your side of the yard. 

Does anyone know how much an average fence would cost? 

We split one side with our neighbor about 5 years ago and it was about $600 with a cheap-o no name company and got a cheap ugly fence. AND th-ey killed a tree, cut our deck in an ugly way. We split another side with another neighbor and it was about $1000 including a gate using Livable Forest Fencing and they did a superb job! I will use th-em to replace the one ugly side very so-on. I only h-ope the other new neighbor will agree to split it, other-wise we will do it ourselves, cuz that fence is that fugly! 

So, about 1000. Per side? 

I thought it would be more! 

Depends on the length really. Call Liveable Forest Fence and they will measure and give you a free estimate. they build the kind of fence with the 4 x 6" horizontal board ac-ross the bottom so that will be all that needs to be replaced when th-e fence goes bad...and they all do! 

Tat, around 5k for an entire new wood fence.

Many times you can keep the cement posts and just replace the slabs. Depends on what you need, how old it is, etc. 

When I had to replace my back fence after Ike, I was quoted about $17 a ft. I'm sure it is higher now ... maybe not 

Tat, around 5k for an entire new wood fence.

Many times you can keep the cement posts and just replace the slabs. Depends on what you need, how old it is, etc. 

Tink, just had a look at http://www.livableforestfence.com/

Looks like some really nice stuff! Have you used them before? Any idea on wrought iron prices? 

Yes! Th-ey have installed our back fence, on-e side and 2 gates. I was impressed when they were done that I didn't have to use my shoulder to open a gate. That wasn't normal. hahaha Beautiful hard-ware, beaut-ifully installed fence boards, sturdy fence, quality work, and fast. You won't be sorry. I think they would be happy to guide you on your wrought iron fence if they don't do it themselves.s 

Thank you all for the responses. You have given me some much needed information! 

Have replaced fences more than once. We all chipped in (fantastic neighbors, knew all well). Was split between all, but did the every other section and paid extra if you wanted all planks facing. Worked out nice, but people were all nice...