Santa Clarita fencing questions and answers

Installed, the four common materials price out like this: chain link $18 to $40 a linear foot, wood $30 to $60, vinyl $40 to $70, and wrought iron $50 to $120. Your position inside a range comes down to how long the run is, how far the lot falls, and the grade of material you choose. A short level line in Newhall sits near the bottom, while a foothill run built on deeper footings in a premium material sits near the top.

Chain link holds the low end at $18 to $40 a linear foot, which is why it belongs on a back line or across a larger Canyon Country parcel rather than along street frontage. Where the job calls for solid six foot privacy, cedar carries the better value, and 150 feet of it comes to $4,500 to $9,000 installed. Vinyl at that same height asks more at the outset and spares you the upkeep.

Within city limits, fences fall under the City of Santa Clarita Unified Development Code, section 17.57.070. A fence up to six feet in the side and rear yards is generally allowed by right with no building permit, while a fence over six feet, a retaining wall, or work in the right of way needs a permit from Building and Safety. Unincorporated areas outside the city are permitted by Los Angeles County instead.

Under the City of Santa Clarita code, a fence is generally allowed up to six feet in the side and rear yards. Along a street-facing or front yard, a view-obscuring fence is limited to about 42 inches, with an open pipe or rail allowed up to about 48 inches. A fence over six feet needs an Adjustment and a permit, and a corner lot has a sight-visibility triangle near the intersection where height is kept low. Confirm the current numbers for your lot with the City.

As a rule, yes. California Civil Code section 841, known as the Good Neighbor Fence Act, begins from the presumption that adjoining owners share the reasonable cost of a boundary fence equally. Before building, the statute asks you to serve written notice at least 30 days ahead, setting out the problem, the fence proposed, and what it is expected to cost. Most notices miss two things, the equal-split presumption itself and the dates you would build. A different arrangement is perfectly allowed where both owners put it in writing.

Material decides it. Cedar or redwood gives about 15 to 20 years when sealed every few years, chain link runs a comparable 15 to 20, vinyl holds 20 to 30 years or more and asks for almost nothing, and wrought iron can pass 40 years where the powder coat is kept up. What shortens a fence here is the hot inland sun and the expansive clay, so how the posts are set counts for as much as what the panels are made of.

Yes. State law puts a safety barrier around every residential pool: five feet high at minimum, no gap anywhere that a four inch sphere will pass, and a gate that closes and latches itself, swings away from the water, and carries its latch at least five feet up. Two routes meet that standard. Removable mesh costs $15 to $30 a linear foot, and a permanent metal barrier costs $40 to $90 while also serving as the yard fence.

Yes. In the master-planned tracts such as Skyline Ranch and the Plum Canyon and Copper Hill communities, the association reviews fence material, color, style, and height before work begins, so we prepare that submittal for you. We quote a fence the guidelines will actually approve and build the review time into the schedule, rather than discovering a restriction after the posts are ordered.