I knew this day was coming. Back in the spring, the neighbors who were selling/moving pointed out that the fence we share was on the verge of collapse. The wooden posts had rotted substantially. He offered to do the work, and I told him I would help if I could and of course we would share the expense. Before the work was ever done, they moved. Not being incredibly (read: at all) handy, the fence went unrepaired.
Fast forward to this weekend: heavy rain and even heavier winds. Lots of gusts in excess of 40 mph. The fence is now down on that side. One of the renters here bragged about his construction skills ("I could tear this house down and build it right back up!) so I thought "Aha! He can repair/replace the fence and just deduct it from his rent." But apparently he injured his shoulder fighting off an intruder at a friend's house and his shoulder is in a sling for a few weeks. Having dogs who had free use of the backyard thanks to our doggie door and a fenced-in yard, it is kind of important to get a fence up soon.
Anyhow, I've met and chatted with the new neighbors a couple of times. Nothing big, just a little neighborly chat. They seem like decent folk, but we are far from close (besides proximity). To me, the fence is shared in that it is right on the property line and is just as attractive on both sides (well, at least it was before it fell down!). However, they don't really seem to have any fence that is their "own." What do I mean? Almost all of their backyard is enclosed by all of the shared borders, but they don't have any fencing going from the fence on the property lines to their house.
I am going to go over there tomorrow and let them know that I have someone coming out to give me an estimate. My plan is to ask them if they would want the guy to give them an estimate to fence from the property line to their house thereby enclosing their backyard. It seems like that might be a good time to see if they would be open to splitting the cost of the shared portion. That's not unreasonable, is it? I figure it doesn't hurt to ask. What do you think?