Fence or deck costs in Milwaukee

Wisconsin's spite-fence law covers hedges, not just fences. Any fence, hedge or other fence-like structure that unnecessarily tops 6 feet and is put up or kept up maliciously to annoy the neighbors is a private nuisance under state law. A state appeals court has added that a fence under 6 feet can still be found a nuisance, so height alone doesn't settle a fight over a Milwaukee lot line. The same statute leaves cities free to forbid fences shorter than 6 feet.

Decks answer to the state's Uniform Dwelling Code, which covers a deck attached to a house and any detached deck that serves an exit. Those decks have to meet the code, including its rules for footings, loads, stairs, guards and decay protection.

Decay protection is the part that shows up in the lumber pile. The code lists any structural part of an outdoor deck, the decking included, among the places where wood must be labeled pressure-treated to an AWPA standard, or be naturally durable and decay-resistant, or be engineered to resist decay. That rules out ordinary untreated framing anywhere in a Milwaukee deck. A deck built to the standard designs in the code's Appendix B, and Appendix C where it applies, is treated as meeting those rules, which gives a contractor a ready-made way to comply.