Fence or deck costs in Reno

If your Reno lot backs onto a water supply ditch, the city decides part of your fence for you. Reno Municipal Code says property next to a ditch that's a hazard to people must have fencing at least four and a half feet tall that the city accepts as reasonably non-climbable, with tension wires along both the top and bottom, or another means the city accepts.

The rest of the residential rules are specific. A fence in the required front yard can be four feet. Six-foot fences can run along lot lines and back toward the house. Posts may rise up to two feet above the fence if they're at least six feet apart. If a fence sits on a retaining wall, the city measures its height from the top of the wall, not from the ground below. Next to major drainageways and open space, anything more than four feet above grade has to be open fencing.

Development Services' fence permit checklist asks for each run's location and length, your gates, property lines, easements, and the speed limit on the street beside you. Post depth and footing size only have to be shown when the fence is over six feet.

Keep hydrants in mind on a corner run. The checklist says a fire hydrant needs 36 inches of clearance at its back and sides, and eight feet above.