Homeowner gets creative to circumvent annoying HOA rule: 'It's masquerading'

When a homeowners association became overbearing, one homeowner and their local woodworker had to get creative to get around the overly restrictive rules.

Photos of their project appeared in the r/woodworking Reddit forum. "Trellis… but really it's a privacy fence," the woodworker said. "HOA guidelines don't allow an eight foot privacy fence, so it's masquerading."

The photos show a solidly built trellis in a golden wood that the original poster confirms is cedar. It stands just a few inches inside a solid white fence, which is about 2 feet shorter. While there are gaps in the "trellis" suitable for plants to climb through, it is clearly built with privacy in mind and will only get more effective as plants grow over it.

This is far from the first time that an HOA has placed unreasonable restrictions on what a homeowner could or couldn't build on their own property. It is common for HOAs to forbid money-saving and enjoyable improvements to the property, such as gardens, solar panels, compost bins, and many others.

The usual rationale for the restrictions is that they want a consistent look to the neighborhood to protect property values, but they ignore the increase in value that comes from these projects, not to mention the potential savings to the owners and the quality-of-life improvements.

It is possible to change the rules of your HOA, but this can be a slow process. Many homeowners look for loopholes, and this time, the original poster was happy to help.

Commenters supported the rebellious move.

"I love this," one user said.

Another commenter added: "Beautiful work."

However, one user was concerned that the homeowner might not have found the solution they thought they did. "What does the local building code say?" they said. "Almost everything has a height requirement and/or a setback. This includes 'garden screens' and tall hedges, etc."

Should homeowners associations be able to determine what you grow in your garden? Yes 💯 Only if it impacts your neighbors 🏘️ Depends on what you're growing 🌼 Heck no 🙅 Click your choice to see results and speak your mind.

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