Fence Companies in Northwest Reno & Somersett

Somersett and the 2008 earthquake swarm

In February 2008 an earthquake swarm began under Somersett in western Reno, near Mogul and Verdi, and lasted for months. The largest event measured magnitude 4.9, and many homes in the area were damaged. The Reno area is in seismic design category D2, which is why masonry walls and retaining walls here should be engineered with grouted steel and proper footings. A wood or metal fence flexes with ground movement; a tall, unreinforced block wall does not. See block walls.

Open space, slope and Reno's rules

Where a Northwest Reno lot backs onto open space or a drainage, an extra rule applies. Inside City of Reno limits, any part of a fence more than 4 feet above grade next to major drainageways and open space has to be open fencing, and chain link is not allowed there except where specified. That points rear-lot fences toward aluminum or ornamental steel, or a low solid fence with open fencing above.

• Every fence and wall inside Reno needs a permit, with a plot plan that includes HOA approval if your neighborhood has one.
• Side and rear fences: 6 feet; required front yard: 4 feet.
• Fence on a retaining wall: measured from the top of the retaining wall.
• Fences outside setback areas may reach 10 feet in side, rear and secondary front yards.

Wind, snow and fire on the hillsides

Higher lots on the west side get more snow than the valley floor and take the afternoon west wind head-on. If you choose a modern horizontal fence on steel posts, small gaps between boards let the wind through. Lots against sage and brush slopes can fall in wildland-urban interface zones; Washoe County's code says fencing within 5 feet of a building must be noncombustible or as fire-resistive as the exterior walls. Check your address on the county's EZ Fire-WUI map.