When we took on this 1970s fixer-upper, the boundary was barely there.
Apparently it had disappeared many moons ago, but by the time we moved in there was no wall at all. Some of the plants on our side had also been hacked back to say the least.
Our seller explained that the neighbour had previously taken the wall down with promises of replacing it, but nothing had ever gone back up.
For us, this boundary needed to happen quickly and it needed to happen properly.
Why It Mattered
Until this wall was built, Rock could not step into the garden unsupervised. There was no physical divide between us and our neighbours.
This DIY project, which began in February 2025, quickly became about far more than privacy. It became about safety, structure and creating a secure space for our family, our pets and the future we are building here in Surrey.
Rock was not particularly fond of evening bathroom breaks with an escort, and to be honest Superman was not too fond of the arrangement either with everything else already happening around the house.
For the first time since moving in, we were finally beginning to reclaim a small piece of stability while the rest of the renovation still felt uncertain.
The Reality of Building It
Superman took the lead on this project. The muscle, the maths, the material orders and the heavy lifting all landed squarely on his shoulders.
The first step involved clearing years of overgrown brush, thorny weeds, old planters, broken concrete, random clothing finds and remnants of old metal fencing that had long since given up.
Most mornings started with frozen hands, muddy boots and coffee balanced on fence panels before school drop-offs began.
This was never going to be a quick cosmetic fix. We wanted something durable, clean and built to last alongside the house itself.
After a lot of research, we chose the DuraPost Steel Anthracite Grey fencing system. By moving away from traditional timber posts, we traded short-term patchwork repairs for long-term structural integrity and a much cleaner finish overall.
The Surrey clay certainly did not make things easy, especially during cold February mornings, but slowly the framework started taking shape one post and one panel at a time.
More Than Just a Fence
Documenting this process reminded me that every major transformation starts with gritty foundations like these.
The cold wet days, fitting work around school drop-offs, midwife visits and trying to keep life moving while the house itself still felt chaotic. This was never just about building a fence.
It was the first real step in reclaiming our space.
In many ways, this fence became the first visible sign that the house was finally beginning to change.
While the rest of the house still felt uncertain, this boundary represented progress we could physically see taking shape.
One panel at a time, the organized chaos is finally beginning to feel a little more like home.
Reporting from the dust,
xo Lois
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