Semi-D neighbour fixing fence post to my house

HelenV

My neighbour had a fence erected a 5' fence between our properties and I've just noticed he's put the entire fence in on my garden and used my front (house) wall to secure the supporting ugly 3x2 post with massive big fixings nearly the width of my little finger. They've been hammered in to brickwork at least 5" on my side leaving their own property completely untouched with the line of the fence running neatly along their side.

To add insult to injury they've also cut 5" from my cement pathway to accommodate the fence.

I am so terribly upset that any neighbour would put me in this position.

Does anyone have any suggestions as to how I can sort this out? I don't want to fall out with them but it's not the first time this has happened so it's no error. Their back fence was built about 6" higher than mine and the white flex and white boxes for their lights are all on my side which is rather unsightly also but I let it go 'cos I didn't want to cause trouble.

Truthfully I feel rather vulnerable as I live on my own and feel they are taking a hand at me really.

Any suggestions please - I'm just soooo upset.

Calahonda52

http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/2009/en/act/pub/0027/sec0043.html#sec43
make it very clear what the rights and wrongs are here.

Clearly your neighbour is jumping all over you so its time you stood up for your rights.

You show him the attached and tell him that the district court legal fees for you to get the works order to undo all this will be c 2,500 plus vat.
The reasonable professional fees will be the same and that he will be liable for the cost of removing the offending material so the whole episode might cost him 10K.

He does not need your consent to build the fence, but he does need your agreement as per the legislation

HelenV

Calahonda52 wrote: »

http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/2009/en/act/pub/0027/sec0043.html#sec43
make it very clear what the rights and wrongs are here.

Clearly your neighbour is jumping all over you so its time you stood up for your rights.

You show him the attached and tell him that the district court legal fees for you to get the works order to undo all this will be c 2,500 plus vat.
The reasonable professional fees will be the same and that he will be liable for the cost of removing the offending material so the whole episode might cost him 10K.

He does not need your consent to build the fence, but he does need your agreement as per the legislation

Thank you so much for your link. Rest assured I will read it carefully and use it to support my side of the discussion which is inevitable unfortunately.

It's not so much the fence I'm upset about as the three large bolts which have been literally hammered into the stonework on the front of my house and the cutting away of my surrounding pathway to accommodate their new brick paving and fence.

You're quite right - I will stand up for myself. This is just a step too far I'm afraid.

Calahonda52

Glad to point you in the right direction.
As you have more than 50 post, can u post some pictures

you might find my other concerns re the boundary line etc useful here
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=96020316&utm_source=notification&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=notification#post96020316

HelenV

Fence from front wall

Effects

Did your neighbour mention any of this to you or did you just come home and find it like that?

HelenV

Apologies - i"m making a complete dog"s dinner of this.

kirving

That is an absolutely horrendous looking job. You are absolutely right to seek to have it removed. Good luck with it.

Don't let your neighbour try to play it down, it looks awful and will affect the selling price of your house.

HelenV

Effects wrote: »

Did your neighbour mention any of this to you or did you just come home and find it like that?

Now that's a tricky one!

My neighbour annually cuts the hedge which is mine but was in situ before I purchased and was used as a divider between both properties. He purchased after me. I came out my front door and he was trimming away at the hedge last Saturday. All his work had been completed during that week.

He said his wife asked me was I interested in going 50/50 for a new dividing wall. I did speak with her a number of months ago but I understood it was a general chit chat about what and when I would be ripping up my front garden and removing the hedge. Obviously something must have gotten lost in translation as I've no knowledge of an actual discussion taking place about sharing any cost of a party/party wall.

I literally came home from work one day and their entire front garden was torn up and the hedge cut back. I was rather miffed as I'd have definitely had the ugly ould hedge removed at the same time.

Other than that no, there was no discussion at all good, bad or indifferent.

I'd never have noticed the intrusion or damage to my property had I not decided yesterday to hang a wicker basket and flowers to try and pretty it up a little.

The entire fence is on my side, the stones are not supported from coming into my side as the fence sits on top of them rather than behind. If you notice from one of the photographs the supporting posts are rather large so they have encroached on my property and cut my surrounding cement path to accommodate that width.

HelenV

Kevin Irving wrote: »

That is an absolutely horrendous looking job. You are absolutely right to seek to have it removed. Good luck with it.

Don't let your neighbour try to play it down, it looks awful and will affect the selling price of your house.

Thanks for your support, I really appreciate it. I'm trying to be pragmatic about it and not get too emotional but I was the only adult in the house they would be aware of the struggle I've had down through the years trying to keep the property in half decent order.

There is also a crack on the upper wall I've had to put having sorted on the long finger and I'm now concerned they may have further compromised the entire wall given the size of the holts they hammered the post in with - and ALL on my side.

Calahonda52 pointed out there may be a problem with Land Registry boundaries which is rather serious too.

Kevwoody

I wouldn't be too worried about the bolts causing the wall damage, the reason they look so bad is because they didn't drill far enough into the wall with the pilot hole, then proceeded to hammer the express fixing into a hole which wasn't deep enough, resulting in the visible mess

nc19

HelenV wrote:

........ cut my surrounding cement path to accommodate that width.

This on its own would be enough for me to rip them up.......who does he think he is? If he wants the fence he can suffer the posts

Wanderer78

id hammer the posts into their heads but thats probably not a sensible approach. probably best to do it the legal way. best of luck with it op

HelenV

Wanderer78 wrote: »

id hammer the posts into their heads but thats probably not a sensible approach. probably best to do it the legal way. best of luck with it op

They're away now - hopefully for 2 week so I'll be able to calm down and adequately prepare for our eventual wee "chat". I'm no shrinking violet but am absolutely dreading this confrontation.:(

Wanderer78

HelenV wrote: »

They're away now - hopefully for 2 week so I'll be able to calm down and adequately prepare for our eventual wee "chat". I'm no shrinking violet but am absolutely dreading this confrontation.:(

ah just do your homework, get some good advice from wherever possible, including members from here and take it from there. do you have any family or friends that could help you with this? they might just be able to give you moral support. they might be able to be present with you when you eventually have your little chat. citizen information can be very helpful as well.

http://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/

their site is very good but i prefer to call into them for a chat.

gather all your information and advice. write down what you want to say to your neighbours into concise points. as you say, you may have 2 weeks to do all this so you have time. this is a very annoying problem

michael999999

HelenV wrote: »

They're away now - hopefully for 2 week so I'll be able to calm down and adequately prepare for our eventual wee "chat". I'm no shrinking violet but am absolutely dreading this confrontation.:(

The fence would be down and a nice hedge on there side of the perimeter would look nice.

michael999999

michael999999 wrote: »

The fence would be down and a nice hedge on there side of the perimeter would look nice.

I hate to say this, but I LOVE your suggestion!!!

HelenV

Wanderer78 wrote: »

ah just do your homework, get some good advice from wherever possible, including members from here and take it from there. do you have any family or friends that could help you with this? they might just be able to give you moral support. they might be able to be present with you when you eventually have your little chat. citizen information can be very helpful as well.

http://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/

their site is very good but i prefer to call into them for a chat.

gather all your information and advice. write down what you want to say to your neighbours into concise points. as you say, you may have 2 weeks to do all this so you have time. this is a very annoying problem

Yes I have an adult son who came up to-day and he was absolutely furious. He's been a chippy in a previous life and has actually put in fences himself taking "great care" to leave the neighbour's side in a perfect finished state.

I might just need to seek professional advice though so I can be more assertive in this instance to arrive at a satisfactory outcome.

Good idea to suggest writing down concise points - I tend to get flustered and forgetful in awkward situations.

Many thanks.

Wanderer78

HelenV wrote: »

I tend to get flustered and forgetful in awkward situations.

most of us do particularly when angry.

sounds like your son could be the man for the job but both of you will have to remain calm at all times when dealing with your neighbours.

michael999999

[Deleted User] wrote: »

I hate to say this, but I LOVE your suggestion!!!

Say a prayer to saint Enda, and it won't happen again! Lol

HelenV

michael999999 wrote: »

Say a prayer to saint Enda, and it won't happen again! Lol

I'll refrain from commenting - I might be banned!

Wanderer78

HelenV wrote: »

I'll refrain from commenting - I might be banned!

feel free to pm your comments to me and i might post it. id nearly take the hit on this one. idiots the lot of them

HelenV

Wanderer78 wrote: »

feel free to pm your comments to me and i might post it. id nearly take the hit on this one. idiots the lot of them

ha ha ... but if I pm'd my address would you come and take the hit for me with my "charming" neighbours.

p,s, The posters here have been great - I appreciate it more than ye'll know.

Wanderer78

HelenV wrote: »

ha ha ... but if I pm'd my address would you come and take the hit for me with my "charming" neighbours.

p,s, The posters here have been great - I appreciate it more than ye'll know.

hahaha ah im sure you ll find a solution but do listen to the advice from people here and wherever else.

keep chatting about it, you ll be surprised what good advice people have here

ctrl-alt-delete

I'd be seriously annoyed off if my neighbour carried out that work.

The audacity to carry it out without consulting you and the standard of the work is atrocious.

I can see the thinking behind it, throw the posts on your side sure the hedge will hide them - highlighted by trying to conceal it the couple of feet from the house where the hedge is not present.

As stated the fixings are either too long or the hole not drilled deep enough (at least they didn't drill through to your front room).

If it were me I would remove anything my side of the dividing line and whatever happens the rest of it they can deal with it. They should get the message upon their return.

HelenV

ctrl-alt-delete wrote: »

I can see the thinking behind it, throw the posts on your side sure the hedge will hide them - highlighted by trying to conceal it the couple of feet from the house where the hedge is not present.

Exactly right. They also went so far as to cut the hedge back on their side so they could fully fit the fence in my garden and pathway. The crazy thing is that if they hadn't put the lats (?) on my side God only knows when I'd have noticed it was encroaching on my property.

I'm not sure whether the wee piece of capping was already gone from the front wall where the fencing stands but I'll give them the benefit of the doubt on that as it was covered by hedging so I cannot say for sure.

HandsomeRover

HelenV wrote: »

I'm not sure whether the wee piece of capping was already gone from the front wall where the fencing stands but I'll give them the benefit of the doubt on that as it was covered by hedging so I cannot say for sure.

Find your house on Google Streetview... that might tell you if the hedge allows.

Terrible business. Get your head straight here, you are not paying a mortgage (and all the other lark that goes with it these days) to put up with this nonsense. I wouldn't be too worried about a fall out, they don't strike me as the kind of folk i'd be too bothered about.

Easy for me to say though. Have your son about (in the front garden) when you doorstep them. You'd be surprised how much a presence like that will focus their mind if they were the type to be difficult.

I wont offer you luck - you don't need it! Be firm and straight. Cheeky beggars.

sydthebeat

that fence requires planning permission.

you can only build 1.2 m (4ft) high to the front without permission, and youve said that its 5ft

HelenV

sydthebeat wrote: »

that fence requires planning permission.

you can only build 1.2 m (4ft) high to the front without permission, and youve said that its 5ft

I've just measured it and where the fence is fixed to my front wall it measures 5' 10" but it graduates down to bang on 4' for what I can see is a little more than 2/3rds. Seems they weren't behind the door when it came to attracting attention regarding planning permission.

SC024

Im not taking sides here but your side is the one with the hedge on it? Hope im not taking this up wrong I dont understand the reason for you getting very upset over this? If you sit down & think about this calmly that strip the width of fence 4 inches give or take up untill recently has been behind the hedge so that strip 5 inchs by length of garden was effectively of no use whatsoever to you? it was on your neighbors side of the hedge. Hardly worth getting upset over in my honest opinion. I'd have to ask the question is it really worth causing agro for years & going to courts with your neighbor over something that small which you can't really make use anyways because its the wrong side of the hedge?

HelenV

SC024 wrote: »

Im not taking sides here but your side is the one with the hedge on it? Hope im not taking this up wrong I dont understand the reason for you getting very upset over this? If you sit down & think about this calmly that strip the width of fence 4 inches give or take up untill recently has been behind the hedge so that strip 5 inchs by length of garden was effectively of no use whatsoever to you? it was on your neighbors side of the hedge. Hardly worth getting upset over in my honest opinion. I'd have to ask the question is it really worth causing agro for years & going to courts with your neighbor over something that small which you can't really make use anyways because its the wrong side of the hedge?

Seriously? So you think if you have a hedge in your garden it's acceptable for your neighbour to cut it back and put their fence in your garden?

Would you have a problem if they used your (house) wall, rather than theirs, to drill holes in and cut away some of your path so the fence can be accommodated on your side rather than theirs?

I've paid dearly for those 6 inches of property and I'll be letting them know in no uncertain terms that as it's mine they have no business whatsoever putting their hand in my pocket so to speak.

Tails142

doesn't look that bad to me, your hedge is more of a problem to them requiring constant maintenance

HelenV

Tails142 wrote: »

... your hedge is more of a problem to them requiring constant maintenance

Have to agree on the maintenance side but it only needs trimming once a year usually.

Thankfully I don't believe the courts (if necessary) will agree with your point of view.

My property is my property.

beyondbelief67

I really don't understand how anyone can think it's ok for someone to drill into another persons house ? And then take part of their property.
I wonder how they would feel if this had been done to their house.
Op I really hope you get this sorted and that no lasting damage has been done to your property.

Tails142

So you have a communication problem with your neighbour, you think solicitors and courts are going to fix that?

I think you need to relax a little, maybe say to your neighbour you're not entirely satisfied with the finish on your side. As you said at start of this thread you have been a bit meek in asserting your views in the past, don't go for the nuclear option now.

By the way it looks a lot less than 5" to me on your property, more like 2", which when you have a hedge taking up 12-18" seems a bit ridiculous to be making a fuss over.

HelenV

beyondbelief67 wrote: »

I really don't understand how anyone can think it's ok for someone to drill into another persons house ? And then take part of their property.
I wonder how they would feel if this had been done to their house.
Op I really hope you get this sorted and that no lasting damage has been done to your property.

Thank you so much. Hopefully it will be sorted out amicably but I'm absolutely determined not to let them away with this. It has really come between me and my night's sleep TBH and that is simply not on.

HelenV

Tails142 wrote: »

So you have a communication problem with your neighbour, you think solicitors and courts are going to fix that?

I think you need to relax a little, maybe say to your neighbour you're not entirely satisfied with the finish on your side. As you said at start of this thread you have been a bit meek in asserting your views in the past, don't go for the nuclear option now.

By the way it looks a lot less than 5" to me on your property, more like 2", which when you have a hedge taking up 12-18" seems a bit ridiculous to be making a fuss over.

You must be a friend of my neighbour!

I'm the one with the measuring tape and I can count inches - really.

P.S. I never said I was not satisfied with the finish on my side, I had every intention of sorting that out myself when the hedge is finally removed. IT'S THE FACT THAT THE ENTIRE FENCE IS IN MY PROPERTY, HOLES HAVE BEEN DRILLED IN MY WALL AND PART OF MY CEMENT PATHWAY HAS BEEN CUT AND REMOVED - BY MY NEIGHBOUR!

Tails142

Best of luck with your dispute and pending high court action, I'll keep an eye out for your story on future episodes of neighbours from hell!

michael999999

HelenV wrote: »

Thank you so much. Hopefully it will be sorted out amicably but I'm absolutely determined not to let them away with this. It has really come between me and my night's sleep TBH and that is simply not on.

If there away for two weeks, get on to the council and whatever the relevant department is and find out exactly what law they have broken.

Then go to citizens advice or a solicitor and find out whatbyou can do, so you have all your facts ready before you confront your neighbour!

beyondbelief67

HelenV wrote: »

Thank you so much. Hopefully it will be sorted out amicably but I'm absolutely determined not to let them away with this. It has really come between me and my night's sleep TBH and that is simply not on.

I can totally understand, it's easy for me to say but try not to let it dwell on your mind at night as you need your strength.
But also everything will be ok so that should help you rest easy as you have the law on your side.
Also you have the time they are away to get the right advice, but I can totally understand why it's got to you so much, totally taking advantage in that way, and its not just your house it's your home.

HelenV

michael999999 wrote: »

If there away for two weeks, get on to the council and whatever the relevant department is and find out exactly what law they have broken.

Then go to citizens advice or a solicitor and find out whatbyou can do, so you have all your facts ready before you confront your neighbour!

I'll be contacting an engineer and solicitor over the coming days seeking advice only initially.

I think the previous poster was being sarcastic - it's hardly a High Court matter and the "neighbour from hell" is MOI !

James 007

I would approach it differently.

I would politely make my point to the neighbour pointing out that the posts are on your side of the garden and that you are not happy with the fixing to your house front face. I would ask if he could remedy this immediately, having your son give you appropriate advice with regards a suitable solution.

I would state to them that it is your intention at some stage to remove the hedge in the future. For now, I would accept the fence, but following removal of the hedge down the line, I would ask if the fence could be realigned so that it bounds correctly on the boundary line. You can also state that you would be willing to go halfs on the new fence.

I would put all this is writing through a solicitor and have both you sign and date the letter.

This way your neighour gets to keep his fence, albeit for a short period of time and it will then be realigned following the removal of your hedge. This I feel would work better in your favour.

HelenV

James 007 wrote: »

I would approach it differently.

I would politely make my point to the neighbour pointing out that the posts are on your side of the garden and that you are not happy with the fixing to your house front face. I would ask if he could remedy this immediately, having your son give you appropriate advice with regards a suitable solution.

I would state to them that it is your intention at some stage to remove the hedge in the future. For now, I would accept the fence, but following removal of the hedge down the line, I would ask if the fence could be realigned so that it bounds correctly on the boundary line. You can also state that you would be willing to go halfs on the new fence.

I would put all this is writing through a solicitor and have both you sign and date the letter.

This way your neighour gets to keep his fence, albeit for a short period of time and it will then be realigned following the removal of your hedge. This I feel would work better in your favour.

That is certainly sound advice and following professional advice that would be how I intend to approach it.

I had spoken to the neighbour about removing the hedge over the coming months only last week and was actually speaking with someone this morning regarding its removal but decided against it for the moment in case my reasons were misconstrued and seen as a way where I wanted to make a bad situation look even worse.

delop

It just occurred to me that Ive been thoughtless with my neighbour. our back garden has a fence , the fence , you cant see it, its the bordering line , hidden in the hedge. On each side there is a hedge, to look at it , seems like one, until my neighbour removed the hedge on his side as his lane was tight after a house extension, but Ive just realised that he cuts my hedge as it now grows over to his side frustrating his efforts to create more room for himself .

I should talk to him and offer to cut it when necessary , Im surprised it didnt occur to me

HelenV

delop wrote: »

It just occurred to me that Ive been thoughtless with my neighbour. our back garden has a fence , the fence , you cant see it, its the bordering line , hidden in the hedge. On each side there is a hedge, to look at it , seems like one, until my neighbour removed the hedge on his side as his lane was tight after a house extension, but Ive just realised that he cuts my hedge as it now grows over to his side frustrating his efforts to create more room for himself .

I should talk to him and offer to cut it when necessary , Im surprised it didnt occur to me

Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear-this thread has really nothing to do with the hedge. These hedges are dividers between the majority of semi-d's here

For the sake of clarity though - I'm a bit of an elder lemon now but for years I did cut it back myself and if I can get my hands on a gardener I'll have him do it and I've bought the odd bottle of wine for my neighbour too. It's certainly not the case that I've been taking him for granted, but he is quite a bit younger than me and his bones don't creek to the same extent (yet!).

The entire hedge is only about 10" (ish) in length.

sydthebeat

If the hedge was the divide, it seems to me that there was no need for the fence in the first place, what purpose does it serve?

Squatman

Im on the fence on this one...

I agree with some of the people who have been shunned on this forum. I think its a massive improvement, You are blowing this way out of proportion, but i cant wait to see the imminent high court case on RTE

elastico

HelenV wrote: »

Seriously? So you think if you have a hedge in your garden it's acceptable for your neighbour to cut it back and put their fence in your garden?

.

just playing devils advocate here but do you think its ok to constantly have your property (your hedge) encroaching somebody elses property as it keeps growing in there each year?

On the other hand you are not impressed that his property, a few fence posts, encroach on your property.

I agree cutting the wall cap at the front was a bit cheeky though.

They should have put a spacer in there to offset the last post from the wall.

We are talking about a 2" fence post though. How sure are you that those 2" are in your property?

my friend

terrible workmanship is reason alone to rip it up.

HelenV

sydthebeat wrote: »

If the hedge was the divide, it seems to me that there was no need for the fence in the first place, what purpose does it serve?

The hedge wasn't the divide - a low timber fence which divided all the semi-d's was. The hedge was in situ on my side when I purchased the property - so was the dividing low fence along the divide. I don't know what happened the fence all I know is I didn't remove it. Most of the properties around here have a hedge on one side or the other. It was there when my neighbours purchased too.

It does look rather unsightly at the moment but that is as a result of the neighbour himself cutting it so far back. I have no issue with this either, hedges grow their greenery back in a couple of months. It's coming down over the coming weeks at any rate.

I repeat again - the hedge is not the issue - it's the damage done to my property not to mention the complete disregard for the appearance and IMHO that fence is unsightly and a lot uglier than the hedge any day of the week but so be it.

HelenV

elastico wrote: »

We are talking about a 2" fence post though. How sure are you that those 2" are in your property?

If you'd spare a minute to look back at the photographs I posted it's patently obvious they're on my side of the divide.

I've ordered an Ordnance Survey map and Land Registry filed plan - these should show exactly what the position is on the ground.

2"? Suffice to say it depends on which side of the fence you're on doesn't it!