Neighbour Asking Crazy Price for Garden Wall?

Thargor

Hi, this pic is taken from my front door, the other day my neighbour and a builder called, he's having all his fences and hedges ripped out and having block walls put in and concreting their front garden, as the hedge (theres a fence in there somewhere aswell) on the right of the pic between our houses is shared they asked me if I would chip in half for its removal and replacement for just that stretch.

I was okay with this as its filling up with brambles and requires constant trimming, I said fine get back to me with a quote just for my approx 40ft stretch (50/50 split) with a pier down at the road and my iron fence cut and made to look like it was embedded in the pier.

I thought this was just going to be a couple of hundred Euro but he builder just got back to me there with a quote for €1400! As in just that stretch in the pic is costing €2800? Surely that cant be right can it?

I dont want to tell them to piss off because I just moved in but Im not getting ripped off either, apparently the builders parents in law live in one of those houses in the background so Im getting a good deal according to them but Im very suspicious here and wondering what the experts think?

Pic removed

enricoh

Take his hand off him n drop in a bottle of jemmy as a thank you!

elperello

No such thing as a couple of hundred quid job these days for a start.

Removing and disposing of the hedge and fence would be more than that.

What is the height and finish of the wall ?

ascophyllum

If I understand your post, they will be building a wall there? So hedge removal, excavation, foundations and a 40ft wall built (and plastered?) plus the iron work for under 3k is a steal. However you don't need a wall, it's the neighbour who wants it so he should be paying for it and leave it up to you what to contribute.

suvigirl

Do you really want a wall? If not, let them build it on their side of the boundary.

You have just moved in, the builders in-laws live across the road, your neighbour probably knows them and him for years, sure who knows what he might be charging. Maybe your paying for all?

If you do want the wall, I would go ahead and pay the money.

Thargor

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121000909#Comment_121000909

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121000931#Comment_121000931

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121000982#Comment_121000982

Oh right wasnt expecting that response tbh! I do want that hedge gone tbh it looks alright in the pic but is horrible in real life and is shooting out briars in all directions now, feck it maybe Ill just bite the bullet and go for it so.

Padre_Pio

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121001012#Comment_121001012

Your neighbour wants the wall. If you're happy to contribute then go for it, but I wouldnt be thinking 50/50 unless you're on very good terms.

babyducklings1

Agree with above comments if you don’t want or need the wall don’t pay for it. Bit of a cheek asking you for half the wall money considering you’ve only just moved in. If you want a wall chip in otherwise leave them off. My grandparents built a wall on their boundary but never asked neighbours to chip in.

looksee

Agree with the others, its about right, garden walls like that are always more expensive than you would think. Presumably its going to be plastered/rendered on both sides.

muffler

Maybe offer to contribute a percentage of the cost, say 25 - 30% which should maintain good relations with the neighbour.

newmember2

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058309988/neighbour-asking-crazy-price-for-garden-wall

"he's having all his fences and hedges ripped out and having block walls put in and concreting their front garden"

ahh...I'd say that will look really nice

elperello

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121001012#Comment_121001012

Probably for the best.

An unexpected expense is never good news but you will have a low maintenance boundary which is what you want.

You should also allow for a bit of tidying up and re-seeding on your side when the builders are finished.

Nothing major you can DIY it.

spockety

If you're looking for an easy out that will maintain good relations, tell him you can't afford that kind of outlay at the moment, but that you could throw him a few hundred euro. Given you've just moved in, for all he knows you've blown every cent you have just to get the house and move in.

For what it's worth, I think it's a really good price. But it's him that wants the wall.

Also, Ireland is a very small country. There's a really good chance someone reading this will recognise your street from the picture, and may know your neighbour etc., or can figure out the connection from the details you posted.

the_amazing_raisin

Could you and the neighbour cut down the costs by removing the hedges yourself and digging out the trench for the foundation?

One of the biggest costs is labour, and paying a day's labour for digging never seems like good economics to me (unless it's a huge area)

Could save each of you several hundred off the job

CramCycle

Seems a reasonable cash in hand price. If you want it, contribute, if you don't, say you prefer the hedge.

Realistically, you didn't come up with it but sounds like it benefits you, tell him the truth and you've just bought a house and are pretty skint, you could cough up a little over a third.

Ginger83

What is the wall going to be? block? what type? Capping? Plastered?

More detail would help

Sorolla

I think the price is very fair.

i have an incling my wife’s parents live across the road from you ;)

ZeroThreat

Someone in my family had the hedge taken down and a wall put in a few weeks ago, cost about €4.3-4.5k all in as far as I know. There were 2 hedges between the gardens at the boundaries of each property on either side with a small gap in between, so the hedge belonging to neighbour wasn't involved and no split cost. 3 piers too, one at either end and in the middle. So €2.8k in total seems a decent price tbh

Donald Trump

Get your own quote from someone else to do it if you can. That will give you an idea.

Although your neighbour should be getting some economy of scale given that they are probably taking 2 other hedges out of it as well as yours.

Also sort out where it is going as well. i.e. half on your side, down the middle.

Del Boy

In housing estates the norm is people generally own one boundary wall. For instance if you walk out your front door you own the wall to left and your neighbours own wall to right. Anyway without photo and details it's hard to interpret your exact situation. Questions you need to be able to answer;

Who will own the wall?

Whose land is it on?

Is it on both owners land...partly your land and partly the neighbours?

Will an engineer be needed?

If you decide to sell the house in future. You could run into boundary issues which would have to be sorted before you could sell. It's important. Boundary issues can hold up sales particularly if you ever fall our with neighbours.

I'd tell him to build a wall if he want on his side of boundary. I'd offer to pay to plaster your side of wall. Then it's his wall, his responsibility.

babyducklings1

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121001849#Comment_121001849

This is good advice as if you want to sell in the future you need the boundary to be correct.

Ezeoul

If you can afford it, fair enough. But make sure that clean up of the garden is also done on your side of the wall for that price.

If you can't afford it (or that much) I'd just tell him that, and tell him to take out the hedge on his side of the existing fence, and build the wall within his own boundary.

I saw the picture before it was removed, and €2,800 (your half being €1400) for that amount of wall seems expensive to me.

Donald Trump

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121002160#Comment_121002160

The other side of that is that if it is his wall, entirely within the boundary of his site, he can stop you from plastering it

TheChizler

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121002160#Comment_121002160

Keeping the hedge is much better for wildlife too.

Del Boy

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121002424#Comment_121002424

Plant a small hedge or put in fence to cover it. Cheaper. My big concern would be boundary issues. If a boundary is incorrect and in future needs to be fixed that involves an engineer to mark out boundary and solicitor to do legal work......Expensive. And that's if parties agree and have a good relationship and willingness to fix the issue.

looksee

A house on an estate is hardly going to have ambiguous boundaries between properties if the houses are semis, or even detached, its easy enough to see how the pattern of plot divisions works.

spockety

If you and your neighbour manage to create boundary issues at the front of a three bed semi, you'll only be one stooge short!! I think that aspect is being over egged.

Supercell

Last winter two panels on our back fence were blown over and i got several quotes to go with blockwork and they were more than that per foot so i think the quote is fair enough.

We went with repairing the fence in the end, i wanted a concrete one with wood bits in between but like you my neighbour had just moved in and couldn't afford that (it was about €900 for 10 meters), they said that was too much as well and in the end i agreed to go halves on just replacing the two panels in order to keep relations between us civil.

Below is what i wanted to go with, maybe your neighbour might agree to something like that instead?

Happy to PM you name of the company that quoted me best on this, I think you are down the road from me so I'm sure they will cover there too.

looksee

That would be too high for a front garden. Get a wall built and its done permanently. Even though it is low it will need piers in it.

hayrabit

I dont want to tell them to piss off because I just moved in but Im not getting ripped off either, apparently the builders parents in law live in one of those houses in the background so Im getting a good deal according to them but Im very suspicious here and wondering what the experts think?

he probably knows this too, da cute hoor 🙂

likely he wouldn't have chanced it with his last neighbour. how long is your neighbour living there, OP? .... and how long has the wall/ditch boundary been in its current state (no pic to look at now, so hard to guess)

he wants the wall - let him pay for it !

da cute koont 😒

#fukk'im ... let him pay for all

:)

Ezeoul

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121004418#Comment_121004418

Walls aren't always permanent either!

My back garden walls badly need to be replaced, (were built by the former owner) but with a council owned house on one side, and horrible neighbour on the other, I'm waiting for them to collapse (as they inevitably will) before I will replace them. When that happens, I intend to do panels like @supercell has posted above, within my own boundary.

@Supercell can you pm me the name of that company too?