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neighbour problem
Comments
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Personally I would suggest somehow blocking the flow of water either with edging stones or a suitably placed lump of cement!
Speaking with neighbours can be stressful as you have no idea how they will react. They could take one of two stances:
1. You inhereted the problem and the previous neighbour had no issue with it
2. They could fix it after a nice chat not realising it had been a problem as you (and maybe the previous owner) had never said anything.
I prefer to take the discreet option and providing you are 100% sure this crosses your boundary, cap the drain off or at least minimise the water flow. Our driveway is a strange affair as well as our garage is attached to our house yet our neighbours garage borders our garden. The previous owners had simply taken a diagonal line from the back of our garage to the front of their garage and put up a shoddy fence. When my hubby replaced it he followed the line that the boundary should take (which ended up being an L shape) and they gained about a foot of land back. Shame is they'd had their driveway tarmaced before our fence was done so there's now a patch of driveway that isn't nice and black. Thankfully they are a lovely wee couple and had no issues with it and allowed us to put up a new access gate to replace the old one from our enclosed back garden onto their driveway.0 -
You really need to speak to your neighbour first to make them aware of the problem (Or at the very least make them know you are aware of the problem). They may well supprise you and offer to help sort it out.. ok it may mean some work and money spent on your side but at least if they offer to help be it financially or doing the work, it's something.
If they get all ars3y about it then you can go the route of the council/local authorities. You really should give them a chance to rectify the problem first before getting militant with them.... it'll only make your life hell in the long run... you really don't want to be falling out with your neighbours...0 -
Thank you for taking the time to reply
Greatgimp: Any drains nearby you could pipe it into by going under your driveway?
No the are no physical drains anywhere nearby
When I say, "This drain flows onto my driveway" this drain is a 4-5 inch wide orange pipe, which I can clearly see the opening of as it comes in to my property by 2-3 inches (and is orange).
Their driveway is higher than mine (following levelling it for the tarmac) and the pipe comes out on top of my kerb stones (about 5-6 inches above the level of my drive)
leftieM: I doubt that your neighbour decided to drain water into your property. No doubt some workman put the drain in.
My neighbour was the workman who put the drain in and tarmaced his own drive. He is a skilled tradesman
His driveway actually slopes to this point (like a funnel).
caz2703: Personally I would suggest somehow blocking the flow of water either with edging stones or a suitably placed lump of cement!
I love the idea of this but fear it might cause ill feeling when he finds out as since we are both at work during the day and he is not (currently out of work but with a car that gets washed every couple of day so our driveway looks like it has a rain cloud directly over it all the time, even in a heatwave!!) he could easily walk round see the cover or blockage and remove it.
warmhands.coldheart I think this is the route to go down as you are quite correct I don't want to be falling out with the neighbours
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warmhands.coldheart wrote: »You really need to speak to your neighbour first to make them aware of the problem (Or at the very least make them know you are aware of the problem). They may well supprise you and offer to help sort it out.. ok it may mean some work and money spent on your side but at least if they offer to help be it financially or doing the work, it's something.
If they get all ars3y about it then you can go the route of the council/local authorities. You really should give them a chance to rectify the problem first before getting militant with them.... it'll only make your life hell in the long run... you really don't want to be falling out with your neighbours...
This is good advice. But after all if the drain originates in your neighbours property it is their responsibility to ensure that it ends up in a suitable outlet such as a drain, soakaway or if necessary combined sewer or septic tank.0 -
I wouldn't normally advocate taking matters into your own hands but having read the entire thread it is obvious that the neighbour is the person who put down the tarmac and who put in the pipe therefore they knew fine rightly that the water would be going onto your driveway.
You could try the friendly approach but if that fails things could deteriorate more so than if you can find a subtle way of solving the problem from your end.0 -
I would suggest a friendly chat and failing that, then a trip to the local CAB for advice0
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I would suggest putting a stop end on the pipe with PVC cement, and wait for his reaction, if he asks who put the stop end on, tell him it must have been the person who installed the pipe, to prevent the water coming on to your property, how thoughtful they were!0
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If the tarmac, drain etc were laid before you moved in, how can you be sure that the neighbour did it himself? Did he tell you that he did? And if he did, why did you not take the opportunity to mention at that stage that it seemed to be draining directly onto your property?
I suppose what I'm saying is that, unless you heard it straight from him, how do you know that he laid it himself? Is there any possibility that it was there before he bought his house too?
This isn't an attack on the OP, I'm just trying to look at things objectively - at the moment I agree with some of the other replies that the first thing you really should do is talk to him, its the only possible way of resolving it without starting some sort of dispute developing. If he won't listen to reason, you will have a dispute anyway, but if you don't even try to talk to him, how will you ever know if a satisfactory conclusion could be reached?0 -
Snoozle: If the tarmac, drain etc were laid before you moved in, how can you be sure that the neighbour did it himself?
My neighbour bought the house at the very start when they were built from the developer at the time. No driveways in the estate were tarmaced by the developer.
My neighbour has trees alongside his driveway and he told my other half that he was going to have to make sure they didn't get too tall so the roots would not lift his tarmac which he had put down himself, unfortunately my other half didn't see this as an opportunity and made no comment.
I don't see how my neighbour can resolve this as it is underneath his tarmac and his drive slopes to this corner (the start of the drain or if we call it what it is, the orange pipe).0 -
Communicate with your neighbour.
See how a solution can be found.
Take legal advice> citizens advice etc...but if you go the legal route then the neighbour may be even harder to live beside..and if you then try to sell your house you have a legal obligation to state whethere there were arguments with the neighbour!!....play the 'nice neighbour'...invite him over for a beer etc and talk....hopefully things will be sorteed. If i was that neighbour and i saw my water going into the other neighbours property i would sort it out...my water, my problem...but not everyone thinks like that unfortunately.
Maybe there will be a water ban in the summer and you will have a beter time then...no water..no problem?!?!:beer:0
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