The Ugly Fence

MegaMiniMouse

hatparksol wrote: »

The land is higher on his side from 10" to 18" higher as the ground falls away towards the back of the houses, the land, and consequently the posts, which are 8' posts, 2 feet of which is in the ground, then there are 2 concrete slabs at the bottom then the wood panels you can see in the photos, the ground has moved three of the four posts in place, from 8" to 12" from vertical ( as they have all moved differently ) over our side of the fence, the fence panels are std 6' panels that sit on his land, as such they range from 7' 6" to nearly 11' on our side.

Your understanding of Geology is clearly greater than mine - I wish you well when you present your case in the Courts

MMM

Tr1pp

is the old fence actually yours? did you erect it? was it the previous owners? im not 100% but i thought that just because the T mark for a boundary was on your side does not mean that the fence is yours.

I only ask this as ive had this debate with family members who talk about "the left fence being theirs" regardless of who puts it up.

IF it is you fence then i dont think your neighbour can be blamed for his land pushing it over UNLESS he has deliberatley piled up his land for whatever reason, then maybe you would be able to get him to pay for it.

other than that i cant offer any useful advice, the fence does look bodged and really high. the orange will fade eventually but it still sucks.

be sympathetic with your neighbor but firm about getting him to do something about it.

good luck

withabix

T-marks on deeds only show who is RESPONSIBLE for the boundary fence and ALSO the retaining wall, because that forms part of the boundary. What have you done to rectify the movement of your boundary?

If your neighbour erects a new fence, it is his property, it is on his land and you can't take it down unless it is on your side of the boundary.

Your neighbour's fence is a legal height and there isn't anything you can do about it other than tell him to remove the supports that prop it off your fence. Give him a week's written notice to do this then remove them yourself and give the wood back to him.

You could take your fence away - I would, it is hideous, looks like you haven't maintained it and was hazard to your neighbour. I'm not surprised that your neighbour chose to hide it.

The new fence isn't 'orange' - it is the standard 'cedar' colour that virtually all fence panels are manufactured.


One last thing: you are about to enter a Dispute with your neighbour. You will be legally obliged to reveal this if/when you sell your house.

Running_Horse

If the leaning fence is your responsibility, why have you not maintained it properly?

There are two sides to every story, and so far we have only one.

Davesnave

Withabix makes excellent points, except that removng the supports to the existing concrete posts will almost certainly weaken the fence to the extent that it comes down. There doesn't seem to be anything very substantial about the remainder of the new structure, unless there are supports on the neighbour's side that we can't see.

I feel sorry for your neighbour; he has employed someone to rectify the problems on his boundary and they've messed up. Now, there seems a need for good will on both sides, without which there isn't likely to be any fence, or any long term resolution.

lolamosschops_2

Ill try to answer the questions as far as I can.
The reason the original fence is leaning is because over the passage of time the weight of my neighbours patio has pushed against the concrete fence panels and posts below. And the reason WE have not maintained them is because we were of the opinion that because the original fence panels were actually at the height of his patio that they were his, the fact that there was a slight lean towards our land over time did not effect us at all and he at no point suggested that this was troublesome to him.

I also must point out that I dont want to get into a tit for tat row with my neighbour but i equally do not want to live with this fence in the condition that it currently is, had the neighbour at any point mentioned his disatisfaction with the current fence we would of looked at ways to remedy this amicably. I also feel sorry for him - i believe the builder has taken advantage of an elderly person and left him with this potentially huge legal issue

Running_Horse

Sounds like a classic breakdown in communication.

Nothing has altered the condition of the existing fence you are responsible for. If anything it is probably stronger now. If he has built the new fence on his land, and it is within current regs, there is nothing you can do to stop that. It is his fence. If you remove your fence to spite him, expect his new one to lean over even worse than the old one. Then you really are in a neighbour dispute.

You need to go round and have a friendly chat.

wafers

I'm with RunningHorse. I can understand your anger; however personally I wouldn't have been happy with the original fence half hanging into my garden. Obviously it's too late to rectify that now. You definitely need to get someone professional to look at your deeds to determine who's responsible for the boundary. I have had to bite my tongue several times with a neighbour who cuts deeply into the back of my hedge each summer, to the point where it's becoming sparse thanks to her.
From what I can see, the builder has actually done a very neat job of making the noggin structure, albeit the fact that long-term it seems a bodge.
Find out whose boundary it is and go forward from there.
Last but not least, go out for a drink with your partner! I almost lost my partner when doing our current house up, and I will definitely be altering my priorities when doing the next place. Life's too short!

geoffky

Looks like your man next door has been had, but the condition you let the fence get into left him no alternative but to try and get it fixed.
Well done to him for that but believe me you will get no where on this as my wife's mum and dad have just been through it concerning a high ugly BACK DIVIDING fence that next door put up...they are amazingly up to date concerning land and boundary law, pity it cost them 5k to find out there is nothing they can do...the court was only interested in law and facts...not feelings

lolamosschops_2

I really appreciate everyones comments but i would like to state that the original fence was leaning very slightly and because the concrete posts were set into his raised patio - We believed they were his so when we replaced the rest of the fence (down to the bottom of the garden) we did so with a fence of his choice of height and style and at no cost to him. Trying to be good neighbours. I suppose lessons have been learnt though and no good will come of legal action. I am going to make my garden as secure as I can and leave the monstrosity in place. As others have posted because it is attached to 40 year old concrete posts inappropriately it will more than likely fall down on its own anyway and then we can look at a resolution that will suit both parties.
Thanks for all your comments