Neighbour's house falling down

*miaomiao*

Talk to your neighbours. It's a good starting point and better than a surveyor knocking on their door, etc. They may not be aware o the problems. And I know plenty of old people with money in the bank who refuse to spend it on house maintenance, saying it'll all be for the kids when they're gone. Definitely a false economy.

Mistral001

*miaomiao* wrote: »

Talk to your neighbours. It's a good starting point and better than a surveyor knocking on their door, etc. They may not be aware o the problems. And I know plenty of old people with money in the bank who refuse to spend it on house maintenance, saying it'll all be for the kids when they're gone. Definitely a false economy.

No surveyor would knock on the neighbour's door. The surveyor, if the OP wishes to employ one, will be advising the OP, not the next door neighbour. It would be completely unprofessional for them to contact the next dorr neighbour.

Is there a responsiblity of a neighbour to maintain their house to prevent damage to an adjoining house? I do not think there is. The OP assumes that there is though going by their posts above.

Seek legal or chartered surveyor advice before continuing to think that the problem in the OP's house is some sort of responsibilty, in law, of their neighbours.

Ex-Spendaholic

Bit of a tricky one. Do they have a son/daughter you could approach?

A.L.D.A

Morienos wrote: »

ALDA its actually water coming through, I think its coming down through the cracks in the shared chimney. House is from 1895, three story terrace.

Well if it is a shared chimney then it is partly your problem. Victorian house and a large shared chimney stack that needs either rebuilt or repointed. It could also be the lead flashing.

I would pop next door and say you are having problems and think it is from the chimney, are they having any problems?

Is there a step in roof between the two houses because it could be coming in there. Any missing slates or ridge tiles?

It could even be that is coming down unused flues because there are no rain caps. This may be very simple to fix, if however it is rebuilding the stack it is a major job.

Morienos

I think we're looking at rebuilding the stack, but its just one of a myriad number of problems. Apparently there is a water supply leak and they aren't admitting the Water people to check it out, so they keep visiting me to listen to their pipes. As for the children one does visit but bi-monthly, and hard to get a hold of him

*miaomiao*

Mistral001 wrote: »

No surveyor would knock on the neighbour's door. The surveyor, if the OP wishes to employ one, will be advising the OP, not the next door neighbour. It would be completely unprofessional for them to contact the next dorr neighbour.

Is there a responsiblity of a neighbour to maintain their house to prevent damage to an adjoining house? I do not think there is. The OP assumes that there is though going by their posts above.

Seek legal or chartered surveyor advice before continuing to think that the problem in the OP's house is some sort of responsibilty, in law, of their neighbours.

Having a chat with your neighbour to be sure that they are aware of the damage IS a lot nicer than noticing a surveyor or receiving a letter and being asked to spend what might be a significant amount of money. A good number of people would find a chat less offensive and they might even offer to remedy the situation. The OP may have spoken to their neighbour already but didn't say, and as the OP sounds like a really considerate person who has already tried to do some upkeep for them I'd be sorry to see the OP end up with grumpy neighbours. The folks might be so old that they can't see the problems due to eyesight, who knows!!

A.L.D.A

*miaomiao* wrote: »

Having a chat with your neighbour to be sure that they are aware of the damage IS a lot nicer than noticing a surveyor or receiving a letter and being asked to spend what might be a significant amount of money. A good number of people would find a chat less offensive and they might even offer to remedy the situation. The OP may have spoken to their neighbour already but didn't say, and as the OP sounds like a really considerate person who has already tried to do some upkeep for them I'd be sorry to see the OP end up with grumpy neighbours. The folks might be so old that they can't see the problems due to eyesight, who knows!!

Very sound advice!

Morienos

Just as an advance on the thread, the neighbour did visit to thank me for fixing their render and said the water wasn't pouring in anymore to their bedroom. I was nearly in tears that they were living with it. I think I might just get someone out to fix the chimney/roof entirely.

Mistral001

Waiting for them to contact you rather than approaching them paid off. Can never be even a little pushy in these circumstances. Afterall how can you phrase "we think the poor repair of your house is damaging our house" in a good-neighbourly tone no matter how you try.

Morienos

I have always cultivated good relations with my neighbours, there are just so many issues with old victorian houses I think they're just a work in progress, and in particular those with shared walls I think it's worth keeping a thread in motion about them.