Can I cut the guttering with my neighbour?

londonTiger

My neighbours guttering is full to the brim, if it continues anymore it might be considered a protected woodlands.

We recentl;y had the guttering cleaned out and it seems that the neighbours dirt has just made its way into our part of the guttering. We're getting a lot of overspill of water on our property where the guttering isn't channelling water through.

I don't know if it's because the weight of the neighbours muck is is pull the guttering down and stopping the water from being channelled correctly.

The downpipe is as follows

property 1: downpipe
property 2: us
property 3: neighbour with protected woodlands in his guttering :rotfl:
neighbour 4: downpipe.


I'm just considering cutting the downpipe between me and neighbour 2 and fitting 2 endcaps on there so his much can stay on his side. Also to stop his much from dragging the guttering down and disrupting the channel of water from working correctly.

Is that allowed?

Furts

If the gutter is at a standard height of around 5metre I would be getting my ladder out and clearing the rubbish. This could be flicked onto the neighbours garden if this is deemed acceptable. A quick and easy job that prevents issues with downpipes.

I did something similar recently - a neighbour had a large rocket come down on the roof after Bonfire Night. I said "one day I will get round to removing that for you". Since I have a ladder and she does not this seemed a neighbourly thing to do.

londonTiger

Furts wrote: »

If the gutter is at a standard height of around 5metre I would be getting my ladder out and clearing the rubbish. This could be flicked onto the neighbours garden if this is deemed acceptable. A quick and easy job that prevents issues with downpipes.

I did something similar recently - a neighbour had a large rocket come down on the roof after Bonfire Night. I said "one day I will get round to removing that for you". Since I have a ladder and she does not this seemed a neighbourly thing to do.

house is 3 floors tall and the roof overhangs the face of the house by 2-3ft so it's nigh on impossible to DIY. It's a two man job by professionals to clear the guttering.

They are a bit of an ASBO neighbour. Our pln was for 5 of the neighbours to chip in and do the gutter clearing in one go and we'd get a massive discount from the clearing compared to what we'd pay if we all did the cleaning independantly. This neighbour refused- the guy works full time. I dont get it. The asking price for the group job was £72 per household.

Furts

londonTiger wrote: »

house is 3 floors tall and the roof overhangs the face of the house by 2-3ft so it's nigh on impossible to DIY. It's a two man job by professionals to clear the guttering.

They are a bit of an ASBO neighbour. Our pln was for 5 of the neighbours to chip in and do the gutter clearing in one go and we'd get a massive discount from the clearing compared to what we'd pay if we all did the cleaning independantly. This neighbour refused- the guy works full time. I dont get it. The asking price for the group job was £72 per household.

Fair comment on the height but an easy job with a triple ladder and stand off. If I understand your situation correctly then you have all been foolish. £72 could have been paid and split between the three good neighbours so the problem would be solved having cost you £24. If you buy gutter stop ends and fittings it will cost you, and you have not said which way the gutter is falling. You could end up scoring an own goal!

Head_The_Ball

I've seen gutter cleaning robots advertised that claim to be able to clean high guttering from ground level.


It might be worth researching that.

andrewf75

But the additional cost would only be 24 each. I'd just go ahead and get the job done. You don't want to be cutting the guttering, that is going to backfire on you I think.

lindze

Head_The_Ball wrote: »

I've seen gutter cleaning robots advertised that claim to be able to clean high guttering from ground level.


It might be worth researching that.

I live in a 3 storey house and we used a company that cleaned the gutters from floor level - long pole with a vacuum thing attached to it. Also had a camera on the end of the pole to check the gutter is clear. Pretty good!

londonTiger

Furts wrote: »

Fair comment on the height but an easy job with a triple ladder and stand off. If I understand your situation correctly then you have all been foolish. £72 could have been paid and split between the three good neighbours so the problem would be solved having cost you £24. If you buy gutter stop ends and fittings it will cost you, and you have not said which way the gutter is falling. You could end up scoring an own goal!

We got all our gutter cleaned apart from no. 3 who refused. All of our gutters were done apart from him and we weren't all in agreement as to ask if we could pay for no. 3 to get his done and for him to give access to the gutter cleaning people onto his property. Something didn't feel right about that. It's more about the principle now. He wants to have !!!! growing on his gutter then fair to him as long as he doesn't drag us through this.

Maybe hhe'll get a taste of his own medicine when he gets his act together and then we've both disconnected our gutter from his and he has no access to a downpipe.

SplanK

There maybe something in the deeds that gives him the right to the down pipes at each side. I would be carful about denying him access to these.


In addition, you would also need to make the cut and block on your side. Cutting and altering your neighbours guttering could be treated as criminal damage.


The guttering on his side will also serve to protect your property as well. By blocking it, it could cause it to overflow and any escape of water could finds its way into onto your property.


On the flip side, he has the responsibility to ensure that suitable maintenance is complete to not only prevent damage to his own property, but also to his neighbours at each side. If you, or your other neighbour have legal cover on your home insurance, it maybe worth a quick call to check your position on this as you maybe able to 'allow your self in to his garden' (read: without needing his permission from the owner) to maintain the shared guttering if its causing a hazard or could cause damage to your property.

DRP

Take the moral high ground - pay for his to be cleaned along with everyone else's. It's not hundreds of pounds after all.

Send him a letter + invoice asking for the money. Then it is up to him to decide to be a tw*t or not.

It's more about the principle now

This is not often a good solution in my experience - especially when you haven\t got a 'clean getaway' - you have to live next to this guy after all.

phoenix_w

SplanK wrote: »

In addition, the guttering on his side will also serve to protect your property as well. By blocking it, it could cause it to overflow and any escape of water could finds its way into onto your property.

This was my thought as well. We had a small section of guttering fall out during a storm once and the jet of water that aimed itself at my neighbour's property was like having a hosepipe turned on fully.

OP, it may give you satisfaction in the short term to cut off his gutters but once it causes you a damp problem you'll be fuming at yourself.