Neighbour’s built a garden wall of very low quality

feedthecat

I live in a terraced town house and the wind broke garden fence which my neighbour is responsible for.  They asked if we approved them building a wall in place of the fence which we agreed to as they would need to be in our garden whilst they did the work.  

The quality of finish on my neighbour’s side looks great but they have done a horrendous job on our side and have refused to do anything about it because they believe the work is up to standard and they shouldn’t have to care what the backside of the wall looks like.  If we knew they would behave like this or leave it in this condition, we would have never agreed.  They have said if we don’t like it on our side we should pay to get it fixed as it isn’t their problem or responsibility to ensure it looks decent on our side.  When that boundary and fence under the deed terms state it is their responsibility.

Am I expecting too much? I am trying to reach an amicable solution rather than take action.

This is his the finish on their side.

This is the finish they have left on our side.

victor2

Unfortunate, but the deeds don't usually stipulate the quality of the boundary marking.

The wall marks the boundary and there isn't much you can do about it legally. As it's your neighbours wall, you'd probably have to ask them for permission to clean it up at your expense, like they asked you when they wanted to build it.

The alternative would be for you to put up a fence or even build a second wall, entirely on your land running alongside the wall - at least it won't blow down!

ThisIsWeird

As Victor says. 

In fact, having a 'responsibility' for a boundary or fence does not mean you have to actually build or erect one - unless the deeds specific this in writing.

But that's not to say your neighb isn't a 'ole - he most certainly is. That is a shockingly bad wall - on your side - and it's hard for me to think of a reason why. The only answer can be, a marginal reduction in cost for them by using cheaper bricks, with zero effort and no pointing. They had options, including asking you to contribute a small amount in order to bring it up to their standard if they didn't want to foot the whole bill.

The lack of shame.

But, there's now't you can do about it, other than perhaps have it rendered (I wouldn't bother), or to place trellis or similar against it to hide it. Or, just shrubs and bushes.

At least you know the measure of your neighbour.

35har1old

ThisIsWeird said:

As Victor says. 

In fact, having a 'responsibility' for a boundary or fence does not mean you have to actually build or erect one - unless the deeds specific this in writing.

But that's not to say your neighb isn't a 'ole - he most certainly is. That is a shockingly bad wall - on your side - and it's hard for me to think of a reason why. The only answer can be, a marginal reduction in cost for them by using cheaper bricks, with zero effort and no pointing. They had options, including asking you to contribute a small amount in order to bring it up to their standard if they didn't want to foot the whole bill.

The lack of shame.

But, there's now't you can do about it, other than perhaps have it rendered (I wouldn't bother), or to place trellis or similar against it to hide it. Or, just shrubs and bushes.

At least you know the measure of your neighbour.

A brick has 1 good side.You where lucky that the yellow brick wasn't like the bottom red brick.The bricklayer could have kept the joints on you side a bit neater but it sames he didn't spend much time on your side
The only way for a brick wall to look good on both sides is for it to built two  brick wide so you would have had to pay half the cost

stuart45

How high is the wall? It looks like it's probably too high for a half brick wall, so the wind might do the same damage to it as was done to the fence.

feedthecat

Surely, in that condition it’s not structurally sound nor weatherproof.  After a few winters with freeze thaw action will start/ result in cracking and the wall will have to come down and be done again.

Surely, this does not pass building control standards if reported?

BlueVeranda

feedthecat said:

Surely, in that condition it’s not structurally sound nor weatherproof.  After a few winters with freeze thaw action will start/ result in cracking and the wall will have to come down and be done again.

Wouldn't that be a shame for your neighbour, all that lovely work on finishing their side gone to waste.

You could plant some ivy up against it. I'm sure it would soon get established with all those little crevices...

stuart45

feedthecat said:

Surely, this does not pass building control standards if reported?

Garden walls aren't part of Building Control's domain.

LightFlare

BlueVeranda said:

You could plant some ivy up against it. I'm sure it would soon get established with all those little crevices...

OP could then possibly be responsible for any damage the Ivy did.

Best to leave it well alone and use something to screen the view (that isn't attached to the wall)

As mentioned - any chance of pictures of the top view and height of the wall ?

ThisIsWeird

35har1old said:

ThisIsWeird said:

As Victor says. 

In fact, having a 'responsibility' for a boundary or fence does not mean you have to actually build or erect one - unless the deeds specific this in writing.

But that's not to say your neighb isn't a 'ole - he most certainly is. That is a shockingly bad wall - on your side - and it's hard for me to think of a reason why. The only answer can be, a marginal reduction in cost for them by using cheaper bricks, with zero effort and no pointing. They had options, including asking you to contribute a small amount in order to bring it up to their standard if they didn't want to foot the whole bill.

The lack of shame.

But, there's now't you can do about it, other than perhaps have it rendered (I wouldn't bother), or to place trellis or similar against it to hide it. Or, just shrubs and bushes.

At least you know the measure of your neighbour.

A brick has 1 good side.You where lucky that the yellow brick wasn't like the bottom red brick.The bricklayer could have kept the joints on you side a bit neater but it sames he didn't spend much time on your side
The only way for a brick wall to look good on both sides is for it to built two  brick wide so you would have had to pay half the cost

Eek! That's the same brick?! I'd assumed it was two bricks thick, with cheap and nasties used on the OP's side! Lawdie.

Would the best answer be to have it rendered (with the neighb's permission)?

markin

Tap off any big lumps, and use planter boxes to hide the worst parts, it won't look so bad when it darkens, you could also hide it with a roll of bamboo or a fence