Neighbour dispute after extension

skintdaddy79

Herzlos said:

skintdaddy79 said:

sheramber said:

You could have discussed it with the neighbours when the builder contacted you.

That was your   chance to discuss it.
 

There seems to  have been assumptions made on both sides.
 

Neighbour assumed builder would be laying blocks all the way up.

You assumed they were making their own arrangements.
 

This is what it's boiling down to I think. Like i said they're not the most approachable unfortunately. I've asked our builder about coming back to sort but the boss is on holiday until next week. I fear if they do come back they'll charge for the labour as well as materials. Would I be within reason to go halves with the neighbors on it?

It'd be a hard sell. You (via builder) made the mess so it's on you to make good. 

If that means paying the builder for another half day of labour on top of the blocks then that's still going to be your best option. If you don't, then you're going to risk decades of hostility about it. 

Plus, if you're not 100% positive your gutters are on your side of the boundary, you want to keep them happy. Because if your extension crosses the line, they are fully entitled to force you to fix it, which will mean moving the wall and that's going to cost a lot more than some labour and blocks. 


Sure it sucks, but you missed the opportunity to resolve it for £50.

We would have 100% resolved it for the £50 , but we didn't get a chance to! Neighbour sent builders away before there was a chance to state that this was the charge on the day. It was never asked by him and granted the builder didn't tell the neighbour neither (maybe because he's working for me?) 

WIAWSNB

Let us know what you decide. I think you've had the full scale of advice to work from. 

Your call entirely. 

skintdaddy79

It would have all been resolved on the day if I'd have known about it there and then! He did stop the work so might go down the route of splitting the cost halves .

silvercar

skintdaddy79 said:

It's not a matter of not wanting to sort it out. It was being made good by our builder! The neighbor came out and stopped them! The issue was with this charge for extra blocks which didn't get a chance to be discussed on the day and now here we are. He did wait nearly 4 weeks before mentioning it to me so i assumed he was sorting themselves.

Made good by using stones, isn't making good to a standard to appease your neighbours. Their attitude seems to be they want it done to match the rest and I have full sympathy with that.

skintdaddy79

silvercar said:

skintdaddy79 said:

It's not a matter of not wanting to sort it out. It was being made good by our builder! The neighbor came out and stopped them! The issue was with this charge for extra blocks which didn't get a chance to be discussed on the day and now here we are. He did wait nearly 4 weeks before mentioning it to me so i assumed he was sorting themselves.

Made good by using stones, isn't making good to a standard to appease your neighbours. Their attitude seems to be they want it done to match the rest and I have full sympathy with that.

Yes absolutely. However what our builder is saying is that there were never blocks there where the old fence had been, hence the charge for the new blocks. 

ExEstateAgent

skintdaddy79 said:

silvercar said:

skintdaddy79 said:

It's not a matter of not wanting to sort it out. It was being made good by our builder! The neighbor came out and stopped them! The issue was with this charge for extra blocks which didn't get a chance to be discussed on the day and now here we are. He did wait nearly 4 weeks before mentioning it to me so i assumed he was sorting themselves.

Made good by using stones, isn't making good to a standard to appease your neighbours. Their attitude seems to be they want it done to match the rest and I have full sympathy with that.

Yes absolutely. However what our builder is saying is that there were never blocks there where the old fence had been, hence the charge for the new blocks. 

Laying some gravel would be a quick/cheap solution so your builder suggested that. Neighbour wasn't happy and wanted a continuation of the paving to fill the gap, which seems reasonable to me. 

The fault appears to be with your builder who should've asked you on the day if you were happy to pay £X for some paving stones. The neighbour probably thought that's what was happening and has allowed plenty of time for the work to be completed, whilst you assumed they'd just sorted themselves out. 

You don't want to pay for the extra work so just tell the neighbour they have to finish the job themselves. Obviously they may not be happy with that and you might get into a dispute or even legal action (but they might just say OK and crack on and not bother you again). 

The issue re. the potential overhang trespass is something you need to check however. As said, IF you are overhanging the boundary the neighbour could make things very difficult for you. Even if they don't it could cause issues down the line, i.e. if you want to sell and it comes up on a survey or if a new neigbour moves in and objects. 

Ksw3

Its more money, yes but how do you value your time worrying about this, your wife worrying about this, all the mental energy. 

Yes, it's probably partly the neighbours fault but if you get it done you get all that extra time and energy back which is not valueless

vic_sf49

Since neighbour has now mentioned it to you for the first time (vs via the builder), did you ask why they'd told the builder to go away?

Maybe they'd been expecting it be be made good on their side, and a similarly finished look (similar blocks), in the now created "gap".  

Did they stop it in case the  "gap" might look ugly / unfinished / mismatched / something? Especially after they'd allowed all their paving to be lifted for your foundations, after all, they're the ones that have to look at it. 

Although why they didn't raise the issue with you the same day, or you with them as soon as you knew, I don't know. 

Although I'd have asked for, or offered all that in writing, before permission was given for lifting the paving in the first place, or there's a good chance of some misunderstandings. Oh look! 

So now you're starting to call it a dispute, why not go and chat about it. Without understanding why, you'll just keep going on about it, and after reading this thread, I just want to snack all your heads together.

Harsh, maybe, but most of the problems raised on here are because people refuse to even attempt to communicate.....and yes I know some people won't, but have you tried? 

skintdaddy79

vic_sf49 said:

Since neighbour has now mentioned it to you for the first time (vs via the builder), did you ask why they'd told the builder to go away?

Maybe they'd been expecting it be be made good on their side, and a similarly finished look (similar blocks), in the now created "gap".  

Did they stop it in case the  "gap" might look ugly / unfinished / mismatched / something? Especially after they'd allowed all their paving to be lifted for your foundations, after all, they're the ones that have to look at it. 

Although why they didn't raise the issue with you the same day, or you with them as soon as you knew, I don't know. 

Although I'd have asked for, or offered all that in writing, before permission was given for lifting the paving in the first place, or there's a good chance of some misunderstandings. Oh look! 

So now you're starting to call it a dispute, why not go and chat about it. Without understanding why, you'll just keep going on about it, and after reading this thread, I just want to snack all your heads together.

Harsh, maybe, but most of the problems raised on here are because people refuse to even attempt to communicate.....and yes I know some people won't, but have you tried? 

Yes, well this it. They never mentioned a thing until nearly 4 weeks after the event. So I assumed they were sorting themselves. As I say, they are not the most friendly unfortunately and will more than likely go on the defensive with it all and expect us to pay for the whole thing, even though they stopped our builders on the day cutting me out of the equation completely! 

Section62

skintdaddy79 said:

vic_sf49 said:

Since neighbour has now mentioned it to you for the first time (vs via the builder), did you ask why they'd told the builder to go away?

Maybe they'd been expecting it be be made good on their side, and a similarly finished look (similar blocks), in the now created "gap".  

Did they stop it in case the  "gap" might look ugly / unfinished / mismatched / something? Especially after they'd allowed all their paving to be lifted for your foundations, after all, they're the ones that have to look at it. 

Although why they didn't raise the issue with you the same day, or you with them as soon as you knew, I don't know. 

Although I'd have asked for, or offered all that in writing, before permission was given for lifting the paving in the first place, or there's a good chance of some misunderstandings. Oh look! 

So now you're starting to call it a dispute, why not go and chat about it. Without understanding why, you'll just keep going on about it, and after reading this thread, I just want to snack all your heads together.

Harsh, maybe, but most of the problems raised on here are because people refuse to even attempt to communicate.....and yes I know some people won't, but have you tried? 

Yes, well this it. They never mentioned a thing until nearly 4 weeks after the event. So I assumed they were sorting themselves. As I say, they are not the most friendly unfortunately and will more than likely go on the defensive with it all and expect us to pay for the whole thing, even though they stopped our builders on the day cutting me out of the equation completely! 

They didn't though.  Not clear exactly what they said to the builder, but it was for the builder to talk to you after the neighbour asked them to stop, which your posts suggest the builder did later that same day.

If the builder said something (to the neighbour) like "I'll speak to the client and one of us will let you know what we'll do" then it wouldn't be unreasonable for the neighbour to wait to hear from one of you.

The one thing which is indisputable is the neighbour had an absolute right to ask the builder to stop working and leave their property on the day.