Hi, That is funny. I had 5 houses built and every time I had built fence. I always consulted with either side neighbors regarding position of fence, style, even color, cost sharing. Once agreement is reached I started the job working together. No problem whatsoever there.
I think you are misinformed on what courts and judges do. Particularly the "little courts" like the JPs. You perhaps are also failing to make the distinction between civil actions and criminal actions as well as the differences between courts of "law" and courts of "equity".
Just ask here, and choose one of the couple dozen replies.
Version one: "Hey meathead! Can't you get it right? Move your fence, numbskull."
Version two: "Dear neighbor, your fence installers put part of the fence over the property line on my side. This is not a huge deal, but does deserve some discussion."
I'll have to figure out how to word a letter.
Don.
the property line on my side. This is not a huge deal, but does deserve some discussion."
It's a start. But do I also include in the letter that it is a foot too tall, I should. And do I care about the 3/4" cedar retaining wall that is holding back 18" of soil. (I went out and measured.)
I also figured out the pattern of lighting. She has been away for the past week. He is home. She may have taken the two young kids to Japan to see the grandparents.
They have not moved into the upper three floors yet. That is why those floors are still completely dark at night. At night she always lowered the electric blackout shade on the first floor. It hasn't been lowered for a week. This is because he doesn't care about the extreme privacy that she is into. The extreme privacy is a Japanese thing, so I hear.
It also explains why the workmen have been going through the first floor to work on the bench and other things in the back yard. She NEVER let the workmen go through the first floor. She had them carry all the fence wood, bricks, and concrete pavers through the second floor and down a wooden ladder to the back yard. They bought way too many pavers. And they carried them up the ladder to get them out. To get the soil and plants into the back yard they built a slide and slide them down the slide. When the architect and GC came to visit they also climbed down ladder.
The deed showed that they bought the formerly 4-family house on August 12,
2010. The house was empty when sold. They would have hired the architect before the closing. This makes it a three year project so far. It is like there is no end in sight.Don.
OH MY GOD! Sorry, it makes too much sense for the building of a fence. ^_^
TDD
Although this obviously can't be done too often, when we put up our fence, we were the only house on the block. The lots on either side hadn't even been sold yet. So, we put the fence up and if the other guys didn't like it, it wasn't as if it was a surprise (grin).
The photo that you posted helps.
In your first post you wrote, "I'm adding a fence to the back where this fence isn't, and it won't line up."
I assume you mean you want to add a fence along the back to the right of where this new fence is.
Any chance that you could post a wider angle view of the back that shows the new fence and the area where you want to add a fence? I think that would help is giving more context to what you are trying to figure out.
Also, do you know what type of fence you plan on putting up across the back?
Hey, I did make it rhyme! ^_^
TDD
Correct.
For some reason the neighbor's contractor bought 2x6's and 2x4's and ripped them in half. And gave my side the saw marks.
It isn't designed. You can see part the new side fences that are being built now in the above picture. There will also be a 2x2 strip across the midsections for plank support. The other side facing the neighbor is the front, but it is a totally plain. My side has more interest.
My fence will get a sealer which will darken the mahogany. The opening is so they can get to the other side to apply the sealer.
A Harbor Freight opened nearby. I went and bought a 30' tape measure. (25' is my longest now.) As soon as I have a second person I will get a more accurate measurement of the 29' 5 3/4" that is mine behind the house. The price was not only good, I got a free voltmeter included for my $5.00.
Don.
Thanks for the additional photo. That helps complete the picture of what you are trying to do.
Here are the two photos that you posted so far:
I assume that you mean that you will be putting up a new fence on the left side like the new fence that you are now putting up on the right side. That fence that you are now doing does look good.
And, you will be putting a new fence on the back to the right of the fence that your neighbors put up.
So, the problem now is what to do in regard to the new fence that your neighbors already put up in the back.
To me, the fact that you see the "inside view" of the neighbor's new fence (instead of what should be the exterior side) is not a big deal since the rest of your own fence will be showing you the "inside view" anyway.
I guess you could just connect your fence along the back to their fence and call it a day. Your fence looks much better than theirs, and their fence boards go in a different direction than yours (horizontal instead of vertical). But, maybe "it is what it is" and that would be good enough.
Or, maybe you could modify their fence to make it more compatible with the look of your fence. To do that, maybe you could just attach your style of vertical boards to their fence (directly to the horizontal boards that they have there now). That would make the look more compatible with your new fence. Plus, you could add a horizontal cross piece along the bottom and the middle to make it sort of match your fence style. That would also be a way to cover up the stupid hole in their fence where the pole is (behind the A/C condenser unit). If you did that, I don't think anyone would care or notice that the back fence and the side fence were not exactly the same.
And, frankly, at this point, I wouldn't bother worrying about whether their fence is on the line, on their side, on your side, or whatever. Life is too short to lose sleep over that one.
One thing I did notice in the first picture that I am curious about is that it looks like there is snow on the ground. Is that snow? Was there snow there recently or is this a photo of the fence from a few months back or more? The reason that I am wondering is that if this is how the back fence has been for a few months now, it seems a little late to try to undo what they have done.
You're there, and I am here, so I don't really know what the best options for you would be at this time. But, those are my thoughts based on what you have written so far.
Good luck.
I may put a trellis across the back. My landscape designer wants to mount planters on the wall and a waterfall. I'd be happy with a vine. The problem is it is too shady for a flowering vine. Being a designer he wants to do something fancy. I don't want anything that requires maintenance, as the back yard is the tenant's exclusive space. While the current ones are using the backyard, I have had tenants that have put stuff in front of the door to the outside and never stepped foot out there.
Yes.
Actually the fence went in last November.
It certainly would have been better had I realized this before all the soil was dumped in there. The problem is after I asked the workmen to move the fence off my property I assumed they would do as I asked. To measure I have to recruit someone to help. And I never bothered.
Don.
Okay, so it's a tenant occupied rental property, the back fence has been there since November, and you may have a simple solution of just putting up a trellis across the back. Sounds like a plan to me. I would skip the idea of planters and a waterfall -- nice thought, but not for what you have, and not what you want in terms of less maintenance.
If I got it straight that the neighbors in the back piled dirt up along their side of the back fence, then the bottom of that fence will probably rot and decay fairly soon -- I'm guessing a year or two. And then you can play the game again of "what to do".
Overall, I think you're all set for now, and you can just go with the simplest plan -- connect your new short section of back fence to the end of theirs, consider their hokey fence a free gift, put up the trellis along the back that you are thinking of adding (a good idea; why didn't I think of that?), and focus on collecting the rent and moving on to the next investment property.
Good luck.
This is my home. These old houses are big. What is commonly done here is to rent out the ground level -- the garden apartment -- and live in the upper triplex. Some of the people now moving in are so rich that they want all floors for themselves, like the fellow behind me that converted the house from a 4-family to a 1-family.
I don't want any more investment properties. I don't need to complicate things. Real estate taxes here are quite reasonable. With no mortgage, no car, no family, no second house, no boat, and no country club membership, I can live quite modestly.
Don.
You have something against the Japanese? I mean how hard is it to go over, tell her you have an issue with the fence. At that point, maybe she will discuss it with you. Or she can tell you how you can contact her husband, when he will be home, etc.
A rhyme? This time? Oh blyme!
To prime the crime, a rhyme of blyme, is clearly past the prime.
Hey, I did make it rhyme! ^_^
TDD
More power to you!
A Harbor Freight opened nearby. I went and bought a 30' tape measure. (25' is my longest now.) As soon as I have a second person I will get a more accurate measurement of the 29' 5 3/4" that is mine behind the house. The price was not only good, I got a free voltmeter included for my $5.00.
Don.
No. But I understand the relationship between a Japanese wife and her husband.
And as I pointed out elsewhere, she appears to be away, and has been for a week or so.
Don.
Okay, that makes sense.
But, it does seem like you have a workable plan regarding the whole fence issue.
e:
Judges do consider equity, not just the letter of the law. I've had 40 yea rs of boundary surveys under my belt and have been retained as an expert wi tness over land issues. Consider the following:
300 foot long block with 12 each 25 foot wide properties. We survey the la st property in the block and find that it is only 24 feet wide. We verify that the block is 300 feet in total and find that the first property is sit ting on 26 feet width and everyone in between has exactly 25 feet. Subdivi sion is about 90 years old. All houses are about the same age. A judge wo uld find it very inequitable to have every one of the owners mover their im provements by one (1) foot. All 10 of the interior lots are encroaching on their neighbor by one foot. Fairness and equity are a big part of the law . Ivan Vegvary
Hi, Ever heard there is no law but exceptions?
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