Hi,
I was just wondering if any of you had a neighbor decide that their property line increased by xx inches for no reason?
I put in a raised bed this fall which was exactly where the standard garden boundaries were, at least on the property line side, which caused no issues with mister neighbor(as far as old garden). Anyway I measured out just to make sure I was going to have enough room for a lawn mower width. I was conservative, so I put the raised bed exactly where the old garden boundary was, no change! The only thing I can think of is he got irritated when I had string out to sort of get an idea where the property line was, and I did that to be polite :*( So now after 3 years as a neighbor he decides that his property increased by 20+ inches! Arggggghhhhh. He is cutting around 4-6" away from the garden instead of 22-29 like he use to.
Today he crossed the line, I was trying to blow it off in my mind but today he was rude in action. I was working in my garden and had some stuff out on the lawn. In the area he now mows in, but is well within my property. I was curious what he would do since we were both working outside. Again I was conservative where the buckets and stuff were sitting. He had the nerve to mow past me and nudge some of it out of the way with his mower! Coming within 2-3 inches of my feet.
I called a surveyor but they want $1000 just to do a simple city lot. Arrgggggghhhhhhh
This message was edited Oct 29, 2007 2:38 PM
Off topic Battle of the property lines)
Ahh.... yes, I feel your frustration. We have a "neighbor with issues" too, but we can't very well help what went on between her dad and the former owner of our property. But that doesn't make her or her griping go away.
Can you poke around and find the buried posts that mark property lines? Know anyone with a metal detector?
Intercessor,
If you cannot find the original stakes that were laid down when the properties were surveyed, there has to be a record of your property lines at your County Court House in the Office of Records. The records should go back at least 100 years - not sure how old the tracks are where you live. In any event, it would beat spending $1000.
I too have a neighbor that is one of 'those'. He is just awful and calls the cops on us every time we turn around. He even called the cops when my husband had bought a new camera and was sitting on our front porch programming the camera. This neighbor claimed we were taking pictures of his grandchildren whom were walking down the street (very young and unattended I might add).
Good luck to you - I feel your pain - there is nothing worse than a neighbor that does a lot of chest beating.
Carolyn
Hi Intercessor, I can relate, too!
Check online with your county-I can find online maps and plat maps-and the tax assessments-for any house here in town. IF you have another neighbor on the other side whose boundary you're confident in, you can measure from that line over, or try marking the points using GPS if they provide the coordinates. (There are online coordinate conversions if WI uses township & range) Just be aware that GPS can be off by I think it's 30meters...
This must be the weekend for rude neighbor behavior. I have a very tall Doug fir in my yard, and there are probably about 10 of them scattered along the block in various yards. My next door neighbor (who doesn't have a Doug Fir) chopped up a branch that must have fallen in a windstorm and dumped all the pieces over the fence into my yard-despite every house surrounding his ALL having Doug fir trees. This same guy had a total fit when his other neighbor pruned his tree that grew over the property line into her yard.
My grandpa has a metal detector. I am going to try to get a hold of that. I live on a corner lot so the best i can do is measure from the side walk. Which the city said I should do, other than have a survey. It wasn't a big deal to me, but my frustration is growing. Measuring the way the city suggested he is a good 2 feet off on the back post, the front post we apparently agree on. Not only is he 2 feet off, when he mows he arcs toward my property another xx inches.
I was just trying to be nice by measuring, maybe he thinks I am going to put up a fence, Hmmmmmm? The ways of man and property lines is a mystery...
Moby maybe I should acquire a barrel of that Plantskydd ;*)
Luckily our neighbor like that just moved. YEAH!!! But they used to come home drunk and literally park their car in my garden! We finally put up a chain link fence. They drove into and onto the bottom of that too, but it kept them out of the garden. When they couldn't drive in it anymore they started throwing their empty beer bottles into the garden. I did the dance of joy when they left!
But we had to hire a surveyor before we put up the fence.....maybe 4-5 years ago. And I think he only charged a couple of hundred. So if you need to go that route, D-Mail me and I can give you his name. (I'm only about 20 miles from you.)
Have you talked to Mister Neighbor about it? Maybe you could suggest to him that if he doesn't believe where the lines are HE could get a surveyor.
You are so right. Men and their property lines.
We own a house we are selling on land contract. When we went to sell it, the new owner of the rental house next door said we couldn't sell the house as the driveway was on his property, and without a usable driveway the property could not be sold. Of course he wanted to buy the property for cheap. He came to my house and was quite confrontational about it.
So we had a survey done. He was right, the driveway was on his property. However in the back our property went out like a Y, and his septic and well were actually on our property. Instead of being a jerk about it, I had my lawyer transfer some of his property to me, and some of our property to him to correct the situation, which he quickly agreed to. He's still an idiot, giving the lovely family buying the house a hard time about everything.
We live wayyyy out in the country, and our neighbors are fantastic, being helpful when needed, and concerned if they haven't heard from us in a few days. They would love it if I planted plants near their property, or even on it, for that matter.
Why can't they all be like that?
because they don't all live in the country polly!lol! I'm out in the middle of a bean field and the farmer leaves a big space on my yard side which causes me to have to mow it and it keeps getting bigger! I'm gonna have to tell him that i am not encroaching on his property so could he please move the beans back so i don't have to mow it! I actually let him use a couple of acres in the back, to extend the bean field so i wouldn't have to mow it. he took all the fescue out so now if i ever need to use it for something it is ready to go and no fescue to remove!
Oh, been there!! That's why we moved!!!!!!!!!!!!
They tried to add on to their deck..... again.... we knew they were already over the line but decided not to make an issue of it. Well things got bad between our grown daughters after our dd married their dd's ex-boyfriend. Went from bad to ugly.....so they decided to put up used privacy fencing (which was butt ugly) around this part of the deck.
My dh went out and confronted them and they talked all kinds of nonsense about how much space between each house blah, blah, blah. Let them talk all they wanted... then dh had me go get copy of the survey while he went to get the HOA President...... they had to cut 6 inches off the deck to get it over on their side of the line!!!!!! LOL
Some moments in life are 'priceless'!!
pollyk I probably should talk to him. I tend to be intraverted, passive-agressive who avoids confrontation even when I am right :*( Right now it is more of an annoyance, but if I do want to build something on the property line not sure how he will react. I am going to find the property stakes and go from there.
Wow your driveway was on his property and there was no easement?
I heard of a guy who built a cabin without a survey and it turns out his livingroom was on the proerty line! So my issue is minor. At least he will have about 50 lilies to look at :*)
nanny that had to be funny,to you anyway! Get the chain saw...
I too hate confrontation, Andrew ~ so in your case I'd jokingly say that I really appreciated him mowing my lawn but it really wasn't necessary. ;)
And a fresh application of Plantkydd on mowing days........
You should, at the least, report him! LOL!
http://www.rottenneighbor.com/
Ahhhhh, yes , as much as their is stress in it all, there is still humor. Plantskydd applications are a must, especially right before they are having a big party!
Gosh I'm so glade I live in my neighbor hood every one gets along very well if I need help or room or water some one is always there to help I just love it here
Gloria
Does Plantskydd smell anything like fermented salmon? I've been known to use salmon spray on my roses to discourage aphids. The neighbors don't care much for me when I do that, though. Wonder why? ;)
Nope, it smell like thick old blood.
eww...
oh man more than ewww remind me not to move by you guys and make you mad!!!!!!!!!!!! LOL
gloria
Intercessor, I have found that the little things in life just aren't worth the frustration. For your sake and your neighbor's sake, work this out peacefully. Bake a cake, or cookies and go next door for a visit. Don't even think about being angry.
Just say to him that you see he is really upset about the placement of your flower beds. Ask him, if there is anything that you could do to keep from having to move it for the sake of peace between you.
Let him know that you have always enjoyed having him as a neighbor and you really would like to continue to enjoy each other.
Just talk to him as if you were talking to your mom or someone you care about that seems to be upset with you actions. You will find yourself smiling and not feeling so uptight.
Ask him if he would mind your leaving it where it is and maybe mowing the area near it yourself.
There is surely a way that two calm adults can work out the problem without having to spend money on a surveyor. It would probably just add to the anger if he sees you out trying to find the "line". Just try to humor him a little and you will be surprised how much a spoonful of sugar will help.
I had a neighbor once that my DH had a problem with that was similar to yours. The gentleman was elderly (that was before I was elderly myself) and I enjoyed chatting over the fence with him. My DH didn't want me to chat with him at all. When I quit chatting and smiling at the neighbor, the problem just worsened. He had an attorney send us a letter and was going to take us to court.
I decided to talk to the neighbor about it. I caught a glance of him outside and went out next to the fence. He walked away from my direction and I called out to him. He came over and I said to him, isn't this the silliest thing that you and DH are doing? Both of you spending money over the silliest darned thing. What is less than two feet going to matter to either of you? (neighbor had 3/4 of an acre and we had 1 acre) I said to him, I missed his smiling face over the fence and I was not going to let any of this cause me to miss out on my dear friend's company and didn't he feel the same way? He smiled at me and leaned over the fence to pat my shoulder.
About a week later, we got a letter saying the hearing had been canceled and everything had been dropped. He and DH didn't speak for a long time, but after a while that changed too. He died of a brain tumor about two years after all that took place. When we later sold the property, his fence was actually almost three feet on our side of the line. Rather than change everything, we had the deeds both changed so his wife would have no difficulty selling her property later. She died six months after she sold her property (without having to move the fence).
It felt so good to have worked it out. Especially with them both passing away soon after we worked it out.
In the days before there were side property setbacks rules, our house had an exterior enclosed stairwell added on the one side, within 7 inches of the property line.
I wanted a fence as well as a garden bed there so asked neighbour owner (apt. building) if I could put a fence on his grass to enclose our garden. he said sure, as long as I didn't take more than 3 ft. and once per year I would open it up. And no cement. So I did. Pounded in cedar posts for a wire fence for the 5 diff. clematis, nd once a year I open 4 ft of the fence for 24 hours. Haven't had any problems for 5 years.
One of the fence rules in this province is that after so many years, an existing fence - even if in wrong place - doesn't necessarily have to be changed.
My lawnmower lives in apt. basement. Fire Dept. wouldn't let me keep gas mower in our wooden house basement. I'm not strong enough to pull start it anyway. So now the apt. building super uses it for his grass and half the time he cuts our grass as well. Good neighbours are VIP .
inanda
charlene most of this is just venting ;*) A few of us know what Plantskydd smells like so it made for a good fascitious comment. It really isn't a big deal compared to other things that happen in life, just one of those irritating flies that buzz around the ears.
However I would like the peace of mind knowing that I can work outside in my garden without my feet being chopped off :*)
My husband and the neighbor behind us, in a former home, both decided to rip out the line of bushes between them and did so. Then DH made a nice garden bed, edged in timbers, and it was enjoyed from both sides for at least 10 years - no problems at all.
At the closing, when we were selling, the father of the woman who was buying the house - he was also financing it, threw a fit when he found out the timbers were 3" over the line and it held up the closing for over an hour. Being just 20 minutes from home Jack offered to go back and rip it out! The father was demanded a reduction in price for the 3" - men and property lines! He didn't get it.
Here we have our neighbor's landscaper who mows two strips of our property to make it look nicer for that neighbor though Jack also mows the same strips - just different days. On the other side I do all of the weeding along the entire 2' of the neighbor's side of the post and rail fencing (over 45 years old) and she brings us a box of chocolate every year to thank us. She is just not able to do the cleaning herself.
Both neighbors are widows - doesn't that say something?
Good fences make good neighbors. We put up our fence the same day we moved into this house 17 years ago. It was new & the second in the neighborhood, so the surveyor's stakes were clearly marked. Our yard is sort of pie shaped with 4 different fence lines in back on a 1/3 acre property. Fencing meant we kept the dogs & kids in the yard from the start. Saved us alot of time & money.
But we have nice neighbors--we work at it. I take fresh cookies to all the nearby houses when someone moves in. It's not worth the hassles to fight.
We have 200 houses in our neighborhood and everyone has kids. More come in in vans. We had 426 Halloween beggars last year. I keep track of each one with chalk marks on our porch pillars and cross off by the 100. Time to get ready for them again....
It probably would be best to talk to him directly to see what it actually is that is irritating him. The solution might be easier than you think.
It might have been something as simple as "drawing that string". DH and I were trying to figure out our property lines (mainly because over the years our gravel drive had 'drifted' far too close to a neighbor's house.)
Trouble was, we had 3 posts to go by, but a direct line couldn't be had because 2 of the posts were blocked by 2 different trees. So, much triangulation went on ~ and boy, did that bring the neighbors out. All of them(!), except for the one property that we were worried about infringing upon. We have an unusual place, literally in the middle a huge block so we're bordered by 11 properties. Kinda like being in a zoo......
So count your blessings that you have just one neighbor whose grumpy, and maybe just chose you to take it out on. Try kindness, and maybe a little humor. If that doesn't work, there's always Plantskydd sprinkled in the grass. ;)
Moby,
That's our situation too. We live in the middle of a huge block. Up the front road is 6 groups of the same family. Then 3 on each side (no relation to the front families), and then a huge muck farm in the back.
I didn't realize anyone else lived like this.
Luckily we can't see any of them, but what a strange way to have a property set up. It used to be one homestead in front, and actually where our house is a road used to go through it, which is now gone.
Interesting! Yes, it is an unusual setup. We think our house (before many additions) was probably built toward the back of what used to be a 6-acre property for a "hired man", circa 1932. Then the neighborhood grew up around it, in full view from everyone's back yard. Hence the 'living in a zoo' feeling.
I have that zoo feeling since I am on a corner lot with an unattached garage. Quiet neighborhood though as far as cities go. I am actually considering purchasing my recently deceased grandpa's house that is right next to my parents. It's not on the market yet so...
My neighbor hasn't been mean, in fact he hasn't said anything. Just that mowing incident and cutting real close to my feet and my garden. I get flustered when people start to do weird things though. Well for my minds sake I will have a metal detector in a day or two. If he gets upset and says something about the yard line, I will just point out the land mark and his less than straight line of sight :*) Otherwise it is no big deal unless he makes it one.
Interesting stories you people have! Maybe we could gossip all winter to pass the time. LOL.
:)
I wanted to tell you that a watched kettle never boils, - or in this case a watched pot. seeds take their own good time. Depends on the soil temp, soil construction (can't think of the word I need here) soil dampness, etc etc etc. Depth of planting. etc etc. Not all asiatics germinate at the same time, ditto delayed hyper whatever, ditto martagons ditto all the others.
inanda
?????
Sent this to Intercessor on the wrong place.
inanda
lol! i was scratching my head also.
Ahhh, a reply to my Yahoo message :*)
Owell, I found one stake out of 4 :*( Non of them along the 'issue neighbor's' property line.
Did you have the metal detector? Have any telephone poles / power lines along the area in question?
Had the metal detector. In the front corner I got a beep but it was under the sidewalk, that could be one. Didn't get a beep in front or back corner on 'issue neighbor' side though there is a fence in back making detection hard, Da'oh! I asked our back neighbor if I could poke around by their fence and she said the 'Issue neighbor' tosses brush back into her yard that he trims from his side. So I am not the only one he pesters on occasion. I guess if I want to build something near the lot line I will have to have a survey. I'll just make sure my feet aren't near the line while he is mowing, near term :*)
If you decide to put up a fence and he has an issue with it, then you could suggest HE get a surveyor.
I've heard of many neighbors like that so you can take comfort that you're not alone. Can you imagine how stressful life must be for Mr. Crabbypants? To get a knot in your knickers over such petty things. Sad.
Indeed.