Does the neighbor violate some rules or across the boundary by doing the landscape?
The neighbor are preparing to sell their house very soon. They has moved out and hired someone to do the landscaping for their yard.
Recently I found the landscaping workers got rid of some fences in the neighbor’s backyard(I don’t know why they have the second fence in their yard since there is already a long fence between them and my property ). The workers filled a significant volume of soil from a big truck, and raised the level of neighbor’s partial yard ground. Now, I found some issue that I feel worried.
The issues that caused by the landscaping include lists below: (please see the pictures below . 1-7pictures show how their landscaping look like and how their higher yard aganist the fence. The 8th picture as the last one shows from my side how the fence looks like)
1:Comparing the two sides of the fence, the level at neighbor’s side is much higher than the level at my side. The level difference is significant, around couple of feet(maybe more than 2feet).
2. 2:Given the significant difference, the raised ground at neighbor’s side doesn’t rely on any “retaining wall”. The soil directly against on the wood fence (there is few pieces of wood at the bottom of fence, but I guess that is not “retaining wall”).
3. 3:The soil at neighbor’s side directly contacts with the wood fence. It will cause the damage of the fence due to the high moisture.
4. 4:It seems that the contractor didn’t add any drainage system when they made the grade change.
I did some research and worry about consequences of these issues, like:
1. 1: The fence will fall down because of high pressure of the added soil on neighbor’s side toward the wood fence, especially during the heavy rains (It rains almost every day from autumn to spring of next year here).
2. 2:The fence will rot more quickly because the moisture soil directly contact with the wood fence.
3. 3:The storm water will wash the soil at neighbor’s side into my yard because there is no retaining wall to block it. It could be dangerous for future owner of the neighbor’s property too.
4. 4:Because the flow of the storm water will be altered due to the grade change and the lack of the new drainage system, the storm water may more easily flow into my yard.
Do you agree with me about my opinion?
Most important thing is I don’t know whether the neighbor vialate some rules or across the boundary when they doing landscape like this?
(I am don’t know why they removed some fence in their yard. I am not sure where that fence was in their yard. I am also not sure where is the boundary between two properties. Should the boundary be 1-2 feet away from the fence in the picture?) . Below are pictures.
Replies
You did your homework well. You are absolutely right about every one of the problems your neighbor has create. A remedy is not so easy. I would complain the the neighbor, but I doubt they will do anything. A complaint that is more likely to be listened to would be to their Realtor. If there is a potential dispute, the realtor will have to tell the buyers who may be reluctant to get in the middle of it. If the realtor sees this as a liability the situation could get fixed. Otherwise you're into litigation.
PS if you have a homeowners association that might offer a remedy.
Thanks. I guess property line between me and the neighbor is key
We don' t have the HOA. The comfusing thing is whether they put the soil on the property line.
I just moved to my house 1 year before. I thought the fence in the picture is the property line. But I guess I was wrong.
Because I found the data about the lot size on the county website and measured by myself. It shows the property line is beyond the fence in the picture. So does that mean they cannot pile some material to touch the fence?? BTW, they got rid of the second fences in their yard....
Another issue is I am not very firm whether they should add new drainage system when they did the grading in the yard. If any opinion, very appreciate....
How to remedy the wrong landscape?
Afer I talked with the listing agent, now I found 4-5 small stones are put on on one corner in a line (on the 2nd and 3rd pictures). I guess they think they have added "retaining wall" by "divide" the soil and the fence.
I still feel this way is wrong too. But how to remedy it in a right way? I am not profesional person and I cannot tell that in detail.
Landscaping
I had a similar situation. I spoke to a real estate attorney who recommended that I have a property line survey done. Not sure of the accuracy of the property line info you got. Can't tell from the pictures which yard is yours. Assuming that your yard has the smooth side of the fence, i.e you don't see the horizontal rail midway up the fence, then the 'good neighbor policy' would guess that your neighbor owns the fence (this assumption could be 100% wrong) and can rot it if they want to. Also, (again could be wrong) the fence is usually set back from the property line onto the fence owner's property to leave a walk path for maintenance purposes. They may have created a potentially bad situation but you may want to get your legal ducks in order before taking the next step. But, if you're on good terms with your neighbor you may want to discuss before getting the legals involved.....my neighbor got quite upset initially when the sheriff served him with legal papers granting him permission to leave the landscaping work which his landscaper did on my property.
The last picture is my yard side.
The neighbor's loacation originally higher than my property's location. All other pictures is neighbor's yard.
Thanks for sharing the experience.
How much of an issue you can make out of it legally depends on local laws and regulations. In our area, eg, it's a violation to modify terrain sufficiently to change drainage patterns without the OK of the affected landowner. And laws vary widely about fences, from those where your neighbor could not have removed his own fence without your permission to ones where he could remove yours if he wishes.
The complaint about soil piled against your fence is likely the one with the strongest legal basis.
Thanks. My city reply no code about soil against fence. but
They also told me if the property line is beside the fence and the soil pile in my property, that is not allowed.
You said your neighbors moved out. You should talk to them. They may not even be aware that the landscaper has caused thema liability. If you tell them before they have paid him, they will be appreciative. Whether or not the landscaping is an issue, you should have your property surveyed. You can't know your property rights if you don't know your property.
You said your neighbors moved out. You should talk to them. They may not even be aware that the landscaper has caused thema liability. If you tell them before they have paid him, they will be appreciative. Whether or not the landscaping is an issue, you should have your property surveyed. You can't know your property rights if you don't know your property.
What should I asked them to do for fixing the problem in detail?
I have emailed and called the owners. The owners didn't reply the phone call and don't reply the email . Then I talked and emailed to the listing agent. And later, I found only 4-5 small stones were put on one corner (the one corner is shown on 2nd and 3rd pictures) by the listing agent. I guess they think they have "fixed the problems" by using the 4-5 small stones as "retaining wall" to "divide" the soil and the fence.
I am not professional guy. I just feel something is wrong, but I don't know how to fix the problem in detail for this landscaping. Should they make a long retaining wall along the grade edge and make the retaining wall 1-2 feet away from the fence? or can they just put some stones between the soil and the fence as retaining wall?
What should I asked them to do for fixing the problem in detail?
I have emailed and called the owners. The owners didn't reply the phone call and don't reply the email . Then I talked and emailed to the listing agent. And later, I found only 4-5 small stones were put on one corner (the one corner is shown on 2nd and 3rd pictures) by the listing agent. I guess they think they have "fixed the problems" by using the 4-5 small stones as "retaining wall" to "divide" the soil and the fence.
I am not professional guy. I just feel something is wrong, but I don't know how to fix the problem in detail for this landscaping. Should they make a long retaining wall along the grade edge and make the retaining wall 1-2 feet away from the fence? or can they just put some stones between the soil and the fence as retaining wall?
I'm not sure about your local building codes but where I live in Virginia it seems that there are 2 problems that you should address with your local/county building office. The first is the change in grade. In my hometown any change in grade needs to be reviewed by the local building department and checked by an inspector to ensure that the grade change doesn't impact drainage.
The second is access to the right-of-way between property lines. Some municipalities require that the right-of-way area remain clear of any obstructions. In my county, flowers, grass, ground covers and shrubbery are allowed, but boulders, retaining walls, and such are not permitted. Fences and any retaining wall over 2 ft. need an okat from the zoning board and a permit. However, I can plant along my right-of-way, but need to understand that if the state or local government requires to access the area I have to move my plants of they'll end up in the back of a dump truck once trenching starts.
SteveVA
The original poster has a couple of posts going. The other one has more recent info including a property survey, etc.
Thanks. can you explain more about what is a right- of - way???
BTW, I just updated the neighbor's remedy in the link of below:
http://forums.finehomebuilding.com/breaktime/general-discussion/what-should-i-ask-neighbor-do-detail-remedy-landscape-issues-0#comment-2252279
do you have any opnion about it?