TelBoy

Lisa, the gate was always there. This new fence has been erected because the extension he was threatening to build has been shelved, for whatever reason. The old fence was just some low wire thing, this gives him the privacy he craves. His right of access is in the deeds, there's no dispute there. As you say, i think this is a grit your teeth situation, much as i don't want to.

Si, unfortunately i could never carry out such threats, able though i certainly am. Losing my job for the sake of £90 just isn't an option to be honest. He knows exactly what i think of him from our conversation about his selfish extension plans, there's no love lost. He's the type of **** you just want to punch in the face though, believe me. Harder today than yesterday.

TelBoy

Exactly. Paying him his £90 in small coins has crossed our minds, but does that make us look just as petty as him?

Odds on

Tel, as Asif point's out, this would get laughed out of court.

Best make amends with the neighbour, IIRC you have to declare problems when you sell nowadays.

TelBoy

Asif, moving is a long term option i guess, but probably not something that will happen anytime soon.

But i have no idea if the court would consider the colour of a gate too trivial, or whether the mere act of painting somebody else's property whatever the colour is enough for them to award the case against us, i just don't know. I've not seen a formal site that casts any shred of doubt about who's in the wrong here, unfortunately.

TelBoy

Yes but he's the one developing with a view to re-sell, we aren't. And i wish i could share your optimism about it being laughed out of court, but in the eyes of the law, i might as well have painted it red with yellow stripes, it's not the colour which matters, it's the actual act of "damage" which we have committed. Crazy i know, but that's the rules, as far as i'm aware.

Making amends with him is absolutely not an option. If anything, i need astraboy to give me some revenge tips. I'm seething still, i absolutely detest arseholes like this.

Lisawrx

iTrader: (1)

Thanks Tel for the info. Right, well if the gate has been there for some time, and it is visable to you/your friend, can you not argue that you needed to paint it as it was looking tatty/aged/rotten etc. and that (even though this may be untrue), you went to your neighbour and asked what you could paint it with, or appropriate colour, or if he had any spare treatment left you could even buy to sort out your side, but being the horrible **** he is, he wouldn't give you any help, so you had to proceed with the nearest colour you could get.

This is probably not an option, but could be worth a thought. Honestly, I have never encountered anything like this with neighbours. We have had issues, but all fairly small and able to be resolved thank god.

Hopefully others here are correct, and this will just get laughed out of court, if it goes that far.

GC8

Though well meant, this isnt fantastic advice. Small claims cases are heard in the County Court, by District Judges, not magistrates.

GC8

I'll say it again: if the gate is stolen then the claim will end. In a circumstance such as this I wouldnt think twice about taking this route.

Simon

AsifScoob

Tel,

My personal opinion is that it is too trivial. If you stand to lose £90 tops let him take you to court. He is the one who will be made to look stupid IMO, just sounds like a bully to me.

I am sure that if you try to reason with him, in writing, before the matter goes to court, it will look as if you have made an effort to resolve this. Explain to him how you have done your best to enhance his fence or whatever, be nice.

Then the ball is in his court, so to speak.

Good luck!

Asif

TelBoy

Lisa, it's a brand new fence, it's been up for three weeks. The only thing wrong with it in our eyes was that the gate was a completely different colour to the fence.

Asif, it's an option, but one we just can't entertain to be honest. Entering into ANY form of discussion just isn't what we want to do right now.

Si, i hear you, but this gate is in a back garden, the chances of it being genuinely stolen are about one in a billion, and i wouldn't want to get myself into a potentially much worse situation than it already is.

As far as i see it, the options are pay him, or call his bluff and see what a small claims court makes of it.

GC8

Dont misunderstand me, I dont expect it to appear to be anything other than what it is, but it will prevent him from achieving his objective. Surely that (your getting one over on him and fustrating his effforts to get one over on you) has to be preferable to allowing this little man to better you? Dont get caught, obviously. Im not in possession of the full facts, but Im under the impression that this was a trap and that he had been waiting for you to spring it? Where that is the case I would do what I needed to do...

I would also consider writing to the ****, as suggested elsewhere. He will have to demonstrate that he has taken reasonable steps to deal with the matter without bringing it to court and the more you undermine his argument here the better. Also: itll look as though you were dealing with it in a mature way, so no one can be sure that you took the gate and disposed of it.....

Lisawrx

iTrader: (1)

Right, let me get this, because I'm feeling like I'm stupid here. The fence is new, the gate is not, as he has only erected a new fence for his own reasons.

So my possibly stupid excuse still stands. You only painted the gate, so therefore just explain that you did so as it didn't match the rest (new fence). You want your property to look nice, as does he, if the gate is old (not the fence) you still have the option of claiming you went ahead, as it was ageing/rotting, whatever. As I said, claim that you tried to discuss the issue of painting the gate with him, to prove you aren't in the wrong here, but he has been unwilling to move on this matter. If you get what I am trying to get at. I know you can't prove anything, but he also can't prove you didn't consult him. You could even go as far as to say, he agreed to let you paint it, but as it has turned out differently to how he expected, he has kicked off. If he has a history of complaining, it may help if there is any way of proving that.

If this has a chance of going to court, others may be right in that you should attempt to show yourself in the best light, which may mean being the better person and sending him a letter or something. Do what it takes so you don't risk coming out, looking like you are doing anything to try and irritate him, especially if there is a history of you not getting along.

jods

My 2p worth.

Ask him what paint / preservative he used for the fence

Go and buy a tin of it.

Repaint the side that has pissed him off?

Or is that too easy?

If that is no good - Buy a brand new copy of the door to rehang in place of the one you painted - Paint that one with the paint / preservative he wants.

Keep the "Bad" door in your Shed / Garage

Everytime he has a BBQ / Friends around, Parade the door aloft in your garden chanting something wittier than I can come up with now.
[Best I could come up with was a variation on the Chant by Man City Fans when Sven was manager - Based on the American sports chant, Think it went "Sven, sven sven sven....Sven, sven sven sven.... Sven, sven sven sven] etc

Sooooo. It would be "Door, door door door" etc

I'd paint the door matt white once removed and have friends use permanent markers to write comments on it about how nice your neighbour is and plant it in the back garden about 4 feet in front of the replaced gate at a 45 degree angle to allow maximum viewage

Alan-G

Oh come on !

Ive said it once and now I'm saying it again.

Move house !

Problem solved.

These T!ts have too much time on their hands to do nothing but annoy decent folks. It's just jealousy.

Tel. Yes you are annoyed with this pr!ck .... (I know all about this)

We got planning permission to erect a 14 foot fence to keep the idiot next door from us out! - he pi$$ed off the planning dept so much - we got it within 3 weeks! - Didn't help. (see below)

Get away, it's a lot easier than you think.

Alan.

TelBoy

Lisa, the whole thing is new, sorry if i didn't explain that properly. The door is made of a different wood, and has been treated with a different preserver, so it's a different colour.

Si, again i understand your sentiments, but no way am i putting myself in the firing line of the police on a serious criminal damage or theft charge, i have way too much to lose if that got out of hand.

Alan, yes believe me, moving would be the ideal solution, but it really is not that practical at the moment. If things deteriorated further then maybe we'd look at it more closely.

jods, you might have hit the nail on the head here, i'm too stupid to see the obvious sometimes! We could send him a letter back, or knock on his door and offer to paint it in the woodstain colour he says he has been recommended. What grounds could he have to refuse? That sounds like a perfect defence if the **** ever took it to the small claims court too. I'm liking that. There must be a downside?!

Spyder550

Like Jods says buy him a new fence door and paint as he wants.
But get the old one from him and mount it your side of the fence, so if the a*rse does want to gain access he has to go the the door he doesn't like as a reminder to him every time. Obviously regularly maintained in the offending colour

MikeCardiff

iTrader: (2)

They guy is obviously a complete ****, but unfortunately if the fence is completely on his land ( and not a party fence, which would be mentioned in your deeds - check yours !-, and should run exactly on the boundary of the two properties, in which case you both own your side of it and can paint it whatever colour you want ) then legally you cant touch it.

In the same way as if he erected a fence 6 foot inside the boundary of the two properties in the middle of his garden - just because you didnt have a fence on your garden wouldnt mean you could wander onto his garden and paint it whatever colour you fancied.

Normally in this sort of case you could just erect your own fence on your land, but having the gate for access seems to make it more complicated as you couldnt block this.

Personally I would wait until it has reached a head, and tempers are frayed and then stove his head in with a piece of 2x4 and hope to get away with a light prison sentence due to provocation.

j4ckos mate

its a shame to fall out over trivial things,
my neighbours are great, its any excuse for a barbie, and the fence panels come out, some nights we have even stood out having a drink with them under the brolly in the rain.
my neighbours on the other side are god parents to our kids
so we are lucky really.
we take each other to the airport when we are going away. cut each others grass, that sort of thing

dpb

Im not absolutly sure where the 90 quid came in now

TelBoy

That's the cost of a brand new gate, according to him. Sounds about right.

But he never suggested re-painting it in the "correct" shade of brown as an alternative resolution, so i'm wondering why he could refuse that as a course of action if we suggest it. I'm just not sure we want to get into a process of dialogue with the idiot.

Alan-G

Tel,

I Got the Police to our last neighbour twice.

This 6 foot fireman threatened my wife with a beating. (not me which is odd)

Lawyers letters were sent to and fro.

We moved (after 5 years of this ********)

He moved 2 weeks after us.

Don't play his game. Just move.

Its just not worth it.

Alan-G

BTW

he was charged TWICE by the police.

Didn't make a blind bit of a difference.

These things escalate exponentially.

Reason for our initial fall-out. He asked me what team I supported

I really feel for you Tel, it is NOT worth it - trust me.

TelBoy

Noted, Alan. I'm just wondering if a simple offer to repaint the gate could get the whole thing sorted, and if he refuses, for whatever reason, just pay the cash and move on. I've no intention of letting it drag on one second longer than necessary.

big daz2

telboy i know you say you dont want to get into talks with this bloke BUT and its a big but you have to because situations like this get to such a point that someone does something stupid,you can not lower yourself to his level you have to rise above it.as it stands you are realy angree and seem to as i see it think you have lost the case,this is not the case you are not in the wrong just was not in possesion of the facts of the law.i would sugest that you go to cab as soon as possible and they will set up a meeting with a solisator for 1 hour free they will tell you how it is and what to do in a lawfull way.thats my advise i would also write him a letter i know you dont want to but if you do then keep a copy then if he does go to court you have proof that youve tried to resolve it before it went to far,they will look in favour of you then, and see him as the petty fool he seems to be.please do not give up and just give him the satisfaction you have done nothing wrong. good luck

Turbohot

Moving is an escapism IMO. I think it will be quite harsh if I am forced to move due to some neighbour's maltreatment towards me. I shouldn't be uprooted from my base to satisfy someone's ego trip.

I am not saying that I would continue to argue with the denseness, I instead would have current matters resolved, and keep reasonable distance from the guy in future.

Tel, if your area is generally nice, don't let one idiot ruin it for you. Moving etc. puts extra pressure and costs on people. More so, if you have to move as a result of someone bullying you. Move in your own time, at your ease, for your pleasure. I wouldn't contemplate or entertain "moving" option just yet, unless things get worse.

Forgot to ask whether you (and your friend) asked your neighbour if you could paint your side of the fence he erected? (I apologise if it has already been mentioned somewhere above) My neighbour did. It was polite of her to do so. Had she not asked, I would have taken it slightly differently TBH, but still let it blow over. She is far too good to raise an issue with. I must say that her asking very politely to paint her side made me accept her request with no reservations whatsoever. The other side on the fence is still not painted, even when I have told those neighbours to paint it the way they want. Those neighbour couple are of different nature. Very secude and quiet, keeping themselves to themselves.

I don't mind, as I stain it every year with weatherproof stain anyway.

richardg

tel - if it's a timber gate. why don't you just rub it down?

r32

I know the guy is a *****, but why dont you apologise, say you thought you were doing him a favour and ask him what the correct shade is and repaint it, just for a quiet life.
Or in your case repain it!

spireite

Telboy which way does the gate open ,onto your proprty or his ,if opens onto yours make him swap the hinges round so it opens onto his .i know this doesn't solve your problem but at least it will p!ss him off .

austinwrx

I've had 20 years of managing 1000's of social rented properties.

you cannot begin to imagine how mental and trival some people are about just nothing.

and this fence/gate thing is to all normal people just silly------

but my best advice is, buy new gate

ask him to paint it, or you paint it the right colour.

and btw you can't pay someone in small coins, legally you can refuse it.


a gem once was- family sell fridge freezer to next door. sellers say that'll be £40 please (once its now in new kitchen) buyers go "**** off" ! and refuse to pay and slam door shut. and they live next dr to each other.

on a similar note- one set of neighbours sold their hse and moved out last week...... me and my other neighbour whose houses adjoin had a few hrs this weekend sorting their garden out as they were scruffy buggers ! it was just easier to just do it than argue it out.

TelBoy

It opens onto his property, spireite.

r32, yes i think offering to repaint it is the way forward, i have no problem doing that, it didn't take long. But hell will freeze over before i apologise to the jumped up ****.

Richard, yes i could, but by the time you've rubbed down a rough sawn gate sufficiently to get rid of a coat of preservative, you've endured £90 of hassle in my book! He would also not be content with it unless is was exactly as new. But i don't see why he could object to a straightforward re-painting, it is after all just degees of brown we're talking about.

TH, no, we didn't ask. We avoid him, and he avoids us. To be honest if i had known it was such a potential problem i wouldn't have gone near it, but i didn't realise it was actually illegal to paint your side of a neighbour's fence, i had no idea. We thought we were doing everybody a favour by making it look neater, but oh no, wrong fekkin colour.