Saturday got a call from one of my guys, said he’d dropped a sheet of plywood off the roof and damaged the nieghbours house. He asked if he should go over and tell them he’d fix it. ( hole in vynly siding, damaged downspout and minor damage to mid band trim) I told no that I would.
went to site then knocked on neighbours door. left a mesage with teenage son for his mom or dad to call me when they got home; that one of my guys had caused some damage and that I would pay for any repairs.
anyway, later that day I stoped back at the site and saw the neighbour, I asked if he got the message from his son, He said he did. well to make a long story short he was a bit of a jerk about the whole thing. I made it clear that if my insurance didn’t cover it then I obviously would.
The thing is we are going to be neighbours, and already he has come on to my property to screw blocks of wood to the underside of the fence to cover the gaps so that their small dog wont escape from their yard. I’m not really sure why he felt he couldn’t do it from his side, but I never said anything about it, figured I’d ask him what he wanted to do about the gaps when I got around to doing my yard.
any advice on handling this situation so that I keep the peace. I told him to call the builder ( they just bought and moved in – new house) and I would work things out with the builder. Figure if I fix it then it comes down on me if they have any complaints.
Replies
The blocks are on your side so his side of the fence looks better. But then you knew that.
=0)
My advice would be to hire your competitior to fix the damage. Whatever it costs. Because if you fix it yourself, you will never ever hear the end of it.
I'll let you figure out the couple of other reasons it is better to let your competition have the job, and not just whatever construction company is in the phonebook...
Their own builder is the next best choice. (He may blame previously existing problems on you.)
Are we there yet ?
The thing with neighbours is, you live next to them due to circumstance, not cos you want to be their best friend.
When I got here 5 years ago I was quite happy to meet the neighbours, have them round, help out etc etc. One neighbour saw that as an opportunity to get as much free anything as possible.
The more I figgured 'well its only''and let it go, the more they pushed and the more they invaded my space.
It got to the point where a few days ago I called them and said enough was enough and all I want is to have my property respected and to be left alone. 2 days later Mrs neighbour leaned over the fence and had her say. I figgured if you want the honest truth yer gonna get it. She didnt like it. The upside is she wont be trying anymore BS. <G>
To my way of thinking, have the damage repaired ASAP. If he takes liberties with your property again put him straight right away. If he doesnt like that.........tough. It is after all YOUR home.
Whatever it was.................I didnt do it.
If you need any advice on dealing with neighbors, I'll be happy to help.
Sorry, "in" joke.
FWIW, I like Luka's suggestion to have your competitor fix it.
Yes that was my 1st sentiment. I saw their builder this morning and he said no problem he would take care of it. he laughed and said accidents happen.
I'm glad I happily agreed to pitch in $100 for his Johnny can rental that all the sites on our block are using.