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Old 18-06-2008, 08:11 PM posted to alt.home.lawn.garden
Srgnt Billko Srgnt Billko is offline
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First recorded activity by GardenBanter: Jul 2006
Posts: 530
Default Neighbor Fence Problem/Question?? LONG!!


"MICHELLE H." wrote in message
...
A few months ago, our next door neighbor ( whom we don't get along with
because he complains about EVERYTHING ALL the time ), put up three
sections of 6' x 8' foot panels of wooden stockade fencing in the
backyard where his garden is located, on our shared property line.

He didn't want our kids to throw any balls into his precious vegatable
garden when they are out playing soccer or baseball in the backyard.
Plus, there are deer in the wooded area behind our home, and last year
the deer ate his tomato plants on him, so he also put up the wooden
stockade fence, to keep the deer out.

Anyway, because he does a vegatable garden every single year, he has
removed ALOT of his soil from where his garden area is, so our backyard
is up higher than his garden area.

Well, when he installed the fence, he installed it about 3-4 inches back
from the property line, toward his garden, but he didn't want the grass
or soil on the property line touching his fence, so he dug out a big
trench about 2-3 feet deep, and 2 feet wide from the property line to
his fence.

So if you went right up to the property line, there was a big slooping
trench 2-3 feet deep, and 2 feet wide on the property line, that went up
to his fence, which was about 3 inches back from the property line.

When the kids played baseball in the backyard, the balls kept going into
the slooping trench and underneath his fence and into his garden, which
he started complaining about. Then when my husband mowed the lawn a
couple of weeks ago, our push lawnmower slid right down into the trench,
and the front wheel got stuck under his fence. And last week my 5 year
old daughter and her cousin were playing baseball in the backyard, and
my daughter ran over to get the ball near the trench, and she fell into
the trench and almost broke her ankle and foot.

So last weekend, my husband in I bought about 15-20 bags of topsoil and
filled the trench in, smoothed it out, and seeded it with grass seed.
Well my nosy neighbor saw us watering the grass seed all week, and was
wondering why we were watering his fence?? So 2 days ago, he decided to
walk over into OUR yard, to see why we kept watering near his fence, and
he saw that we filled the trench in with soil.

So yesterday we got into a big fight with him, because he is all mad,
because he says that his wooden spruce fence is now buried in 2 feet of
topsoil, and that the soil is going to rot his fence away!! I told him
that we planted grass seed there, and the grass isn't going to harm the
fence, but he says the soil under the grass is going to rot the fence!!

He complained that its HIS fence, and he paid for it, and plus its back
about 4 inches from the property line. But, I told him that the the
slooping 2-3 foot deep trench that he dug out was right ON the shared
property line, and that my daughter almost broke her foot in it last
week, along with our lawnmower getting stuck under there, and his
CONSTANT complaints about the kids balls ending up in his precious
garden.

He said that if we wanted to put soil there, we should have put a board
up against his fence first, and then filled it up with soil and grass
seed, that way no soil would be touching his fence to rot it out!!

I felt like telling him that if we wanted, we could get him in trouble
with the city for putting his fence BACKWARDS!!! He put the fence with
the smooth side facing his garden, and he put the inside of the fence
facing our yard. Our city ordinances state that whenever a homeowner
installs a fence in their yard, the smooth side of the fence is suppose
to face the property line of your neighbor, and the inside of the fence
is suppose to face your house. Well he installed the fence backwards in
his backyard, as well as on the side of his house where our shared
property line is.

Plus, he has a "For Sale By Owner" sign in his yard, in which he is
trying to sell his house. So I felt like asking him why is complaining
about how we filled in the trench with soil, when he is trying to sell
his house??

But we already know the answer to that!! Thats because he doesn't want
to sell it, and has NO intentions of ever selling it!!! For the past 4
years straight, he always puts his house on the market, EVERY year, NOT
to sell it, but see what kinds of offers he gets. He thinks that someone
is going to offer him like $500,000 for a 3 bedroom, 2 bath cape home
built in 1925.

I know he has NO plans on selling it, because yesterday when he was
arguing with us, he said that because we filled in the trench with 2-3
feet of soil, next year the bottom of the fence which is now buried in
dirt ( on our side of the fence ), is going to be all rotted out, and he
will have to replace it and buy a new fence now!!

So, is this true?? Will the bottom of the fence rot out from having 2-3
feet of topsoil up against it, on our our side of the fence??

If we want to be the good neighbors, and put a piece of wood there like
he said, up against his fence, and then refill it again, what type of
wood should we use??

Should we use something besides wood, like plastic, or plexiglass, or
that "Particle Board" wood??

What about using that cement "Duraboard" stuff that they sell for
bathroom walls as an alternative to sheetrock??

We have some "Waferboard" wood lying around that we don't need, but I
read that "Waferboard" rots out fast??

The one thing I hate, is that we now have some nice, thick green grass
growing there where the "former" slooping trench was. So to put
something there up against his fence, we would now have to dig out and
kill all of the nice baby grass that has already started to sprout, and
go through the process of seeding and watering all over again.

Does anyone have any suggestions of what we should do??

Should we dig up all the soil and baby grass, and put a board or
something else there against his fence, and then fill it back in with
topsoil, and reseed all over again?? If so, what should we use to place
up against his fence??

Should we just ignore him, and let the new grass continue to grow
there??

Sense he is the one who started the fight with us yesterday and starting
complaining, should we complain to, and report him to the city for
installing his fence backwards??

Any suggestions and advice would greatly be appreciated!!

Thanks!


Shoot the S.O.B !!!!