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EXT 19-06-2008 10:15 PM

Neighbor Fence Problem/Question?? LONG!!
 
Is it a "wiffle-ball", is it 3 to 4 times a year, do you really know
everything that is going on with your children. Your other descriptions
don't add up, so exaggeration is assumed, so it can be assumed that you
minimize the actions from your side. You need to assume responsibility for
you and your children, and need to be honest with your descriptions. Your
neighbor seems to be overreacting and this is escalating into a battle. Meet
with him and settle your augments like adults. Fence in your backyard to
contain the children's games, to prevent them from spilling into his yard.
His garden is not intruding into your yard.


"MICHELLE H." wrote in message
...
"They have no right to trash his garden!!"

I didn't know that ACCIDENTLY hitting a plastic "Whiffle-ball" into a
garden was considered "trashing a garden"!!!!!

I could see if the kids were running over into his garden and stepping
and stomping on all his plants, then yeah, that would be trashing his
garden. But thats not what they do, as they KNOW that they are not
allowed to go into his yard ( because of his threats to call the police!
).

But ACCIDENTLY hitting a plastic ball over in his garden like 3-4 times
a year is "trashing it"???

COME ON!!!!!



MICHELLE H. 19-06-2008 11:54 PM

Neighbor Fence Problem/Question?? LONG!!
 
We had another thunderstorm here last night, with more heavy rain, and
so it looks like that more Topsoil got washed away down towards the
wooded area in back of our home. So when I get the chance, I will go out
there with a tape measure to measure the actually length, width, and
depth of the trench that he dug out.

Also, someone asked how would his vegetable gardening would cause him to
lose soil?? I don't know what he did with all the soil from his garden,
but for some reason, our backyards are both level and at the same
height, until you get to behind his garage where his vegetable garden
area is, where he dug this trench and installed the fence. Our grass
backyard in this area, is like 3-4 feet ( rough estitmate ), higher up
than where his garden is.

Before this fence was installed, the property line WAS around this
height as well, and then it would slope down toward his garden where he
used to have a smaller 3' x 8' foot wooden picket fence, which was a few
feet FARTHER back from where this newer one is now. He got rid of that
fence, because the deer would come out at night, and just stick their
head and necks right over the 3' foot fence and eat his vegetable
plants.

So when he installed this newer 6' x 8' foot wooden stockade fence, he
put it CLOSER towards the property line so that he would have more space
for his garden, and he installed it about 4 inches back from the
property line. But because the property line, and right around the
property line on his side as well as our side was higher up than his
garden, he didn't want the grass and dirt to be touching the fence, so
he dug out all the grass and dirt right on the property line, leaving
this huge unsafe trench there.



[email protected] 20-06-2008 03:52 AM

Neighbor Fence Problem/Question?? LONG!!
 


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??


Yes, It will rot.

Dioclese 20-06-2008 06:44 AM

Neighbor Fence Problem/Question?? LONG!!
 
"MICHELLE H." wrote in message
...
"They have no right to trash his garden!!"

I didn't know that ACCIDENTLY hitting a plastic "Whiffle-ball" into a
garden was considered "trashing a garden"!!!!!

I could see if the kids were running over into his garden and stepping
and stomping on all his plants, then yeah, that would be trashing his
garden. But thats not what they do, as they KNOW that they are not
allowed to go into his yard ( because of his threats to call the police!
).

But ACCIDENTLY hitting a plastic ball over in his garden like 3-4 times
a year is "trashing it"???

COME ON!!!!!


No "COME ON". Kinda depends what's in the garden at the time, like new
sprouts just seeing the sun for the first time. It probably escalated from
there, to an over-protective gardener. Maybe a recluse responding the only
way he/she is comfortable with. I don't know, just hearing your side.
Sounds like something that could be worked out locally, but, it also sounds
you've never addressed your neighbor personally in an amiable manner. Just
an irritant to you that you can't kill with your bug spray.

And the factual data about the so-called ditch vs. the amount of topsoil you
and your husband used to fill the ditch in is so bogus... And, you
acknowledged that the ditch was on his property. All of which you snipped
out in your previous reply of course.
--
Dave



[email protected] 20-06-2008 09:30 AM

Neighbor Fence Problem/Question?? LONG!!
 
On Jun 20, 12:44*am, "Dioclese" NONE wrote:
"MICHELLE H." wrote in message

...





"They have no right to trash his garden!!"


I didn't know that ACCIDENTLY hitting a plastic "Whiffle-ball" into a
garden was considered "trashing a garden"!!!!!


I could see if the kids were running over into his garden and stepping
and stomping on all his plants, then yeah, that would be trashing his
garden. But thats not what they do, as they KNOW that they are not
allowed to go into his yard ( because of his threats to call the police!
).


But ACCIDENTLY hitting a plastic ball over in his garden like 3-4 times
a year is "trashing it"???


COME ON!!!!!


No "COME ON". *Kinda depends what's in the garden at the time, like new
sprouts just seeing the sun for the first time. *It probably escalated from
there, to an over-protective gardener. *Maybe a recluse responding the only
way he/she is comfortable with. *I don't know, just hearing your side.
Sounds like something that could be worked out locally, but, it also sounds
you've never addressed your neighbor personally in an amiable manner. *Just
an irritant to you that you can't kill with your bug spray.

And the factual data about the so-called ditch vs. the amount of topsoil you
and your husband used to fill the ditch in is so bogus... *



Another good point. The ditch is supposed to be 2 ft wide, by 2 or 3
ft deep and with three 8 ft fence sections, it must be about 24 ft
long. That's 100 to 124 cubic feet. You sure can't fill that up
with 20 bags of topsoil. And with the ditch 2 feet wide at the
property line, the fence 4" from the property line, the whole geometry
of this doesn't add up.





And, you
acknowledged that the ditch was on his property. *All of which you snipped
out in your previous reply of course.
--
Dave- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -



Tom J 20-06-2008 08:25 PM

Neighbor Fence Problem/Question?? LONG!!
 
wrote:


Another good point. The ditch is supposed to be 2 ft wide, by 2 or
3
ft deep and with three 8 ft fence sections, it must be about 24 ft
long. That's 100 to 124 cubic feet. You sure can't fill that up
with 20 bags of topsoil. And with the ditch 2 feet wide at the
property line, the fence 4" from the property line, the whole
geometry
of this doesn't add up.


How long is it going to take you guys & girls to figure out someone is
"pulling your chain"?
:-(
Tom J



MICHELLE H. 20-06-2008 10:45 PM

THE MEASUREMENTS....
 
Hello everyone,

Just got home a little while ago, and so I went out and took the
measurements of this trench, for everyone asking just how big this thing
really is.

Here are the measurements just taken today:

1) The trench he dug, is 24-25 feet LONG. This one is easy to figure
out, because it is the same length as the fence ( three 8 foot sections
= 24 feet ), but he actually started and stopped the trench a little
more than the length of the fence.

2) The WIDTH of the trench is about 10 1/2 inches wide, from the
property line marker pole, to his fence.

3) The DEPTH of the trench is between 18-19 inches deep. It could have
been deeper than this, because I measured where most of the soil got
washed away the other night when we got heavy rain from a thunderstorm.
So there could be some topsoil remaining that didn't wash away yet, and
so it could have been deeper?? But right now it is between 18-19 inches
deep in a 7-8 foot long section.

NOTES:
---------------

When he got into the fight with us about this whole situation a few days
ago, HE is the one who kept saying that "the fence isn't on the property
line, but 4 inches back from it on his property".

Actually, from the property line marker pole which is cemented into the
ground, the fence is actually about 10 1/2 inches back from the property
line, so this is how WIDE the trench is.
The reason the fence is 10 1/2 inches back from the property line, is
because as I said when I started this topic, the fence is BACKWARDS,
with the smooth side facing his yard, and the inside of the fence facing
our yard. The fence POSTS are about "4 inches back" from the property
line. But because he installed the fence backwards, the fence is
actually farther back, 10 1/2 inches, because it is on the INSIDE of the
fence posts.

So while we know that the fence posts and the fence are on his property,
and this trench that he dug out is MOSTLY on his property, it still
starts at the property line, and this thing is 24-25 feet long, 10 1/2
inches wide, and 18-19 inches deep. And so we worry about our young
children falling into this and breaking their foot or ankle or
something!!!!!

Also, because our backyard is up higher than where this trench is, and
he made this trench SLOPE downwards toward the fence and his garden.
What if the soil from our backyard starts to erode and wash away because
of this??

For some reason, when he dug out and made this trench, he didn't dig it
out nice and flat, he dug it out at an angle, and left it as a hill, so
that is SLOPES downward toward his fence and garden.

So this is why almost all of the topsoil and grass seed we put there
washed away, because it all washed down under the fence, and into his
garden.

What is everybodys opinion on this?? Is this considered a safety
hazard?? Should we report him to the city hall code violation department
for this trench being a nuissance as well as UNSAFE??

Comments and suggestions would be very much appreciated!!!!!

Thanks!


MICHELLE H. 21-06-2008 12:39 AM

SORRY....
 
Sorry to all the people who kept saying that "this doesn't add up" and
all that, and yes you are RIGHT. It wouldn't have added up, because we
never measured this trench, and so when I said it was 2-3 feet deep and
2-3 feet wide in my original post, I was just ESTIMATING it.

When we got into a fight with him the other day, HE was the one that
kept saying that he put the fence "4 inches back from the property
line". So that is why I said in my original post that the fence was 4
inches back from the property line, because I was going by with what HE
said.

As far as the topsoil goes, when we filled this trench in with topsoil,
we used roughly about 15 bags or so, with DIFFERENT amounts in each bag.
The reason for this is because first we used this generic Home Depot
topsoil that was like $1.19 for a 40 pound bag. The stuff sucked because
it was all wet, and it was loaded with all kinds of debris, like tons of
rocks, sticks, pieces of plastic, paper, someones broken eye glasses
frame, pieces of black roof shingles, etc, etc. So we then switched
over to a different brand, and used "Scotts Premium Organic Topsoil"
which came in a ".75 cubic foot bag", which was $1.99 a bag.

When we filled in the trench, it WAS NOT completely filled up to the
top. We filled in most of it, but when we got done, it still WASN'T as
high and or as even as the rest of our lawn. It was still a few inches
lower then the rest of the backyard on our side of the property line. We
didn't feel like driving another 25 minutes back to Home Depot for more
topsoil, so we just decided to seed it with grass seed.

So I am SORRY for giving the WRONG facts in my original post, saying
that the fence was 4 inches back, but the trench was 2-3 feet wide.

After going out there today, and measuring it with a tape measure, I now
know the ACCURATE measurements of this trench that he dug out, which is
24-25 feet LONG, 10 1/2 - 11 inches WIDE, and 18-19 inches DEEP.

And as I said in my last post right before this one, the FENCE POSTS are
about 4 inches back from the property line, but the fence is about 10
1/2 to 11 inches back from the property line, because he installed the
fence backwards, and its on the inside of the posts.

So this is the ACTUAL size of the trench from the property line: 10 1/2
to 11 inches wide, 18 to 19 inches deep, and 24 to 25 feet long.


EXT 21-06-2008 01:07 AM

SORRY....
 
What you are describing is a "ditch". Ditches exist all over the world, I
have on beside the street and one down the side of my property that drains
it to the street ditch. Ditches have existed and exist everywhere with
virtually no danger to pets, children nor adults unless they are full of
water and someone falls in unconscious. He has a right to dig a ditch on his
property, however, if the sides are at about 45 degrees or steeper, you may
have a complaint that he has made your property unstable. He then should
install a retaining wall along the edge to hold up the soil. This is where
you need to sweet talk him into seeing your side before you call the
authorities.


"MICHELLE H." wrote in message
...
Sorry to all the people who kept saying that "this doesn't add up" and
all that, and yes you are RIGHT. It wouldn't have added up, because we
never measured this trench, and so when I said it was 2-3 feet deep and
2-3 feet wide in my original post, I was just ESTIMATING it.

When we got into a fight with him the other day, HE was the one that
kept saying that he put the fence "4 inches back from the property
line". So that is why I said in my original post that the fence was 4
inches back from the property line, because I was going by with what HE
said.

As far as the topsoil goes, when we filled this trench in with topsoil,
we used roughly about 15 bags or so, with DIFFERENT amounts in each bag.
The reason for this is because first we used this generic Home Depot
topsoil that was like $1.19 for a 40 pound bag. The stuff sucked because
it was all wet, and it was loaded with all kinds of debris, like tons of
rocks, sticks, pieces of plastic, paper, someones broken eye glasses
frame, pieces of black roof shingles, etc, etc. So we then switched
over to a different brand, and used "Scotts Premium Organic Topsoil"
which came in a ".75 cubic foot bag", which was $1.99 a bag.

When we filled in the trench, it WAS NOT completely filled up to the
top. We filled in most of it, but when we got done, it still WASN'T as
high and or as even as the rest of our lawn. It was still a few inches
lower then the rest of the backyard on our side of the property line. We
didn't feel like driving another 25 minutes back to Home Depot for more
topsoil, so we just decided to seed it with grass seed.

So I am SORRY for giving the WRONG facts in my original post, saying
that the fence was 4 inches back, but the trench was 2-3 feet wide.

After going out there today, and measuring it with a tape measure, I now
know the ACCURATE measurements of this trench that he dug out, which is
24-25 feet LONG, 10 1/2 - 11 inches WIDE, and 18-19 inches DEEP.

And as I said in my last post right before this one, the FENCE POSTS are
about 4 inches back from the property line, but the fence is about 10
1/2 to 11 inches back from the property line, because he installed the
fence backwards, and its on the inside of the posts.

So this is the ACTUAL size of the trench from the property line: 10 1/2
to 11 inches wide, 18 to 19 inches deep, and 24 to 25 feet long.



Art 21-06-2008 02:51 AM

THE MEASUREMENTS....
 
MICHELLE H. babbled:

The reason the fence is 10 1/2 inches back from the property line, is
because as I said when I started this topic, the fence is BACKWARDS,
with the smooth side facing his yard, and the inside of the fence facing
our yard.


When you install a fence, you get to choose who gets to view the pretty
side. If he installed the fence then he can have the good side facing
him. That doesn't make it "BACKWARDS". If you installed it then you were
stupid for putting the good side away from you.

I'm glad you're not my neighbor.

--
Art

Willshak 21-06-2008 03:38 AM

THE MEASUREMENTS....
 
on 6/20/2008 8:51 PM Art said the following:
MICHELLE H. babbled:

The reason the fence is 10 1/2 inches back from the property line, is
because as I said when I started this topic, the fence is BACKWARDS,
with the smooth side facing his yard, and the inside of the fence facing
our yard.


When you install a fence, you get to choose who gets to view the
pretty side. If he installed the fence then he can have the good side
facing him. That doesn't make it "BACKWARDS". If you installed it then
you were stupid for putting the good side away from you.

I'm glad you're not my neighbor.


In places where there are zoning laws and enforcement, the good side
faces away from the owner's property. Why should the person not fencing
in the property have to look at the ugly side of a fence? Would you put
the ugly side of a fence facing the street?

--

Bill
In Hamptonburgh, NY
To email, remove the double zeroes after @

MICHELLE H. 21-06-2008 03:15 PM

Yes, Willshack is RIGHT!!!!!
 
The last comment from "willshack" is EXCACTLY right!! In our city, the
ZONING LAWS state that "whenever a fence is installed by a homeowner on
private property, the smooth side of the fence MUST face your neighbors
property, and the inside of the fence must face your property. Failure
to install the fence this way is a CODE VIOLATION and is subjected to a
DAILY fine by the city, until the fence is installed the CORRECT way".

So if I report him for this, he would would be in big trouble, and have
ALOT of work to do. Because as I stated in one of my previous posts, he
installed the fence backwards not only on the left side of his house,
108 feet, where our shared property line is, but he installed it this
way in the back of his house as well, and that is about 75 feet long.

So basically it looks pretty stupid. On the RIGHT side of his house, he
has about 108 feet long of 6' x 8' foot wooden spruce stockade fence,
and this is facing the CORRECT way ( per our city zoning laws and codes
), with the smooth side facing his neighbors yard, and the inside facing
his yard.

But on the LEFT side of his house where we share the property line, he
has the 108 feet of 6' x 8' foot wooden spruce stockade fence facing the
WRONG way, with the smooth side facing his house, and the inside facing
our yard and house.

It is also the same way in his backyard, where last year he installed 75
feet long of 6' x 8' foot wooden spruce stockade fence. This is facing
the WRONG way as well, as he has the smooth side facing his yard and
house, and the inside facing the woods.

So if we wanted, we could get him in trouble for not obeying the citys
zoning laws for having the MAJORITY of his fence installed the WRONG
way. But as someone said in another post, how would this solve the
problem of the 24-25 foot long, 10 1/2 to 11 inch wide, 18 to 19 inch
deep trench/ditch that he dug there on the property line which is our
main concern anyway.

Even if he turned his fence the correct way, and faced the smooth side
of the fence toward our property as the city zoning laws state, the
trench/ditch is still going to be there.





Willshak 21-06-2008 03:49 PM

Yes, Willshack is RIGHT!!!!!
 
on 6/21/2008 9:15 AM MICHELLE H. said the following:
The last comment from "willshack" is EXCACTLY right!! In our city, the
ZONING LAWS state that "whenever a fence is installed by a homeowner on
private property, the smooth side of the fence MUST face your neighbors
property, and the inside of the fence must face your property. Failure
to install the fence this way is a CODE VIOLATION and is subjected to a
DAILY fine by the city, until the fence is installed the CORRECT way".

So if I report him for this, he would would be in big trouble, and have
ALOT of work to do. Because as I stated in one of my previous posts, he
installed the fence backwards not only on the left side of his house,
108 feet, where our shared property line is, but he installed it this
way in the back of his house as well, and that is about 75 feet long.

So basically it looks pretty stupid. On the RIGHT side of his house, he
has about 108 feet long of 6' x 8' foot wooden spruce stockade fence,
and this is facing the CORRECT way ( per our city zoning laws and codes
), with the smooth side facing his neighbors yard, and the inside facing
his yard.

But on the LEFT side of his house where we share the property line, he
has the 108 feet of 6' x 8' foot wooden spruce stockade fence facing the
WRONG way, with the smooth side facing his house, and the inside facing
our yard and house.

It is also the same way in his backyard, where last year he installed 75
feet long of 6' x 8' foot wooden spruce stockade fence. This is facing
the WRONG way as well, as he has the smooth side facing his yard and
house, and the inside facing the woods.

So if we wanted, we could get him in trouble for not obeying the citys
zoning laws for having the MAJORITY of his fence installed the WRONG
way. But as someone said in another post, how would this solve the
problem of the 24-25 foot long, 10 1/2 to 11 inch wide, 18 to 19 inch
deep trench/ditch that he dug there on the property line which is our
main concern anyway.

Even if he turned his fence the correct way, and faced the smooth side
of the fence toward our property as the city zoning laws state, the
trench/ditch is still going to be there.


Well, if the fence was installed wrong according to your local zoning
law, then the zoning department probably was never contacted before
installing this fence, because they would have told him the right way to
face the fence, and how far from the property line he could install it.
Additionally, there probably would have been a permit required, which
would be followed up by an inspection for compliance. Ask the zoning
department for the distance from the property line that a fence can be
erected (it's called 'setback'). He may be in violation of that code
too. When I installed my fence in 1986, the minimum setback distance was
6 inches (I added a couple of inches to that to make it 8 inches from
the property line). The current revised code is 3 feet. I don't have to
move my fence because it is 'grandfathered' to the 1986 code.
He may have to remove the whole fence, posts and all, to comply with the
setback code.
Good luck.


--

Bill
In Hamptonburgh, NY
To email, remove the double zeroes after @

Art 21-06-2008 07:47 PM

THE MEASUREMENTS....
 
willshak wrote:
on 6/20/2008 8:51 PM Art said the following:
MICHELLE H. babbled:

The reason the fence is 10 1/2 inches back from the property line, is
because as I said when I started this topic, the fence is BACKWARDS,
with the smooth side facing his yard, and the inside of the fence facing
our yard.


When you install a fence, you get to choose who gets to view the
pretty side. If he installed the fence then he can have the good side
facing him. That doesn't make it "BACKWARDS". If you installed it then
you were stupid for putting the good side away from you.

I'm glad you're not my neighbor.


In places where there are zoning laws and enforcement, the good side
faces away from the owner's property. Why should the person not fencing
in the property have to look at the ugly side of a fence? Would you put
the ugly side of a fence facing the street?


In my experience, and I am no fence expert, along the sides and back
where it borders on a neighbor's property, the good side generally faces
in towards whoever installed it. The street side is different, there the
good side faces the street. At least that is std practice where I live.

I would be surprised if any zoning laws or codes address which way a
fence faces. I could see where that could be a real can of worms with
some fences, where it's more a matter of opinion which side is the "good
side."

--
Art

Art 21-06-2008 07:49 PM

Yes, Willshack is RIGHT!!!!!
 
MICHELLE H. wrote:
The last comment from "willshack" is EXCACTLY right!! In our city, the
ZONING LAWS state that "whenever a fence is installed by a homeowner on
private property, the smooth side of the fence MUST face your neighbors
property, and the inside of the fence must face your property. Failure
to install the fence this way is a CODE VIOLATION and is subjected to a
DAILY fine by the city, until the fence is installed the CORRECT way".


So report it already and quit whining.

--
Art


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