Neighbour painted my fence panel on his side - is it worth it?

Schofield · 10 Oct 2007 at 19:14

InvaderGIR said:
Not if it's yours and you are the one that is meant to maintain it, and the neighbour hasn't asked/been granted permission to do so.

InvG

as long as they give you the cuttings back they can....same as if a tree overhangs into your property from your neighbours...if you throw the trimmings back over to them you can do so

blueboy2001 · 10 Oct 2007 at 19:22

It is criminal damage to paint something not belonging to yourself without consent, but I doubt the Police would be particularly interested. If your neighbour is not happy with the colour of a fence there is nothing to stop him erecting his own alongside it, as long as it's not more than 2m high.

Going down the legal route will end up costing both of you an order of magnitude more than a few fence panels and you'll simply be lining the pockets of solicitors unnecessarily IMO.

You are perfectly within your rights to ask the neighbour to rectify the damage.

schnipps · 10 Oct 2007 at 19:23

Robbie G said:
Lol, I like it but the problem is that the other three sides of our garden are natural wood including our neighbour's on the other side (which we can't paint), so we'd either have to have two out of the three sides painted or none at all.

Everyone referring to the anti-legal action stance, Americanisation, etc - I also dislike that modern trend. However, all I want is fair rectification for the damage done to my fence, not anything over and above this.

If it was me and the fences are as you say, with some different properties involved i would speak to themn first, do you have legal advice with your home contents insurance?. We have used this a few times this year for advice and its been very good, that then gives you a feel of what your options are if they wont play ball. Then obviously decide if you want to go the hardcore route

But of course it will NOT be cheap.

blueboy2001 · 10 Oct 2007 at 19:23

Richdog · 10 Oct 2007 at 19:25

bloody hell if you can't find the balls to simply TALK to your neighbour about such a poncey little issue then there's no hope for you. Communicate!

Dogoid · 10 Oct 2007 at 19:30

kick his arse

paul@ · 10 Oct 2007 at 19:31

Ask him to paint your side with the same colour and give him £20 for the work

Edinho · 10 Oct 2007 at 19:34

If my fence was kept as natural wood and the neighbour decided to paint his side and it seeped through I wouldnt be impressed.

But it really isnt worth falling out over. Maybe just stain it with a decent wood stain its not expensive.

Its a grey area though, imo its selfish and unreasonable to expect a neighbour to be unable to paint his side of the fence regardless who owns it.

Wicksta · 10 Oct 2007 at 19:36

'Natural wood' normally means too lazy to treat the wood.

Participant · 10 Oct 2007 at 19:36

Richdog said:
bloody hell if you can't find the balls to simply TALK to your neighbour about such a poncey little issue then there's no hope for you. Communicate!

He did it today and there's nobody at home. It's nothing to do with "balls"

And perhaps when you've a big boy and paying the mortgage, you will appreciate the value of your property.

Jokes aside (hopefully you do have some pride in your own property) the issue here is selling the house, which we intend to do soon, and how this will affect it. Having a row with the neighbour will probably affect it more than some paint stains but I'm still considering going through small claims to get the panels replaced with ones that don't have orange crud all over them.

Schofield · 10 Oct 2007 at 19:36

Wicksta said:
'Natural wood' normally means too lazy to treat the wood.

exactly

if there normal fence panels, there usually a sh*** orange colour anyway, Always looks nicer treated with a stain or paint.

Edinho · 10 Oct 2007 at 19:38

I very much doubt the wood stain on a fence will devalue your property. Now a feuding neighbour war most definitely will if you want to sell it. Think you need to get a grip tbh

Participant · 10 Oct 2007 at 19:38

Edinho said:
Its a grey area though, imo its selfish and unreasonable to expect a neighbour to be unable to paint his side of the fence regardless who owns it.

Sort of, but if he doesn't like my fence he can erect his own and paint that!

Glaucus · 10 Oct 2007 at 19:39

Robbie G said:
Sort of, but if he doesn't like my fence he can erect his own and paint that!

That's just being stupid. Does he even realise it's seeped through. I would hate to have you as a neighbour.

Richdog · 10 Oct 2007 at 19:41

Robbie G said:
He did it today and there's nobody at home. It's nothing to do with "balls"

And perhaps when you've a big boy and paying the mortgage, you will appreciate the value of your property.

Jokes aside (hopefully you do have some pride in your own property) the issue here is selling the house, which we intend to do soon, and how this will affect it. Having a row with the neighbour will probably affect it more than some paint stains but I'm still considering going through small claims to get the panels replaced with ones that don't have orange crud all over them.

Well I happen to ensure that I make an effort to have a good relationship with my neighbours and am on chatting terms with a few doors down either way, even the ones I don't really like... doesn't sound like you've done the same though.

Worst case you will have to spend £15 staining the wood... it's really not the end of the world unless the damage is REALLY bad is it? Worth going through the courts over? :confused:

Participant · 10 Oct 2007 at 19:42

AcidHell2 said:
That's just being stupid. Does he even realise it's seeped through. I would hate to have you as a neighbour.

He's
painted
my
fence

That's illegal. And if you're stupid enough to paint my fence, then yes - you would hate to have me as a neighbour.

Trojan · 10 Oct 2007 at 19:42

I'd probably just get your side of the fence painted/stained to match. Easier than having a rumble with the neighbours.

Schofield · 10 Oct 2007 at 19:43

what side of the property is the fence on??.....id laugh if you replaced his boundary and your moaning about his paint coming through lol...by rights if youve erected this fence your supposed to give your neighbour the tidy nice side, if you havnt already done so

if you dont get on with your neighbour you dont tho

Painting your neighbour's fence: TV gardening programmes may inspire you to stain or paint the fences around your garden in some colour other than creosote brown. The chances are that some of these fences belong to your neighbour and not to you. Strictly speaking, you must ask your neighbour's permission to paint or stain your side of his fence - it is after all his property and on his land. What if he says "No"?
If he says "No!" then you must leave his fence alone. If you go ahead and stain it anyway then you are doing criminal damage to his property. If you really must have a blue fence, then erect your own fence alongside his, and paint your own fence blue.

MrWhippy · 10 Oct 2007 at 19:44

InvaderGIR said:
Not if it's yours and you are the one that is meant to maintain it, and the neighbour hasn't asked/been granted permission to do so.

InvG

thought they could cut any branches that overhang their property, i.e. the bits they trim, so long as they throw the bits they remove back onto the owners property.

it was about 20 years ago i studied law though so that might well have changed.

Participant · 10 Oct 2007 at 19:45

Trojan said:
I'd probably just get your side of the fence painted/stained to match. Easier than having a rumble with the neighbours.

Not that simple. Firstly, natural wood looks better imo than stain. Everyone round here has a nice natural looking treated panelling but this person has to listen to the cheesy marketing on channel 5 and stain it a nasty orange. Secondly, I can't stain all sides as I don't own all sides - therefore I'd have one side a different colour.