Access to Satellite dish/Dodgy Neighbour

fallbayuk · 3 Aug 2007 at 11:09

Just wondering if anyone can shed any light on this for me.

Basically my sky satellite dish is located at the back of my property, and the cabling from it runs around the outside of the building back into my lounge. The thing is, the side of the building that the cabling runs across backs onto my neighbours garden, and so if i want to upgrade to Sky+ or HD in the future the installer will need access to this in order to carry out the necessary work. Unfortunately me and the neighbour dont get on and id bet my life he'd refuse to allow access to the equipment if i wanted it upgraded in the future.

Does anyone know where i stand or what i could do if this scenario were to occur?

Yas786 · 3 Aug 2007 at 11:13

Ask him nicely and politely and maybe he will let you have access to his yard in order for the work to be carried out. Or get in touch with Sky, explain what the situation is and see if they can send someone around to have a look and maybe re-route the cables??.

TheCrow · 3 Aug 2007 at 11:15

Might not applie to the dish, but for house maitence they have to allow you resonable access.

Just get the installer to get on with the job, if he complaines it will be too late.

Participant · 3 Aug 2007 at 11:21

The installer can't just waltz into his neighbour's garden!

I'd re-route the cables so you don't have the issue the next time something needs doing.

fallbayuk · 3 Aug 2007 at 11:31

Unfortunately he now only seems able to communicate via staring and silence. I would definately try and talk to him, but id like to know whats possible if i got the expected response.

Some background info - hes been like this since i asked him not to install a 5ft punchbag into the garage he leases from me because of the noise it would generate when in use in my lounge + office, which are directly above it. He also signed a contract prior to moving in which specifically stated it couldnt be used for that kind of thing. We got on pretty well before i asked him not to do it, but since that convo the toys have been well and truely thrown from the pram.

carbon8ed · 3 Aug 2007 at 12:03

IIRC the deeds to our house and every house I've purchased include a specific caveat to allow people to enter their neighbours properties for the purposes of repair, improvement and paninting and such.

Imaging your fence blew down, either you or your neighbour will be in the deeds as being responsible for it's upkeep. Now, depending on whose responsibility it is, the reposnible person will be allowed into their neighbours garden to effect repairs and paint it etc.

The caveat is written such that you have access to your neighbours land and they would also have access to your property to look after their bits and pieces.

Therefore, I would say that the deeds to your neighbour's house would state that they are required to allow the sky bloke access if he has to say put a ladder in his garden to reach the dish.

HTH

fallbayuk · 3 Aug 2007 at 12:14

Thanks, that helps a lot!

I'll look into the deeds this evening and see what they say.

platypus · 3 Aug 2007 at 12:48

I wouldn't let Sky do anything in my yard either. I doubt the fence analogy holds much water. A fence blowing up and needing to be repaired is hardly akin to the luxury of having Sky HD installed.

CF93 · 3 Aug 2007 at 13:02

Errr....why not just drill a small hole in to the attic space, run the cable from the dish into it, across the attic, then drop it down the wall cavity at the front, bring them out into the lounge and then run to wherever the tv is?

If your existing tv point is on an outside wall, which it most probably is I imagine, then you don't even need to make alterations - just take off the existing socket, run the new cable to it and put it all back together with a proper satellite or dual socket.

Wouldn't even need to touch the old cables that way either, just have shiny new ones.

Tis what I have - no ugly cables at all outside, since the dish is right under the eaves.

Assuming you have an attic and you're not in a block of flats that is!

fallbayuk · 3 Aug 2007 at 14:48

platypus said:
I wouldn't let Sky do anything in my yard either. I doubt the fence analogy holds much water. A fence blowing up and needing to be repaired is hardly akin to the luxury of having Sky HD installed.

It would only be to accomodate a ladder lent up against my wall. And what if there was a problem with the cabling that required access? Im not just concerned about my ability to upgrade sky, but getting it fixed if/when it goes wrong.

CF93 said:
Errr....why not just drill a small hole in to the attic space, run the cable from the dish into it, across the attic, then drop it down the wall cavity at the front, bring them out into the lounge and then run to wherever the tv is?

If your existing tv point is on an outside wall, which it most probably is I imagine, then you don't even need to make alterations - just take off the existing socket, run the new cable to it and put it all back together with a proper satellite or dual socket.

Wouldn't even need to touch the old cables that way either, just have shiny new ones.

Tis what I have - no ugly cables at all outside, since the dish is right under the eaves.

Assuming you have an attic and you're not in a block of flats that is!

I do have an attic and that sounds like a very good plan

platypus · 3 Aug 2007 at 14:52

Ah right, a ladder shouldn't be too much of an inconvenience.

CF93 · 3 Aug 2007 at 16:49

fallbayuk said:
I do have an attic and that sounds like a very good plan

Just remember to have the hole in the attic done in the right place - angled upwards from the outside to ensure any water outside can't get in the hole.

Only problem might be if you have cavity insulation.....you wouldn't be able to drop the cable down the cavity at the front of the property. You could do the same again though and drill to the outside, then run the cable down the outside wall, then drill in again from outside the lounge to the tv point. Only downside is paying attention to where you run the cables on the wall so it doesn't look ugly.

Sounds a lot more complicated than it really is. A five minute job to do the drilling and cable run tbh....

You'll just need someone to help with the cabling down the cavity. Mine was easy as there was already a cable there from the old analogue arial. Just tied on the new satellite cable at the lounge end, then went into the attic and pulled the old one up till the new one came with it. Then run the new one to the hole to outside, push it through, connect to dish

Harder if you've no cable there already though

as you need to get it all lined up from in the attic then drop the cable down with a (very) small but heavy weight securely attached and hope it doesn't snag too much on the way down, with someone at the bottom in the lounge waiting to grab it and pull it through the hole where the socket goes.