Neighbour problem - the guttering!

Syph

Syph

Syph

Soldato
Joined
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Location
Nottingham
I'm aware I'm perhaps better off ringing CAB or whatever, but I'm wondering if anyone here has had a similar problem with their neighbour.

When we moved in to our terraced house in 2007 the front and rear guttering and facias on our house were obviously not the best, though the guttering was certainly in full working order they just look 'old'. We did notice the joining piece (his) between ours one of our neighbour (who has new guttering and facias) was a bit loose however.

Cut to about a year ago and the back joining piece has fallen off (in usual November wind and rain) and the front joining piece is now only attached to our guttering, causing rain to leak through and making the front and back of our house damp. The front joining piece hanging off our guttering wouldn't even meet his guttering now looking at it.

We thought he'd get it fixed, with it being his joining piece but he hasn't. Ironically, on a day I was hoping to catch him about it, he said to me 'when are you getting your guttering fixed?'

I told him it was his joining piece and as it was quite new guttering (he tells me a year before we moved in) that he should get the guys back to sort it as it wasn't good enough - actually trying to save us both some cash. He was having none of it; reckons I've had cowboys out or that I've somehow broken it (despite not owning any ladders to get near it!)

The miserable old git offends everyone around and is a stubborn pain in the arse. It turns out he's being ousted by his estranged wife who wants half of the house so I can imagine why he'd try to bully us into having it fixed.

I appreciate it's probably 10 quids worth of joining piece front and back, but he won't budge - I'd have gone halves with a normal, sane bloke but he's adamant that it's my fault somehow he tells the rest of the neighbours ad nauseum. They agree with me however.

Anyone else had a problem like this? Aside from biting the bullet what else could I do about it?
 
I know you said aside from biting the bullet, but...

it's not worth getting into a big dispute over some guttering. I would just fix it yourself - if you don't have any ladders, do you have any mates or relatives that can lend a hand?

Serious disputes need to be declared when you sell the house (I remember the owner of our house having to fill out a form confirming no disputes) so I would never risk a dispute over something so minor, because of the (albeit remote) chance of the dispute escalating and subsequently affecting your ability to sell the house in future.
 
Put a sausage through his letterbox to teach him a lesson.


Seriously though, it's probably not worth turning it into an even worse relationship with your neighbour. If it is so cheap, I would say just get it done.
 
Aye I had a good feeling it'd be that way. More than anything I don't want him to think he can just go telling people what to do and they'd do it. I certainly could get hold of everything needed to do it and I'm sure it'll save money in the long run.

If he's selling, and I want to dispute it, that'd harm his chance of selling the house? How would I go about this if I wanted to be a pain in the arse too? Lol.

(Argh, hate being so tit-for-tat).
 
The problem is though that if you disrupt his chances of selling up then you are stuck with the old git.
 
While it might be his gutter that is broken you can't really force him to fix something that is broken just because the outside of your house is getting wet (like when it rains). You say it is £10. Go knock on his door, ask him if he has any ladders or knows anyone with some ladders, people seem to like offering non-financial help, makes them feel more dominant or whatever, and more importantly would put things on good terms between you and him. If not no worries, just rent a ladder and fix it. It could be anything that broke it, such as a fat pigeon.
 
I think you should make FatPigeon pay for the guttering and charge him extra for the distress caused...

All in favour say aye?
 
My neighbours guttering at the rear of the house was leaking against my extension, has been for years I suppose and it's rotted the fascia board away. It needed changing anyway, so when I went up to repair it I told him I'd re-sealed the cap on the end of his gutter. Cost about £2 for gutter sealant which I had anyway and it's me that benefits so it was no big deal. We get on anyway.
 
He may be a nasty old git, but end of the day it's not worth risking getting damp in your walls over £10.
 
As others have said, it would probably be best if you just get it fixed yourself. From how you describe him its going to be more costly time / stress-wise getting him to do it. We sell gutter jointer's for a couple of quid, wouldn't take long at all to replace it. Any DIY enthusiast could do it permitting your using a decent ladder, don't use a cheap **** one or you'll end up in a heap :).
 
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