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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To oil my neighbour's gate

55 replies

digggers · 19/09/2010 21:35

My neighbour's gate squeaks. Has done for months, and it often wakes me up at night (they seem to come back home in the small hours alot). So the other night I just went out and oiled it. Now it doesn't squeak, I'm no longer disturbed and no dispute was had.

My boyfriend thinks that what I did was wrong though, that I should've asked them before oiling their gate and that they are probably annoyed. Do you think this is true?

OP posts:
Chil1234 · 20/09/2010 07:24

DP (in answer to your question) is probably exercising his dormant territorial DNA. To interfere with another man's gate is a challenge to his masculinity. To oil the hinge is the homo sapiens equivalent to a lion scent-marking another lion's patch. :) Or I could have just been reading too much Desmond Morris....

Supergluing the squeaky gate shut - now that would have been out of line. :)

gtamom · 20/09/2010 07:31

hotter-thank-you, but alas, the boo boo wasn't my spelling (for once) GrinI was referring to this part "if I did have an oil gate,"
oil gate?
Blush

Original poster
digggers · 20/09/2010 07:34

I'm actually now thinking of super gluing their gate, and thinking that I may have annoyed them as the last two nights their gate has woken me up banging ! The first night I thought tWas maybe coincedence, but this morning when I woke at half five to the banging i'm wondering.

When I say banging, I mean about 20 seconds of banging after I woke and was aware of it, so I suppose atleast 30 seconds in all. Don't think it was the wind or it would have been banging all night wouldn't it?

It was loud enough to wake my baby too, so been up with him since.

Hmmmmmmmmm... Maybe they are annoyed after all?what should I do now?

OP posts:
Chil1234 · 20/09/2010 07:38

The banging probably was due to the wind ... unless they are very early-risers as well as wee-small-hours finishers.

Can I recommend double-glazing?

MackerelOfFact · 20/09/2010 07:58

YANBU at all. I live in a flat and the folks next door don't ever use the key to close the door, they just slam it 3 or 4 times until the mechanism relents and closes. This usually shakes the entire flat, and they tend to do it at a selection of unsavoury times, eg. 1.40am last night, and between 5 and 7 most mornings. I fixed my own door with a squirt of WD40 and it closes beautifully now, I just want to go and do it to theirs!

gtamom · 20/09/2010 08:03

Maybe it was just someone coming in?
Perhaps pop over and confess! I am sure they will forgive you,Grin bring them a cowbell in case they like the warning someone is coming through!

TiggyD · 20/09/2010 09:35

My parents keep theirs skweeky to act as an alarm. They had their front door slightly kicked in a few times. Now anybody approaching the front door knows the people inside know there's people outside.
They would consider it really annoying if somebody oiled it.

WhereYouLeftIt · 20/09/2010 14:05

OP, why don't you ask them about the banging? It might not be them but some drunken arse mischievous youth thinking they are being funny? If they ask if you have oiled the gate, own up - maybe along the lines of "I was oiling my front door, it was so satisfying to see it run smooth and once you've got the can in your hand you look for more things to oil." ??

When I said I'd be annoyed if mine was oiled, any annoyance would be very mild and I'd probably just get myself some sort of bell for the gate instead.

Or is it possible it's a result of the oiling? The squeak was because the hinge was stiff, now that the oil has freed it up the gate swings freely when moved?

melikalikimaka · 20/09/2010 14:18

Well done for showing initiative, I would have done the same!

TheDevilWearsPrimark · 22/09/2010 23:38

It actually did annoy me when our neighbour oiled the shared front door. Because the crazy noise it made alertd me to my exH being on his way in.

AnxiousLand · 22/09/2010 23:43

I wouldn't care less if you oiled my gate. I would have preferred that i wasn't disturbing you and would have apologised.

Good work.
Some peeps on here are soo petty hehe

stubbornhubby · 22/09/2010 23:48

i once got up in a a storm and wedged the neighbours gate shut (it was banging) by jamming a plank of wood under it.

worked a treat

by the time I got up the next morning the plank had disappeared Shock

AnxiousLand · 23/09/2010 10:42

LOL stubbornhubby!

perhaps it was a ghost! x

cupcakesandbunting · 23/09/2010 10:47

YABU how do you know that the gate hasn't got Special Needs?

ElsieMc · 23/09/2010 10:52

From your neighbour's perspective, I lived next door to an extremely fussy neighbour although I got on with him alright.

He told me that when it was windy, my letter box made a noise in the wind. I was working full time with two DC's and DP working away -I told him fine if you want to fix it and he did.

He also though my conifer was too high, although it didnt affect his outlook. I told him I didnt have the money to get it sorted and that I had other financial priorities and he accepted this.

A bit of give and take is generally fine.

BongoWinslow · 23/09/2010 10:58

I would have been really offended, I'm afraid, if someone did that to my gate without asking.

But if you'd mentioned it, I would have sorted it out straight away...

MaryBS · 23/09/2010 11:02

My mum uses the squeaky gate as well to tell her when someone is arriving. I offered to oil it for her, and she was adamant she didn't want it done!

However, its done now, and short of asking (and giving the game away), or unless they comment, you're not going to know whether they're pleased or not!

AgentZigzag · 23/09/2010 11:09

Most of the gates on our row of houses are squeaky, including ours, which like other posters say is good at telling us when someone's coming up the path.

But all the other gates annoy the fuck out of me, would I be being unreasonable to oil all the others and just leave ours squeaky? Or do you think that may be a bit of a pointer to the guerilla oiler?? Smile

minipie · 23/09/2010 11:22

Another one here who wants to keep the gate squeaky as an alert (to say it's our doorbell not the neighbours).

Probably the best solution would have been to knock on their door and say "I'm just oiling our front gate, shall I do yours too as I've noticed it's a bit squeaky"

gives them the chance to say "no I like it squeaky" (more common than you'd think!)

emptyshell · 23/09/2010 11:37

Can I oil my neighbour's dog? It's got the world's most squeaky bark and drives me nuts! (Note I'd never actually do it - but the poor mutt sounds exactly like you've stepped on a squeaky chew toy and doesn't shut up!)

I wouldn't do anything to a neighbour's property without asking though - I'm still livid because guy next door decided to take 2 feet off the top of the hedges on both sides the other day without asking either of us and, not only does our hedge now look like it's lost a fight with a hairdresser (he's done it wonky), he's left our back garden an utter mess with clippings everywhere and hasn't even bothered to come round and ask about it or offer to clear them up. It's enough to make me want to snarl at him when I see him in the street... wouldn't have minded if he wanted to do it - but it's the whole not asking thing that had me in floods of tears and upset about it.

frankie3 · 23/09/2010 11:46

Our neighbours hate our big wisteira that trails over their fence and I have always told them that they can cut off all the bits that hang over their side. The other night I heard a clicking noise coming from our front garden and saw our neighbour pruning our wisteria at 11pm!!!

AgentZigzag · 23/09/2010 11:52

Grin @ 'Can I oil my neighbour's dog?'

YANBU

tooposhtopost · 23/09/2010 12:30

YANBU but don't take it any further Grin.

A friend of a friend used to leave herself post-its around the house like "buy milk" "cancel papers" "fix light bulbs" and came home one day to find the post-its all collected together on the kitchen table, and all the jobs done. It turned out she had a stalker Shock. Now THAT would BU Wink

ninedragons · 23/09/2010 12:50

No way!!!! That stalker story is HORRIFYING!

Suda · 23/09/2010 13:08

I agree with TOOPOSH dont take it any further but YANBU so far. Just make sure you dont set up arc lights next time they have a night out and do a bit of pointing ! Grin.

Once for a laugh when young and foolish Blush pulled a FOR SALE sign out of a front garden and we (I had an accomplice)ran across the road and stuck it in another garden. Would have loved to have been a fly on wall next morning when the new 'vendors' opened their curtains.

They probably thought they had a stalker or control freak on their hands but I think oiling a squeeky gate is only very slightly leaning towards that tbh.