to go and complain about the mess in my garden?

[hmmSleep]

The house behind us is in the process of cutting down some gorgeous huge trees (OK, so you can probably tell that my view on what's to follow may already be skewed). Our garden, car, kids toys, sandpit, railings, EVERYTHING, is covered in a layer of sawdust.

Would I be unreasonable to go round and ask them to at least clean the car? Or should I just accept it as one of those things and hope it all gets washed away when it next rains?

Think I'm also p'd off because I've been sat here listening to the noise of a chainsaw for 3 days now.

I'm not sure how they could come and clean anything TBH unless they keep a hoover specifically for these sorts of events.
YANBU to want to have been given notice so you could at least put the movable things away.

I think you are well within your rights to ask them to clear up the mess they've made to your property. Why should you have to?

Is your house owned by you or council/HA? If council, you could complain to them about the noise and mess. You could also find out if they needed permission to cut down the trees. They may be diseased though, giving no choice.

I would consider though how well you get on with these neighbours. The damage has already been done wrt the trees and you may have to live near these people for a long time.

So, think about all potential outcomes before you act, but imo a good neighbour would come to you, apologise for all the noise and mess and offer to clear up.

I think it is courtesy as a neighbour to let them know if you are having any building/tree chopping work done, anything that would inconvenience the neighbour actually. It is then up to you the neighbour to move/remove their things that might get dusty.

The only thing you can do is pop round and ask them to let you know next time they are having any work done so you can move some things, but if you were my neighbour I would think you were being pretty intolerant if you did.

I think it would be unreasonable for you to go and complain they couldn't really have stopped the sawdust falling and it'll all blow off the car once you start moving anyway.

I'd bloody go around and say whilst you totally understand these jobs need doing, could they kindly jsut pop a note through your door next time so you can cover your kids play things and sand pit! ffs.

That's the thing, I have moved the car and it didn't fly off, it's sort of sappy sawdust that's stuck and got into all the cracks of everything so I'm going to have to wash it, not easy with a 4 month old baby in tow.

I do think I'm being unreasonable though, last year they chopped down a tree in which an owl was nesting which I know is not allowed, I gave them the benefit of the doubt that they just didn't realise. I'm pretty sure they're cutting down the trees to allow more sun on their tennis court, so I'm very aware that my opinion on the matter is jaded. Dh is going to phone the council to see if a tree preservation order is in place.

Think I posted on here to get people to stop me going round and saying something I might regret .

Although I do like the idea of going round and asking them to give me a bit of notice in future so I can cover things up!

Of course they should clear it up. You shouldn't even have to ask them.

Just go thru the car wash.

They may have given notice to their immediate neighbours but you are behind and separated by a tennis court so they may not have even thought about it.

We had a large tree cut down last year; we had to check it was not protected first.
(It was not home to any birds as it was a very popular cat perch-so sorry to hear about the owl.)
The men who felled it swept up all debris including our neighbours garden.
I think you were accidentally overlooked and they will clean up if you ask them.

If a tree preservation order was in place, I presume it is too late now.
Our tree surgeon would not go ahead until he was assured there was no preservation order.

We had some weird neighbours at our last house. Perfectly pleasant but they just did whatever they liked and were terribly surprised if anyone complained.

We had exactly the same thing (although we were right next door). They got someone in to cut down some trees, didn't tell us and the next thing I knew the washing on the line was covered in dust and sawdust, as was the car. It had been raining earlier so it all stuck to the car. I went round and said "I assume you are going to be cleaning that off my car" and got very surprised faces.
"Oh, we didn't notice. I'm not sure how we will clean it off."
I just said "I'm sure you will figure it out" and left them to it. One of them came out with a bucket and sponge and washed the car.

I've just been round to knock but couldn't work out how to get through their massive security gates , left a politely worded note asking them to give us a heads up in future instead. Will be interesting to see if they respond.

kungfupannda, you're obviously a bit braver than me, I like your style.

YANBU hmm its not hard for them to just pop a note thru the letterbox to give you a couple of days warning. Dont envy you trying to clean sticky sawdust off toys and such. And presumably the sand will need replacing? :(

Hi Mibby ! Thanks for making me feel less of a grump. Yes the sand will need replacing, just lots of niggly things that aren't a big deal really, just a bit of a pain in the behind and could have been avoided. Just noticed the skylights in Ds's room are also covered.

I guess each thing (car, toys, sand, skylights) isnt a big deal but all together and I'd be livid. Especially as time is limited with a small baby

You are definitely not being unreasonable. No matter how far from their house you are its appallingly bad mannered to do major work near your property without any notice. It is also lack of thought and consideration to leave your belongings covered in their debris. Even if the tree surgeon is to blame. the proprietor should be checking to make sure no one else is inconvenienced. Hopefully your note should do the trick and if they have any decency they will offer to clean up the mess and pay to have your car cleaned (sounds like they can afford it). Your DH is right to check with the council. They may not even be using a proper tree surgeon. Sorry about the owl. This shows complete lack of consideration for others.

As an aside (sorry Op)my neighbours dcs repeatedly throw plastic balls over our fence - soft play type. AIBU to throw them in the bin? I am sick of repeatedly picking them up- yes, I have asked nicely!- and they make my garden look awful.

OP- I'd be annoyed in your shoes too. I would tell them about the inconvenience to you and the mess it's made, they may well not realise how bad it is.

Why not throw them back?!?! Odd.

Because it happens on a daily basis - up to 50/60 balls and, quite frankly, it pisses me off and is a waste of my time. I have repeatedly asked them to stop throwing them over but they seem to enjoy watching me throw them back. My dcs don't throw anything over their fence so it can't be difficult.

lazarusb, I'd throw them in the bin. One or two balls occasionally is one thing, 50-60 is taking the piss

Do you also need your windows cleaned? Given the amount of sawdust I imagine they have a good covering now and it would be worth asking them to pay for this.

I'd make a list of what this has cost (car wash, new playpit sand, windows/ skylights cleaned, jet wash paths/ patios?) and give it to them if they either dont respond (ie pop it thru the letter box) or in person if they respond but dont offer to clean up/ pay for the clean up.
They may not know that the people they've employed have made such a mess, in which case the house owner can take it up with them but whatever the reason you really shouldn't be out of pocket because of this.