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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

or is my neighbour re paint splodges ?

95 replies

shirleybasseyslovechild · 15/07/2015 21:15

hope photo works.
I'm on holiday. Had painter at my house.
neighbour phoned me irate at mess on his side of fence.
I apologised profusely and asked for a photo and said I'd fix it
masonry paint.

comments please

OP posts:

Perfectlypurple · 16/07/2015 10:36

I have read the op, more than once and I still don't get what the aibu from that. Reading on I can see you are asking if your neighbour is unreasonable to A, ask for it to be cleaned up, and B, to have called you on holiday.

No he is not being unreasonable to ask for you to clean it up.
He probably is a bit unreasonable to have called you on holiday, but if your painter had been more careful, or said something to him then he wouldn't have had to call.

MaxPepsi · 16/07/2015 10:37

Looks like bird shit to me!

I would have cleaned it myself and mentioned it to my neighbour when they were back.

DH would however be more pissed off about it than me but he wouldn't have left it either.

Disclaimer our neighbour, whilst lovely, is bloody useless and quite lazy, he never finishes a job off properly so we wouldn't trust him to ever get round to it!

gobbynorthernbird · 16/07/2015 11:01

It's not easy to clean masonry paint off brick or stone. That's the whole point of the stuff.

fourtothedozen · 16/07/2015 11:56

gobby- exactly. I have tried. Anyone who thinks a pressure washer will do the trick is sadly mistaken.

PageNotFound404 · 16/07/2015 12:34

If it was a couple of drops of emulsion then yes, B. But it's not, it's going to be very difficult to remove. It's going to need specialist stuff or a process like shot-blasting / grinding, and the likelihood is that the stone on which the paint dripped will end up a different colour to the rest of the patio - hopefully just temporarily until it weathers, but that will take time.

As Perfectlypurple said, it could have been avoided if the painter had been more careful or checked for drips at the time and offered to clean it up there and then, but as far as your neighbour is concerned your painter was careless and slapdash and has left him with a PITA situation which could potentially leave his patio permanently damaged or marked. So I can understand why he was annoyed enough to contact you.

Theycallmemellowjello · 16/07/2015 12:40

Your neighbour is NBU. And surely he called immediately so that you could get the decorator to clean it up with his own solvents rather than you having to do it yourself. Or he just didn't want the paint on his drive while waiting for you to return.

PrivatePike · 16/07/2015 12:41

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Pedestriana · 16/07/2015 12:44

He is unreasonable to call you whilst you are on holiday
He is reasonable to make you aware

He could perhaps have asked for the builder's contact details and asked THEM to clear it up.

I would presume that the builder would be insured for situations such as this and they should be the one rectifying the damage.

Yokohamajojo · 16/07/2015 13:20

It looks like a massive permanent bird poo on his patio, of course he would be annoyed!

oddfodd · 16/07/2015 13:28

I'm glad I don't live next to you OP

I'd also have called you. Your painters sound a bit slapdash

TheWitTank · 16/07/2015 13:38

I also think some people here are underestimating the sticking power of masonry paint. It's a fucker to budge, it isn't like the neighbour can scrub it off with a bit of soapy water and a brillo pad. I answer to your post to me op, yes I did read and reread your post. It asked for comments which I made - it wasn't clear what you were asking. Some posters had said they would clean it up themselves. Are you annoyed he has contacted you on holiday or that he has a asked you to clean up? Do you think he is being unreasonable?
As someone else has said, it's not his issue that you are on holiday -you employed someone to work while you were away. He wants it sorted out ASAP (fair enough if he enjoys his retirement in the garden). All you need to do is fire off a quick email or call to your decorator and get him to contact the neighbour directly to arrange cleaning up and apologies -it won't ruin your break to spend 20 minutes doing that.

TheReluctantCountess · 16/07/2015 13:39

Why should he clean it off? It's your responsibility because it was your painter.

lutra3d · 16/07/2015 16:42

OP You seem to think that your right to enjoy a holiday trumps the rights of your neighbours to enjoy their property.

If they had split paint on your car would you be as relaxed about it, or would you expect them to sort it out?

lutra3d · 16/07/2015 16:43

spilt paint obviously

Sparklingbrook · 16/07/2015 17:04

AIBU is as bonkers as ever, bit like the neighbour.

sonjadog · 16/07/2015 17:07

I would definitely go for option A. It is best to remove paint as soon as possible and he doesn't know how long you are on holiday, etc. It should be a matter of you contacting your painter to get him/her to fix it. One phonecall is hardly a huge hassle for you to take when on holiday.

Doesn't matter how he spends his day. It is your responsibilty to clean it up. It is in no way his responsibilty, no matter how much free time he has or how he chooses to spend it.

Nurserywindow · 16/07/2015 17:07

I'd be annoyed if I was your neighbour. I wouldn't have rung you on your holidays, but I'd have been pissed off.

Your OP is a bit strange though. Are you just inviting us all to have a laugh at your 'silly' neighbour?

SelfconfessedSpoonyFucker · 16/07/2015 17:18

I'd pick option A and I'd be really ticked that my nice patio had splatters all over it. There is a good chance that no matter what you or painter does it will not look like it did before. I'd also be upset that I was having to deal with your problem.

As others said, if you don't want to be bothered while on holiday then you shouldn't have work done that might possibly impact others when you know you are going to be away.

Sparklingbrook · 16/07/2015 17:30

I don't think the OP was to know that the painter would splodge the NDN's patio. It was accidental presumably. No impact could have been foreseen.

railwayworker · 16/07/2015 17:31

If I'd had any previous interaction with you during which you exhibited this amount of condescension I'd choose A without a shadow of a doubt.

fourtothedozen · 16/07/2015 17:34

sparkling- no she may not. But there is no way I would have painters in while I was on holiday.
There are usually unforseen snags when having this type of work done. If the OP had been there the problem could have been rectified quickly.

MuddhaOfSuburbia · 16/07/2015 17:43

Neighbour is being a twat

It's tiny

meercat23 · 16/07/2015 17:44

If, as other posters have said, shifting masonry paint is difficult and might leave the patio marked even when it is removed, the neighbour might want you to remove it or get your painter to do so rather than do it himself. This would mean that any further damage caused by the removal couldn't be said to have been caused by him.

SelfconfessedSpoonyFucker · 16/07/2015 17:47

Any time you are having work done there is the likelihood of something coming up. Yes, you couldn't have seen that that particular problem would crop up but there is usually something.

Sparklingbrook · 16/07/2015 17:49

I always have work done when I am on holiday, but only inside so far. If there's a problem the decorator rings me.

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