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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

Neighbour dispute, they haven't even moved in yet..

132 replies

FrameyMcFrame · 04/01/2019 09:55

We have new neighbours, they haven't moved in yet as they've been gutting the whole house and building a massive extension.

The water board have now contacted us saying there's a collapsed sewer pipe and they need to dig 1.5 meters deep in our garden to fix it.
The strange thing is that we have absolutely no problem with our service and the previous owners of next door did not have problems.

I'm guessing that the building works have damaged it.
I'd be happy to oblige but the hole is 3 meters long and begins at the base of the trunk of a mature cherry tree. I can't imagine the tree will survive having its roots cut through? But maybe I'm wrong.

IABU to just say no you can't do it? I don't understand why they need to dig up my garden when it's their pipes that have the problem.

OP posts:

MayFayner · 04/01/2019 10:38

Having had a burst drain last year I would say let them repair it. Drain problems can end up causing issues inside the house as well as outdoors - avoid at all costs (although I assume you aren’t being asked to pay?).

IWannaSeeHowItEnds · 04/01/2019 10:39

There are some cunts on this thread! OP is entitled to feel pissed off that building work, which is of no benefit to her, is resulting in her garden being dug up and her tree potentially harmed

Ethel80 · 04/01/2019 10:39

It's interesting that you've immediately jumped to it being a dispute. It does make it sound like you are pissed off with more than just the pipe issue.

Im not really sure why people are suggesting you find out how the damage was done because it doesn't actually matter. Either way, it needs to be repaired.

It's absolutely reasonable to ask them to do what they can to protect your tree but that's as far as I think you should go unless you want to look like an absolute arsehole.

Our neighbour started causing problems for us before we moved in and that led to many years of bad feeling and problems.

elvis86 · 04/01/2019 10:40

The OP is framing this as a "dispute" and talking about the neighbours' "massive extension", when the proposed workb to the drain seems necessary and reasonable (albeit inconvenient).

It sounds to me like she has issues with the extension and is suggesting being deliberately awkward. If a sewer on her property is damaged, I can't see that anyone involved could do anything but try to repair it?

skippy67 · 04/01/2019 10:42

I agree with Elvis.

CluedoAddict · 04/01/2019 10:43

You can't refuse to get it fixed. We had this not long after we moved in. The cost was shared with the other 5 houses in our block. They can make you have it done under the Water Act.

onalongsabbatical · 04/01/2019 10:43

I think part of the problem is with defining ‘their’ sewage pipes and ‘your’ sewage pipes. It’s a single system that doesn’t belong to either of you but is provided for your benefit and maintained by the authorities who arguably ‘own’ all of it. I don’t think you have a right to refuse access for repairs, no matter where the land boundary is in relation to the break or how the issue is caused. It’s their right to access it. And it is possible the tree has some part to play in the cause, as it is possible the building works did, too. But none of that really has anything to do with the need to repair it.

BookMeOnTheSudExpress · 04/01/2019 10:44

Jolly good that your new neighbours have decent workmen in who have noticed the damage and getting something done about it before your mature cherry gets covered in shit, I'd say.

Unclear as to why there's a dispute?

Mossyhill · 04/01/2019 10:45

We’ve had a collapsed pipe which affected our home. It wasn’t pretty.

NeutralJanet · 04/01/2019 10:48

I'd rather have a dead tree than potentially a sewage leak in my garden or house. If the water board have said it needs to be done then better let them get on with it ASAP, hopefully it will be done and dusted before the spring when you will want to use your garden more. I know these kind of works can be annoying, I've had it right outside my house for gas works before but I suppose an occasional bit of inconvenience is worth it to have functioning gas/water systems in place.

70sbaubles · 04/01/2019 10:48

If a sewer needs fixing, it needs fixing. Kind of hope you go home today to find sewerage backing up into your house tbh
Fucking hell well I doubt you have any friends in real life you nasty horrible person. How awful

pictish · 04/01/2019 10:49

If the water board say that they need access to the pipe under your garden, then they do.
I’m a bit baffled you would query it. Even if it is the building work that has caused it (and that’s not a given by any means), it still needs fixed.
I hope your tree survives though.

70sbaubles · 04/01/2019 10:49

And it's sewage not sewerage

Babdoc · 04/01/2019 10:50

OP, it may well be your tree that has caused the problem! My own 40 year old flowering cherry tree rooted into the main sewer pipe from my house. I had to have my whole front garden dug up, the collapsed sewer replaced and my path relaid. At my own expense, obviously.
You can’t just live with raw sewage leaking on your land - this pipe needs fixed and you really don’t have any option but to go ahead with it.

DarlingNikita · 04/01/2019 10:50

The hole has to be dug on our side and although I've asked they haven't explained why.

Ask again. And can you ask them, or someone else (tree surgeon? Gardener?), if it's possible to do the work without killing the tree?

Although I do agree with pps that if it's a tree or a sewage leak I'd rather sacrifice the tree.

pictish · 04/01/2019 10:51

Yes, you might find that your tree is causing your neighbours grief.
Don’t be a chump.

nonetcurtains · 04/01/2019 10:55

I would ask for an assurance that if the worst happens and the tree dies, that the water board or neighbours will cover the cost of have the tree felled and removed. If the tree is mature it will be massive and the work would be very expensive. Also think about the costs of 'making good' the garden afterwards.

If that can be agreed I think you should go ahead and allow the work - if the pipe is damaged under your garden you don't want collapsing and leaking sewage under your property, I imagine that will kill the tree eventually anyway.

Godowneasy · 04/01/2019 10:57

Your title says a neighbour's dispute. I doubt your neighbours have caused this problem with the pipes, it just happens to have come to light at a time when they are moving in.

It's only a dispute if you make it a dispute. You're likely to be living next door to each other for a long time, so better that you work together to get the pipe fixed, Be thankful that the leaking sewerage has not flooded you out etc.

Returning2thesceneofthecrime · 04/01/2019 10:58

Sounds like the broken pipe is some way from the house/extension. It is more likely that it is your beautiful cherry tree’s roots that have damaged it.

Witchend · 04/01/2019 10:59

It's not a neighbour dispute yet. It will only be if you start making it one.

When you buy a house, it is usual to have the drainage checked as part of the survey. You may well send a camera down. I live on an estate with loads of trees. You are generally advised to send a camera down because of the root trouble with trees. Often issues with water/sewage pipes are found at this point, so it's quite common that new neighbours means discovery of drainage issues, even if none of the houses have noticed anything yet.

It often isn't the person whose tree is causing the issue who has the problem-I know of people where it's 2 or even 3 houses down, or across the road.

The water company will let you know that plan to do the works, you can't stop them.

AllTakenSoRubbishUsername · 04/01/2019 10:59

It's really inconvenient but I would just let them do it. You can't really mess about with sewage pipes - imagine the issues! Maybe the problem was there before but the neighbour chose not to face it. Maybe you could get a professional in to take the cherry tree out safely and replant it (better for it now than in the summer)

madmumofteens · 04/01/2019 11:02

The main sewage pipe for our street was backing up into our garden and raw sewage and all sorts was leaking into our garden and our children were small at the time it was horrific OP I would want to have it sorted as soon as possible.

loveka · 04/01/2019 11:05

I had this with my awful neighbour.

The water board said we could refuse, but if we did they could take us to court to gain access.

My whole garden border got destroyed without any compensation from the neighbour, who had cut through the pipe during building works.

We are moving.

loveka · 04/01/2019 11:07

I have bought many houses and it certainly has never been standard to send a camera down to check the pipes.

safariboot · 04/01/2019 11:09

It's up to you if you want to try and assign blame, contact surveyors, get compensation if the building work has damaged the pipes. But you would be very very stupid to oppose the water board repairing the system that takes literal shit away from you.

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