Would you mind? (Neighbour’s builders)

[irishglaze]

The house next to me is vacant and is being fully renovated including the back garden. Acting as our boundary is my garden wall and my previous neighbours had a big fence on their side that had blown down but they didn’t fix it, that was fine. My wall was around 4/5ft I’m not great with measurements so just going by eye. The builders caught me the other week when I was taking some rubbish out and told me (they didn’t ask) that they were going to skim the wall. I’m not sure what that really means but I couldn’t be bothered to argue so just let them get on with it. Turns out this meant taking 3 layers of brick off my wall and I presume they have sold them on as they’ve now disappeared. There was no reason for this as the wall looked fine and was a reasonable height. Now they’ve made it even smaller which isn’t great for privacy. This is essentially theft but I’ve left it for my landlord to deal with. He’s struggling as he doesn’t know who actually owns the house and we don’t know who the builders work for as they don’t display a company name anywhere.

Now not only have I had to deal with them stealing part of my wall, they think it’s okay to clutter my entire wall with all their tools and spend their days leaning on it facing looking into my kitchen window. There’s even an ashtray on there! I can’t wash clothes or dishes without being stared at through the window. I find it disrespectful that they’re using the top of my wall as a table for their work. Would you this annoy you? I’m 5 months pregnant so probably quite hormonal and sensitive to things like this anyway. Couldn’t they just put them on the floor or get an actual table to put them on? Or at least ask if it’s okay first as it’s technically on my (well landlord’s) property. The wall is inside my boundary so is fully in my garden and not within their boundaries if that makes sense. I think I’m probably just being crazy. Grrr I need some wine but can’t have, what is a good alternative stress reliever😂

Were the bricks they removed (and probably sold) laid on their sides? I wouldn't want the wall left as it is, because water damage is very likely (water will gather in the hollows in the top, freeze, expand and damage the bricks). But again, let the landlord deal with it.

PTSD from severe domestic violence is an excuse not to speak to them though
That is a massive drip feed OP.

I"m curious: why would you not ask what "skimming the wall" meant before letting them get on with it?

Skimming means covering the wall with plaster or render. Not taking bricks off!

Don't make a fuss over where they put their tools, that's trivial. I would say let your landlord deal with things from here on.

Not really a drip feed, I’m merely defending myself from posters that think I’m being silly by not approaching them. Domestic violence doesn’t need to be discussed on a thread about a wall. There are many reasons why someone might not approach people that are near their home. ASD, PTSD, difficulties with speech etc. Not everyone has the same social capabilities although I would love to, it would mean I wouldn’t be stressing over this right now! I’ve stepped back and let the landlord take over. At least I know what they said meant now thanks to posters which I’m very grateful for, thank you

Erm..

This does sound odd, skimming as mentioned means plastering not removing bricks from the top.

Inclined to say 'photos or it didn't happen'. Childish, but I am that way out today.

I don't think you can expect that most posters would assume that severe domestic violence, ASD, PTSD or difficulties with speech are behind a choice not to speak to people when this is not mentioned in the OP. You said 'I couldn't be bothered to argue with them' which implies you gave them permission to do what they did which changes the whole point of your story. It's one thing to say the builders asked me if they could do something, I couldn't be bothered to understand what they wanted to do or to tell them to talk to my landlord and now that they have done what they wanted to do I don't like it and it may cause problems with my landlord...and quite another to say that you have serious problems talking to strangers due to DV and were unable to communicate with the builders who then went on to mess up the wall.

For your p rivacy OP just get a tension rod (so no fixings required) and a bit of voile to hang at the window. You will still get light in but builders won't have a clear view.

With regard to builder's details, could you put a note through the door (after they've gone) and tell a fib and say you have a friend who wants some building work done so please could they put a business card through your letterbox so that your friend can contact them at their convenience?

If someone had told me they were going to "skim the wall" I would have (obviously mistakenly) assumed that they were going to put a thin layer of concrete either on top of the wall, or on their side of the wall, or both. After all, if you "skim" a ceiling or wall internally, you do that but with a thin layer of plaster.

I hope I would have had the presence of mind to say - "It's no good telling me - you need to speak to the landlord", but maybe I wouldn't if I was feeling unwell, or distracted, or was just caught on the hop. However, I certainly wouldn't have expected 3 courses of bricks to be removed (and disposed of!). "Skimming the wall" to me sounds as though they were going to add something to improve the appearance. But instead they have effectively stolen a foot of wall.

I would also hate them leaning on the wall looking at me - I would find it very intimidating and embarrassing. Are you on your own? Is your baby's father able to speak to them on your behalf?

I think when I saw them leaning on the wall I'd be tempted to take a few photographs, just to see if they shifted. I'd find this very intimidating because it means there is no privacy in the garden - yes, you can get nets for the house (though why should you have to?), but putting out washing, bins etc it must make you fell very self-conscious.

I hope you get this sorted out - it would upset me as much as it is upsetting you.

Dear god, you don't have to justify yourself at all OP. You did nothing wrong. Let your landlord take care of it. The builders are the ones who have made a mistake/caused this issue, not you. Please don't feel the need to apologize or take any responsibility for this. Landlords have to deal with this crap, it's not all sunshine, rainbows and fat rent payments for them.

You’ve done nothing wrong at all. The builders told you in passing they were going to do skim a wall (which they didn’t do) and vandalised your landlords property. As for the owner of the property, the ll should be able to get this information from the land registry.

Your ll also needs to tell them to get off the wall and leave you alone. This is their job and as their tenant, you are entitled to quiet enjoyment of your home. Please ask the ll to sort this out for you now. So what if they have to come from a long way away. They had the choice to use a letting agent and presumably haven’t.

Well they haven’t skimmed the wall - they’ve
Removed bricks

I think that I would have said, you ll have to talk to my landlord about that wall as it belongs to him. Then given them his/her number.

I also assumed that “skimming” meant plastering the wall.