Neighbour has painted our and I mean our fence

[Endoftether2000]

Would I be unreasonable to go out and paint my fence. Scenario approx a year ago husband decided to replace all fences on both sides the original posts were wooden and had broken causing our garden to have props holding the right fence up. He went round to the neighbour who was relatively new and advised that he was replacing the fence with concrete gravel boards and posts. She advised that her side of the fence was OK to which my husband responded that if he removed the props that were straddling our garden the fence would fall down and was surprised she didn't know as the old neighbour was aware and advised my husband he would make the new buyer aware (as if he was going to stay he would have gone half's with us) so he agreed times and dates when the fence would be removed to no inconvenience to her or her garden. Fence was removed she then asked if she could have the fence for her wood burner so husband and people that were helping took the old fence round. She then knocked at our door and said that she had too much wood now and could he dispose of the excess which he did. She then paints said fence (we stained our side grey) she painted hers with dark brown stain which has ingressed but not too badly but painted the top of the fence brown when I had stained it grey which can only be seen from the bedroom so I could live with that. Then she hammers things to it only one screw yes screw not nail can be seen so can live with that. We are on the front garden today and notice behind the overgrown bushes which is our next project to tackle she has dark brown stained the section of wood that is the size of a tall gate that connects from our house to her garage and the small fence that is our border in dark brown stain on both sides the small fence being on our land. The section of wood and the fence are on our land so is this trespassing? I am tempted to go out and paint over it even if due to the colour I would have to use garden paint? Opinions appreciated. By the way I hate dark brown stain!

DID YOU PUT HEDGEHOG HOLES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

@curtainsforme

She advised that her side of the fence was OK to which my husband responded that if he removed the props that were straddling our garden the fence would fall down

Maybe your husband should have left them the fuck alone then 🤷🏻‍♀️

You are either too thick to understand that a fence can’t stand up without the props or you are one of those cheeky fuckers who thinks they can do what they like to other people’s property?

@Windyatthebeach

We were in the same position op. Our fence. We painted our side grey. Ndn painted her side brown. We had a solicitor instruct her not to touch our property.. She legally had to allow us onto her property to maintain the fence. I went round and painted it grey.

I am really confused....why are you bothered what colour the neighbours' side of the fence is?

@onalongsabbatical

You have an 'outdoor colour scheme'? Does god know? Is the sky on board with you? Changeable bugger. I mean also, dark brown not fitting - trees must be in some trouble, here.

😂😂

I am really confused....why are you bothered what colour the neighbours' side of the fence is?
Could this be because the paint can seep in and hence if darker colour is will be hard to hide even if you repaint your side again?

I know OCD and other compulsions can make you more aware of your surroundings - I AM NOT SAYING THIS ABOUT YOU OP! I just thought I’d mention this as I have tendencies to get stuck on things and others can never understand why it bothers me. So people please be kind when answering threads about fences etc as I know from personal experience it’s very hard to overlook things you see everyday and ignore especially if it’s your fence. yes things might seem trivial to you but as someone who has gone through this it’s very hard to just not notice.

We had a solicitor instruct her not to touch our property

Surely one of the more bonkers things I’ve ever read on here. 🤪

I think new neighbour is a bit demanding op. You have let things go that clearly annoyed you and it has built up. You should really have had a conversation earlier on. I let things go with our courtyard neighbours who were absolutely horrible people fussing about everything and anything. It resulted in them drilling into our dry stone wall - 100 yards from their own home and not even on their land - and placing a huge wooden sign on it with directions to their house.

They then wrote to me actually fussing about a tree not even within view of their house. I told them I would be doing nothing until they removed their huge sign from my wall. If they did not, I would remove it myself, store it and charge them storage. It went down pretty quickly.

I should have spoken up sooner. I think we all prefer to keep on amicable terms with neighbours but some people see kindness as weakness. You need to have a polite word with her so matters are clearer in future.

You have had a hard time on here op from posters who wouldn't mind if their neighbours painted their fences red, white and blue because you know, life's too short and all that. You are not in the wrong here and she is taking the piss. The sneering about colours as well, sounds like a lot of us are boringly lacking in imagination.

windyatthebeach

Ok I've now read your update and your neighbours sounds v unpleasant so understand the legal formalities now ( still think it was ott though)

But in the kindest way possible your dog was shitting on their garden ? Fair enough they were pissed off and demanding it be removed now

Can't have been nice standing in their garden painting with his hand down his trousers - why do men do that!? Is it supposed to be sexually intimidating or just a lazy gross thing

I sympathize with you, Op. Our neighbour didn't like the brown fence we had in situ so asked if we minded them replacing it with a grey one. We said no, as all our other fences are brown. They've put up a grey fence inside their boundary instead. So we're both happy. But they also wanted to replace a fence on our land in the front garden that is perpendicular to the shared fence(s) with a grey one. We said no. They respected that (reluctantly).

Your neighbour should have done likewise. So yes, she is out of order.

It may sound petty to some people, but you're entitled to have your garden look the way you want it to. But you are NOT entitled to prevent your neighbour for doing likewise. The neighbourly thing to do is to reach a compromise before you take action.

@nitsandwormsdodger

DID YOU PUT HEDGEHOG HOLES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Glad you’ve put that in caps The plight of the hedgehog is not to be taken lightly. Their numbers have halved since 2000 There was 30 million in the 1950’s, now, 1 million.

We all need to do our bit with shrubbery and hedgehog highways.

SoonToBe I think it looks tacky because it's part of the awful, deadly march of THE GREY which has taken over interior design.

It's a fad and it looks like one. Grey is not a good colour for a fence because it's synonymous with concrete to my mind. Not an earthy colour like brown or green which is softer and much nicer when teamed with plants, shrubs, trees and flowers.

I expect people with grey fences enjoy them though so that's all that matters really.

A grey concrete fence sounds like it would look horrible anyway- brown probably looks better.

Freak Yes, concrete gravel board fencing is ugly.

I'd knock on her door, say hi, a bit of chit chat and then I would ask her directly why she painted my fence, and say I was unhappy with it. This gives her the chance to offer to put it right. I would make it very clear it is my fence, on my land and it has been altered in a way that I don't like. If she wouldn't do anything about it I would paint it grey to match the rest as that is what you wanted. Hopefully that would be the end of the whole saga and she doesn't touch your side of the fence again. But I do think you should ask her, directly, why she did it and see what she says.

@Windyatthebeach. Really? you repainted her side instead of being grateful that she was protecting your fence by painting it? Tell me where you live so I don't accidentally move in next door to you.

Hang on just realised this thread is from May!

evilpea
Apologies if my post was irreverent to the plight of hedgehogs, i am sad about the demise of our once very prolific native species, in fact it has me thinking I haven't seen one squashed in quite a wihile and that was a common feature of my 1970's childhood. my very elderly neighbour is actually a member of the also diminishing travelling community :( who is always telling me how much she used to particularly love a hedgehog from time to time

Actually rats are far more likely to climb over a fence rather than digging under it, as they are fantastic climbers and can scale surfaces that are pretty much vertical.
Gravel boards do make a fence last much longer and are actually pretty unobtrusive if the rest of the fence is timber.

@Cherrysoup

We had a solicitor instruct her not to touch our property

Surely one of the more bonkers things I’ve ever read on here. 🤪

May seem bonkers to you but when you are racially abused by your neighbours - as happened to two people I know - then telling them formally not to touch your property is the easiest way to deal with them.

Why are some neighbours determined to pick fights over nothing? If I've understood your op she said her side was ok. You inflicted a new fence on her that she didn't want or need and you are now put out that she has painted it and fixed stuff to it. If you're going to be that petty you should have painted both sides and offered to do hers in the colour of her choice. You sound like a total control freak.

@Timesdone

Why are some neighbours determined to pick fights over nothing? If I've understood your op she said her side was ok. You inflicted a new fence on her that she didn't want or need and you are now put out that she has painted it and fixed stuff to it. If you're going to be that petty you should have painted both sides and offered to do hers in the colour of her choice. You sound like a total control freak.

The person who owns the fence has the legal duty to maintain it. Whether you as a neighbour want a fence or not isn't up to you.

Why are some neighbours determined to pick fights over nothing

I don’t think the other person feels it’s “nothing”. I don’t think it’s nice to dismiss anyone’s feelings. If you are feeling a certain way then you are feeling this no one can tell you you’re feelings are wrong!

I’ve been reading a lot of neighbour dispute threads today so my opinion is it comes down to manners in every situation, I consider myself to have manners and am very considerate so when a certain neighbour doesn’t show same consideration it makes me angry.

YABU

It’s a fence, that’s all .... your neighbours may just want to protect it again weather and after all if it points into their garden, not yours just let it go

@Endoftether2000

Sorry Icedlatte Alsohuman to make it easier:

If somebody climbednover their fence and on to my property to paint a fence that belonged to me, i would be annoyed aswell. There's painting their side of the fence, and then there's coming on to somebody's property and interfering.

Seriously some of you have issues if you are moaning about your neighbour painting your fence on their side. Do you not realise that by them painting it they will be prolong its live by a good many years.

As for the person who took legal advice so they could go around and paint it another colour. You are an absolute twat and I feel sorry for your neighbour.