To not engage with this complete idiot?

[FTEngineerM]

NDN came round to get parcel and then said ‘just to let you know our dado rail in the kitchen is coming off it looks like something is pushing it from your side’ (we’re Victorian terrace and party wall is 55cm+ solid stone).

So I asked details of location and confirmed there’s nothing on the wall at all in that location let alone long enough to penetrate over half a meter.

Now NDN is threatening surveyors and their insurance company coming and assessing.

What do I do? I have so far just not engaged past this point but is that the wrong thing to do?

NDN can’t possibly know something is pushing through the wall it’s just speculation, to come around and wave around accusations without any actual evidence IMO is bonkers. But I don’t want to say or do anything that they can take and use if I take too much interest in helping resolve it.

Or am I overthinking it? And nothing will come of it.

Let them crack on.
Ignore.

@toomanyplants

Let them crack on. Ignore.

I agree!

Idiots. Ignore them.

I would let anyone professional like a surveyor in to have a look. As long as you have seen some ID and feel safe then all they will do is look at your wall and laugh take damp readings, measurements etc. I guess it could be a sign of something going amiss with the structure of the wall, so it's best to be safe not sorry.

I should imagine that if he goes to a surveyor and tells them that something on your side of the wall is pushing the dado rail off his kitchen wall, they'll think he's bonkers too. If you've no concerns about subsidence I would continue to ignore it, or tell him to buy a tube of 'No Nails' to stick the rail back on.

She sounds ridiculous!

She needs to get rid of her dado rail as they’re hideous anyway.

Don't engage beyond letting a surveyor in. It could be movement/substance or damp. It could be in your interest for them to investigate it.

So letting the surveyor in and having a look is ok?

Should we get our own?

Sorry, this is our first house and have only been here 2 years so this is all new. I would never accuse someone of something without actually having evidence first but there we go.

I’m pretty sure it’s not subsidence, the houses have been here 120 years and have no sign of movement in any capacity in door/window frames or cracks.

I’ve just realised that the part they’re talking about used to be outside, they put a roof over it and then plastered and called it part of their kitchen.

Thank you for the replies, I do feel a little better since the consensus is don’t worry.

If you are actually contacted by a surveyor then I would ring my insurance company just to let them know what's happening and get some advice. I kind of doubt that will happen because the surveyor will know all they need to from their side of the wall, if indeed they get a surveyor involved. Sounds as if maybe they've put up a construction without planning permission, in which case they will be wise to back off.

Having a totally dumb moment! I have no idea what an NDN is so I Googled it - Google told me it was a native Indian....pretty sure that's not what's going on here.

Think I'll take myself off to a thread that I understand.

Good luck with your quandary.

@ILikeTrains

Having a totally dumb moment! I have no idea what an NDN is so I Googled it - Google told me it was a native Indian....pretty sure that's not what's going on here.

Think I'll take myself off to a thread that I understand.

Good luck with your quandary.

Next food neighbour

@ILikeTrains it means Next Door Neighbour

Ooooh, hahaha. That makes so much more sense. Thank-you. Feeling very dumb now

it could well be that the plaster on their side has blown. That could just be old plaster, or it could be a structural fault. Let the surveyor check it out.

If they want to incur surveyor's fees to be told that of course nothing on your wall is pushing their dado rail off, then let them crack the fuck on.

Who the hell has a dado rail in 2020 anyway? The thing's probably trying to prize itself off in the hope it can jump into a time machine.

Posted too soon! I meant to add, I reckon they're chancing bastards just hoping that you'll be so intimidated that you'll offer to pay for professional repairs to the dado rail to avoid the lengthy court case and imminent insolvency that would otherwise undoubtedly ensue.

@notreallybotheredaboutausernam

it could well be that the plaster on their side has blown. That could just be old plaster, or it could be a structural fault. Let the surveyor check it out.

Have no idea how old the plaster is, they’ve sent me pictures though so I could confirm where it was relative to my house and if there was anything there.

I’d have thought there would be other signs in our house of structural movement long before next doors dado rail bowed a bit? If that were the case(?).

Who the hell has a dado rail in 2020 anyway? The thing's probably trying to prize itself off in the hope it can jump into a time machine.

😂😂

@ILikeTrains

Having a totally dumb moment! I have no idea what an NDN is so I Googled it - Google told me it was a native Indian....pretty sure that's not what's going on here.

Think I'll take myself off to a thread that I understand.

Good luck with your quandary.

Mumsnet acronyms list

@AnimalNitrate that is hilarious, I needed to at laugh, thank you.

Oh, show us the photos!

I'm no expert, but would a surveyor even bother coming round if they were told the party wall was 55cm+ solid stone?

But nod politely and let the NDN crack on.

not necessarily. A few years ago I ripped out my kitchen to put in a new one and discovered the wall was falling down. I had assumed it was blown plaster. From the other side, I could see nothing, it could only be seen from one side. My house is 19th century and these things happen. I'd let the surveyor do their thing and wait and see...

Confused. Was what is now their kitchen wall (dado one) once your outside wall? If that is so I think there should have been a party wall agreement before they joined it to your house with a roof.
Diagram needed.