To ask neighbours if digger can come through

[hobbeschild]

We'd like to build a swimming pool in our garden. Our side access is not wide enough for a mini-digger. Manually digging and shipping the dirt out will add thousands to the cost.

Our neighbours have a wide side-access right next to us, and if we took the adjoining fence down it would mean coming over a few metres of their land, gravel and a bit of grass (not the perfect lawn type) and removing a woodstore (not the precious type).

We would commit to put all their land and the fence back exactly how it was before and build a new woodstore (this would still be much cheaper). The digging will take about a week.

We will tell them they can use the pool whenever they wish, as long as we don't have visitors. They are lovely people in their 50s with grown-up kids. We have a good relationship but are not friends. In the past we used a friend's pool on this basis so we know what it's like to be on the other end of this arrangement.

If they say no we will probably not go ahead, so it's not like if they say no we'll build it anyway and not let them use it! We would say there's absolutely no obligation and it's just at the ideas stage, just getting a feel for cost.

Personally, if I could have the luxury of easy access to a pool with none of the responsibility I would jump at the chance!

I realise this is a relatively first-world and trivial problem compared to what a lot of people are going through at the moment, but if we're going to do it then we should now, before another restrictive year in terms of holidays and exercise opportunities.

How would you feel if you were the neighbour? AIBU to ask them?

I’d ask. I’d let you if I was your neighbour. Maybe put everything in writing.

@BikeRunSki regarding a crane - it's not just a case of lifting the digger in, what about getting all the earth out to the road?

You can ask.
I would cost for a NEW wood store and gravel area in their garden when you put it right at the end.
The digger is going to churn up the edge of their garden and that wood store looks like it will disintegrate if you take it down.
I’d probably say yes in exchange for a new wood store btw.

My sister had to go down the crane route due to a neighbour unwilling to grant access. It meant the removal of power and phone lines so quite a few people were affected for a morning.

The way to stop diggers chewing up the grass is to lay a temporary roadway out of plywood sheets.

Get a fee companies round for quote and discussion. They may be able to work around your access. Failing that -
Wheelbarrows and a couple of lads rather than take down neighbour’s stuff surely.

@HeronLanyon the extra £1000s are for the extra man-days it would take to do it with lads and wheelbarrows.

Do you really not have room for a mini digger? They don't take up much at all.

I'd tell you to jog on tbf. But you can ask.

Mini diggers might not have the reach to dig a pool. DH is looking at buying a digger at the moment and has been boring me to death discussing the pros and cons.

Just ask the neighbour rather than asking the rest of the world!

I doubt they’ll take you up on your offer of free access to your pool, that wouldn’t be comfortable for anyone involved.

But for pities sake ask them. What’s the worst that can happen.

Just ask, the worst they can say is no.

I would offer to put it all in writing though, just so they have some confidence you will do as you say. If I were your neighbour I would be happy with that.

If I was your neighbour I would want a legally binding agreement in writing in order to agree.

A relative of mine had a cheeky neighbour assume it was ok to locate scaffolding poles in his garden for building his extension. My relative has spent a lot of time and money on his garden. So he told the neighbour he insisted upon a properly drawn up legal agreement for which neighbour would have to pay the solicitor. This would lay down the rights and obligations of both parties. For example were the workpeople properly affiliated to a trade body, indemnified for damage etc. There was also the question of rental of part of the garden. Relative said "I will get back to you with some costings" leaving neighbour open mouthed. He thought he could just take down the fence and have scaffolding erected in the neighbour's garden for free! Relative got back with some costings a week or so later but the total was well over £1000. He heard no more and the extension was never built.

Be prepared to make it financially worthwhile for the neighbour.

@notapizzaeater

I'd def allow it, but then I'm 'up north' and we're friendlier !

Oh not this bull shit again ..

I’m a bit confused; maybe a map would help. But why does the digger need to be in your garden? Your property is bound on all sides by other properties? Even a long reach excavator couldn’t reach over your fence and just do the digging? They have an INCREDIBLY long reach, so no need for them to be inside your garden while digging. They just dig, take the huge spadefuls of dirt, and lift them back over your property boundary into a skip. Have attached a pic of the kind of thing I’m talking about.

I spoke to two of our neighbours about removing fences/walls and erecting scaffolding on their land.

No problem at at all, so it's definitely worth asking.

@CakeRequired

You may as well ask. Worst they can say is no.

Not sure I'd include the part about allowed usage though. What if they have a party and other people wreck your pool by being sick in it and stuff? It's yours, you'd have to clean it. It's doubtful that they would, maybe they'd be decent and would do it, but I wouldn't want to risk that.

This made me roar with laughter.

Where do you live that, if you were generously offered the afternoon to relax by a sunny pool, you'd open the tequila and bring your swinger friends round to get shit faced and vom everywhere?!

@RightYesButNo bounded on 3 sides by other properties. Long-reach would have to reach over our house or outbuildings. But we'll ask, thanks.

Have attached a pic of the kind of thing I’m talking about.

I'm pretty easy going but there is no way I'd want that thing in my garden digging a pit over the fence for next door's swimming pool!

[quote hobbeschild]@MiddlesexGirl we didn't foresee needing to get anything wider than 1m through.[/quote]
Are you saying you have 1m side access? If so there are mini diggers available that can get in there. Having had a quick google the narrowest available is about 0.7m wide and will go through a standard doorway.

Are you sure your side access is not wide enough? We hired a micro digger (750mm width, that's VERY narrow) and it got through our narrow gateway. I was amazed at how powerful it was and how quickly it got on with digging a large area.

is there even more than a 1m gap between their tree and all your sheds? looks like it's still quite tight even after you've ripped up their garden (are you really trying to get rid of their huge tree?!)

Can you not just have an above ground pool instead?

I’d hate it if neighbour wanted to do this! It’s really cheeky to ask if you can take their fence down, destroy their woodshed (where will they put the wood?) and mess up their grass and gravel by driving a digger over it!

On the subject of getting use out of it in the UK, we know a few people with pools and they have never regretted it.

I do also know someone who had to fill theirs in to sell, and this does put me off a bit.

We've been allowed to use a friend's pool in the past. We phone up and check it's convenient first. We don't overstay or spoil anything. I don't know anyone who would.

We only have one young child so it won't be noisy every day or late at night. Obviously with friends over sometimes it will get rowdy but I am a big stickler for not bothering other people having a nice quiet time.

The digger will be one trip in and one trip out when the digging is finished.

It's not the digger which will be shifting the earth off the property.

How are you picturing/organising the earth removal? Because there will be TONS of it (trust me we're shifting similar amounts at the mo) and it won't be the digger going backwards and forwards with bucket loads.

You're going to need lots and lots of skips, or a make mountains of the soil/clay/sand/rocks (what ever you find down there) out front for a few grabber lorry loads.

Is it going to be men with wheelbarrows shifting it? Or a dumper truck? Are they all going to be going through the neighbours garden as well?