To be slightly pissed off by neighbour's window cleaner (Inc diagram!)

[Everybodyneedsgood]

NC as I'm worried this is a bit outing...

OK so first some background. We moved to a lovely village a couple of years back. It's the type if place you settle and stay forever so has a lot of retired people but is starting to come back round to young families as the original owners are downsizing/moving to care homes etc. We have 3 kids (10, 9 & 6) who honestly are lovely, not saints but respectful and well mannered. We have had comments from lots of neighbours who have said how lovely it is to see children playing again and also how they can't believe how quiet they are. They do make noise obviously but I absolutely wont have them screaming or having a temper tantrum, if that happens they come indoors until they can play nicely again.

One of our next door neighbours (all detatched houses) clearly dislike kids. They are in their 40's with none of their own and I get it, they preferred the widow in her 80's who lived here before. They have made a few snarky comments about the Christmas lights we put up, the kids playing in the garden and another neighbour talking to us at the end of the drive in the middle of the day! However we have kept things civil and in the grand scheme of things they don't really bother us. It's a bit of a weird set up in that we have a very long front garden and their house is set forward to ours so the side of their house runs parallel to our drive

The other day, I was unloading shopping from the car and their window cleaner pulls up and parks over our drive. When he notices me he asked if it would be a problem and I said no, I wasn't going back out for ages (not really relevant but just to show I'm not a nob about things). After a few minutes, he walks up my drive, places his ladder in my flower bed and starts to clean the 3 windows that overlook our drive! For some reason this has really pissed me off, I was there, he could have asked to enter my property and I would have said it was fine but to just ignore me like he has a right to use my flower bed and potentially crush anything I was growing just really wound me up. I geared up to go and say something then wondered if I really was being a pathetic busy body (and potentially overly annoyed due to their rudeness in the past) as there is no other way to clean their windows without coming on my drive. So I thought I'd draw a diagram and ask you lot 😂

Fwiw I am not going to start a war about this but we are thinking of doing up the boarders soon with planters and I'm not sure I want ladders propped up against them if we do plus his ladder was also alongside my car and could have damaged it so I'm kind of wondering whether I'd be within my rights (morally, I'm pretty sure window cleaning isnt considered maintenance legally) later to tell him not to do this? If it matters their windows are privacy glass and looked perfectly clean anyway!

Would it bother you or was it just a bit of a slow day for me? 😁

No that would piss me off too.

Excellent diagram by the way!

Diagram of the year 🏆

He's a knob. They are knobs. Knobs go together. Say something to them.

Thank you 😊

I'm glad it isn't just me, dh looked at me like I was slightly mad for caring, possibly partly because we really aren't growing anything there at the moment

Yabu for calling a border a boarder obv but yanbu otherwise, he definitely should have asked (and you should have said yes). Annoying but no big deal I'd say.

Why didn't you just say to him, I didn't mind you parking across my drive but can you please not stand your ladder in my flower beds

@MrsEricBana 🤣 Fair enough, spelling is REALLY not my thing!

@RewildingAmbridge I really did go to say something but then I thought perhaps it was being a bit petty when they literally have no other way to clean them? Then I went inside and started to seeth about him using my border (got it right that time) but he'd gone by then and the moment had passed. I'm known to over think things sometimes too

This. Ypu have to say something or he’ll do
it every time now.

FWIW your neighbour also has the optiomnof hiring a cleaner whp uses a spray brush from ground level - most cleaners use them these days - or the cleaner gping inside the house then leaning out to clean each side. So they do have other options.

I couldn't get upset about it, but then our windowcleaner stands on our flat roof when he cleans the neighbours windows (semi detached). It's a ladder and he's there for all of 15 minutes and keeping part of a house you have to look at clean. Better than them leaving it to look shabby.

Firstly congratulations on a detailed and easily understood diagram.

I'd be saying a big fat NO to the ladder in my borders. On hearing about your neighbours I very much doubt they would tolerate this either.

10/10 for the diagramme!

FWIW your neighbour also has the optiomnof hiring a cleaner whp uses a spray brush from ground level - most cleaners use them these days

This was my thinking too!

@Thedogscollar I think ultimately that's what is annoying me the most, they think us chatting is out of order because they just got back from their holiday and wanted peace 🙄 but think it's perfectly acceptable to send their workmen round without even a curtesy call first

@Keladrythesaviour Are you not worried about damaging your property? I just think someone who would happily walk past you and set up their ladder in front of you may not admit it if they damage something whilst there? Maybe I'm over thinking it though?

I'm glad you like the diagram people, it was my second draft as the first wasn't clear, I took it very seriously 😁

So is their house right up against your border with no fence?
He’s out of order, trampling your border!

Blimey, it would've taken a minute to ask him to move the ladder off your flower beds instead of drawing detailed pictures, asking if you're being unreasonable to be pissed off.

The window cleaner has probably gone to the border to reach those windows for years and the old occupants didn't mind and had said it was ok and he's never thought to check it with you.

I couldn't get worked up about about a regular worker going on my land to do a quick job but I wouldn't want the ladder damaging any plants.

Next time you see him just say you've started tidying up the border and planting things so please don't put the ladder into the flower beds.

Plant a nice thick row of prickly pyracantha hedging there. Good for birds, pretty red berries and very very spiky

Very rude of the window cleaner and you probably should have said something there and then - but I'd have chickened out in your situation.
We have a similar issue but our neighbour's windows are actually on our property (very old houses so weird layout). When we moved in, the window cleaner knocked and asked if he could enter the garden to do the neighbour's windows once a month. I'd have been fuming if I'd just found him in my garden.
In your situation I'd be growing something large where he needs to put his ladders and refusing access.

Last week we woke up to find tradesmen in our garden - our neighbour had hired them to do 2 full days noisy roofing work, let them into our garden and they were using our tools etc, making a right mess. He never said a word to us about it, never asked permission to access our property and even though he will have been told by the roofers we weren't happy, he hasn't even bothered to speak to us about it.
Seriously, if you give an inch, people take a sodding mile.

@Everybodyneedsgood not worried enough to make someone else's day more difficult for the sake of it!

@ProudThrilledHappy Ha ha tempting!

@lovehearrrts I've never seen him there and I've been wfh for 2 years but it is possible I guess. I think you are right and that's probably how I'll play it thank you.

@watcherintherye Yes it's odd really, they are all detatched houses so to be honest it would have made more sense for the border to belong to them (which now that I think of it, the cleaner could have thought this) but it is definitely ours and next door have acknowledged this previously

@worraliberty I have explained twice now why I didn't speak to him. I wasn't sure if I was being petty. My natural first reaction to things like this is to be 'outraged' so I purposely try and take a few minutes now to work out if that is justified first rather than moan and decide later I shouldn't have. We are playing the long game of not trying to poke the beast to keep peace so didn't want to cause an argument if I was being a tw*t. But I think if I see him again I will do as you suggest and politely have a word

He may not even realize that it is your border. Right up against their house, it is just as likely to belong to them.

if your going to plant something that needs to be protected, you are just going to have to speak to the neighbors about making alternate cleaning plans.

@PissedOffNeighbour22 Sorry I've just seen your post. Wow, that really is cf ery! Yeah I can imagine ours being like that too. Such a shame as we had amazing neighbours at our last house but just outgrew the house itself. Wish we could have taken them all with us though

@Ponderingwindow Yeah when I write it done I realised he actually could have thought that which makes him not so bad. Still had to walk up our drive but I can't get upset about that bit. I agree, I'll mention it next time I think

Thanks all

• wrote it down that should say

That would annoy me, but I suspect that your neighbours have told him it’s ok….. as you’ve been WFH for two years and not seen him…
Next time nip out quickly and say pleasantly that you don’t want this to be a regular occurrence and you are not happy to have his ladder in your border. And say you are very surprised this is happening as you’ve lived here for two years without incident….
If you are feeling generous tell him he can assess your drive to use a water jet to clean the windows, by prior arrangement only.
Do you use him to clean your windows? Maybe he could do yours and then jet wash theirs at the same time?