Gardener fixed the wrong side of the fence

[ZoobyZoobyZoo]

The gardener has replaced the fence on the right side of my garden looking out, which I think is not mine, but not the left, which I know is. He did it whilst I was away for the weekend. I'd given him clear instructions beforehand and I've paid him. He's not a cowboy, he's been used by many friends. But he fixed the wrong side.

In the meantime there's still the rotten fence on the left side of my garden. It's not as bad as the one that's been fixed which was like sponge, falling down and a strong wind would have blown it over.

I've spoken to him and he feels silly but of course he needs paying. He's suggested I talk to the owner and ask him to reimburse seeing as he is actually responsible. He's happy to confirm the state of the fence with him

The guy who owns next door is tighter than Ebenezer Scrooge however and he may just refuse. AIBU to ask?

He's not approached anyone. It would be the landlord not the actual neighbour, however, who's a tenant. He's going to do the correct side free of charge. However I do have to have a conversation with the landlord of the house next door and possibly the tenant about what's happened.

However I do have to have a conversation with the landlord of the house next door and possibly the tenant about what's happened.

yep - you do, but only to apologise for interfering with their property. You aren’t due any kind of cash from them because of you and your gardener making a mistake 😆

What conversation, the tenant probably thinks it was the landlord and vice versa.

Sorry if this has already been said as I haven't read the whole thresd.

It's a myth that home owners are responsible for the fence on the left (or the right depending on which myth you are told)

You only know who owns which fence by looking at your deeds and determining if the fence is on your land or your neighbours.

If you've inadverantly "fixed" your neighbour's fence (assuming it's his and not yours) without his permission, I don't see why he should pay you anything.

He didn't ask you to fix it and he didn't give you permission.

This comes down to communication between you and your gardener. I don't know if it's your fault because you didn't give sufficiently clear instructions or his fault because he's thick.

It's bewteen you and your gardener

You can ask the neighbour nicely, they have no reason to say yes though so it's unlikely to get you anything.

I don't understand why you paid the gardener though. From what you describe it was his mistake, if you made it clear which fence was meant to be replaced then it doesn't matter that you weren't there (unless he had required you to be).
He should be the one fixing it as he didn't do the work he was paid to do.

@ZoobyZoobyZoo I don't think you're understanding the major issue here.

If you piss off the property owner next door, or his tenant..

You could find that they claim you/your gardener stole/damaged their fence - because he did. He took it down, and got rid of it, he did not have permission to do this.

They could force you, legally, to take down the new fence. They could decide to have no fence there at all, leaving you to put that new fence back up a few inches over, up to but not over the boundary line.

So you have two options:

1 - If you are certain that the new fence accidentally put up by your gardener is up to but not over the boundary line - say nothing. Hope for the best.

2 - If you are not sure or you know it is on the boundary line - apologise profusely for your gardeners error, and hope for the best.

At NO POINT should you ask the property owner for a contribution to this new fence. That is guaranteed to piss them off.

Ah, so you want your NEIGHBOUR to pay for your GARDENERS mistake, and not leave YOU out of pocket?

Its the gardeners mistake. He is the one who should pay for it
Nobody else should be out of pocket apart from the person who made the mistake.

True- our three fences are shared

Just to check, because if I'm honest you coming across a bit soft here, when he's doing it for free, that includes the materials right? So you will not be out of pocket whatsoever from his mistake? That's what he needs to do.

You don't have to have a conversation with anyone, you didn't remove and replace your neighbour's fence, the gardener did. It's the gardener who needs to talk to the landlord of the property next door, I would stay out of it if I were you OP.

So its sorted then?

You paid for a fence and have a fence. The gardener who made the mistake is putting it right at no extra cost to you

I'd leave it at that. I wouldn't ask for money from the landlord. They dont actually have to have a fence, they could have gotten rid of the rotten fence and not bothered replacing it if they had wanted, they could have just put string up, so I don't think its right to say just because they now have a new fence out of the mistake they should pay. None of this is their problem

I can’t work out why your neighbour would pay anything. Either you weren’t clear or your gardener made a mistake - so either it’s your bill or the gardener’s bill. I can’t work out how the neighbour has anything to do with it.

The only conversation would be to tell the tenants what happened so they can let the owner know just in case he blames the innocent tenant. Apologise and say if there's any problem let the gardener know.

You’re not going to be able to get him to contribute. He’s not obliged to fix the fence or even have a fence, I don’t think. Certainly not obliged to pay for a fence of your choosing.

You can ask, but that’s about it.

If you explained to the builder what you wanted, I think you aren’t obliged to pay for his time but you’d have to pay for the materials, or get him to move the fence to the other side. But then the neighbour will complain that you have removed his old fence.

Just seen your update - if he’s going to do the correct side free of charge, then you’ve got the fence you paid for. The other fence (on the neighbour’s side) is a free fence. You definitely can’t get the neighbour to contribute in this case.

To what end? You’re surely not going to try to get them to contribute to the costs of a fence you won’t have actually been charged for yourself?
You’re now in the same position that you’d have been if the mistake hadn’t occurred.
Don’t try to capitalise on it.

No I'm not. It's going to be weird though if they ask me about the fence without me explaining first I think.

HE stuffed up! The neighbour doesn’t need to pay!

No I'm not. It's going to be weird though if they ask me about the fence without me explaining first I think.

Yes I'm not sure what I'd do, do you explain to the tenants that your gardener screwed up or do you keep quiet and hope it's never mentioned? I guess it depends on whether or not you get on with the actual neighbours.

The neighbours have had a brand new fence installed to replace the one which was falling to pieces; how awkward do you think the conversation is going to be?!

The neighbours have had a brand new fence installed to replace the one which was falling to pieces; how awkward do you think the conversation is going to be?!

But technically the OP has removed someone else's fence and they could demand that she puts it back to how it was. As tenant neighbours I personally would be thrilled but if they're arseholes they could report it to their arsehole landlord and bring down a lot of trouble onto the OP.

"I've spoken to him and he feels silly but of course he needs paying." Why on earth does he need paying? He's done work you haven't asked him to do HE DOES NOT NEED PAYING and he is a cheeky sod to suggest he does! If there was no ambiguity in what you asked him to do, then he doesn't need paying until he does the job. As for the neighbour, he gets a free fence replacement!