Neighbours garden trellis

[minmoo2]

Advice wanted- my neighbour got new fencing put up last year, the guy who was doing it popped round to say she wanted trellis added and wanted to paint it a very dark grey and was I okay with this. I said I’d rather not as it will look really weird against my fence, but he did say he couldn’t really only paint half one colour and not the other as it would bleed through. Fast forward I agreed and job done. However, because it wasn’t put on using proper tall posts and just stuck on, half of it fell off during winter, leaving a very tired looking fence.
Fast forward & about a month ago, I came downstairs to find a man in my garden who had lifted up the fence panel to go underneath to let himself in! He was drilling ugly wooden blocks onto my side of the fence so he could attach her new trellis!! I said erm no, that looks awful & you can’t just climb under my fence!! He told me my neighbour said it was ok for him to go in!! Anyway he took the bits off and went back & added it all on her side & the new trellis, which was unpainted so didn’t match the stuff that was still holding on from winter. Last week I came home to see she’s had someone paint her side and left mine, so my side is half done with paint drips too!
I’m actually a bit baffled & shocked, we’ve never had any kind of falling out, we’ve spoken small talk before etc but she now runs inside if she sees me (obviously knows she’s behaved weirdly!) what should I do? I’m happy to just paint it myself so save bother, but I don’t know what paint it is & need it to colour match & also kind of wonder why I should be paying for a pot of paint etc. it’s making me feel really uncomfortable having a neighbour who doesn’t seem to care about consulting a neighbour, I can’t understand why she wouldn’t knock & say, so you want your side painted (just the trellis bits not the fence) or even acknowledge that it’s like that. I feel if I just go & start painting it with no communication I’m behaving as oddly as her & it makes it even odder! Help!

If it isn't your fence, attaching the blocks to your side was perfectly OK. You didn't have any right to say no to them. Or to the painting.

He shouldn't have just come into your garden though. This and the fact that you complained about the blocks is probably why she only painted half and is avoiding you.

You can't paint it without asking as it isn't yours.

She should really have put the trellis on posts, not attach it to the fence panels.

She can have her fence painted whatever colour she likes, she can also have whatever she likes stuck on from your side, as long as it doesn't go over your boundary, but she cannot have her workmen enter your property without permission.

It's her fence, she can do as she likes.
The only thing she can't do is enter your garden without permission.

Well when the man came to do the fencing job you threw him out of your garden and refused to let him put up the posts that would support the fence properly on your side, which you're perfectly entitled to do, as it's your land, but how was he then supposed to paint the back of the trellis? You can't have it both ways. It sounds like she feels awkward about the way it all went and probably is avoiding you because she doesn't want a confrontation.

You seem to be forgetting it’s hers and you’ve no say, which is why she’s likely uncomfortable with you, you’re acting like it’s yours and you can say no, which is odd.

you can bar them entry to your garden which you did, another reason she’s avoiding you.

but do try to remember it’s her property and you can’t paint it unless she says so and she can paint it any colour she wishes.

Whose fence is it? You said she put the fence in, but later in the post you refer to it as being yours.

If it's her fence then she can attach what she wants to it, she can lift the fence panel out of she wants and she can paint it whatever colour she likes.

The only things she can't do, are overhang your boundary - so if the trellis posts he was attaching, protruded over into your side of the boundary then she can't have them there ( that assumes that the fence is right on the boundary line). And when painting she needs to make sure that there is no damage caused to your stuff. So if there are paint drips on the fence - fine, it's her fence, but if the paint drips on to your garden furniture (for example) then it's not fine.

The responses are a bit harsh. I'd have been pissed off to come home and found she'd told a workman it was okay for him to be in my garden. The right thing to do is to talk to you and explain what she wants to do to support the fence and ask you if and when he can enter to do it. If I was going to paint my fence I would ask if it's okay and because of bleeding I would offer to paint the other side too.

It looks fine. Put some plants in if you don't like it

While I agree that she absolutely shouldn’t have let anyone into your garden without permission, you know she’s put the trellis up for some privacy from the kids using the trampoline, right? Also, I wouldn’t worry about the colour of the trellis. It will go grey after it’s been rained on and in the sun. That happens pretty fast. I would take the opportunity to grow some clematis. Pretty flowers and peace and privacy.

That's annoying.
He should have painted both sides of the trellis before fixing them.
I'd ask neighbour to get the other side painted but she might refuse out of spite.
To draw a line under it, ask the neighbour for some of remaining paint and paint your side the same colour.
It's all well and good to say her fence she can do what she likes but it looks awful on your side.

She already chucked a guy out of her garden, wtf would they ask to come in and paint it. Clearly they didn’t expect her to do it.

and agree with pp. it’s going up for privacy due to the trampoline

@Fattygettingthinner my understanding is that the guy went in the garden without prior agreement so OP was right to send him away, especially as he was installing posts on her side of the fence without agreement or notice.

Mine too. Doesn’t change the fact she chucked him out though?

Also, why tf didn’t he paint if before he hung it up? It’s not rocket surgery.

Sounds like the neighbour wanted the blocks on OP's side as they would look a bit shit on her side so I agree with OP telling him to bugger off.

I think the dark looks ok viewed from your side. Just ask if there's any paint left so you can do your side.

However maybe she wanted the trellis to screen your kids on the trampoline from her garden...

If the posts were on the neighbour's land along with the rest of the fence then they were absolutely fine and she had no right to object.

Obviously the gardener shouldn't have gone onto the OP's land though.

If her blocks were actually going in your garden, then quite right to tell her no. And it's bloody rude to just give her workman permission to come into your garden.
The solution is to put your own fence up that is wholly on your property and then you can paint it any colour you like and grow tall plants up it .

Why don't you pop round, and ask her what colour the paint is, and whether it's ok to paint your side so it all matches. While you're at it, ask her is she has any paint left over, save you buying an extra pot.

It's her fence and she can nail things to it or paint it however she wishes. It isn't up to you.

Just to clarify, I didn’t bar anyone access to my garden & they didn’t need access- they were never putting up proper supportive posts, she added the trellis to the fence and 2nd time round needed big blocks of wood to hold them in place, which they just entered my garden under the fence to add on, so yes it’s on my boundary very much so. I didn’t throw anyone out, I asked why he was in my garden which I imagine everyone would do if you woke up to a stranger in your garden with a hammer! And he said ‘don’t you want the blocks in your garden’ to which I replied, no they look awful & no one asked if they could come in my garden! I totally get you can add whatever you want, but on the other side I would never half paint trellis and whack it up knowing my other neighbours have to look at that!
And re the trampoline it went up way after the trellis did, she also has one in her garden!

And I don’t want to paint the fence, just the trellis that has gone up without paint on it so half isn’t grey and half isn’t plain wood

Painting trellis is horrible. I am just doing it right now.....
Before attaching it to my fence/panel.

(But trellis looks horrible when gaps are left because the posts are shorter. Looks like a shabby job all round.)

She also painted the other fence that belongs to her other neighbours without their permission and they went nuts, hence finding it all a bit strange.

Oh God - weird neighbours.

I know that only half of one of my (and they are mine, my boundary, panels purchased by me) panels is painted that awful red colour. The people who did it don't even live there any more.

I'm surrounded!

You have my sympathies (to quote Ash/Alien).