Neighbour dispute

[finallyhappyinlife]

In may 2024 we had our drive paved by a local businessman . We are very happy with the work he did for us however the white residue from the hardcore he used underneath the blocks has run onto our neighbours drive leaving a strip of lighter tarmac which shows up when her drive is dry . She is extremely unhappy as expected and I have made several attempts to get the workmen back to discuss this issue however he flatly refuses . I have been totally civil with neighbour agreeing that it’s unacceptable and I have tried many many times to get him to sort this issue . I have ended up falling out with the owner of the business as I believe he is totally out of order . He refuses to speak to my neighbour saying she is just jealous of us having the work done . This has caused us immense stress and she has stopped speaking to us . Earlier in the year her son said she was going to have a fence installed between us and was that ok ? I said that’s up to you as we cannot stop your mum doing anything on her own property and it was no business of ours . This fence has never materialised .
Now today I have received a recorded letter saying she has been advised to get 3 quotes for re tarmacing the whole drive . The quotes range from £8800 to £11000 as she is asking us to pay for this work .
She is asking us to respond within 14 days or she will take it to small claims court .
I feel she should be sending said letter to the workmen who did the work and ruined her drive . Am I wrong ? Why should we pay out £10000 approx for the workmen’s error . And advice would be much appreciated on our rights and the next steps for us to take .

Have you tried looking on Google maps? Depending when the last pictures were taken you may see the driveway before yours was installed.

I've worked in the building industry for nearly 30 years and have never seen tarmac ruined by hardcore minerals. Personally, I think it looks like an area where water has sat over many years, from rainfall. I assume your driveway slopes down towards the road?

(Part of the point of trying to involve the contractor in resolving the matter would be to look to avoid you needing to get involved in the dispute about what needs to be done to fix it. If there is a dispute about 'fixing' vs re-tarmacing, then it is better that the NDN and the contractor have this dispute)

I echo using Google maps street view and look at old pictures to see how the drive looked before your block paving was installed.

Id also like to point out that if it was your hardcore causing this staining the pavement at the end of your drive would also be stained and yet that looks perfectly black in the pictures.

I think your neighbour is trying it on in order to get a new drive.

I think a fair compromise would be to get someone to restore it back to how it was previously NOT provide a brand new shiny drive . How that can be achieved is another matter .

I do too I think that’s been her intention all along

see if I was the neighbour, I'd be saying "Why should take on the stress of chasing the contractor, given that you say you have been trying for 18 months and failing? This is YOUR fault, YOU sort it out!"

You don't seem like you want to resolve this issue at all. You have taken no positive action to actually resolving the problem. Chasing the contractor again and again is proving a waste of time as he is ignoring you.

I think after 3 months of the accident you should have engaged a professional to assess the damage and another one to chase the contractor i.e. a solicitor.

You say your DH has washed her drive but professionals use stronger cleaning materials and have much higher powered washing machines - i think using a little home washer would be a complete waste of time.

Taking 18 months to effectively do nothing is a pretty poor show.

Our drive was marked the same with greyish parts before we had the job done . I have a picture as our drive was being dug up which shows that but it won’t let me upload any more pics on here . When we had grass there before it did get very wet in that same area

So what would be your resolution to this please

Have you any suggestions on the best way to remove the staining ?

You could try brick acid (hydrochloric acid) on it, that is a fix we use to get rid of cement stains on patios, drives etc.

You can get it at B&Q, screwfix etc, wear thick gloves, goggles etc and follow the instructions.

It may well dissolve away the stone particles that have bonded to the tar, it won't damage the tar.

but the OP would need the neighbour's permission?

Understood, but the answer to that is that assuming that the job has been badly done and caused damage to the NDN's drive, it ought to be clear that the contractor is responsible. It is less clear cut that OP is; she didn't direct the contractor to do this negligently, nor was she responsible for how it was done. She might have a liability in nuisance, as others have suggested, but its less clear cut. If I were the NDN, I would be pursuing the contractor, and hoping that (as others have said) their insurers / loss adjusters take it over, in which case they might well sort it quite quickly.

There is no case here, the OPs drive is higher than the neighbours, the water run off is carrying fine particles of the substrate - this happens, it can't be guarded against. Tarmac in particular shows such staining, its wholly accepted as "oh well" in the trades.

It’s up to £10,000 for small claims x

So your view is the neighbour just needs to suck up having a stained driveway that she's unhappy about?

I would get some quotes from professional companies detailing the cause of the staining and the cost to remedy it and if it was caused by your tradesmen.
If it was caused by your tradesmen, then you do need to make good your neighbour's driveway (not replace it) preferably by using a tradesperson who specialises in this field not just buying a can of stuff on Amazon.
It's then up to you as to whether you want to take the tradesperson who did your driveway to the small claim's court.
Your neighbour has no contract with your tradesmen so saying that you are making efforts to get them back is irrelevant to your neighbours position.
They will look to you to rectify the situation.

hang on...... prior to the OP having work done, there was no staining from run off and now after the actions of the OP's choice of contractor, there is runoff and staining. How can it not be the responsibilty of the OP, with whom the contractor had the contract?

But the problem wont be solved by painting the drive because whatever is causing the stain now will stain the drive again once its painted over.

yup this. Just cleaning the drive may be appropriate but the cause of the staining needs fixing.

You need to get quotes from experts on how to fix with the drive. If they all say the only way is to resurface it then that is what you will have to do. Legally you having work done has damaged their property. I appreciate it is still functioning but unsightly but you are still liable. It is then a separate matter that you go after your contractors to recoup the damages from them.

The reason I asked about the drainage is that I thought it is in the building regs to have a large soak away dug in when installing a new drive? The water run off to the street and neighbours does have to be considered.

the cause of the staining needs fixing.

This is what I would have thought.

Surely there is something wrong with the way it is draining?

I really don’t think it’s still happening as the stain hasn’t got any worse or spread . We are not confident to offer painting as should she not be happy after it goes on again or if it needed re doing each year it could go on and on

The OP has already told us that there is a "drain" running alongside the sleepers that form the boundary between her drive and her neighbours.