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 .

@finallyhappyinlife That's great. BUT, you now need to put in writing to both parties (i.e the neighbour and the contractor), your understanding and recollection of todays conversation, what was offered and why she rejected it.

But before you give her the letter, email the contractor with a copy and ask him to confirm he is content that the the letter is a true reflection of his proposed solution. Be aware you are fighting on two fronts here. It will be you she takes to court not the contractor so you need to tie down both the neighbour and the contractor on the fact of how the situation arose and what solution was offered by the contractor because if she sues you, you may have to sue him if you lose the case.

Tell the neighbour that unless her reply includes information to the contrary you will assume all parties are in agreement with what was said, also apologise for the delay. When you send the letter to the neighbour, also copy in the contractor to the final version and ask for an acknowledgement. You need to record todays discussion as they may claim at a later date that something different was said.

In that letter you need to in include photos of her drive beforehand, cover the age/state of it and photos now, explain what the Contractor offered as a solution i.e. repaint it or re-tarmac the surface of the affected part but also point out the potential issues with this as explained by the contractor and make it her choice, so she can't come back later and claim her drive is different shades. Also cover off that the contractor has never had this problem before.

However you might want to check that your contractor has allowed for proper drainage channels.

Acknowledge, enclose and refuse the quotes for the replacement of her drive (stating her figures), saying that you feel this is excessive given the nature of the issue and the age of her drive. Explain you feel an appropriate solution has been offered.

Then give her so many days to respond in writing (say 14 days) so it doesn't drag on.

I'm not legally qualified but this is what I would do.

Good Luck!

Well apparently said son is a builder and uses that stuff everyday so god knows y he doesn’t know 🤷🏽‍♀️

Well apparently said son is a builder and uses that stuff everyday

Didn't realise that.

Would be interesting to see pics of the drive beforehand!

The very end of their drive, past where yours ends seems to look a similar colour!

Make sure you have today's meeting in writing as suggested above so there's no misunderstanding of what's being offered, if the contractor does not think it's the hard-core or his work then he is being generous offering to make good any staining/fading. I don't see how tarmacking or skimming over the faded area would work, wouldn't that just make the Surface uneven or are there dips in the drive.

How does the son know what hard-core was used, if he really is a builder then he knows a tarmac driveway needs regular maintenance

A million bucks says the son is full of BS and hasnt a damn clue about anything - regardless of whether he is a builder (or not),

google street view would soon prove who is correct

Good news that you've made some progress with your tradesperson. I think you've now offered a very decent solution. That will definitely protect you if she does indeed go ahead with court action.

Its going nowhere near court.

If the CFC NDN was that adamant about being in the right, she'd have launched proceedings ages ago.

As it is, NDN is a fucking BS chancer and is probably going to end up with fuck all - deservedly so!

I’ve also spoken to a drive specialist today who says he can remove the stain . He’s offered to call round and see both of us and even do a test patch first . I’ve been round the house twice now to discuss when she will be at home so the man can visit and got no answer yet I know she’s home as seen her . Also she has a ring doorbell so she can clearly see me .

Oh definitely

Put a note through her door, film yourself doing it and follow up with a text

When something happens, record it in writing and when appropriate copy it in writing to the neighbour/contractor. Do not rely on your memory, document it. And if you have found a specialist who will get the stain out, who is paying for it, you or your original contractor - get this agreed and documented even if neighbour doesn't go for it.

Did the specialist know what the cause is, like ppl says document everything, she has been given several choices, she has overplayed her hand but she has waited a long time and it's only sprung into action after her threat of sc court.

You/your husband could have done this before now?

Agreed

Agreed … he feels it could be the dust residue from the hardcore and with is being higher it’s ran off onto her drive.

If that's the case then the original contractor has to fix it at no cost to anyone, he needs to come back and take another look at remedial work and see if it needs sealing, I'm no expert but our ndn hard-core never leaked.

@finallyhappyinlife did you get a resolution in the end??

Well an update . The drive cleaning specialist was due to come over last week but we had snow so he came yesterday . He did a test patch and it’s removed the stain but NDN is now saying she’s not happy with the colour it’s gone . It’s like a grey/brown colour . She wants it black 🤷🏽‍♀️. I’ll enclose a pic of the small patch he did . So we’ve offered to get the drive painted and now the offer to clean the drive and she’s still not happy . I’ve text her today to ask if she’s happy for the clean to go ahead and no reply as yet .
I really do think she’s wanting what is unachievable and is still wanting a brand new tarmaced drive . Her reaction to these offerings confirm this I think . If she declines both I feel we have no option but to take us to court should she want to as I feel we have been reasonable ( albeit later than we should have )

The whole drive would be cleaned so it would be one uniform colour all over

Would it be cleaned then painted black

Not sure about that as she’s unhappy to have it painted as said don does his every 6 months she says .

Who is paying for the cleaning and painting if she agrees, is your contractor who laid your driveway paying for it all.

Will you have to keep cleaning and repainting it over and over again?