Hi all,
I could really do with some advice or pointing in the right direction as my neighbour’s actions are causing me great anxiety (after what has been the most horrific year of my life already).
I live in a terraced house. My gutter was leaking for some time and the neighbour to my right (as you look at the house) said he’d fix the leak as it was potentially coming from his side. He never fixed it so I decided to get a roofer to try and fix it.
The roofer came to repair the gutter. He advised the roof tiles hadn’t been set out correctly. They do not hang over far enough into the gutter. So he removed the bottom tiles and installed some PVC eave guard so that when water runs off the roof tiles it is directed into the gutter.
Sadly that didn’t fix the issue and his suggestion was to replace the gutter entirely.
Cue a huge rainstorm... my neighbour to the left comes round to tell me whatever work I had done (which was nowhere near where his leak was) has caused his gutter to leak. I was apologetic and concerned. He said he had a guy who could look at it and he’d let me know the outcome. He said this always happened when work was done to the gutter on my house (before I lived here) yet never bothered to tell me that in the two years I’ve been here. He said it cost him £40 a time to fix. Clearly not very happy.
In the meantime I wrote a very nice note to both neighbours, explaining maybe we should have a meeting and see if we could work out a way forward as clearly the gutter was an issue. I even left my phone number. Didn’t hear a peep from either of them. I spoke to my roofer in the meantime and he said the work he did wouldn’t have caused his problem.
Eventually his ‘guy’ came to look and indeed diagnosed the issue as being my fault. They spent ages outside discussing and his ‘guy’ explained his resolution to me afterwards. His suggestion was to put a down pipe on my property to stop the water from my gutter reaching his. When I asked both roofers who have done / are due to do work on my house to fix various problems, they both said that could potentially damage the foundations as there’s no drain and the water would be spilling out onto a concrete drive. Not to mention this wouldn’t solve my problem, so it felt very unfair; especially given the fact I’d reached out and tried to reach a solution that would help us all.
I felt very pressured by said ‘guy’ and I said I’d speak to the neighbour. However, he’s quite a scary bloke (I know I probably need to toughen up) and I’ve been putting it off.
Anyway, I get a note through my door today that his gutter is still leaking because of the work my roofer did and he’s taking it to a solicitor. Cue massive anxiety! I responded with another note, explaining the steps I’d taken to remedy the situation and my concerns regarding fitting a down pipe.
To add insult to injury, I paid out to flash the inner side of his chimney as it was leaking into my attic. It’s still leaking and I’m pretty sure the chimney is the culprit. However, one side of the chimney is technically on my boundary so I sucked it up and paid out. The problem isn’t solved, yet not once have I asked him to contribute towards the work or threatened legal action against him.
I’m a single mother on a low income, I get by and have work done to the house when I can afford it by saving up - I recently had the living room decorated because I’d saved up. No doubt he noticed and thinks I’m rolling in it.
Any advice greatly appreciated. I can’t afford to pay out for legal action, it would cripple me.