Neighbour painted our fence

[pinkjessie]

Our Neighbour has painted our fence on their side - which is absolutely fine but they have also done the posts on our side and its black! Looks awful from our side. Advice on what to do/say to them. We put the fence in before they moved in. (Looks worse in real life the contrast to the natural wood and black paint).

That isn’t true though.

Nope, it isn’t.

I would be annoyed too @pinkjessie and agree natural wood looks much better. I would politely point out it is your fence and now looks a mess your side and could they please ensure it is put back to how it was on your side at least.

It doesn't look bad to me... as a PP said, more or less looks like shadow?

Growing something there (climbers etc) would look really nice. The problem is the fence looking so stark and bare that you notice the side of the posts being a different colour.

What isn’t true?
If the boundary condition ( fence / wall) between both myself and my neighbours properties needed to be changed, we would both need to come to an agreement about what should be erected

Are you saying you can do what you want to a boundary fence that your neighbour paid for and erected?

Yes, within limits, obviously cause no damage

I planted a hedge at one of my boundaries, the neighbours are perfectly entitled to cut their side if they wish

The way these things are sorted (without getting legal) is just a friendly neighbourly chat so that you can both come to some agreement

I would think what happened is they started painting and then realised that certain edges were going to be seen by both sides but continued as they had already started

Painting someone’s fence is entirely different to maintaining a hedge on your side.

Painting the fence that someone paid for is completely out order.

@pinkjessie

I agree with other posters here. Your fence needs painting, and soon! It looks awful! 😬

It is not, if you erect a fence at a boundary, the people on the other side have a say in the look of it, if you do not allow them to have a say then they are in their rights to request that it be removed and something erected that you both agree on
It is a boundary contrition, either you have a friendly discussion to agree on something or it gets legal !
As the fence was there when the neighbours moved in, it is perfectly understandable that they understood that the side on their property was theirs to paint if they wish

It needs explicit permission. You can’t just decide what you want to do to someone else’s property as and when you feel like it. Imagine if everyone did that.

I did say up thread that the way to sort these things is to have a polite discussion before hand but they certainly have a say in what happens on their side, It would be stupid to not allow them to have a say as they could request for it to be removed and replaced with something that you both agree on

If you built it on a boundary, then it is half on their property and they have rights

@Someone2025 you are wrong! A boundary fence (at least wherever I've lived in the UK) is on the property of the person who erected it. It belongs to them. If their neighbour doesn't like it - tough. If the neighbour wants to paint it they have to ask permission from the person who owns the fence. If they want to attach anything to it (and that includes climbing plants) they have to ask permission. How would you feel if somebody rocked up and painted your front door an outrageous colour? It's the same principle- your front door belongs to you the fence belongs to the person whose boundary it marks.

Thanks for this. that poster keeps ‘moving the goalposts’ with certain language. None of which would stand up in court. They can try and they can pretend ignorance but the law is there for anyone interested in understanding it.

I think you’re either being deliberately obtuse for some reason or you have some skin in the game, but you are wrong.

I must admit I learned this to my embarrassment when we painted the garden wall. Because it had been in situ for some years, the neighbours wanted control of the colour we painted it on our side, even though they can't see our side of it. This had never crossed my mind before and I was surprised to learn it was a real thing!

This. Ask 'em to match the green of your side.

It could be a lot worse ... at my last place, I painted my side of the slatted fence white. I didn't realise my paint had gone between the slats, leaving next door with splodgy white stripes all the way along 😬

I was really sorry and asked what they'd like me to do about it, but they calmed down and painted their side white. Phew!!

It's a relatively easy fix in your case.

Perhaps they weren’t aware it is your fence
Nevertheless they should know from their purchase details who owns the boundary line and should have asked you
I would tell them it’s your fence and you didn’t ask for them to paint it. I would ask them to remove the paint on your side or paint in a colour to match yours with your agreement before they do it after seeing the colour
Do Not allow them to pressure wash it as it will remove the green and your side and will look awful.

Tell them you want it back to how it looked ( colour wise ) before they painted your side.

How sad that so many people these days seem to lack awareness

Respectfully OP while I understand where you're coming from, it's still a boundary fence and your neighbours can't be forced to look at the algae just because you erected the fence.

I guess if you really wanted to get legal you could sue them?!

A more practical solution though would be accepting that it's unfair on your neighbours to be forced to look at algae infested fence posts. It would have been better if they asked you first but they didn't. Hardly the crime of the century, and hardly anything worth falling out with the neighbours.

The practical solution that avoids awkward conversations is to paint over just the offending posts. Go for a mid-dark green colour so that it will blend with your algae infested panels (I'm not having a go! This would blend best) but it will also satisfy your neighbours in the sense that it will be paint they're looking at, not algae

As an aside, I get that you have lots od fences but I wonder how your neighbours feel looking at algae posts but not being allowed to paint them, while you're also refusing to paint them

It's not great sadly and while you might (?) have the legal bit on your side, it's not very neighbourly of you to just say "nope, I prefer it shabby, I won't paint it, and you're not allowed to paint it either cause it's mine" because it's not nice to be forced to look at something that's unsightly

Don’t be idiotic, it entirely depends on where it is built, if it is built on the boundary it is half on the neighbours property and an agreement of some sort needs to be made

If the OP built it on the boundary then they need to understand that the neighbours have a say in what happens, if they built it entirely on their own property ( therefore not the boundary) then they can say to the neighbours that the fence belongs to them ( and they are not to alter) and the neighbours can erect their own fence on their side ( on their property) if they wish,

The OP needs to clarify exactly where this was built as when the neighbours bought the property they would have expect that everything within their boundary line was their property and that includes half a wall / fence that was on their side

I have no idea who built the boundary wall in my back garden as it was there when I bought the property but as it is on the boundary then my side of the wall is mine to treat / paint / plaster as I wish

The thing is you really can’t just paint other people’s property

Boundary structures are so tricky in this respect

No one is being an idiot but you. With all your frothing and bluster, you are wrong. The facts are all there for you to see. What are you hoping to gain with this? Get rid of your ego.

Report to the post office.

The deeds will show who owns the boundary irrespective of who paid for the fence/hedge or wall.

It is highly unlikely OP that you own the boundary for all of your garden - be worth checking your deeds before you start kicking off with anyone

Looks green to me Where is the black?