Can neighbour force me to rebuild patio.

[AussieManque]

My neighbour claims that our stone patio, which adjoins a walk of her house, was built too high, above her damp course, thus causing damp in her house.

The patio was there when I bought the house. It was put in by the previous owners.

Does she have any recourse?

Surely you want to know that development on your property, even if it predates you, isn’t causing damp or difficulty for others? You’ll need specialist and independent verification obviously but starting by asking if she ‘has recourse’ feels a bit slopey shouldered. How would you feel in her shoes?

She should provide evidence and you may have to then agree how to fund any necessary repairs. But I would try to work with her rather than avoid. If it needs doing it will only become more expensive in time.

Why was she speaking to a man who fixed your chimney? And I'd be having stern words with him telling her your patio is a problem, what's that got to do with him fixing your chimney? Sounds like he's stirred the shit pot.
When you bought your house presumably you had a structural survey, did survey say anything about patio laid wrong/causing problems. Can you post a pic on here

Yes, this definitely requires a photo or two.

Dig the gravel down, see what’s underneath and whether it’s above her DPC or blocking her airbricks.

Post a pic, it might help us advise you

How old are the properties?

I can see the DPC in my house its a line of black material.

Assuming the neighbour has a DPC I would suggest trying to see where it is, if its below the patio/gravel then you may well have breached it.

The fact that you bought from some Doer Uppers doesnt fill me with confidence

Could the damp complaint just be a ruse, because she doesn't like the view you have of her garden if your patio is noticeably higher than her own property?

There is no neighbour's garden to see, the wall is the back of her house @AntiqueBabyLoanSmurf. No windows facing me. However she does have two vents (look like bathroom extractor vents) directly onto my patio at chest height, which I'm pretty sure isn't allowed.

My house is at least 100 years old, I think hers is newer but both stone. The wall in question is stone.

No idea why she expected the chimney guy to pass on the message, anyway he turned out to be a cowboy, the chimney was fixed back in December.

I did dig into the gravel and came across some membrane but as I don't really know what I'm looking for I didn't try to disturb it. I will contact my sellers and asked if they fitted a french drain. I don't recall anything in the survey relating to the patio. Will take a daylight photo tomorrow.

1 is the top of the gravel above or below the DPC
2 where Is the gravel bit in relation to the boundary?

The house may well not have a DPC given what you say about its age

The obvious question is what was there before - in particular is the patio higher than whatever was there before

This

If your patio has caused issues then I’d say you’d need to make good but she’ll need to prove it

Is the membrane causing esyer to pool against her wall rayher than draining away.
In answer yo your question, yes of course you have psy to sort out the oatio if it's founf yo be causing a problem to your neighbours housr

This exact thing happened to me (damp in a ground floor room caused by the DPC being breached in a neighbours (front) garden, along a flower bed strip next to the path to the front door).
I spoke with my neighbour but he was a bit of a nightmare landlord and didn't really engage. In the end I just let myself into the front garden (with permission from the tenants) and dug out the gravel/soil a bit until it was under the DPC. There was years worth of build up there so it had obviously once upon a time been at the right level.
Couple of sunny months and the damp completely cleared up, that was 5 years ago and it's not been an issue again.

If it's something simple you can possibly find a way to try and address this without going completely OTT or really letigious unnecessarily.

I was going to say exactly this, you don't need to remove the whole patio.

Why would you go to insurance. That is not an insured risk.

Do no go to a damp specialist. It’s their job to sell chemical DPC. That is not the solution that’s covering the issue and unnecessary.

as others have said, check the levels. And tbh if the patio is causing an issue for them, it probably is you too.

you really are best working this through calmly with them and fixing the source not bodging it with a damp company.
damp will be there for the level of the patio, blocked gutters, blown render or other reasons. Find the reason and deal with that. Eg an Elastoplast (damp specialist /chemical injections) won’t solve a broken leg.

You need a surveyor who specialises in damp problems not a damp proofing company. She needs to sort that ( and pay for it) before you can agree next steps. Tell her that politely.

I don’t agree.
The OP needs to get a first opinion from a reputable builder, whether of not her path is constructed correctly. That membrane she discovered might only be for weeds.
If the house is solid wall, then having anything abutting will cause issues. Much better to have an air gap.
We need those photos.

But they could confirm if it's your responsibility. After we had new windows installed, my NDN claimed that we'd caused a crack in a bedroom wall (which btw was on the opposite side of the house) I told him to contact my insurers, and never heard another word.

Wow ! If there is no damp a damp proofer if they are professional won't do this !!!
Damp.proofers are busy people they don't need to sell damp proofing people have damp homes looking for a damp problem.is not what they do !!!
People seek them out !
If u need a professional Google them and look at reviews ,!
I know one who went to look at a property and he was honest and told me the problem that I thought was damp wasn't it was something to do with the floor and it was a leaking pipe ,! And told me to get a plumber !!!

Brilliant advice from Friendlygingercat

Why would a reputable builder give any different advice from a surveyor though?

Does nobody proof read before hitting Post?
Or were you intending to post in Dutch?

They can force you to retroactively put proper drainage in IF it is the cause.

Even if stones are above the damp proof line then it can cause issues. Personally I would consult my own damp proof expert to assess what is in there and make sure its up to spec. But first steps would be to ask her for the formal survey that puts your patio at fault.

I would also track water in the next storm. So get it on film that there is no standing water in the gravel, that the water on the patio drains else where, make sure that she has no overhead guttering that is leaking and check for patterns of water on the wall itself ie does it face the predominant wind pattern and takes the brunt of rain and wind etc. I would also check if there are any rainwater drains at the corners of the wall in question.

There are so many factors at play its difficult often to pinpoint sources of damp and some less knowledgeable people are likely to go for what is the "norm" in issues and spout off about it without actually being an expert or having any evidence.

🙄The poster might have literacy problems or be dyslexic. Put a sock in the bitchiness.