Neighbours and fence painting

agathamum24 · 2026-05-01T10:08:02+00:00

The fence in question is there fence, they are responsible for it. We are in the middle of re-doing our garden. We’ve bought sleepers which at the moment are not where they are going to be permanently. The neighbours have painted the fence and spattered paint all over the sleepers which will now cost me more money to replace at least 2 of them. Would you approach them and ask for them to contribute towards the cost of replacement? We don’t know them, they own their house, we live in social housing (not that that should matter). I don’t want any issues, we’re just happy to live our lives and keep ourselves to ourselves but this has upset me as we have (overall) spent a fair amount of money on the garden.

rwalker · 01/05/2026 11:09

Not great but do they actually need replacing won’t it sand off

Namechangetheyarewatching · 01/05/2026 11:09

Can't you just sand them down and take off the paint?

7238SM · 01/05/2026 11:11

I agree, have you tried a pressure washer or sanding them? How did they get paint on them if they were on your side of the fence?

Doris86 · 01/05/2026 11:26

Only 2 have paint on them? Sand it off or put them the other way round so paint not visible when installed?

cinquanta · 01/05/2026 11:32

I had this happen to me. Brown fence paint splattered over everything in my garden, the back wall of my house and my kitchen window. Unfortunately, I was away when they did it so it dried on hard.

To add insult to injury, it was my fence and the paint on her side dribbled through the gaps and ran down the fence on my side.

I approached my neighbour and she couldn’t have cared less. Said her dad did it.

Oxo01 · 01/05/2026 12:01

Do some of the ideas people have given and hopefully it will be ok

But i would take pictures before you try to fix them

Maybe tell/ show them and say if you cant put them right they will need to make good / contribute some cost.

At least if you told / showed them they may be a little bit more carefull when doing any DIY in the future that could affect your property.

ThisMustBeMyDream · 01/05/2026 12:04

We had this, a brand new patio costing 10k (I'd never had that kind of money in my life, so it was a BIG thing for me!) Splattered with her stupid brown fence paint. My very resourceful DH managed to get it off the patio and sleepers with some stuff he uses when painting his warhammer stuff. I'll ask him this evening what it is and post it. It came off brilliantly. Thank fuck. Because I was ready for hell to be unleashed!

BurntBroccoli · 01/05/2026 12:08

ThisMustBeMyDream · 01/05/2026 12:04

We had this, a brand new patio costing 10k (I'd never had that kind of money in my life, so it was a BIG thing for me!) Splattered with her stupid brown fence paint. My very resourceful DH managed to get it off the patio and sleepers with some stuff he uses when painting his warhammer stuff. I'll ask him this evening what it is and post it. It came off brilliantly. Thank fuck. Because I was ready for hell to be unleashed!

How does a neighbour manage to splatter paint over a next door patio? Were they doing it with a spray or something?

Credittocress · 01/05/2026 12:46

ThisMustBeMyDream · 01/05/2026 12:04

We had this, a brand new patio costing 10k (I'd never had that kind of money in my life, so it was a BIG thing for me!) Splattered with her stupid brown fence paint. My very resourceful DH managed to get it off the patio and sleepers with some stuff he uses when painting his warhammer stuff. I'll ask him this evening what it is and post it. It came off brilliantly. Thank fuck. Because I was ready for hell to be unleashed!

You’ve managed to find the only use for a man who plays warhammer 🤣🤣🤣

Leeds157 · 01/05/2026 15:48

Our neighbours did this, on the side of our fence that is in their garden, must have used a spray and it was and still has left small splatters over our patio, and conservatory.
we decided at the time not to say anything as it likely wasn’t intentional and we prioritised harmony.

fast forward a year, they own the allocated parking space in front of our kitchen window, we cleaned our wheelie bin in front of our house, some of the water landed in their space, as gravity tends to make water run a little, and they complained and now ignores us totally 🙄. My lesson was I shouldn’t have let the paint go if I’d known they were so uptight and petty

whichwayisuptoday · 01/05/2026 15:53

Leeds157 · 01/05/2026 15:48

Our neighbours did this, on the side of our fence that is in their garden, must have used a spray and it was and still has left small splatters over our patio, and conservatory.
we decided at the time not to say anything as it likely wasn’t intentional and we prioritised harmony.

fast forward a year, they own the allocated parking space in front of our kitchen window, we cleaned our wheelie bin in front of our house, some of the water landed in their space, as gravity tends to make water run a little, and they complained and now ignores us totally 🙄. My lesson was I shouldn’t have let the paint go if I’d known they were so uptight and petty

Similar happened to us. We had cement all over our upstairs bedroom window when our immediate neighbours had work done. We let it go.

Fast forward a couple of years and neighbours further down the road were having work done which sent dust over several cars including our immediate neighbour's. The immediate neighbour was very rude to us suggesting it was our fault!

Hotafternoon · 01/05/2026 15:55

I'd just had my patio extended and the whole thing cleaned and sealed.

The decorator painting the kitchen washed his brushes and roller out then obviously flicked them vigorously to get rid of excess water, leaving teeny white paint splatters over the paving at edge of the patio which I didn't notice for a while and on some of my plants.

That was 2 years ago and it's faded away now but was really annoying at the time. 🙄

Threesloths · 01/05/2026 16:14

The kid next door got hold of a spay can of fence paint and sprayed it all over our new patio furniture and up the back door and windows.

ThisMustBeMyDream · Yesterday 11:18

https://www.wilko.com/en-uk/wilko-all-purpose-paint-varnish-stripper-500ml/p/0299049
This is the product he used. He said paint it on, leave it for an hour, then put a 2nd coat and leave for another hour then wash it off.

@Credittocress tell me about it 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣. He doesn't even look like your traditional geek. He catfished me 😂.