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Hi all,
This is my first posting on this site and i hoping someone here can point me to the right direction with my situation. I'm going to try and make this as short as possible.
My neighbor is a real pain. The past three years he's been complaining to the town about my gutters. My house was renovated about 28 years ago. I got permits for everything from the house dormer to driveway. Just so you know, we don't get along. I don't pay no mind to him. I just go about my business. He moved into the house next to me about 8 - 10 years ago and for the past three years complaining about a flood in his basement and pointing the blame to me.
The town has inspected my gutter 3 times. At least once a year. Two different inspectors and one Town engineer has inspected my gutter. The two town inspectors said it was fine and they don't see anything wrong. The town engineer said it was fine as well. The other day he filed another complaint and a another inspector recently came. This inspector told me that neighbor can always complain and they will continue to re-open the case. I don't know what to do because now the inspector is saying if i get a cemented dry-well 6 by 6 and point all my gutters he can tell the neighbor it can't be me.
Here's what i currently have at my 1,900 sqft house. The property is 50 x 100. I have two gutters on each side of the front pointing to my front yard. I also have two gutters on each side in my backyard leading into a two separate 5x5 dry-well's. The new inspector is telling me to add another dry-well. A cemented 6x6 dry-well and connect all existing dry well's and gutters to it. This sounds crazy to me. My question is do i need to do this? Can i get fined, if i don't? Should i get legal advice?
confused here. Does he think your drywells are leaking, or does he think the gutters pointing to the front of the house are causing him problems ?
Can't you just to go the Home Depot and get those wide hoses and divert the water coming out of the gutters somewhere else ? (or cut the cutter leading into the dry well and divert the water if that is the issue)?
I have no tolerance for the call the town type of people. Have a friend or relative vandalize their property wile you are away and can't get blamed. They should get the message. Call the town types are cowards, they won't retaliate.
OP, what evidence (if any) did he have to submit to the Town along with his complaint? Photographs taken during rainstorms showing the water flowing from your gutters onto his property? No? Then I see no reason for you to be required to do anything.
Alternatively, YOU could take some pictures during the next few storms showing that no water is coming from your gutters or drywells onto any surface part of his property, and if you hear from the Town again, show the inspector your own photographic proof. Make sure the photos have a date on them though, and take then during more than one rainstorm to show that it doesn't depend on how hard or how long it was raining.
Basement water is difficult to diagnose without getting someone in with specialized imaging equipment which I have a hunch your neighbor never bothered to do. Is your lot higher than/graded down toward his? That alone doesn't mean his basement water is coming from your property; he could have an underground spring beneath his basement. I'm dealing with a similar situation and my property is as flat as a pancake just like everyone else's anywhere near me; turns out there is a small pool/spring under just one portion of MY basement. Has nothing to do with the grading. It clearly showed up on thermal imaging when I called in the right person. It can be remediated but the work is not cheap. Sounds like your neighbor is looking for anyone else but himself to be the responsible party for a water problem that may be originating on his own lot.
Sorry, i didn't want to make the story too long because i wasn't sure if anyone would read it.
My neighbor is stating that the right side of my house is the problem. He's saying that water from my gutter going to his house. My gutter point to my backyard. I originally had a gutter with a 6 foot extension leading to my backyard. I extended my house about 8 feet back, when i did my dormer about 28 years ago. My gutter is pretty far away from his house because of this. I recently changed it to two dry-wells this year when i had my Cambridge pavers on sand installed. The two dry-wells are now 10ft away from my house. He's still complaining that his basement is flooding.
They have showed me no proof or evidence. I've taken pictures and videos of the last bad rain storm i had here. The water was flowing just fine. I saw nothing overflowing and no water being directed to his house.
About three years ago My neighbor had also removed all is cement on the side of his house and just left it with uneven with dirt. I was lucky enough to have a before and after picture when i installed my fence. I have no idea why he removed his cement and never filled it back up. He also doesn't have a downspout on the side of the house he's having the flood.
I showed the town the pictures and they said they don't see a problem. It's becoming really frustrating. What crazy is i bumped into the first inspector that came to my house the first time. I told him the issue i'm having and don't understand. He even told me what the new inspector is asking for is crazy and makes no sense.
He another thing i left out. When this new inspector first came he told me i would need a 4x4 dry-well to keep 3 inchs of rain fall and that should be good. I told him i have two 5x5 dry-wells. When i told him that he then followed with actually you need a cemented one 6x6 because the ones i currently have installed i don't need a permit for. This 6x6 dry-well he requesting i would need a permit for though. He then said once you install it you can connect the existing dry-wells and front gutter to it. It's crazy.
I got another notice today about my gutter. what are my options? can i just ignore them? do i need a lawyer?
thanks again everyone
Last edited by daillest319; 12-12-2018 at 09:03 PM..
The basements shouldn't leak no matter how much water comes down in rainstorms. Does this pain in rear Mr call the town have oil heat ? Put some rubber gloves down the fill pipe, they will get sucked on to the part the furnace draws from and shut the furnace down. But by the time the repair person comes its floats off and they can't find nothing wrong. Then some time later it gets stuck again and the cycle repeats.
Status:
"Let this year be over..."
(set 21 days ago)
Location: Where my bills arrive
19,219 posts, read 17,088,442 times
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Contact a lawyer, it is clear that this kvetch has presented no evidence to support his claim to show where your property is the cause. Your property exceeds recommended requirements, I wouldn't even engage the town inspector let them look from the street.
You have a long history in the home with no problems ever reported until the recent neighbor moved in, based on your original post I am guessing this is a 50+ year home. Oh gee the basement leaks maybe the tar that was painted on the outside needs to be redone, maybe there has been a construction project in the area that affected the water table, maybe the basement has always leaked some, maybe the grading or lack of you mentioned is causing his problems.
Get an attorney to write a cease and desist letter in terms of harassment of you and your family. It might be enough to scare him, but essentially it is has no teeth other than to be a check mark in the process of going all out in a legal manner. That said, very often it is enough to stop the activity because generally people don't like to mess with the law.
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