I would not be tresspassing as the shed is right on the property line.
For them to paint it, they would have to be on my property which does
not bother me in the least. They would just have to come through my
front yard to get to the back of their shed, which is in my back yard.

At any rate, I will definitely ask first.

Thanks.

Corinne

Stephen King wrote:

Corinne wrote in
:


The back of my neighbors' shed faces my backyard.

They told me they were going to re-side the entire house last October.
It never happened.

In the meantime, the back side of the shed is starting to make my view
look tacky. It needs paint, and a few boards need to be nailed back on.

Can I paint the back side of their shed, without their approval, or do I
need to ask?

Thanks.

Corinne


That's why around here, sheds are to be 4 feet inside the property line.
Fences are at least 2 inches inside the line. You don't want to trespass,
do you?
ASK !!!

6' here too.

Tony Hwang wrote:

wrote:

On 14 Jun 2006 17:04:58 -0700, wrote:


Caledonia wrote:

Mortimer Schnerd, RN wrote:

Banty wrote:

I'm much more willing to work with someone asking my permission,
than I am
when I'm confronted with a fait accompli. So I beg to differ.


What work? Nobody needs to ask the owner for anything. He won't
even know. I
assume from the OP that they're planning to use the original color.


Is the shed on the OP's property? (We have a split rail fence -- it's
1' inside our property line, and I'd be weirded out if people opted to
beautify it/stain it, given that it's on our property). If the shed
wall is on the property line, it's polite to ask (actually, I'm
scratching my head on this one, as we have a 20' setback from the
property line requirement for all structures...)

Caledonia



I agree. I sure would not paint someone elses shed, even if it were
exactly on the property line, without asking first. It would seem very
likely that they would be happy to have it painted. And if they are
the type to tell you not to when you ask, then painting it could result
in all kinds of future trouble. I also don't buy the idea that they
won't likely find out. More likely, soon as you're out there with a
paint can and brush, they will just happen to see you. And then what?



It would make much more sense to just build a 12 foot high fence
around your entire property.

Hi,
I don't know about your neighborhood. Here max. height of fence is 6 feet.

mm wrote:
On 14 Jun 2006 06:56:30 -0700, Banty wrote:
I'm of the belief that what they don't know won't hurt them. You aren't
planning on taking away from the value of their shed so just do it. They'll
never know. I firmly believe it's much easier to get forgiveness than
permission.

This might be true, is probably true sometimes, about parents, or
maybe spouses or children or siblings.

But if you think it is true of neighbors, you are so wrong. They will
likely never forgive her and will certainly never trust her.



How will the neighbor even know? We're talking about painting ONE wall... the
one the neighbor can't see and apparently has no curiosity about or pride in.
If the paint is matched to the original, where's the harm?

If your neighbor somehow has a problem with that, they're not wrapped too tight.
So they might hold it against you? So what? The shed looks good again from
your point of view; it's unchanged from the neighbor's point of view. If it
damages your already nonexistent relationship with your neighbors, I'd suggest
you haven't lost much. But you have corrected the eyesore.

I already posted about a new neighbor I had a problem with over the length of
her grass. Three new row houses went in across the street. The grass didn't
get cut, the grass didn't get cut and the grass didn't get cut. Finally I
couldn't stand it anymore and cut the front yards when they got to waist high.
One of the neighbor's called the cops. Well, I never heard from the cops as
apparently they had more pressing matters.... but I never cut her grass again.
A few weeks ago, when it got to waist high again, I called the city. *They*
came out and cut her grass... and charged her $140 for the service. I was
happy.

As for my relationship with the neighbor: what relationship? I've never spoken
to her. Don't have any need or desire to. But if that grass gets high like
that again, she can pay the city to cut it for her again. I keep *my* yard
looking good.



--
Mortimer Schnerd, RN

VE

I have always had good relations with my neighbors. We have
shared gardens, helped each other remove trees and plant trees,
and sealed driveways. This has been true with all of my
neighbors for all of my life. Sure I had one that was
cantankerous, but my moter-in-laws were worse.

Just tell your neighbor what you want to do. Be jovial.

Dick

On Thu, 15 Jun 2006 10:21:51 GMT, "Mortimer Schnerd, RN"
wrote:

mm wrote:
On 14 Jun 2006 06:56:30 -0700, Banty wrote:
I'm of the belief that what they don't know won't hurt them. You aren't
planning on taking away from the value of their shed so just do it. They'll
never know. I firmly believe it's much easier to get forgiveness than
permission.

This might be true, is probably true sometimes, about parents, or
maybe spouses or children or siblings.

But if you think it is true of neighbors, you are so wrong. They will
likely never forgive her and will certainly never trust her.



How will the neighbor even know?

For the record, I was only addressing how easy it is to get
forgiveness.

But how will they know? They will see Corinne walking back and forth
from the shed, see her carrying paint to the shed and from the shed.
They may smell the paint. Or they'll look around the back of the
shed sometime and see that it is painted, and figure that she is the
only one who would have done it.

We're talking about painting ONE wall... the
one the neighbor can't see and apparently has no curiosity about or pride in.
If the paint is matched to the original, where's the harm?

I don't think there is a harm.

But the odds are 3 to 1 or higher they won't like it if is done
without their permission. Your story below about your mowing the
neighbor's grass just confirms that. And a lot of the cases on the tv
court shows are about stuff like this. I have a friend who worked as
a clerk in a Staten Island court during one summer in law school.

He said he saw case(s) where two houses had one driveway, but two
garages, and one owner would put a fence down the middle of the
driveway because he was annoyed at something the other guy did. Of
course he wasn't allowed to do that, but he did it anyhow. (OK I'm
not sure this is relevant, but I like the story.)

If your neighbor somehow has a problem with that, they're not wrapped too tight.
So they might hold it against you? So what?

You think that is the only interaction there will be with the
neighbors in the next 10, 20, 30 years they both live there?
Someday, Corrinne will need the neighbor, or the neighbor will have a
way to retaliate.

The shed looks good again from
your point of view; it's unchanged from the neighbor's point of view. If it
damages your already nonexistent relationship with your neighbors, I'd suggest
you haven't lost much. But you have corrected the eyesore.

I already posted about a new neighbor I had a problem with over the length of
her grass. Three new row houses went in across the street. The grass didn't
get cut, the grass didn't get cut and the grass didn't get cut. Finally I
couldn't stand it anymore and cut the front yards when they got to waist high.
One of the neighbor's called the cops.

See what I mean? And grass is something that grows back.

Well, I never heard from the cops as
apparently they had more pressing matters.... but I never cut her grass again.
A few weeks ago, when it got to waist high again, I called the city. *They*
came out and cut her grass... and charged her $140 for the service. I was
happy.

Not at all the same thing, because I did this for my benefit, but I
used to use my neighibor's electircity to work on my car, because he's
next to the parking lot and my townhouse is about 60 feet farther
away. So I have to dig out the 100 foot extension cord. So my friend
moves out and someone else moves in, and it was the middle of a work
day so he wasn't home to ask. So I used his electricity to vacuum or
drill a hole. Well, another neighbor tells him (that doesn't surprise
me) but he was annoyed and told me not to do it again. I used less
than a penny of electricity, and even he must realize I used than a
nickle, but what annoyed him I think was that I didn't ask. Or that I
saw what he had on his "patio" by the electric outlet. I still think
for a grown man to complain about this is poor.



As for my relationship with the neighbor: what relationship? I've never spoken
to her. Don't have any need or desire to. But if that grass gets high like
that again, she can pay the city to cut it for her again. I keep *my* yard
looking good.

On Thu, 15 Jun 2006 00:24:26 -0700, Corinne
wrote:

I would think that being allowed to paint the back of their shed would
also perserve it as it is in bad need of paint. I don't think it is
fair that I have to look at it, when they do not. My back yard is
beautifully maintained, and I take pride in it.

I don't see this as being pushy, but then again, I may be wrong.

It seems disrespectful to me, as I would never do this to a neighbor.

You say that now, that you would never do this, but things happen.
For one thing, they may have totally forgotten this could happen. Or
they notice it and forget about it by the time they are back in the
house. How old are they? Wait till you hit 50, younger for some
people.

Thanks everyone for all the responses. Much appreciated.

Corinne

Cheri wrote:

Chris Lewis wrote in message ...


How do you know it's a shared "fence"? Unless it's exactly on the
property line, you can't really tell.

In situations like this, it's always best to ask.
--
Chris Lewis, Una confibula non set est
It's not just anyone who gets a Starship Cruiser class named after

them.

I agree with you. Bad relations with neighbors can be a nightmare,
especially when it can be avoided with something as simple as asking
before doing. Personally, I wouldn't care that much if somebody painted
the back of my shed without asking, but I would file them away as a
little pushy somewhere in the back of my mind.

Cheri

On Thu, 15 Jun 2006 00:28:30 -0700, Corinne
wrote:

This is my second option. I do have a big tree in front of some of it.

It is right on the property line, but the overhang is on my property.
I don't mind that as I have a small Yorkie and we can both stand
underneath it in the rain, and she stays dry.

I am not a troublemaker, and never had a problem with a neighbor.

My yard is immaculate, and it would be oh so much nicer if the shed were
painted.

I won't be doing anything without asking, and will wait another year .

Why wait another year? Why not talk to them this weekend? You can
skip the pie.

I cannot imagine them putting it off longer than this as the house is in
bad need of siding repair.

I can. Maybe they're short of money. Maybe her mother needs surgery.
Maybe one lost his job. Maybe they're getting a divorce and don't
want to spend more money on the house. Maybe they can't decide
between vinyl, aluminum, and paint? Maybe that's why they're getting
a divorce.

I think you're assuming their life is like yours and their status and
plans are similar to yours.

My own ex-girlfriend, who I thought was the acme of reliability needed
a new roof last fall, and still hasn't gotten one now. I asked her
why not, and it seems she has some procrastination thing in this case,
a part of her I've never seen before in 10 years.

BTW, doesn't this mean that even if the shed is painted, their in need
of repair house will still be in your field of view? Even though
your yard is immaculate, you may not be able to make your view
immaculate, and that's part of life. But that doens't mean you can't
ask them if you can paint their shed. They may say, Oh, we'll paint
it, and then paint it, or not. Or they might tell you that you can,
expecially if you can point to work you've done on your own house that
looks good.

Thanks.

Corinne
Norminn wrote:

Corinne wrote:

The problem is that the neighbors don't see it. They have a fence
built up to the side of the shed, and the shed makes up for the rest
of the fence.

They cannot even see the back of the shed unless they come
into my back yard. In fact, the overhang of the roof is on my
property line, but that does not bother me.

Seems to me they should be the one cleaning up their property, but
I know what you mean.

Corinne


Looks like a situation that could start WW3 ) I would not paint it,
but the whole issue could be real complicated. Is it on your property?
If so, probably gives you more right to paint it, but then they might
someday own that little piece of land. If it is on the line, and a
permanent building, it might violate setback or easement requirements.
It may not be practical, but I think it would be better to plant a hedge
that hides it or add fencing to cross what is missing and paint to match
existing fence.

mm wrote:


But the odds are 3 to 1 or higher they won't like it if is done
without their permission. Your story below about your mowing the
neighbor's grass just confirms that.

LOL. That's exactly what I thought. His story is a good example of
the reaction you can expect when you fool around with other peoples
property without asking. Had he offered to mow the neighbors grass
before just doing it, the reaction may have been a lot different.

And I'll bet if someone started painting his property or driving a
riding mower around on it, he'd be the first one to be ****ed off.

The shed case is pretty simple. The OP doesn't own it and shouldn't
touch it without permission of the owner.








And a lot of the cases on the tv
court shows are about stuff like this. I have a friend who worked as
a clerk in a Staten Island court during one summer in law school.

He said he saw case(s) where two houses had one driveway, but two
garages, and one owner would put a fence down the middle of the
driveway because he was annoyed at something the other guy did. Of
course he wasn't allowed to do that, but he did it anyhow. (OK I'm
not sure this is relevant, but I like the story.)

If your neighbor somehow has a problem with that, they're not wrapped too tight.
So they might hold it against you? So what?

You think that is the only interaction there will be with the
neighbors in the next 10, 20, 30 years they both live there?
Someday, Corrinne will need the neighbor, or the neighbor will have a
way to retaliate.

The shed looks good again from
your point of view; it's unchanged from the neighbor's point of view. If it
damages your already nonexistent relationship with your neighbors, I'd suggest
you haven't lost much. But you have corrected the eyesore.

I already posted about a new neighbor I had a problem with over the length of
her grass. Three new row houses went in across the street. The grass didn't
get cut, the grass didn't get cut and the grass didn't get cut. Finally I
couldn't stand it anymore and cut the front yards when they got to waist high.
One of the neighbor's called the cops.

See what I mean? And grass is something that grows back.

Well, I never heard from the cops as
apparently they had more pressing matters.... but I never cut her grass again.
A few weeks ago, when it got to waist high again, I called the city. *They*
came out and cut her grass... and charged her $140 for the service. I was
happy.

Not at all the same thing, because I did this for my benefit, but I
used to use my neighibor's electircity to work on my car, because he's
next to the parking lot and my townhouse is about 60 feet farther
away. So I have to dig out the 100 foot extension cord. So my friend
moves out and someone else moves in, and it was the middle of a work
day so he wasn't home to ask. So I used his electricity to vacuum or
drill a hole. Well, another neighbor tells him (that doesn't surprise
me) but he was annoyed and told me not to do it again. I used less
than a penny of electricity, and even he must realize I used than a
nickle, but what annoyed him I think was that I didn't ask. Or that I
saw what he had on his "patio" by the electric outlet. I still think
for a grown man to complain about this is poor.



As for my relationship with the neighbor: what relationship? I've never spoken
to her. Don't have any need or desire to. But if that grass gets high like
that again, she can pay the city to cut it for her again. I keep *my* yard
looking good.

clipped

I have a neighbor directly behind me that put up her own wood fence to
block her view my wood fence. Over the years mine has weathered grey. She
is a priss to wants it to look brand new. None of the pickets are broken
on mine. She just is fussy.

My parents had a great lot, with empty wooded lots on both sides. The
neighbor directly in back had a junky looking metal shed, painted dark
green. My mom didn't want to see or be seen in the Florida room, didn't
like the shed, and solved the problem with landscaping. Shrubs and
trees blocked direct line of sight to each back neighbor, the critters
wandered through from the empty lots, and it was a great place to enjoy
surroundings. Fox, racoons, possum, burrowing owls, gopher tortoise,
occasional scorpion and snake. Neighbors were kind and watched out for
each other but kept respectful distance. Even the racoons were polite )

Corinne wrote:
Thanks Tom. I have not met them, but their windows face mine and they
seem like decent folks.

Why haven't you met them? I would at least introduce myself, try to read
how they are and present my idea. If they turn out to be morons then you
can decide if you want to fire the first rocket.


Thought I would ask as others have told me to just do it.


Really bad advice. I am easy to get along with and if a neighbor just
decided to do something without even asking I would be quite annoyed.


I have never had problems with my neighbors, so this may definitely be
the route to take.

But you don't know about these neighbors because you have never talked
to them.




Many thanks.

Corinne

user wrote:

Call me odd, but I have little interest in benefiting from someone
else's stupididity, especially if it ends up ultimately raising my
tax bill. ;-)

You shouldn't encourage stupidity; it tends to spread too much anyway.
Like mint plants. It's not like your neighbor is stupid but
good-hearted; sounds like the neighborhood could clearly benefit from
him getting one of those kid tv show moral lessons. Besides, you don't
have to claim your extra acreage until it's time to sell the place.....
(I probably wouldn't do it either, of course, but I can be an armchair
general as well as anybody else. You fight him, I'll hold your coat.).

- Rich

I have three adjacent neighbors, all different. One does not do
anything to his yard, contracts to mow his lawn, and I am constantly
spraying poison ivy along this property line. The other neighbor put
up an ugly cyclone chain-link fence. I planted a 270-foot long hedge
that is now 12 feet tall which completely blocks the fence from view.
Another neighbor put up a shed, not particularly unsightly, but it is
now covered with moss and algae growth. To block that view I planted
a row of forsythia that blocks all but the roof of the shed.
Personally, I avoid doing anything or saying anything about neighbor's
property. I have been fortunate that I have the space to landscape
and block ugly views. That might help sell my house, if I should ever
decide to do so.

On 15 Jun 2006 07:53:45 -0700, "z" wrote:


user wrote:

Call me odd, but I have little interest in benefiting from someone
else's stupididity, especially if it ends up ultimately raising my
tax bill. ;-)

You shouldn't encourage stupidity; it tends to spread too much anyway.
Like mint plants. It's not like your neighbor is stupid but
good-hearted; sounds like the neighborhood could clearly benefit from
him getting one of those kid tv show moral lessons. Besides, you don't
have to claim your extra acreage until it's time to sell the place.....
(I probably wouldn't do it either, of course, but I can be an armchair
general as well as anybody else. You fight him, I'll hold your coat.).

- Rich


I have a neighbour who had a fit last year when I cut down a big
Manitoba Maple that was growing into her garage and over a litigious
lawyers fence in the back yard. She doesn't believe in mowing, weeding
or otherwise destroying any growing thing.

We have a row of nine trees between our houses that were there before
either of us moved in. They are on my side of her driveway, but
neither of us knew exactly where the property line was. Anyway, she
said she had "made peace" with the tree being cut, but she threatened
to sue me and the tree company because I had some branches cut off the
nine trees that were growing over my roof and dripping sap on it. She
hasn't spoken to me since. I live in a small city and know everyone on
the block.

Last week my neighbour on the other side borrowed a metal detector and
we found the property line markers. All nine trees, and two pretty
choke cherries, are on my property. I probably won't tell her
unless she threatens to sue me again the next time I have the trees
trimmed and I'll trim all the sapplings and underbrush while she's
away, in the interest of keeping peace, but I'm quite relieved.

All the shrubs and trees are looking a lot better now that they don't
have a giant Manitoba Maple shading everything.

Chris

On Thu, 15 Jun 2006 00:24:26 -0700, Corinne
wrote:

I would think that being allowed to paint the back of their shed would
also perserve it as it is in bad need of paint. I don't think it is
fair that I have to look at it, when they do not. My back yard is
beautifully maintained, and I take pride in it.

I don't see this as being pushy, but then again, I may be wrong.

It seems disrespectful to me, as I would never do this to a neighbor.

If you think that your asking permission to paint the back wall
will be (correctly) interpreted as insinuating that they're not
doing proper maintenance, and you don't want them to think that,
then you could disguise your intent by asking permission to paint
a mural there.Failing either of those solutions, you could always
erect a free-standing trellis, a foot or two inside the line.

A good dense growth of pole beans, and it won't matter if
they paint the thing or not.

"Eigenvector" wrote in message
. ..

"Corinne" wrote in message
...
The back of my neighbors' shed faces my backyard.

They told me they were going to re-side the entire house last October.
It never happened.

In the meantime, the back side of the shed is starting to make my view
look tacky. It needs paint, and a few boards need to be nailed back
on.

Can I paint the back side of their shed, without their approval, or do
I
need to ask?

Thanks.

Corinne

I know I'd be royally ****ed if my neighbors took it upon themselves to
"clean up" my property.

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, as they say.

There must be a property line. I'd be planting Kudzu along my property
line!

MoM

"Tony Hwang" wrote in message
news:IbMjg.23631$IK3.1940@pd7tw1no...
Eigenvector wrote:

"Corinne" wrote in message
...

The back of my neighbors' shed faces my backyard.

They told me they were going to re-side the entire house last October.
It never happened.

In the meantime, the back side of the shed is starting to make my view
look tacky. It needs paint, and a few boards need to be nailed back
on.

Can I paint the back side of their shed, without their approval, or do
I
need to ask?

Thanks.

Corinne


I know I'd be royally ****ed if my neighbors took it upon themselves to
"clean up" my property.

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, as they say.
Hmmm,
Kinda insulting? I once parked my fifth wheel in my back yard when first
moved into this house 11 years ago, guy behind one day came to me and
asked me to give him some money so he can plant a tree or two to block
the view of my trailer roof. I just shut the door in his face.

I can see your point. When new neighbours moved in and the first thing
they did was knock on the door and ask us to remove our cedar hedge I
basically did the same thing. Mind you eventually we did remove it to
make our property look larger when we sold.

MoM

On 15 Jun 2006 07:53:45 -0700, "z" wrote:


user wrote:

Call me odd, but I have little interest in benefiting from someone
else's stupididity, especially if it ends up ultimately raising my
tax bill. ;-)

You shouldn't encourage stupidity; it tends to spread too much anyway.

It's hard to win on adverse possession. Generally, in most states, 6
elements must be proved. They called it the Eunuch rule. It's
generally not fair that someone gets property from another without
paying for it, so the rules are stiff.

It might be easier in your state, but these are one set of rules:

E Exclusive
U Uninterrupted
N Notorious
U Unpermitted
C Claim of Right
H Hostile

Exclusive, the party making the claim didn't let anyone else use
the land. Might have that here.
Uninterrupted, the other 5 characteristics aren't interrupted, for
7 (or 10?) years in some states, different amounts in others. Might
have that here, at least eventually.
Notorious, use by the claiming party was known or should have been
known (obvious) to others, or maybe it is only needed to be known to
the owner. Probably have that here, since he told him to mow it and
maintain it.
Unpermitted The owning party has not granted permission to use the
land. Probably don't have this here. The owner said he could use it.
If the claiming party says he didn't have permission, he might have to
deny that his use was notorious and that it was hostile, and he would
give up his claim of right, if that exists (see below). This might
mean that it is even harder to gain adverse possession unless it is of
land that the owner doesn't see often, where the owner lives miles
away. If the owner can see the land from where he lives, and someone
else uses it, (?and that can be seen by the owner?), I think it would
be hard to claim it's unpermitted, much less prove it.
Claim of Right, never sure about this one, but I think there has to
be conflicting deeds or an unclear property description or something
that gives the claiming party some legal reason to think he owns it. I
always wanted more examples of what would be a claim of right. They
might have been in the part of the book I didn't read! Probably
doesn't have that in this case. Hmmm, this might include if the owner
said "It's yours" or "I think you own this" or "It's yours now". I'm
really not sure, and I don't know from the story if that happened
here. I knew I should have studied this part.
Hostile, the claiming party didn't let anyone else use the property,
or didn't let them use it like an owner would, not sure. Either way,
I'm not sure about this, since probably no one else was trying to use
it. Maybe someone has to try to use it, or this seems a lot like
Exclusive. So maybe the claiming party doesn't have this here.

It's been 32 years since I learned this, and I never knew it that
well**, so there are probably a bunch of misstatements, but this is
the sort of thing one needs. **But it is easy to remember the
phrase, "the eunuch rule". That's why they made it up.

Diligent landowners try not to let even one of these 6 things occur.
Pay attention to the plazas in front of downtown office buildings, the
ones used by anyone, maybe to take a shortcut at a corner, or to sit
and have lunch. There is often a brass insert in the sidewalk, next
to the public sidewalk, at the property line, that says "Use of the
plaza permitted to the public by owners". This means the use was
permitted, not unpermitted, and the "public" can't gain adverse
possession.

In addition, most of these plazas are closed off with cones and tape
once a year. They call it cleaning, but as big a purpose is to make
possession by the public "interrupted", not uninterrupted.

Might not see this so much in the suburbs, because the plaza is
usually between the building and the parking lot, which it is clear is
owned by those who own the building. And because the only people
walking through are those who have come to do business in the
building. This might not be the same as the general public.


This has been an issue for me because my next door neighbor has taken
over trimming some of my bushes, that I didn't trim short enough to
suit him. He also got less angry at me at the time, and it occurs to
me he might be planning on claiming adverse possession, or maybe he's
less angry because the bushes are shorter, or because I invited him
out for a drink to discuss things. He didn't accept, but maybe merely
making the gesture made him less angry. But He might be trying to
gain adverse possession, and I've tried to make sure he doesn't have
all 6 elements, but I've been lethargic some years and not done a good
job. He only has one element for sure, Notorious. He also mows a
small part of grass next to the bushes.

Of course even if he did own it, he'd take care of it at least as well
as I do. He might cut down the bushes, though.

Like mint plants. It's not like your neighbor is stupid but
good-hearted; sounds like the neighborhood could clearly benefit from
him getting one of those kid tv show moral lessons. Besides, you don't
have to claim your extra acreage until it's time to sell the place.....
(I probably wouldn't do it either, of course, but I can be an armchair
general as well as anybody else. You fight him, I'll hold your coat.).

I'm sure he appreciates the coat holding.

- Rich

Over 400 years ago, Nostradamus predicted that on Thu, 15 Jun 2006
07:55:35 -0400, in message ,
mm would say:

BTW, doesn't this mean that even if the shed is painted, their in need
of repair house will still be in your field of view? Even though
your yard is immaculate, you may not be able to make your view
immaculate, and that's part of life. But that doens't mean you can't
ask them if you can paint their shed. They may say, Oh, we'll paint
it, and then paint it, or not. Or they might tell you that you can,
expecially if you can point to work you've done on your own house that
looks good.

I was going to suggest that OP refinish the rest of the fence, that way
she can say that she wants to paint the neighbor's shed so that it
"matches in with the rest of the fence" rather than is in dire need of
paint itself.

HTH
PRose

On Thu, 15 Jun 2006 18:15:41 -0400, PRose
wrote:

Over 400 years ago, Nostradamus predicted that on Thu, 15 Jun 2006
07:55:35 -0400, in message ,
mm would say:

BTW, doesn't this mean that even if the shed is painted, their in need
of repair house will still be in your field of view? Even though
your yard is immaculate, you may not be able to make your view
immaculate, and that's part of life. But that doens't mean you can't
ask them if you can paint their shed. They may say, Oh, we'll paint
it, and then paint it, or not. Or they might tell you that you can,
expecially if you can point to work you've done on your own house that
looks good.

I was going to suggest that OP refinish the rest of the fence, that way
she can say that she wants to paint the neighbor's shed so that it
"matches in with the rest of the fence" rather than is in dire need of
paint itself.

Except the fence does not belong to the OP either. I don't know why a
couple people suggested it did. I don't know what the law is if the
fence is exactly on the property line, but even if it is on the
property line and even if the law favored the OP, the neighbor will be
upset if the OP paints it.

In addition, it's almost impossible to paint one side of any fence,
except maybe a stockade fence where it is too high to see the top.
Either the original color will show through to the OP in places, or
the OP will have to paint part that shows to the neighbor. For one
thing, people on both sides of a fence see different parts of it
depending on whether they are standing or sitting, or loooking out the
window of the split level the neighbors live in. There is NO way to
paint one side of the fence.

Most fence builders put the fence an inch or two inside the property
line. In my case, my fence is probably a half inch inside. I'm going
by the notion that the property line is where the gutters of my
townhouse end and the gutter of my neighbor begins. But because my
downspout was in the way, the fence company put the first post between
his downspout and mine (there was just enough room) and the first
section of fence comes back to just inside my property line. AFAIK
the owner of my neighbor's house at the time didn't object and afaik
it's too late for them to assert dominion over the fence now. At any
rate, I'd be very angry if the current neighbor decided to paint even
his side of that section of my fence. Even if the law were on his
side, it's a declaration of war, when what he shoudl do is discuss it
with me. How much more so when the fence is probably within the
neighbor's property.
HTH
PRose

My old neighbor complained I hdnt cleaned up my yard Of course it was
still winter and had snowed that weekend.

She pointed out her yard was clean, of course she had hired workers

I didnt cut my rear yard till the 4th of july

She NEVER complained about anything again.

Their entire house needed new residing. The wife knows it as she
mentioned it to me year ago, but it still has not been done. The fence
is high enough that I only see the top portion of their house. For some
reason, that does not bother me, but the back of their shed does.
Probably because it sits basically in my back yard.

Luckily, the fence is only two years old, is wood, and looks very nice.

The shed is painted gray, which is perfect, as we both have gray painted
homes.

Corinne

Yenc-Post wrote:
mm wrote in
:


On Thu, 15 Jun 2006 18:15:41 -0400, PRose
wrote:


Over 400 years ago, Nostradamus predicted that on Thu, 15 Jun 2006
07:55:35 -0400, in message ,
mm would say:


BTW, doesn't this mean that even if the shed is painted, their in need
of repair house will still be in your field of view? Even though
your yard is immaculate, you may not be able to make your view
immaculate, and that's part of life. But that doens't mean you can't
ask them if you can paint their shed. They may say, Oh, we'll paint
it, and then paint it, or not. Or they might tell you that you can,
expecially if you can point to work you've done on your own house that
looks good.

I was going to suggest that OP refinish the rest of the fence, that way
she can say that she wants to paint the neighbor's shed so that it
"matches in with the rest of the fence" rather than is in dire need of
paint itself.

Except the fence does not belong to the OP either. I don't know why a
couple people suggested it did. I don't know what the law is if the
fence is exactly on the property line, but even if it is on the
property line and even if the law favored the OP, the neighbor will be
upset if the OP paints it.

In addition, it's almost impossible to paint one side of any fence,
except maybe a stockade fence where it is too high to see the top.
Either the original color will show through to the OP in places, or
the OP will have to paint part that shows to the neighbor. For one
thing, people on both sides of a fence see different parts of it
depending on whether they are standing or sitting, or loooking out the
window of the split level the neighbors live in. There is NO way to
paint one side of the fence.

Most fence builders put the fence an inch or two inside the property
line. In my case, my fence is probably a half inch inside. I'm going
by the notion that the property line is where the gutters of my
townhouse end and the gutter of my neighbor begins. But because my
downspout was in the way, the fence company put the first post between
his downspout and mine (there was just enough room) and the first
section of fence comes back to just inside my property line. AFAIK
the owner of my neighbor's house at the time didn't object and afaik
it's too late for them to assert dominion over the fence now. At any
rate, I'd be very angry if the current neighbor decided to paint even
his side of that section of my fence. Even if the law were on his
side, it's a declaration of war, when what he shoudl do is discuss it
with me. How much more so when the fence is probably within the
neighbor's property.

HTH
PRose



OK, this is what to do. Open a can of paint in the choice of color you
want. Make sure the top is OFF. Put a chair out in the yard you care
nothing about. Pretend you are going to paint the chair. Accidentally and
on purpose "trip and fall". Miracle!! The shed gets paint spilled on it in
the texture of a paint brush. opps, you had an accident.
If the neighbor wants to sue you, just claim the shed jumped in front of
you and IN your yard.

A trellis - I love this idea.

Many thanks!

Corinne

Goedjn wrote:

On Thu, 15 Jun 2006 00:24:26 -0700, Corinne
wrote:


I would think that being allowed to paint the back of their shed would
also perserve it as it is in bad need of paint. I don't think it is
fair that I have to look at it, when they do not. My back yard is
beautifully maintained, and I take pride in it.

I don't see this as being pushy, but then again, I may be wrong.

It seems disrespectful to me, as I would never do this to a neighbor.


If you think that your asking permission to paint the back wall
will be (correctly) interpreted as insinuating that they're not
doing proper maintenance, and you don't want them to think that,
then you could disguise your intent by asking permission to paint
a mural there.Failing either of those solutions, you could always
erect a free-standing trellis, a foot or two inside the line.

A good dense growth of pole beans, and it won't matter if
they paint the thing or not.

This is the kind of advice I like.

Thank you!

Phisherman wrote:

I have three adjacent neighbors, all different. One does not do
anything to his yard, contracts to mow his lawn, and I am constantly
spraying poison ivy along this property line. The other neighbor put
up an ugly cyclone chain-link fence. I planted a 270-foot long hedge
that is now 12 feet tall which completely blocks the fence from view.
Another neighbor put up a shed, not particularly unsightly, but it is
now covered with moss and algae growth. To block that view I planted
a row of forsythia that blocks all but the roof of the shed.
Personally, I avoid doing anything or saying anything about neighbor's
property. I have been fortunate that I have the space to landscape
and block ugly views. That might help sell my house, if I should ever
decide to do so.

OK, when I moved here a year ago, there is a three inch gap from the end
of the fence to the shed. The wife was working there, and I was on the
other side of the fence.

I yelled out, "Hello new neighbor", and we introduced ourselves. We had
a very brief conversation, as it is hard to converse through the crack
of a fence.

We talked about her being surprised that the owners sold the home as it
is quite new.

Anyway, I really don't call that meeting my neighbors, but I have
decided to start walking down their block, in hopes of meeting them.

At that point, I will not discuss the condition of the shed.

I am not in a hurry to do this anyway. Just thought I would ask.

I know some of the neighbors on their block, and they are complaining
about the fact their driveway was torn up, over a year ago, and redone.
But, the sad part is that the old broken up concrete is still on their
yard, in the grass.

Corinne

George wrote:

Corinne wrote:

Thanks Tom. I have not met them, but their windows face mine and they
seem like decent folks.

Why haven't you met them? I would at least introduce myself, try to read
how they are and present my idea. If they turn out to be morons then you
can decide if you want to fire the first rocket.


Thought I would ask as others have told me to just do it.


Really bad advice. I am easy to get along with and if a neighbor just
decided to do something without even asking I would be quite annoyed.


I have never had problems with my neighbors, so this may definitely be
the route to take.


But you don't know about these neighbors because you have never talked
to them.




Many thanks.

Corinne

Yenc-Post wrote:
Complainer:

STFU,
Your neighbor.

Now, Now.....yenck, that's not being very neighborly is it?

According to mm :

He said he saw case(s) where two houses had one driveway, but two
garages, and one owner would put a fence down the middle of the
driveway because he was annoyed at something the other guy did. Of
course he wasn't allowed to do that, but he did it anyhow. (OK I'm
not sure this is relevant, but I like the story.)

Exactly that happened to the parents of an old friend about 25 years
ago. As a result, NEITHER her parents nor their neighbors could
get their cars through to their respective garages.

Fence still there (at the time I don't think there was any legal
recourse).

And do you want to know what the original disagreement was?
When driving into the garage, the corner of the car would
momentarily pass over the property line if the driver wasn't
very careful.

Really, really dumb. Demonstrates how senseless and stupid
neighbor squabbles can be.

In a similar circumstance (over a fence between my dad's house
and his neighbor), I went over and asked if I could do some
minor repairs (some of which would be easier on their side).
For my pains, had a nice visit, drinks and cookies, and they
loaned me a ladder.

Or our neighbor. Comes over and asks us if there's going to be
any trouble with him cutting down some dead trees just on his
side of the property line. He didn't have to, but he did anyway.
Nice. Initiated many friendly contacts ever since.

There's nothing to be gained, and much to be potentially lost by
painting the shed without asking. And what if they say no?
Plant a tree or flowers. Or A fence segment. Get enthusiastic
and add a bit of patio, chairs, sun umbrella... Adds a lot
more value to the house. Or whatever.

There's simply no advantage to ****ing off neighbors for no good
reason.
--
Chris Lewis, Una confibula non set est
It's not just anyone who gets a Starship Cruiser class named after them.

I would plant a nice row of evergreens or something. Gives you privacy,
lessens noise and green is more acctractive then shed fence or other
man made junk.

Plus since its in your property you dont have to ask permission or do
anything else.

Over 400 years ago, Nostradamus predicted that on Thu, 15 Jun 2006
20:48:56 -0400, in message ,
mm would say:

Most fence builders put the fence an inch or two inside the property
line. In my case, my fence is probably a half inch inside. I'm going by
the notion that the property line is where the gutters of my townhouse
end and the gutter of my neighbor begins. But because my downspout was
in the way, the fence company put the first post between his downspout
and mine (there was just enough room) and the first section of fence
comes back to just inside my property line. AFAIK the owner of my
neighbor's house at the time didn't object and afaik it's too late for
them to assert dominion over the fence now. At any rate, I'd be very
angry if the current neighbor decided to paint even his side of that
section of my fence. Even if the law were on his side, it's a
declaration of war, when what he shoudl do is discuss it with me. How
much more so when the fence is probably within the neighbor's property.

Where I've lived, structures and fences had different offsets. So, for a
structure to be part of the fence line it would have had to have been old
enough to have been grandfathered in, and that usually means that both are
right on the property line. When I lived in such a situation (one wall of
the detached garage on the property line making up part of the fence), the
neighbors involved had an understanding that each person took care of
their side of the fence. So, for example, when I painted my garage, I
only painted 3 sides of it, and when I painted my fence on the other side,
I painted one side of my neighbor's garage, and one side of his shed.

This is the only way I can see that OP has a right to complain. If the
their codes don't require different offsets and the shed is part of a
fence line that is totally on the neighbor's property, then I suggest that
she learn to live with other people who don't have the same priorities
that she does.

Anyroad, my original point still stands that if she asks the neighbors for
permission to paint the shed wall that she not do it in a manner that
highlights how bad she thinks it looks in comparison to her "immaculate"
backyard. And, if the shed is on the property line, they might already
consider it to be her responsibility -- I never really thought a whole lot
about what was going on with the fourth wall of my garage, as far as I was
concerned, its outside didn't exist to me.

HTH,
PRose

mm wrote:
On 15 Jun 2006 07:53:45 -0700, "z" wrote:


user wrote:

Call me odd, but I have little interest in benefiting from someone
else's stupididity, especially if it ends up ultimately raising my
tax bill. ;-)

You shouldn't encourage stupidity; it tends to spread too much anyway.

It's hard to win on adverse possession. Generally, in most states, 6
elements must be proved. They called it the Eunuch rule. It's
generally not fair that someone gets property from another without
paying for it, so the rules are stiff.

It might be easier in your state, but these are one set of rules:

E Exclusive
U Uninterrupted
N Notorious
U Unpermitted
C Claim of Right
H Hostile

Exclusive, the party making the claim didn't let anyone else use
the land. Might have that here.
Uninterrupted, the other 5 characteristics aren't interrupted, for
7 (or 10?) years in some states, different amounts in others. Might
have that here, at least eventually.
Notorious, use by the claiming party was known or should have been
known (obvious) to others, or maybe it is only needed to be known to
the owner. Probably have that here, since he told him to mow it and
maintain it.
Unpermitted The owning party has not granted permission to use the
land. Probably don't have this here. The owner said he could use it.
If the claiming party says he didn't have permission, he might have to
deny that his use was notorious and that it was hostile, and he would
give up his claim of right, if that exists (see below). This might
mean that it is even harder to gain adverse possession unless it is of
land that the owner doesn't see often, where the owner lives miles
away. If the owner can see the land from where he lives, and someone
else uses it, (?and that can be seen by the owner?), I think it would
be hard to claim it's unpermitted, much less prove it.
Claim of Right, never sure about this one, but I think there has to
be conflicting deeds or an unclear property description or something
that gives the claiming party some legal reason to think he owns it. I
always wanted more examples of what would be a claim of right. They
might have been in the part of the book I didn't read! Probably
doesn't have that in this case. Hmmm, this might include if the owner
said "It's yours" or "I think you own this" or "It's yours now". I'm
really not sure, and I don't know from the story if that happened
here. I knew I should have studied this part.
Hostile, the claiming party didn't let anyone else use the property,
or didn't let them use it like an owner would, not sure. Either way,
I'm not sure about this, since probably no one else was trying to use
it. Maybe someone has to try to use it, or this seems a lot like
Exclusive. So maybe the claiming party doesn't have this here.

It's been 32 years since I learned this, and I never knew it that
well**, so there are probably a bunch of misstatements, but this is
the sort of thing one needs. **But it is easy to remember the
phrase, "the eunuch rule". That's why they made it up.

Diligent landowners try not to let even one of these 6 things occur.
Pay attention to the plazas in front of downtown office buildings, the
ones used by anyone, maybe to take a shortcut at a corner, or to sit
and have lunch. There is often a brass insert in the sidewalk, next
to the public sidewalk, at the property line, that says "Use of the
plaza permitted to the public by owners". This means the use was
permitted, not unpermitted, and the "public" can't gain adverse
possession.

In addition, most of these plazas are closed off with cones and tape
once a year. They call it cleaning, but as big a purpose is to make
possession by the public "interrupted", not uninterrupted.

Might not see this so much in the suburbs, because the plaza is
usually between the building and the parking lot, which it is clear is
owned by those who own the building. And because the only people
walking through are those who have come to do business in the
building. This might not be the same as the general public.


This has been an issue for me because my next door neighbor has taken
over trimming some of my bushes, that I didn't trim short enough to
suit him. He also got less angry at me at the time, and it occurs to
me he might be planning on claiming adverse possession, or maybe he's
less angry because the bushes are shorter, or because I invited him
out for a drink to discuss things. He didn't accept, but maybe merely
making the gesture made him less angry. But He might be trying to
gain adverse possession, and I've tried to make sure he doesn't have
all 6 elements, but I've been lethargic some years and not done a good
job. He only has one element for sure, Notorious. He also mows a
small part of grass next to the bushes.

Of course even if he did own it, he'd take care of it at least as well
as I do. He might cut down the bushes, though.

Like mint plants. It's not like your neighbor is stupid but
good-hearted; sounds like the neighborhood could clearly benefit from
him getting one of those kid tv show moral lessons. Besides, you don't
have to claim your extra acreage until it's time to sell the place.....
(I probably wouldn't do it either, of course, but I can be an armchair
general as well as anybody else. You fight him, I'll hold your coat.).

I'm sure he appreciates the coat holding.

- Rich

Yeah, now that you mention it, I'm not familiar with any individuals
actually winning on such a case, although I hear about it, mainly in
the form of access roads that are on somebody else's property. There's
a road through Radio City Center in NYC that they close on Sundays just
to keep it from defaulting back to the city, as you describe. What I
remember in my nonexpert dilletantish interest is that the requirements
vary wildly from state to state on whether you know the property is not
yours; some states you have to know it's not yours, some states you
have to not be aware that it's not yours; some states just don't care
either way. Weird.