Home |
Search |
Today's Posts |
|
UK diy (uk.d-i-y) For the discussion of all topics related to diy (do-it-yourself) in the UK. All levels of experience and proficency are welcome to join in to ask questions or offer solutions. |
Reply |
|
|
LinkBack | Thread Tools | Display Modes |
#42
Posted to uk.d-i-y
|
|||
|
|||
Dispute over new loft conversion
Terry Casey wrote:
Two identical pairs of semidetached houses. In the gap between the two, one has built an extension with a garage at ground level and bedrooms over. I happened to glance at it the other night and something struck me as wrong. It is obvious that the new end wall exactly flanks the boundary line, so no problem there but the edge of the roof and guttering, etc. overhang the boundary line by several inches! The extension was obviously built some time ago but, apart from any other consideration, I wonder what would happen if the neighbour wanted to build a mirror inage extension on his side of the boundary! On my street, because the ground slopes, the 1970s semis are built with a difference in level between the halves of about 5 bricks. Taking the dividing line as the centre of the party wall, My roof, being higher has to cover the entirety of the party wall, plus the usual eves overhang. Chris -- Chris J Dixon Nottingham UK Plant amazing Acers. |
#43
Posted to uk.d-i-y
|
|||
|
|||
Dispute over new loft conversion
Our bungalow is the last in a row of link detached bungalows with carports linking each building. Our wall on our neighbours side is on the boundary but our roof overhang is over the neighbours carport as is the same for all the other bungalows. The flashing on his carport roof extends over the first row of tiles and tucks under the second row of tiles on our roof. The carport rafters attach to our fascia which having been up since 1975 is looking distinctly ropey. I would like to replace the fascia but cannot see how it could be done without dismantling the carport or supporting the carport on several acrows. The reason for the fascia ropeyness is that our previous residents nor our neighbour have bothered to paint them and the carport roof does have a number of leaks. There is a covenant in place saying we share responsibility for the drainage as our roof on that side drains onto the carport which slopes to the front where a gutter collects the water and feeds it to a down pipe on the neighbours side. His roof drains similarly onto the carport.
So far the only joint responsibility exercised has been with replacing the gutter and downpipe which our neighbour sorted out with no request for joint funding. What concerns me more is where individual responsibility ends and what happens if/when the fascia rots away causing a collapse of the carport. Yes it is his carport but we benefit by having half our roof drain onto it. Methinks sorting it will be a real payday for the lawyers. He has in passing said if the roof looked about to collapse he would dismantle it and not replace it we would be happy to fit guttering to that side of the house but it would mean our overhang would extend even further over his property.. I wish developers would exercise a little forethought when coming up with these sort of designs what the future implications would be. The original developers only interest in the properties now are to use the covenants in the freehold to rake in money. They charged the previous owners £400 when they asked permission to build the conservatory in order to "amend their records". Richard |
#44
Posted to uk.d-i-y
|
|||
|
|||
Dispute over new loft conversion
Many thanks to everyone for the new replies; apologies for not responding to
every one individually. As several people have said, the crux of the matter is the accurate definition of the exact boundary line between the two properties. It's not practical to measure the full width of the combined bungalows and divide by two, but given that when built they were mirror-images of each other, it seems reasonable to use the two rear-wall window openings closest to the boundary as indicators, and to halve the distance between them. This, I believe, is what my neighbour has done (relying on photographs of the rear of the properties before my rear wall was demolished and rebuilt with different windows). By that criterion, the side wall of the ground-floor extension is clear of the boundary line. The cladding on the end wall of the dormer does make it wider than the lower wall but it's ambiguous as to whether or not it takes it across the line. The architect (working from pictures at the moment, though he does plan to make a site visit) says that it doesn't seem to; I'm not sure one way or the other; my neighbour claims that it does. He also claims that the entire construction is closer to the boundary than is shown in the drawings and that if it had been built in the right place then the overhang wouldn't have happened. The builder is calling tomorrow to talk about this aspect. And that is the situation in a nutshell. |
#45
Posted to uk.d-i-y
|
|||
|
|||
Dispute over new loft conversion
Robin thanks for your detailed advice; much appreciated. You're quite right
in saying that I regard any physical reconstruction work as very much a last resort. |
#46
Posted to uk.d-i-y
|
|||
|
|||
Dispute over new loft conversion
I'm not sure one way or the other; my neighbour claims
that it does. He also claims that the entire construction is closer to the boundary than is shown in the drawings and that if it had been built in the right place then the overhang wouldn't have happened. The builder is calling tomorrow to talk about this aspect. And that is the situation in a nutshell. Hope it all goes well. We had a similar problem. A two story extension was put up - the wall was the correct distance from the boundary but what we hadn't realised was that the builder had put the facia board on the boudary. This meant that the gutter was a few inches in next doors air-space. Fifteen years later the neighbour went cranky and demanded that we pulled the extension down! The cheeky bugger knew very well where the guttering was as he knew the builder and spent a lot of time chatting to him during the construction. He didn't get anywhere with his demands though. My wife worked at a solictors and a friendly letter calmed him down! |
#47
Posted to uk.d-i-y
|
|||
|
|||
Dispute over new loft conversion
Bert Coules expressed precisely :
He also claims that the entire construction is closer to the boundary than is shown in the drawings and that if it had been built in the right place then the overhang wouldn't have happened. The builder is calling tomorrow to talk about this aspect. And that is the situation in a nutshell. The methods of determining the mid point of the two properties, all seem awfully complicated. I would guess that all that is needed, is to measure the distance inside to the shared wall, allow a bit more to get to the middle - out to the window, then measure the same amount from the window along the outside. |
#48
Posted to uk.d-i-y
|
|||
|
|||
Dispute over new loft conversion
Harry Bloomfield wrote:
The methods of determining the mid point of the two properties, all seem awfully complicated. Thanks for that. I think the idea of measuring the distance between two rear windows and simply halving it is pretty straightforward - assuming of course that the two bungalows were identical (albeit mirror-images of each other) when first built. |
#49
Posted to uk.d-i-y
|
|||
|
|||
Dispute over new loft conversion
On Mon, 24 Jul 2017 18:25:49 +0100, "Bert Coules" wrote:
The architect (working from pictures at the moment, though he does plan to make a site visit) says that it doesn't seem to; I'm not sure one way or the other; my neighbour claims that it does. Let the architect and the builder do the talking, it is their responsibility now. If they upset the neighbor -- well, they will be off. If you do, you may have a tense relationship for many years... Thomas Prufer |
#50
Posted to uk.d-i-y
|
|||
|
|||
Dispute over new loft conversion
On 24/07/2017 08:48, The Natural Philosopher wrote:
On 24/07/17 08:43, Mike Tomlinson wrote: En el artÃ*culo , Bert Coules escribió: Thanks for this and your other replies. Acquiring a sliver of land and therefore moving the boundary might actually be a workable solution, if he's right (and willing, of course). Try and resolve it amicably, because neighbour disputes have to be declared when selling a property and may adversely affect your ability to sell. Which he knows full well and will take advantage of. 1/. Initate a dispute with a neighbour over any issue that is convenuient. 2/. Escalate it to a seriously unpleasnat level as a way of fircing your neighbour to sell 3/. When no one will buy the place because of the **** next door, get your brother to buy it really cheap. 4/. Now convert it ointo 17 flats and rent it to illegal immigrants. :-) -- Adam |
Reply |
|
Thread Tools | Search this Thread |
Display Modes | |
|
|
Similar Threads | ||||
Thread | Forum | |||
New wood floor for loft conversion - advice needed | UK diy | |||
Mild fence property line "dispute" | Home Ownership | |||
Boundary Dispute | Home Ownership | |||
Board Loft or Loft Conversion | UK diy | |||
Shower drainage - possible boundary dispute (O/T?) | UK diy |