MegaSack DRAW - This year's winner is user - rgwb
We will be in touch
So far what has happened is this...
My semi-detached house shares a chimney stack with the neighbours. At the moment we both have electric fires. They are fairly old and have said there's no way they'll ever have an open fire again.
The chimney leaks. There is evidence of water running down the brickwork of the chimney breast in my loft, and there was mould growing behind the wallpaper on the chimney breast in the bedroom. I had some quotes for repairs from a few builders. My preferred builder advised that the best long term option was to take the chimney stack down below roof level and then slate over the top. No more problems in the future.
I spoke to the neighbour about this and he said no problem, go for it. We had a look in his loft and although I could see the same evidence of water on his brickwork, he maintained that their side was fine. Although responsibility for the chimney is joint and therefore the bill should be split half and half, I wasn't going to ask them for anything towards it, as they are both quite old and pensioners.
After the builder gets the go ahead the neighbours change their mind and want to keep the chimney stack. This is so that any prospective purchasers wishing to install a wood burner are not put off by the lack of a chimney. No amount of explanation that a simple flue can be installed convinces them. So I recontact the builder and we arrange for the chimney stack to be re-leaded, re-rendered, a new concrete plinth on the top and new chimney pots.
When the builder strips the old render off he finds huge cracks in the brickwork on my side and the neighbours side. The chimney will have to come down and be rebuilt before it can be rendered. The builder again advises taking it down and leaving it down. As I was away he spoke to my neighbour and after a heated discussion the neighbour finally conceded and agreed to getting rid off the chimney. My builder reminded him that I was paying for everything anyway and he wasn't contributing a penny, which seemed to be the point at which my neighbour agreed. The cost of rebuilding the chimney would have added a fair bit to the expected costs of the planned repairs.
So the builder gets on with it, fits the flashing in the roof for our imminent stove, and the roof is finished. I even went to town to get the neighbour a long length of aerial cable so we can put his TV aerial in the loft (was on the chimney). He's had time to think and is now quite happy with what's been done. My builder even offered to put a flue in on his bit of the chimney for a stove in the future, at no charge, which was declined.
Long winded, sorry, but that's what has happened to date.
So what happens if the neighbour now changes his mind again and decides he isn't happy with what's been done? From my point of view, the badly leaking chimney has been fixed 100% at my expense, none at his (which I acknowledge is my choice for the reasons above), and in a manner that he agreed to, albeit verbally to the builders and me, not in writing.
(The builders are also putting new fascias and gutters on for me. The neighbour came out and told them not to do the bit where our houses meet because they would have to go near his Sky dish and of they knocked it his picture would be crap and it would take Sky 3 weeks to fix it! I assured him that if that happened I would get the local TV shop out right away, and in any case I had paid for the guttering, and they would be doing my side regardless, so he might as well benefit from the nice new stuff extending over to his side also as planned, and previously agreed).
Never simple is it?
Did the neighbour sign anything saying he was happy with the work going ahead?
Surprised the builder went ahead without something in writing, tbh, party wall issues are a nightmare if you're caught up in them.
Nothing in writing at all.
Don't get me wrong, he's not an arse, just gets in a bit of a flap about things. We've all got on fine in the 5 years we've lived here, they have a key for our house and so on...
I can't see there being an issue, hopefully, but just wondered what the position was? Morally, if not legally, I think the fact that I've shelled out the whole cost to have the seriously damaged and unstable chimney fixed must help. The builder has a lot of pictures of it before he took it down.
"How will this pan out?"
In a half a dozen weeks.... Santa wont be able to deliever
I'd just leave it.
If you approach him now he'll just flap again.
If he comes back in six months and queries anything just say that he'd told you and the builder it was ok as he wasn't having to pay and that if he'd had a problem he shoudl have raised it sooner.
Have a read through the Party Wall Act and its implications, there are some brochures explaining it in fairly simple terms.
You should really have followed that process and put the agreement in writing. Only problem is that it's never particularly clear in the documentation what would/should happen if the procedure isn't followed correctly.
He could complain, but as far as I know the only way he could force you to do something would be by taking you to court (but I can't imagine he would go that far? It's a lot of hassle) in which case it would be his word vs. yours (and your builders). Obviously can't predict the outcome of that, but I would say that with evidence from you and your builder, plus evidence that you have paid to rectify problems to his side as well, you'd probably be ok.
I'd keep him sweet as if you ever want to sell you have to declare a dispute & the buyers solicitor may want some retention to cover the repairs back to where they were.
Probably a child of the neighbours feeding him lines, pensioners always have something to complain about.
await ther arival of the neighbours freinds ,relatives, do gooders etc, all with their bt of mis information to add to the fire.
an absolute minefield youve dropped yourself into, feel so sory for the builder and yourself, well meaning and freindly.
I think it'll be fine, as I say I just wondered. It never occurred to me to look at party wall stuff.
Santa wont be able to deliever
We're at the in laws for Christmas 🙂
Suppose when they pass away their daughter (who seems nice enough) sells the house, which is the running joke, could their be any issues with the people who buy it, or do they just accept it as it is when they buy?
Looks like the PWA doesn't apply to Scotland.
'The Party Wall etc. Act 1996 only applies to England and Wales. Scotland and Northern Ireland rely on common law rather than legislation to settle party wall disputes. Neighbouring owners can negotiate to allow work to proceed – and access can be forced through the courts if necessary.' from a DIY website.