Neighbors and Pool Installation (LONG)

[Simmons99]

Jeffski -

I hear you - I totally was REALLY nice - you can read the letter I got from them on my link in my signature (last page) and then you can read the letter I sent them back. You can also see pictures of their yard, etc.

I have NO problem doing the right thing - when I know about it and they are allowing us to fix it. We really are trying to be good neighbors because I am not moving anytime soon. The whole process from fix the last house to put on the market, build a new house, finally get the old house sold, then fix this house how we want is has been going on since Feb. 2005- I need some rest (and so does my wallet )

[Simmons99]

Update - well world war three has begun again.....

Tuesday - I noticed one of their sprinkler heads as broken again. I went over and talked with the guy - he said "it's been like that for 2 weeks". Told him we would have it fixed this week - and in the future please tell us since I had just noticed it. (This was at 5pm)

6pm: They asked us if we were using propane - I said yes. The guy says "so your burrying the tank" - I say "no - the city wouldn't give us a permit for a burried tank - but we are planning on putting something around it like a fence." Guy says "well that will be great to look at" - I ask "a fence? We don't want to look at it - so we are going to put up a fence" - He says "well you don't have windows on that side of the house." So I repeat "we are going to put up a fence as soon as the HOA approves the installation"

He continues "well there is a problem with the grade - we have water pooling between the houses" I state - "well when we had the rain storm (2" in about 4 hours) I came out and everything was draining fine" He continues to rant - I tell him "we will have the pool company look at it"

9:45pm - door bell rings - the have turned on their sprinklers and they have water pooling between the houses - remember - this is the area where there is a BROKEN sprinkler head. I tell them that we will call the pool company and have them come out and look at it. They start getting agitated and start complaining about the water again - so I say "It's 9:45 at night - there is nothing I can do about it now. I will call the pool company in the morning and let them know that you are concerned about the grade and to come out and look at it"

TODAY - okay they have told the sprinkler company to not come on their property to fix the sprinklers - that they are going to hire their own company and then make us pay for it. I guess this was because the guy called our sprinkler repair person and told them "Our sprinkler system is completly off-line and we cannot water our lawn and it is dying" and the sprinkler guy told him that it was one head and that the system works - since he has seen them turn it on 2 days ago. So the neighbor got mad at him and told him to not come on his property. Too bad - the sprinkler guy had already fixed the head before the guy called him. Wonder what they are going to do now????

[GraceByDesign]

Oh my gosh what a nightmare for you. Sounds like these are some of the most miserable people on the planet... nothing to do but complain about everything.
It sounds to me like you have gone WAY out of your way to be cooperative during this process. I mean, what did they expect??
And re: the grass dying, HELLO, they could use a hose and sprinkler like those of us who don't have the LUXURY of a sprinkler system!
They will probably rip out the new sprinkler head just for spite.

Ok, done helping you in your rant!!

[gonefishin]

I hate to say it...

But it seems like they may be going after you for an entire new lawn (and possibly landscaping as well), due to the sprinkler system being down. You have bent over backwards, but it was not good enough. I've no doubt that whatever agreement you come to will never be good enough and that as long as you continue to "make good" that you will prolong your own agony...and (I'd bet) they'll continue to throw more and more demands at you as well.

I would kindly inform them that you will not be continuing with this any more. I would offer up no explanations or appologies...it seems that this will only add fuel for them to come at you with further demands.

I'd also seek legal advice on how to bring this to an end.

good luck,
dan

[momof2grlz]

Wow! What a couple of wackos. We haven't started construction of our pool yet, but I hope our "good" neighbor doesn't turn out like yours. Before I spent another dime on sprinkler repairs and pineapple plants, I would spend money to consult with an attorney. I'll bet once he sends them a nice letter indicating that you are willing to return their property to its original condition -and nothing more, their shenanigans will stop. I'm sure he will also point out their duty to mitigate any damage. In other words they can't refuse to run their entire sprinkler system and let their yard die because of a couple of broken sprinkler heads and then expect you to replace their yard.

I wouldn't worry about trying to appease these people any more. After everything they've put you through, I doubt you're ever going to be one big, happy Wisteria Lane neighborhood.

[Simmons99]

Now they have called the city building department about the grade being incorrect. The only reason I know about it is because the head inspector for the building department went to high school with our project manager. I have no idea what this guy expects...

The pool builder tells me that the grade matches the initial survey on our property - but DH and I will check it tonight anyway - How do you determine height without a surveyor? My foundation is supposed to be at 16.33' and the side yard is supposed to be at 15.5' - do I take a stake and run a string and measure the difference?

Neighbor guy left a couple of voice mails on my cell this morning (I was in meetings) about how rude our sprinkler people were and that they don't return his calls - then they call him at work and yell at him...

I call him back and he starts ranting - so I say "well there are always to sides to the story, but I am sorry that he upset you - but from what I understand the sprinkler head that was broken is already fixed" He continues with - "he called me at work!" - I apologize again (god I hate these people) - I get him to agree that he will meet up with us tonight to make sure that the installation is acceptable. Probably won't be - but at least we can come to an agreement - and I will send it over in writing. Then if they keep it up - I will have our attorney issue them a letter to send all correspondence through him - This is such a pain

[tenax]

i agree that it's time to take it to an attorney. likely for 150 dollars max you can get a letter from the lawyer to them if you provide a quick chronological sequence of events from start to present on paper. i'm not a lawyer, but have been involved enough with lawyers/hr folk in issues with people who work for me or my reports to know that:

a) when someone starts putting things on paper, there's a reason.

b) there is also a reason that they pepper with words like "anxiety".

a few bucks now will safeguard you down the road from any potentially more expensive issues.

[Simmons99]

Update - met with the guy tonight and took video of all the sprinklers working correctly - he still seems to think that the grade is not right. So we are going to move some dirt, but it looks like it is draining correctly. We live in a swamp that was filled to build houses, so the drainage is not great anyway.

Gas company rescheduled us until next Tuesday - so we will cross that bridge when we come to it.

[CarlD]

This is so sad. All the drainage problems I had with my three neighbors at the back corner of my property are all nicely resolved. We worked it out, I don't believe there are any hard feelings, and it's all done. I literally had a swamp growing because the landscaper popped open and artesian spring, and walked away. The customer (my neighbor) also had a soggy yard so solving HIS problems with the landscaper solved part of mine. The rest were solved by me splitting repairs with my next door neighbor and the catty-corner one having HIS landscaper adjust things.

Sometimes people ARE better than you expect. Sometimes they are worse.

[tenax]

meant to mention having read the letter they provided to you that at least on paper they still appear to be relatively cordial (More cordial than i thought they would be at given the situations you've had with them)..but, it still appears this issue is being "papered" for backup if necessary.