do you hate your neighbor? solutions?

[steve88]

I hate nosy neighbor!
Dispute Between Neighbors - this is a true story....
A city councilman in Utah , Mark Easton, had a beautiful view of the mountains to the east, until a new neighbor purchased the lot below his house and built a new home.
The new home was 18 inches higher than the ordinances would allow so Mark Easton , mad about his lost view, went to the city to make sure they enforced the lower roof line ordinance.
The new neighbor had to drop the roof line, at great expense.
Recently, Mark Easton called the city and informed them that his new neighbor had installed some vents on the side of his home...
Mark didn't like the look of these vents and asked the city to investigate.
When they went to Mark's home to see what the vents looked like, this is what they found...
The City Council said the vents can stay since there is no ordinance referring to shutter design


http://i535.photobucket.com/albums/ee358/wmatthai/house1.jpg
http://i535.photobucket.com/albums/ee358/wmatthai/index2-1.jpg

 

[CuppaJoe]

Funny, looks like a good solution to me.

Reminds me the CEO whose penthouse office had a view of a porn theater marquee. CEO came up with some dirty tricks to try to put the theater out of business and almost succeeded. The legal case was in appeal for years but the porn theater eventually won. By that time the CEO had moved on to early retirement. The first three months back in business the marquee spelled out, "Welcome, Mr. & Mrs. (New CEO)."

 

[FIREd]

LOL! He should have bought the lot below his house to make sure his view remained unobstructed...

 

[Westernskies]

snopes.com: Middle Finger Cactus Vent Cover

apparently the "artwork" was removed after the councilman quit harrassing the homeowner and apologized...

Wouldn't you just love to be a fly on the wall at their next neighborhood block party?

 

[freebird5825]

Looks like a heterogeneous linear array of Roman arches of variable magnitudes to me.
Arch - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[ziggy29]

snopes.com: Middle Finger Cactus Vent Cover

apparently the "artwork" was removed after the councilman quit harrassing the homeowner and apologized...

If the plans for this house really were approved as built and the guy who built it had to spend $25,000 to "fix" it, the clowns who initially approved the plans should cough up the 25 G's, IMO.

 

[Westernskies]

If the plans for this house really were approved as built and the guy who built it had to spend $25,000 to "fix" it, the clowns who initially approved the plans should cough up the 25 G's, IMO.

Remember, this happened in Utah, where there is no separation of church and state... and the majority definitely rules.

 

[Kwirk]

Now that's the way to 'vent' one's displeasure.

 

[bbbamI]

Perhaps it was the hand of Mickey Mouse...

 

[Frugality_of_Apathy]

If the plans for this house really were approved as built and the guy who built it had to spend $25,000 to "fix" it, the clowns who initially approved the plans should cough up the 25 G's, IMO.

Ha! That's rich.

Everyone knows building inspectors are just tax collectors. If they approve a structure and it falls down next week The city and inspector aren't going to accept any responsibility.

There's no legitimate reason for home construction inspectors.

 

[Westernskies]

Now that's the way to 'vent' one's displeasure.

this thread is exhausting...

 

[Sue J]

We had an elderly neighbor who had a hobby of minding everyone else's business. He didn't like how his neighbor at the back of his property trimmed their bushes so he went ahead and hacked away at the side that was adjacent to his fence. He ruined the bushes. But before the bush owner replaced them she cut them in a pattern of one mid sized, one high, two midsized.

I saw her in her yard and asked her if that had meaning and if it was giving our mutual neighbor the finger. She confirmed that it was.

I gave her the "thumbs up" for that one.

 

[travelover]

Ha! That's rich.

Everyone knows building inspectors are just tax collectors. If they approve a structure and it falls down next week The city and inspector aren't going to accept any responsibility.

There's no legitimate reason for home construction inspectors.

Not to divert the thread, but when I was looking for my first house in the early 1980's I looked at a lot of (used) houses that were built to no code at all. It made me appreciate the value of having at least some minimum standards for construction.

I'll grant you that a "pass" by a building inspector is no guarantee of perfection, but it is a nudge in the right direction, especially for flaws that are covered over by subsequent construction processes. For example, once it is drywalled how do you know what gauge wire is in the walls or if the drain pipes actually have a slope or proper venting?

 

[Frugality_of_Apathy]

Not to divert the thread, but when I was looking for my first house in the early 1980's I looked at a lot of (used) houses that were built to no code at all. It made me appreciate the value of having at least some minimum standards for construction.

I'll grant you that a "pass" by a building inspector is no guarantee of perfection, but it is a nudge in the right direction, especially for flaws that are covered over by subsequent construction processes. For example, once it is drywalled how do you know what gauge wire is in the walls or if the drain pipes actually have a slope or proper venting?

All that stuff an easily be seen with an inspection before you by it which is just standard practice. A simple line tester will let you know the wiring gauge and power. you can see it when you open the box as well. If the city wasn't doing inspections it would open the door for private inspectors who actually would guarantee the work and you could look to buy places that have been certified from such inspectors.

As it is a homeowner can do almost anything they want without an inspector, it's just when they hire out or do obviously major construction that an inspector will be called. The place I bought had been remodelled and rewired several times and inspected but when I opened the walls nothing was up to code. Nothing at all. If the inspections are going to be forced than the inspecting authority should be on the hook for errors due to their inspections.

I've had city inspectors come out and tell me to do something to get it up to code and when another inspector comes by they'll tell me to take out the thing the other inspector said to do before he'd pass it. Power without responsibility is not something the government should have.

 

[freebird5825]

We had an elderly neighbor who had a hobby of minding everyone else's business. He didn't like how his neighbor at the back of his property trimmed their bushes so he went ahead and hacked away at the side that was adjacent to his fence. He ruined the bushes.

I have a row of pine trees planted by the previous neighbor. They grew quite tall and the lower branches were of course reaching over onto the adjoining neighbor's lawn. One day I came home from w*rk and this idiot had cut every one of the branches back to the trunk, from ground level to about 5 feet up. So much for a privacy factor. I think the little prevert wanted to be able to spy on us (me). Sneaky little !#%*.
If he had a problem, we would have trimmed them back, not lopped them off at the trunk. We called the sheriff but there was nothing they could do legally. They did go talk to the guy and told him to leave our property alone from here forward or they would press harassment or trespass charges.
He moved years ago.

 

[Nords]

One of our neighbors in our cul-de-sac is a sewage pumping station. Hands-down bar-none best neighbor we've ever had.

I worry about the neighbors on the other side. Their first-born is 19-20 years old and has crossed well over the "high-strung" line to "freakin' out". (Ironically she's studying psychology at state U.) I'm just hoping that she's too freaked out by firearms to be a hazard to her neighbors.

 

[HFWR]

I recommend making the neighbors a cocktail.

Molotov...

 

[ls99]

Neighbors can be fun..... to mess with.

I have one that is a perfectionist. Every bush he has is carefully manicured into a cone shape, frequently. DW and I think the result is a bunch of bushes resembling a d*ck head, kind of what we think of him.

He fails to appreciate our preference for a natural growth of forsythia bush line along his property, but on our side about 3 feet in from the property line.

One day he got totally bent out out of shape turning red and blue and sputtering mad looking at our natural bush line. He is an aggressive type about 6'6" around 280 lb. He has threatened to kick my butt, but so far just hot air and no actual physical attempt, does not even raise his arm in my direction. I don't have to defend against a non-attack.

Ok, the bush line does look and is random height. I refuse to trim it. The PO let him trim it to a height of about 2 feet.

So to enhance his state of mind, I walked out, got up close to him and suggested he build a fence to his liking so he does not have to view nature unmolested.

For a minute there I thought he was going to blow a gasket, started ranting incoherently, spitting and nearly foaming at the mouth. His wife finally came out and gently took him by the arm and walked him back to the house, his head hanging, muttering about being mad. This was about a month ago.

Well lo and behold, today a surveyor showed up, matched my previous survey lines, put in stakes to mark the his property line, which ended up exactly where I said it was, instead of the extra 10' he was claiming into my property.


So I expect sometime next week a fencing comapany to show up and install a fence, most likely a solid 6' high one.

Aye, good fences make good neighbors, especially if they foot the bill for erecting one.


Now on the other side, lives a guy about the same size who is a lumberjack in real life, brings home his logging truck regularly, could not ask for a better neighbor, and we became fast friends less than a month after we bought this house. Go figure. Hard working folks nice and pleasant, office geeks not always.

 

[Meadbh]

My neighbour once acted quickly to rescue someone from a burning building. Whatever he wants to plant is OK by me.

 

[Ronstar]

My neighbors are ok - mainly because our lots are 5 acres. My doctor lives behind us. My eye doctor is two doors north. The couple to the south are displaced from a highway project that I worked on, but they seem ok having been forced to leave their old place. The family to the north is very quiet (an elderly lady with 2 grown sons?), but I help them out by plowing their drive a little. No nosy neighbors - all quiet so far

 

[ratface]

When my kids were small I bought a backyard pool and started the installation. The grass being ripped out was a dead give a way and my neighbor approached me and said he didn't want the filter near his house because of the noise. Filters are actually pretty quite but I obliged and put the filter on the opposite side of the pool. About a week later I get a certified letter from his attorney stating that pools require a permit, That I hadn't obtained one, and that I would need to remove the pool. What appeared to be a copy of the city ordinance was included and sure enough according to the ordinance I had violated the rules. Since pools are pretty common in the area and none of my other neighbors had obtained a permit I do a little research and find the official copy of the ordinace for pools. It reads exactly the same as the one in the letter exceapt the one mailed to me was missing the first sentence which read,"All pools above four feet must conform to the following etc. etc. My four foot pool is now in full compliance and he probably stole some attorney's letterhead and conveinantly left out the first sentence. That pool lasted fifteen years where I encouraged my children to use the pool screaming and splashing as loud as possible. He never once opened a window in the summer, just ran the air for fifteen years.

 

[freebird5825]

...That pool lasted fifteen years where I encouraged my children to use the pool screaming and splashing as loud as possible. He never once opened a window in the summer, just ran the air for fifteen years.

Ooooooohhhh, we think alike. On the opposite side of the Pine Tree massacre scene...
I had a neighbor (renters) whose teenage kid and friends loved to play rap and headbanger music at very high volume when the parents were gone, which was most of the time.
So, being the schemer and plotter that I am, I arranged to have my outdoor porch Bose speakers cranking out Beethoven, Tchaikovsky, and definitely some Pavarotti opera highlights whenever the parents were home and they were all outside on their back patio.
The parents asked me about my classical music volume one time. I pretty much told them if I had to listen to their kid's rap music, then they ALL had to listen to my classical.
Guess what problem stopped ?

This family was eventually evicted for non-payment of rent. I found out later they destroyed the inside of the house. Current owners are having it all torn out and redone as I type this.

 

[Stevewc]

I guess I'll add my neighborhood story to the list.
My son plays drums in a small time school buddy type rock band.
They normally play/practice in a room I built for them in my garage. Never had a complaint.
The group decided to play at a community fund raiser for cancer patients.
Which I thought was a great thing to do.
The show/event was to be held outside at a high school football stadium. So the band wanted to do a good practice session out side to adjust there sound equipment for an out door setting, which I approved to be done in my driveway entering the garage. During the day no less around noon.
Well somebody in the neighborhood didn't like the idea to much. The wife and I were at work at the time this all went down. When wife gets home the police are basically waiting in our driveway. The male and female police officers start questioning her (my wife) about some car load of teenagers mooning the city councilman that lives in our hood. Which the wife has no knowledge of. By this time a nosy neighbor is on the scene but actually helps us out by telling the police my son had not left the house. Which cleared him, Thank God !!! I can't imagine any of the band members doing such a thing as they left my neighborhood, can you ?
Turns out the council member had come down to my place by himself and personally made the guys stop playing loud music because somebody in the hood had called him and complained. Instead of calling the police as he should have. Anyway, as the other band members left my home they saw the councilman in his yard and one of them decided to show their a$$ to him literally.
The two police officers couldn't even keep a straight face while they talked to my wife about it .
I saw and spoke to the male officer a night or two later. I mentioned that for the right price I could probably get the boys to moon the mayor if they were interested. Of course he just smiled and had no comment.
Hope I was able to convey the story good enough for you folks to get a laugh. But we definitely cracked up about it.
I did tell the guilty young man, if he decided to show his a$$ anytime in the future, to please do it in his own neighborhood though.
Hope you enjoyed,
Steve
PS. I called City Hall and let the police department know they would be practicing the next day. Informed them it was for the community fund raiser. They told me it would be just fine because the noise ordinance didn't start until 8:00 pm. I was there the next day and had them turn it up extra loud. When the police showed up I told them I had cleared it with city hall. He told me he didn't see anything wrong with what they were doing. Listened to them play a song or two and left.

 

[freebird5825]

Great story!
I felt sorry for the cops trying their darnedest to be serious about this whole thing.

 

[Stevewc]

Great story!
I felt sorry for the cops trying their darnedest to be serious about this whole thing.

I could just picture us sitting in court.
The lawyer asking the councilman.
Now just exactly what did you see, Mr. Councilman