Thought I would pop in for some advice on issues with the neighbours. We recently purchased our home which is on a small block of only 480 m2. When we purchased we noticed the boundary fence between our house and the neighbour on our right only went half way down the property. We were told by the real estate agent that the neighbour had taken down half of the fence but would put it back. We both have a driveway each seperating the houses and a fence used to seperate the driveways. Once this was pulled down it left the driveways as what I would call 'communal' and this was obviously the neighbours intention behind pulling down half the fence so that he could use my driveway to back his car out more easily as the driveways are rather narrow. When we moved in we began to realise how necessary the rest of the fence was. The neighbours friends and family would constantly park half way down their driveway which looked straight into our windows and in particular our living room and kitchen. Many a time people would stand and chat whilst having a good look through our windows. We have roller blinds and as you can imagine would have to have our blinds down completely on this side of the house to obtain some sort of privacy and as a result had no light. The neighbour is also an incredible stickybeak and is incredibly bold and arrogant. I have often seen him and his friends come up to the fence and stand there talking and pointing at things in my backyard. I can't believe it!
I have two small dogs. One elderly terrier and a 1 year old Cocker Spaniel. Both are indoor dogs who spend about 23 hours of the day inside. The other hour is spread over the day for toilet trips outside. I work from home and am therefore home all day. My Spaniel never leaves my side but has somehow become a topic of complaint for my neighbour. As the fence only went half way down the boundary I informed the neighbour that I wanted to put back the rest of the fence. I organised for additional colorbond to be installed. The existing amount of fence was only 5ft tall and so I proposed putting in 6ft panels and adding extensions to the existing panels. This I told the neighbour I would pay myself at no cost to them. They decided they didn't want the fence to be 6ft tall - for whatever odd reason they could have. The only reason I can think of is that they enjoyed having a good look into my backyard and back windows. Anyway, as a means of being 'neighbourly' I didn't put in 6ft and instead decided I would put in trees on my side. A taller fence or trees were necessary as the street is on a hill and the neighbours property is higher than ours and as the neighbour is around 6ft 2" he towers with his head and torso over our fence. This along with the fact that he spends his entire day with his truck parked against our fence playing with his tools in the boot (even though he has a garage) means I have no privacy whatsoever. It is of course his right to do whatever he wants in his backyard but why he feels the need to do it up against the fence is beyond me. When my dog is outside and the neighbour is up against the fence my dog will bark at him. Within a minute I am out there but have gotten to the point where this guy is against the fence so often that I can't put my dog outside without a problem. The neighbour loves antagonising my dog. In the first few weeks my dog would be quietly sitting or playing with a toy in the backyard while I hung out the washing or watered the garden. The neighbour would come up to the fence, stand there while Paddy barked and then would bash on our side of the fence saying 'what's up with you' over and over again. I told the neighbour he doesn't like strangers but the neighbour insisted on persisting with Paddy. After a while this began to really frustrate me and I was at the point of telling him that he was causing the problem. Instead I let it go. When the neighbour wasn't standing up against the fence, my dog would be quietly milling around not making a noise. I decided it was time for some screening trees. Two weeks ago at about 6 pm Paddy was sitting in our enclosed alfresco dining area. He heard a few hoons on the street behind us and barked a few times. I was sitting in a room near to him and went to see what was wrong. He stopped barking and I let him outside to go to the toilet while I stood there waiting at the door. A few minutes later the neighbour shoots out of his backdoor shouting 'does that dog ever shut up?' Frankly I was not ready for this attack but was so irritated by this neighbour and his constant perving through our windows, thumping music, antagonizing of the dog, 2am goodbyes to their friends and family outside my bedroom window etc that I fired back 'yes when you're not around' The neighbour then ranted on about taking me to the council about my so called barking dog. Keep in mind that this is a small/medium dog that is inside all day long. I am home all day long. He is never left at home on his own (too needy) and is left with my Mum when I go out - like a child I know! He is not a dog tied up outside 24 hours a day with no exercise or attention and best yet has NEVER barked at our other neighbour on the other side. Anyway that was the first outburst from the neighbour and I decided it was time for the trees. $1000 later I had 10 conifers against the boundary fence. Currently only 5 ft tall and rather useless but with time - one can only hope.
Now, a few days ago I was hanging out my washing with my dog at my side. The neighbour then goes into his garage and backs his truck right down next to the fence and plays with his tools and obviously trying to get my dogs attention. My dog sees him and barks so I gather my washing basket and call to my dog to come inside. The neighbour turns around and starts shouting 'shut that dog up' 'shut that dog up' I couldn't believe it. I'm talking two or three barks and he goes off his brain. This time he tells me 'you want a war, I'll give you a war, I'll show you what a mongrel can do, you just wait' I told him that I noted his comments as threats and to not go anywhere near my dog or me again. I then heard his 88 year old Mother in Law yell out 'shut your mouth you stupid b**ch!' Ugh! Charming. I might also add that I caught this neighbour coming up to the fence at 8pm on the night the trees were put in sticking his hand over the fence trying to grab one of the trees. I told him I saw him do this and he denied it instead saying 'yeah well, they're illegal, they have to be a metre back from the fence'. This is not the case. I had already checked with council. Even so the trees were planted 60 cms back and one wonders how he knows how far back they were unless he stuck his head over and had a good look down. The guy is obviously off his rocker and frankly I don't know what else to do. I am now putting in another 12 trees down the rest of the driveway which have been paid for - another $1200. I am also having privacy film put on my windows at a cost of $700. So now I have spent $2200 in trees plus $580 in fencing and $700 in window film for a total of $3480 and I still can't get away from this creep. He stares at me when I go in my backyard. I have to strategically hang my washing as he is such a pervert. Today I had to put up with his horrible grandchildren climbing up the 5ft fence and holding on while sticking their heads over the fence and yelling at my dog in my alfresco area. I am now considering enclosing the alfresco area so that nobody can see into that either. If I could bill all of these costs to these wierdos I would. I am so over this. I have decided to get a solicitors letter informing him that his behaviour is harassment but that hardly helps the lack of privacy I have in my backyard. I can't use the backyard whatsoever. I am wanting to put a spa outside but as you can imagine - can't. Every tradesman or friend I have come over the neighbour comes outside to listen to our conversation. When I was talking with a handyman in my front garden I saw the neighbour stick his head out of his window to have a good look and obviously when he couldn't hear enough came out to his front garden and stood at his letterbox obviously pretending to read his mail. It appears he feels that everything I do in my house is his business and is angry at me for wanting some privacy and frankly not wanting to know him. I think the dog is some sort of an excuse as they can't find anything else. He even went so far as to say my dog barked all night long. My dog is asleep in my room at the bottom of my bed all night. That's how deluded he is. My other neighbour has an outdoor dog that barks occassionally at night. Doesn't concern me but I feel I'm getting blamed for every dog in the street. I don't play loud music, I don't have parties, I don't make any noise so this is all so ridiculous. Sorry for such a LONG winded post but felt it best I get it all out there for the best advice possible. If anyone can suggest something I would appreciate it. I feel like we're living in a fish bowl from hell. I have even considered packing up and moving. It's that bad! Any advice re privacy screens or other ideas much appreciated.
So you have just moved into a house and already have
- Put up a fence that makes it difficult for your neighbour to get down their driveway
- You are annoyed they park halfway down their driveway - has it occurred to you that they have been doing this for decades? Why shouldn't they park where they like on their own driveway.
- You also get annoyed that they can see over your backyard and point at things. If they are higher it is easy to do this. I look over a few of my neighbours - that's life on hilly terrain. You might consider this rude, lots of people would not.
- You are also annoyed he plays with his tools in his truck. This is probably his hobby and he has been doing it for years. It is his property, why shouldn't he play with his tools in his truck?
- He enjoys his peace and suddenly your dogs are barking at him. So he gets annoyed.
- You plant a load of trees that might disturb that gardens on his side or block out his light
I have deliberately written the above with a perspective of your neighbour. He could be a total nutjob (I hope not) or he could be genuinely aggreieved by all you have done since moving in. May be worth trying to talk and understand his viewpoint.
Free Will, if you are someone willing to share your driveway with your neighbour, happy to have your dog antagonised, your property tresspassed, your family spied on and harassed as well as your person and possessions threatened and tampered with then I commend you. My concern is not that my neighbour plays with his tools or where he chooses to park his car. My concern is that his actions purposely breached my right to privacy and security and that his antagonising of my dog then led to his verbal attacks. In order to fix this problem I have spent a considerable amount of money. However, I don't see how replacing a fence at my cost (one that was deliberately removed by the neighbour in order for them to use my driveway) and planting trees on my side of that fence is of any harm. If the neighbour was not the antagonistic pervert that he is perhaps these things may not be necessary although I would have wanted the fence replaced regardless. It is quite normal to fence a property. If I wanted to live in a commune I would. I have no intention of trying to talk to or understand the viewpoint of someone who has now made threats and who has been unreasonable from the start. Your post is one of a kind.