Neighbor Issues

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Smartjack

Smartjack

0
Bronze Supporter
May 1, 2016
126
Naperville, Il
So,

I've had all I can take from my neighbors trees. I can't keep up with the stuff his trees are dumping in my pool. I'm emptying my skimmers every morning, and by the time I get home from work, they are so full nothing else will fit in the basket. His trees come 20 feet into my yard, and over my pool. I wish I could just cut them Down.
 
Check the city ordinances. You're probably legally entitled to cut them off even with the property line. That might not go over so well with the neighbor, though.

Why not invite him over to swim this holiday weekend, and casually mention how much work it is to keep the skimmers clean? Let him have the revelation that it's his trees causing the problem and that just trimming them back would save you all kinds of work.
 
Richard320 said:
Check the city ordinances. You're probably legally entitled to cut them off even with the property line. That might not go over so well with the neighbor, though.

Why not invite him over to swim this holiday weekend, and casually mention how much work it is to keep the skimmers clean? Let him have the revelation that it's his trees causing the problem and that just trimming them back would save you all kinds of work.
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My neighbor and I DO NOT get along. We named him "the creeper" years ago. When women are in the pool, he always finds a way to be at the fence line (looking at weeds, watering the lawn even when it rained earlier that day, etc). After years of finding dumb reasons to be there, he started just placing a chair and watching. My dogs hate him, and bark at him when he is by the fence, and then he calls the police on the dogs for barking.

No way he ever steps foot on my property.
 
Smartjack said:
My neighbor and I DO NOT get along. We named him "the creeper" years ago. When women are in the pool, he always finds a way to be at the fence line (looking at weeds, watering the lawn even when it rained earlier that day, etc). After years of finding dumb reasons to be there, he started just placing a chair and watching. My dogs hate him, and bark at him when he is by the fence, and then he calls the police on the dogs for barking.

No way he ever steps foot on my property.
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In that case, a look at the city ordnances and a chainsaw are in order.
 
The trunk of his tree is right at the property line, practically touching my fence. The whole thing would probably have to come down. I doubt it could just be trimmed. Not sure how evil he would turn if I forced that issue. He loves his yard, and everything in it. A few years ago, he had several flood lights installed on his house to light the yard up, so he can see it all the time.
 
Richard makes a good point. You can probably cut off any branches that are hanging over your property line, assuming that doesnt kill the tree. But if the trunk of the tree is on your property line you may have a dual obligation to care for the tree.

If it is causing you grief maybe you can sue on the theory it is a "nuisance".

You should check the law on your area.
 
Shhh Marian, don't let hubby hear. This kind of thing is exactly why hubby was opposed to my aquisiion of a chainsaw a few years back - chain saws and alcohol ;)

(He was less opposed after I single handedly cleaned up a large tree felled by a storm, but still doesn't trust me with the thing! But we have a couple acres of forest and a trail to keep clear...and while he thinks nature just takes care of these things, I'm a little more aligned with the forestry mindset. And like to snowshoe the trail in winter.)

Smartjack, if the debris lad is heavy and you don't feel like starting a creeper war, check out the PoolSkim. Amazon.com : PoolSkim Pool Skimmer and Pool Cleaner : Swimming Pool Maintenance Kits : Patio, Lawn Garden
It reduces load on skimmer considerably and helps catch debris before it sinks.

My pool is surrounded by trees plus a mature terrace with all manner of blossom on the south and west side so debris load management is old hat around here ;)
 

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Agree re: checking the local regs. Overhanging trees are a relatively common problem, so good chance there's something.

Would screening be an option? Probably costly and difficult, but could maybe cure both the leaves and the peeping? Would be a real win if you could slope it somehow so the leaves would blow down into his place. Hairnet in the skimmer might save a bit of time. Good luck with it.

What a jerk your neighbor is! Maybe take a video of his voyeurism and seek a restraining order? I suppose you don't want to escalate the fight cause who knows where that goes. Maybe privacy fencing, hedges, or something are in your future. I would definitely tell him to stop staring at my family with the hope he would stop. Terrible!
 
Thanks for the suggestions everyone. I'll look into the city ordinance, and see if I can just have the tree trimmed without even asking him first. Here are some pictures of where the tree is compared to the property line, how much it overhangs, and what it is dumping in the pool everyday. I'm thinking that I am also using more chlorine everyday, as my pool tries to fight off all these organics, right??

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It's hard to say whether all the pollen is coming from his tree or your tree, which is also very close to the pool. But I would think you can probably cut off all his branches hovering over your property line. You should, however, make sure the fence is an accurate depiction of the property line.
 
Lucky that grunge mostly floats! Gonna be skimming a bit more than normal, but it sure is great having the equipment for managing the incoming debris! The seeds should be seasonal.

Yeh I'd bite the bullet and go a new fence. Get quotes and you might be surprised how cheap it is. If neighbour can't agree down here, there's mechanisms to get shared cost, but that doesn't always work to the timing or standard you want (works way more often with friendly neighbors!). When that happens, some people build one a little inside their own property, within regulation height of course. Don't know what it's like over there.
 
Just a warning. In California you can trim back your neighbor's trees to the property line. So long as you don't do permanent damage to the tree. I'm surrounded by trees also and trim my neighbors trees regularly. They never complain. They squealed on me to the HOA about the cement mixer on Sunday morning but never about cutting their trees.

Other states laws may be different. If you do permanent harm to the tree in California it's triple damages ouch!!
 
Yes, a taller fence that he cannot see over. If that is not allowed for some reason, I would plant some nice, tall evergreens along that side of the pool so your family has more privacy. You could also trim those trees back. Even if you don't trim it to the fence line removing a couple of feet would cut down on the amount of debris blowing into the pool.
 
zea3 said:
Yes, a taller fence that he cannot see over. If that is not allowed for some reason, I would plant some nice, tall evergreens along that side of the pool so your family has more privacy. You could also trim those trees back. Even if you don't trim it to the fence line removing a couple of feet would cut down on the amount of debris blowing into the pool.
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My Home Owners Association will not allow a higher privacy fence. They also would not allow MANY other fences I would have preferred to put up instead of that cedar one. Since I couldn't have a privacy fence, I wanted a nice white wrought iron fence that went with my grey and white house. I couldn't get it approved. They fight all forms of fencing, but nobody in my 600 home subdivision has a privacy fence. This one is all I could get to keep the city, and the HOA, both happy.
 

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