Quote for repairing a wall

RobbieT

RobbieT

Elite Member
My driveway (monoblock) has been slowly creeping downhill sideways, probably even since before I moved in in 2001.
Anyways, there is a 2-3foot high wall that separates my drive from my neighbours, and the bottom section of the wall (including the pillar) is starting to lean a bit.

Who could I get to come and have a look at it to see if it can be repaired, rebuilt, or can be left without the builder inventing a job that might not need doing. It would be easy to phone a local builder, but would they say it needed knocked down and rebuilt- even if it didnt??

Any help/advice would be appreciated.
Ta
 
Ok,
So I have had a quote for the job of demolishing a section of the drive wall and rebuilding it, but it did bring up a few interesting questions
mainly-
Shared boundary wall responsibility.

My next door neighbour is a lovely woman but can be very awkward at times , and would be extremely resistant to anything being rebuilt that she didnt like, or that wall supports may need to be put on her side of the drive to stop it subsiding again. The wall was built my my house's previous owner. As I understand it, as a boundary wall it is a shared responsibility/cost? Given that it is me going to be footing the bill for repair to the wall, is she beeing cheeky making demands about the work to be carried out???
Anyone know anything about these sort of things?
 
never experienced boundary disputes my self like

however my thinking is , if its on your side of the boundary do what the f you like and she can go whistle

if she's about to pay up 50% then I'm sure that 6 foot high fence she's after might just have to feature

and if its all going to end up in argument / court etc. id just let the wall fall over and then shrug shoulders

less its falling on to your side / bike ?
 
I take it the wall is falling into her garden?
Has she commented on it or quite happy for it to collapse?
Why not contact your local Citizen Advice for the legal position but irrespective of that the last thing you want is to end up having a fight with a neighbour and threats of going to court etc.
I have seen several cases of fights over boundaries and walls etc where the legal bill runs to five figures.:(
Maybe a daft question but do you actually need a wall?
Not living in a town I am not sure what the wall between properties is supposed to do apart from sending a message to your neighbours you don't want to associate with then which is probably what causes so much friction over height of walls, hedges etc.?
 
239desmo said:
I take it the wall is falling into her garden?
Has she commented on it or quite happy for it to collapse?

Why not contact your local Citizen Advice for the legal position but irrespective of that the last thing you want is to end up having a fight with a neighbour and threats of going to court etc.

Maybe a daft question but do you actually need a wall?
Click to expand...

Thanks, sound advice I think I will do that.
It is a wall that runs down between our 2 driveways, although my drive is slightly higher than hers so the wall is kind of necessary. Also, it is only the bottom section (about 6 meters) that is falling over, the top bit (about 14 meters) is ok.
And yes she has commented on it- mainly in reference to it falling onto her £30,000 BMW if it were to be parked next to the wall if and when it collapses.
Thats why I was asking coz she is typically narrow minded- she deosnt want it to fall over but is not open to suggestions about how it can be fixed.....
 
RobbieT said:
Thanks, sound advice I think I will do that.
It is a wall that runs down between our 2 driveways, although my drive is slightly higher than hers so the wall is kind of necessary. Also, it is only the bottom section (about 6 meters) that is falling over, the top bit (about 14 meters) is ok.
And yes she has commented on it- mainly in reference to it falling onto her £30,000 BMW if it were to be parked next to the wall if and when it collapses.
Thats why I was asking coz she is typically narrow minded- she deosnt want it to fall over but is not open to suggestions about how it can be fixed.....
Click to expand...



Robbie,


Iv'e been down this road a few years ago and the last thing you want is for this to go legal as all that will happen is your legal eagles will get richer while you got poorer.

Best plan is to get 3 quotes and then upto you and your neighbour to pick one of the builders to do the job on the agreement of 50/50 on the total cost.
If she accepts this then make sure the builder doing the job has an agreement signed by both parties agreeing to pay 50% each of the quote.

If she wont sign then i would just sit on the fence (pardon the pun) and wait until she does agree.

If the wall were to fall on her BMW then she could not come back on you as you made a move to get wall fixed but she refused and also i dont think her insurance company would pay out for the BMW either if they knew this so it is more to her benefit to get this wall fixed.

Jimmy.
 
jimmyrosko said:
Robbie,


Iv'e been down this road a few years ago and the last thing you want is for this to go legal as all that will happen is your legal eagles will get richer while you got poorer.

Best plan is to get 3 quotes and then upto you and your neighbour to pick one of the builders to do the job on the agreement of 50/50 on the total cost.
If she accepts this then make sure the builder doing the job has an agreement signed by both parties agreeing to pay 50% each of the quote.

If she wont sign then i would just sit on the fence (pardon the pun) and wait until she does agree.

If the wall were to fall on her BMW then she could not come back on you as you made a move to get wall fixed but she refused and also i dont think her insurance company would pay out for the BMW either if they knew this so it is more to her benefit to get this wall fixed.

Jimmy.
Click to expand...

Sound advise.Thats what my folks did & when the boundry fence fell into their neighbours greenhouse, it cost him 50% of a new wall & a greenhouse.:D:D
 
RobbieT said:
Also, it is only the bottom section (about 6 meters) that is falling over, the top bit (about 14 meters) is ok.
Click to expand...

Entering an area of "ifs" and "maybes" but IF it is your wall and you know it could collapse you have a potential problem if it collapsed and fell on a child that was playing beside it.
Her car is a minor potential problem in that she thinks there is a danger but continues to park there.
So IF she is not keen on splitting the cost why not remove/make safe the dangerous portion and tell her it is nice and safe now but you got prices to rebuild the whole wall but you can't afford it so you will leave it like that until you sell a kidney?
She sounds the type that may suddenly decide 50% of the cost is better than an eyesore.;)
Stating the obvious I know but you have to live beside her and it is in both your interests you sort this without any "fallouts".

:o Sorry DB jokebook page 52!
 
I'd of thought the deeds should state who's land the wall sits on, if its on yours you are probably responsible, please dont get confused with party walls, ie on semi detached houses, if its on your land the chances are you will be responsible unless the deeds state its jointly maintainable.

if it requires supports unless your deeds are very weirdly worded you'll need to put them in on your side, if that means a narrower drive or different level drive that'll be your responsibility.

Once again read the deeds, we have power over our neighbours which prevents them making alterations without our consent, they recently tried to put a wall in which we objected to as it reduced parking space for them which would impact on car parking in our courtyard. They didn't believe us until we showed them the words in the deeds, their solicitor had not pointed this out when they bought the house!

No-one wants to get into a costly legal argument but it might be better to check the deeds with a solicitor first, it wont be expensive to establish what your position is then negotiate with your neighbour if needed.
 
Gizmo said:
I'd of thought the deeds should state who's land the wall sits on, if its on yours you are probably responsible, please dont get confused with party walls, ie on semi detached houses, if its on your land the chances are you will be responsible unless the deeds state its jointly maintainable.
Click to expand...

I read the deeds last night and it does state myself and neighbor are jointly responsible for boundary walls. The only problem is, I am not sure if this drive wall is completely within my half or if it jointly spans the boundary. The land register picture was far too small to see exactly where the boundary is.
:confused::confused::confused:
 
With Michael on this one - check the deeds first and foremost before doing anything (Land Register of Scotland = £3.60 for a copy that you can download with decent plan(s) that you can enlarge to see properly. Personally, if it's not a complete eyesore for you, I would remove all the dangerous falling-down and threatening-to-hit-beemer-parts and leave it at that ..... thus leaving more "biking fuel and coffee time" money for the summer ;)
 
foxy said:
check the deeds first and foremost before doing anything (Land Register of Scotland = £3.60 for a copy that you can download with decent plan(s) that you can enlarge to see properly.
Click to expand...

Thanks, but i am wondering where you get the £3.60 price from?
I checked out the Land registry for Scotland websites last night and all I could find were packs, ranging from £15 to £145 each!!!
Any help would be appreciated pointing me to the right website/location to download boundary maps for £3.60!!!
 
RobbieT said:
I read the deeds last night and it does state myself and neighbor are jointly responsible for boundary walls.:
Click to expand...


Robbie,

You have just said it above, Take the simple step first and go have a word with her pointing out the wording in the deeds (hers should read the same) and see if she is willing to go 50/50 and if she is job done.
Better to sort it out between yourselves than involving solicitors mate.
 
OK
Drive wall section has now been demolished and rebuilt to a very decent standard and at vary reasonable price, without me falling out with my neighbour. In fact she was so impressed she even asked the builder for his details in case she ever needed any work done!!!
Thanks to everyone who offered help & advice- it was most useful.

Before & After Pics=

Miles-
Please feel free to delete this thread in a few weeks as it serves no purpose other than to offer closure.
 
RobbieT said:
OK
Drive wall section has now been demolished and rebuilt to a very decent standard and at vary reasonable price, without me falling out with my neighbour. In fact she was so impressed she even asked the builder for his details in case she ever needed any work done!!!
Thanks to everyone who offered help & advice- it was most useful.

Before & After Pics=

Miles-
Please feel free to delete this thread in a few weeks as it serves no purpose other than to offer closure.
Click to expand...

Hope yer neighbour is getting her drive slabs sorted as well:);)
 
was there any indication as to how the wall has a list in the first place ?

has it got new foundations ?

if it had been me I might have been tempted to have a go at repairing it myself ~:?
 
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