Our house was built 2.5 years ago and is quite close to the neighbours house who has gutters that are rotten and all the rain water falls straight on the ground. I am worried it is going to get under our slab and cause issues with our house, we have started getting some abnormal cracking in a corner room that is close to their house.
Is this a council issue that their gutters are not connected to stormwater? What can I do about it?
Note we have only seen these neighbours once the whole time we lived here, they are very private and I heard from another neighbour that they were not happy with our house being built next to them (just for context).
Neighbours Gutters Are Rotten/Useless and I Am Worried It Will Cause Issues with Our House
Remmie on 03/07/2021 - 11:53
Comments
Council will want proof that rainwater is running over onto OP's property.
They want proof that OP is affected by the leaking gutters.
OP needs to take video footage to demonstrate this to council
OP needs to show exactly where the rainwater spilled from next door's gutters is entering his propertyIf OP is just complaining about the leaking gutters and nothing more then council wont take any action.
Sand bags.
The neighbour could certainly take that course of action if it stops the leaking storm water from entering OPs property
You may need top put in some agricultural pipe to drain the water if they do nothing.
Some options are shown in the following results:
https://www.bunnings.com.au/search/products?q=ag%20pipe&sort…This is the neigbhour's cost and responsibility
Our house was built 2.5 years ago and is quite close to the neighbours house
Why did you build so close to them?
am worried it is going to get under our slab and cause issues with our house
Install drainage on your side then.
It can cause issues. A few years back the neighbours were renovating and for a couple days had no gutters and as luck would have it there was a major storm and the amount of water that flowed off the roof and down hill under our house was impressive. Took months to dry out under the house.
Neighbours Gutters Are Rotten/Useless
Our house was built 2.5 years ago and is quite close to the neighbours
all the rain water falls straight on the ground
I heard from another neighbour that they were not happy with our house being built next to themTheir way of passive aggressive revenge?
I don't think they deliberately put so many holes in the gutters
There would be damage to their house as wellAnd more than likely a rental property as tenants usually don't worry about such issues if they are not affected.
In which case OP needs to find out if this is the case and then get onto the property manager
Offer to pay for the repair.
Thanks, we bought it off the owner builder when it was 1 year old.
Where the house is, it literally touches the fence so drainage on our side is not an option.
I will try the council, we all know how quick to move they are..
Don't houses have to be like 1.5m away from the boundary line?
Yeah, you’d think so but where I live pretty much everyone is granted an exemption, so the zones and codes basically mean nothing.
My neighbour is nearly 1.5km away so depends on the council and land zoning 👍
This would potentially be what is called a zero lot line dwelling, whereby a side setback is only applicable to one side and dwellings can be erected along the boundary on the other. Obviously, for a number of neighbouring properties, the zero lot line boundary is a constant on one side.
Come visit us in Vic and you'll see just how close we can put houses together :D
900mm is the minimum for a single level house
However exceptions can be made if its a narrow block and there are no privacy issues such as windows on that side.Yes. 900mm is the standard for any Class 1 structure, due to fire regulations.
However, you can still build to one side of the boundary on a zero lot line plot, as long as the adjoining property has a side setback of 900mm along that boundary.
It wouldn't hurt to get some video footage when it's bucketing down, if you can show the council the issue they're probably more likely to act…
Good idea 👍
Your house should still be under the builders warranty? Get the cracks repaired under that and let their insurer deal with identifying the underlying causes, if it is indeed the neighbour's guttering?
If its just natural settlement cracking then nothing needs to nor will be done
That's what I was inferring. It could be a plethora of causes. Some will be covered, some won't, it might even be somehow related to the neighbour's guttering.
I get your point about offering to pay, but at the end of the day it is their house and their responsibility to have it connected to stormwater just like when you first build.
The rest of their house appears in ok condition, it just appears they don't care about the gutters which affects others.
And at the beginning of the day, maybe the builder built it too close to the fence. No wonder the neighbours are upset. The council might be upset too. As someone said, agi pipes and gravel are the answer.
And at the dawn of time the council approved the plans. As I said earlier, there is no room on my side for agi pipes, gravel or anything.
Please upload photo of the scenario. Is your gutter on top of your wall, which would make your wall be right on the boundary line? Usually the wall is set back around 150mm from the boundary to allow for the fascia and gutter to overhang past the wall around 150mm, in which case you have space to put gravel and aggi pipe there. Otherwise if your wall is on the boundary and your gutter/fascia does extend past your house wall, then you gutter encroaches on the neighbours property and you have a bigger problem.
Also, something that may be another worry… you bought it from an owner builder…. sounds like there could be quite a few mistakes made in the build especially the footings etc leading to cracks…. I'd bet that you will get more cracking soon and not because of your neighbours rusted gutters!
@Logical: Not sure how to upload a photo, instructions welcome.
Our gutters are on our property, they are the type that don't overhang/sit within the house.
The house is good quality otherwise and I did check out his previous builds.
The place is covered by builders warranty.
Their place is owner occupied, not rented.
Council approval is not a guarantee. I know of two acquaintances who "altered" plans after approval from the council so just be careful that your plans actually match the ones approved by the council.
At the end of the day if they don't want to do it they won't and you can deal with the aggravation and excess time that trying to force them to do it will cause. Or you could just pay and get it sorted right away 🤷♀️
At the middle of the day, I usually have lunch.
Instead of making it about you, convince them that fixing this is for their benefit ie. mould/rot getting into their roof etc
How do you know its THEIR HOUSE??????????????????
How do you know its not rented and they are just tenants that don't care?
See this is where many complaining posters don't do their research first and so get all the wrong advice
Where are the cracks you're seeing, inside or outside?
The cracking is upstairs in the corner of the house in the walk in robe at the top of both the door and window frame and continues into the plaster (on the side facing out/their house). It only started in the last 8 months and it is getting progressively worse. Can also see a crack outside the window frame in the equivalent spot but need to borrow a big ladder to get up there.
The builder moved to NZ last year and continued his business there, his wife is from there. I did research his previous work fyi and he is quite well regarded.The cracking is upstairs?
That's so hilarious…………BOOM out on the first strike!
There goes your argument that the spilling storm water is causing you problems
This cracking is coming down from the roof mate.
Even blind Freddy can work that one out LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL
Go back to the builder and complain to them
One of the many benefits of McMansions on 1/8 acre blocks with no yard /s
Also new builds always crack and move heaps because they’re built like absolute shiite.
Gutters should feed into down pipes which should then direct the storm water to the appropriate pipework or out to the street
It is illegal for storm water to just spill onto the ground and then run across to the neighboring property.
OP must demonstrate that this is exactly what is happening i.e. That OP is directly affected by the spilling guttersThe fact OP has cracks in a corner doesn't necessarily prove anything without an engineers report.
It could be natural settlement.
Its amazing how many OB posters exaggerate so much to their favour.
You have always remain objective to keep an open mind and see things the way the other party would see or quote them in order to give an appropriate or helpful reply.
Again too many contributors don't do this and just make irrelevant and unhelpful suggestions. Usually just siding with the Poster.Anyway If storm water is indeed running onto OPs property from the leaking gutters then council will issue an order to make good the problem.
NOTE: This could be achieved in a number of ways. Not necessarily by replacing the guttering.Agreed.
An owner builder house is not usually covered by any statutory insurance, as such you most likely bought a lemon house there my friend! Sorry to say, the cracks are just the beginning!
As mentioned above in my comment, Usually the wall is set back around 150mm from the boundary to allow for the fascia and gutter to overhang past the wall around 150mm, in which case you have space to put gravel and aggi pipe there. Otherwise if your wall is on the boundary and your gutter/fascia does extend past your house wall, then you gutter encroaches on the neighbours property and you have a bigger problem.
Contact the council and see what they say.
If council does nothing, offer the neighbours to fix their gutters:)