Fence Job Mess up. Whose Fault Is It?

Laustrij on 02/09/2021 - 23:56
Last edited 02/09/2021 - 23:58 by 1 other user

Tldr person replacing fence decided to switch paling side of new fence after having only talked to neighbour and wouldn't admit to fault. Am I right to be pissed?

We just had an old dividing fence replaced this week by neighbour's landscaper (neighbour is finishing off a reno) and now the palings are on the other (neighbour's) side.

I discovered the issue only after all the posts had gone in. There is a two metre section where there is only about 50cm gap from my side and the landscaper claimed that wasn't enough room to nail the paling from my side, something he never brought up before the job. This was a non issue really as I could have easily taken another timber screen down to make more room had he told me about it. Instead he thought it was OK to make the decision to switch the paling side having talked only to the neighbour, because in his words, he "could't hold a body corporate meeting everytime he had a question"

The neighbour assumed I was told about it and is apologetic.

Home & Garden

Comments

  • SF3 on 03/09/2021 - 00:07
    +7

    Am I right to be pissed?

    Yes.

  • bobbified on 03/09/2021 - 00:25
    +6

    Whose fault is it?

    Their fault.

  • Mechz on 03/09/2021 - 04:24
    +11

    Someone has to have the rough side of the fence. Why isn't it your turn?

    • sparkles on 03/09/2021 - 07:58
      +3

      In VIC the railings have to be placed on the same side that they were originally. Tried to find something similar and couldn't find any reference to railing sides in the NSW legislation.

      • austrij on 03/09/2021 - 08:07

        This - I think in NSW it's not in the legistaion but an expectaion/convention nonetheless

    • austrij on 03/09/2021 - 08:00

      This is rather subjective and people have their own preferences.

      But my gripe here is about not being consulted for what can be considered a major change.

      • SF3 on 03/09/2021 - 09:30
        -2

        But my gripe here is about not being consulted

        Oh wow… let it go, if that is the reason, move on.

      • Seraphin7 on 03/09/2021 - 10:36

        This is where you need to consider what's going on.

        Should you have been consulted? Absolutely, and I would be as unhappy as you are.

        But, the real question is what do you want to happen next?

        Is the fence/palings going to be torn down and rebuilt? No.

        Could you mount an argument to have additional palings installed on your side (to make it a "double sided" fence) and have "someone else" pay for it (not sure if you're in a strata or standalone situation)? Maybe.

        Could you do the above out of your own pocket? Probably, noting that a 50cm gap to work in is certainly less than ideal.

        Once you get over the annoyance of the situation, you need to work through what your realistic options are.

  • mapax on 03/09/2021 - 06:29
    +13

    The side with visible post and rail is the superior side to have facing you.

    • mskeggs on 03/09/2021 - 06:54

      I’m not fussed either way, but why do you say that? Appearance? Security? Maintenance?

      • mapax on 03/09/2021 - 07:45
        +7

        A combination of reasons, but for me the main ones are security and utility.

        Security/safety - the railing side is so easy to climb that young kids and even an unfit person could jump into your backyard. Additionally, if there is an emergency the railing side makes it easy for you to jump into your neighbours yard.

        Utility - you can temporarily hang or tie things from the posts and rails without damaging the fence. A couple of brackets and light plank/board makes a temporary shelf that you can slide over the rail to hold tools etc. whilst working in the garden.

        • fantombloo on 03/09/2021 - 08:30
          +10

          Plus when you talk to your neighbour you get up and look down at them - much more comfortable and commanding.

  • redfox1200 on 03/09/2021 - 07:18

    never heard of good neighbour fencing?

    • Seraphin7 on 03/09/2021 - 10:37
      +3

      You mean three metre high concrete walls with razor wire embedded on the top?

      • redfox1200 on 03/09/2021 - 10:39
        +2

        oh man i wish

  • aussieprepper on 03/09/2021 - 07:24
    +1

    Doesn't that mean you get more land? Did they move the fence to make up the difference?

    • austrij on 03/09/2021 - 08:01

      Yes the posts are closer to our property to make up for the change

  • Platinumtelecom on 03/09/2021 - 07:45
    +5

    I don’t understand why people go for wooden fences. It’s stupid.

    It gets damaged with weather, one side is uglier (yours), needs to be painted and maintained and it cost the same money, if not more….

    I really don’t get it, why not use colorbond.

    • cameldownunder on 03/09/2021 - 08:03
      +4

      Because colorbond looks industrial / cheap.
      ( De gustibus non est disputandum )

      • Platinumtelecom on 03/09/2021 - 08:04
        +1

        I rather that than a rotten wooden fence

        • cameldownunder on 03/09/2021 - 08:06
          +2

          Mine is not rotten, and my preference is an old fence over colorbond.

        • chriskq on 03/09/2021 - 11:35
          +1

          ever heard a soccer ball being kicked against a colourbond fence… the stuff of nightmares

    • austrij on 03/09/2021 - 08:09

      Yes we liked the look of timber. In fact had we agreed to palings being on the other side we would've insisted on timber posts instead of metal which is what neighbour wanted

    • Ryanek on 03/09/2021 - 08:11
      +1

      Put timber on galvanised posts and they're even more durable than colorbond. They can last well over 20 years.

      Get one soccer ball into a colorbond fence and its dented forever.

      • Platinumtelecom on 03/09/2021 - 08:12

        Yeah that’s true, dents are easy on colorbond

    • JimmyF on 03/09/2021 - 09:22

      It gets damaged with weather,

      I assume you mean rotting? Wood fences have about a 20-30 year service life in most cases.

      I replaced a side fence about 25 yrs ago, it is coming up for replacement in the next few years.

      one side is uglier (yours)

      Meh, its a fence, I have plants etc in front of it, can't really tell. I prefer the rails on my side anyhow.

      needs to be painted

      Who paints a wooden fence?

      and maintained and it cost the same money, if not more….

      All fences cost the same? Oh no they do not certainly cost the same!

      Quotes are showing double for 'colorbond' compared to wood.

      So what is the service life for a colorbond fence before the post rust off at the ground level and the fence falls over?

    • brendanm on 03/09/2021 - 10:20

      Colourbond is ugly.

    • Euphemistic on 03/09/2021 - 11:07

      Obviously never had kids playing in the yard, or had to use a whisper snippet along one. colorbond fencing is incredibly noisy and is why I’ll build a timber fence along one side if we are allowed.

  • Pumpkin_rrr on 03/09/2021 - 08:16
    +1

    》》The neighbour assumed I was told about it and is apologetic.

    Well, tell him you are not informed, and the Installer didn't replace like-with-like, and for the job to be re-done.

  • SlowCarSlow on 03/09/2021 - 09:13
    +3

    Nothing stopping you from installing your own palings on your side. Nice afternoon job depending on length and if you have anyone to help you.

  • seanfoite on 03/09/2021 - 09:26
    +4

    I get why you might be annoyed, but I'm struggling to understand what can realistically be done about it apart from redoing it all. Which seems like an awful waste of time and resources (I'm assuming that there would be a lot of wasted wood? Not really that aware of how this all works) So i would personally just be moving on with my life.

    • austrij on 03/09/2021 - 12:00
      +1

      We found the problem after the posts went in and before the palings went up, but couldn't get him to redo the posts even then.

  • antojamo on 03/09/2021 - 09:50

    If you have a good relationship with your neighbour, could you ask them to go halves in having palings added to your side?

  • callane on 03/09/2021 - 12:13

    When I was younger I had absolute horrible neighbor.
    Shortly after they moved in and the boundary fence was being rebuilt. It was about 10m to completion when they realised the posts were on their side, not ours. They only noticed when they looked through an old photo of the house (we didn't notice either, and actually prefer the posts on our side for safety reasons).
    They stopped the process and accused us of being in cahoots with the fence builder. We denied, they didn't believe us. They wanted the whole fence rebuilt from scratch with the posts on the original side.
    In the meantime of this happening, they were calling the local council saying our backyard pool was not fenced which is a legal requirement (the last 10m of the fence was where our pool was). But we could not complete the fence because they would not allow us to.

    Good times.

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