walls between properties

[keen2learn]

My neighbour has built a block wall between our houses. I wanted to give the side facing me a coat of masonry paint, because the grey blocks are unsightly, but he said I couldn't do so without his permission because it was his wall. Is he right?

[johan j]

presumably the wall spans the boundary & is not entirely on his side? got the makings of a hedge trimming argument here & your neighbour is already being unreasonable as the unsightly wall is equally visible to you. You could turn the tables by suggesting to your neighbour that you will have to build a taller wall than his in order to obscure your view of his unsightly one! I'd be very surprised if you were not free to paint anything within your own boundary.

[Loosehead]

Just paint it, I doubt he'll want to scrape it off he's just being an a%&hole..

[ianess]

Go ahead and paint it and if he complains refuse him access to your property to do anything about it.

As johan j says....a classical neighbourly dispute.

[Hammer]

Is it on his property, ie up to but not crossing the boundary?

If so then he is right and you have no right to touch it.

If not, then you get into all sorts of questions about party walls etc, which can get quite messy.

Best to sort it out amicably if at all possible.

[gazzawazza]

Sorry keen2learn, I don't know if he's right or not, but it always amazes me, why would anyone want to be such an awkward g*t?  If he isn't going to see it what difference will it make to him?  It certainly won't affect the stability of the wall. 

Some people seem to look for ways to make life more stressful when it really is too short for such petty differences.  Will he give you permission? if not, then he is just an a%&hole as loosehead suggests.

[brachiopod]

With you there, gazzawazza.

How tall is this wall, anyway?

Is there any way he should have had planning permission (or does that only kick in after 6ft?). What about the supporting of the wall, does it have enough piers and is it tied-in to anything?

[johan j]

just an afterthought here . . . . (trying to reason why he's being so unneighbourly) Before building the wall did he ask you to pay something toward its cost? I ask because I believe its not unusual for neighbours to agree to share costs for common boundary walls & if he did ask & you refused, he may feel a bit miffed. Regardless, if I were you I'd paint it even if he refuses 'permission'. Failing that, sink a couple of 8ft posts near the wall, then fix a 3ft by 2 ft poster (of the most unpleasant images you can think of) to each post ensuring they're only visible to him - & tell him he can't paint over them without your permission! 

[FP]

Why can't people live and let live.  Paint the wall keen2learn.  If it means he gets angry and won't talk to you, then you haven't lost anything.  Who would want a neighbour like this.

[peanut]

although you may be looking at a lawsuit for unauthorised painting, how would he even know you painted it without tresspassing on your property to see it?

[johan j]

a mirror on a stick? (lol)

[smudge]

Perhaps you could don a miner's lamp on your head & venture out in the dead of night & paint it!

Seriously, if your neighbour is being that unreasonable, perhaps you could visit your   or have a one off consultation with a solicitor (taking photo's of the wall with me).

When we erected a new 6x6 larchlap fence all around our garden our neignbour loved it, but asked if they could stain their side green to blend in with their newly landscaped garden. We said as long as the green didn't seep into our side of the fence (mid oak), we would happily agree. They have since done this & as we can't even see it, we've thought no more of it.

[smudge]

Whoops - the middle para should read:

Seriously, if your neighbour is being that unreasonable, perhaps you could visit your local CAB, or have a one off consultation with a solicitor for advice, (taking some photo's of the wall with you). Good luck.

[ursula62]

Instead of painting the wall, why not just erect a fence in front of it on your side. That way you won't have to look at his wall, and you won't get into trouble for painting the wall either.

Or you could put up a trellis and train a climbing plant to grow along it - even better than a fence.

[Corkyb]

Why anyone would want to build a 'block' wall in the garden is beyond me, surely a standard brick wall would have been enough!!

I'd tend to go with Ursula62, and put up trellis and climbing plants;  much nicer than a plain painted wall. My garden has a 6' wall one side as a boundary and that's what I've done.

Climbing roses, clematis, honeysuckle etc are all good for covering walls.

[keen2learn]

I agree Ursula2 and Corkyb, but I plants never give 100% coverage, and I thought they'd look better against a cream coloured background than the prison-grey of the breeze blocks. Anyway, thanks everyone - I was wondering if it was just me thinking he was being unneighbourly, and it's reassuring to know I'm not alone. The wall, by the way, is almost exactly 6ft tall, so hard to ignore, and difficult to block out. He'd just built it before I moved in, so it wasn't anything I did/said!