TippiToodles11
Junior Member
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Pennsylvania
We purchased our home (built in 1961) in 2012. Our neighbor’s home was built in 1965. There is no easement between our properties, and our home has extensive hardscaping in the form of large brick planters that extend in some places to the property line. We landscaped that side of the property in 2014 to create a natural barrier between our home and our neighbor’s large raised balcony that extends towards us from the back of his house. Both houses are built on the side of a hill (therefore, not a lot of back yard). A storm drain which begins at the bottom of our driveway, extends outward to the property line and then right angles along the property line to the back of the property, was found to be damaged during landscaping and the landscaping company placed a new flexible storm drain on top of the old one, leaving it exposed in parts. Our neighbor, with whom we have had very good relations until this year, informed us in May that he was unhappy with the drain being visible and asked us to put soil over it and grass seed (we had done this previously but rain washed it away). He also informed us that he believed the drain was on his property and that he was going to hire a lawyer to amend the deed to his home and asked us to pay for his lawyer’s fees. We assured him that burying the storm drain was one of our projects for this year (we had already invited estimates for the work), and that when the trench was dug to reveal the location of the original drain, it would surely be on our property. We promised that this would be done by the end of this year. We told him we would be happy to plant grass seed once the new storm drain was permanently placed. The neighbor demanded that we get a survey. We informed him that we already had one (done in 2014 prior to landscaping) and that the hubs were visible. He agreed to hold off on hiring a lawyer until the trench was dug. We agreed to keep him updated and tie cord between the property hubs. We hired a crew who began the work and dug out the trench, exposing the original storm drain (which is partly intact). To our surprise, the original storm drain (6” terracotta pipe) appears to be, at least partly, on the neighbor’s property (running on the outside of the planters). Today, our neighbor verbally informed us to cease and desist with burying the drain until he has his lawyer draw up “a waiver”. We’re baffled by this turnaround, we thought he would be delighted that the eyesore would be finally resolved, however, we’re disappointed that a portion of our storm drain appears to run on his property. We are complying with his request to stop work on the project since half of the digging work is happening from his property. Our surveyor stands by his work.
What do you advise us to do? We want to complete the work of burying our storm drain and wish we could move it, however, the large brick planters make it impossible to move the drain fully onto our property without either destroying the planters or trying to dig and place the drain under them (which I’m not sure is possible without destabilizing them or killing the trees growing in them). The delay could mean losing our current work crew and preventing other additional landscaping work from being completed this fall. Our neighbor’s stated concern is liability for any future repairs to the drain, however, since this had not been a concern previously, we feel that his change in behavior is more related to a separation and divorce. From previously having us as guests at his parties, he is now nitpicking every interaction we had and gift we gave.
Here are my questions:
Can our neighbor prevent us from continuing the work of burying the new storm drain because a portion of it lies on his property?
What is the best way to resolve the issue of our storm drain running partly along his side of the property line?
If an easement agreement is the most appropriate solution, do we need to pay his lawyer’s fees for that (in addition to our own)?
Do we need to make changes to the deed of our home as a result of any easement agreement?
We are the fourth owner of this home, and it’s unlikely that the second and third owners were aware of this issue. Is it possible to seek compensation from the original owner’s family (who designed and built the house) for the costs relating to resolving this issue?
Thank you in advance for any advice on this issue. We live in Pittsburgh, PA.
We purchased our home (built in 1961) in 2012. Our neighbor’s home was built in 1965. There is no easement between our properties, and our home has extensive hardscaping in the form of large brick planters that extend in some places to the property line. We landscaped that side of the property in 2014 to create a natural barrier between our home and our neighbor’s large raised balcony that extends towards us from the back of his house. Both houses are built on the side of a hill (therefore, not a lot of back yard). A storm drain which begins at the bottom of our driveway, extends outward to the property line and then right angles along the property line to the back of the property, was found to be damaged during landscaping and the landscaping company placed a new flexible storm drain on top of the old one, leaving it exposed in parts. Our neighbor, with whom we have had very good relations until this year, informed us in May that he was unhappy with the drain being visible and asked us to put soil over it and grass seed (we had done this previously but rain washed it away). He also informed us that he believed the drain was on his property and that he was going to hire a lawyer to amend the deed to his home and asked us to pay for his lawyer’s fees. We assured him that burying the storm drain was one of our projects for this year (we had already invited estimates for the work), and that when the trench was dug to reveal the location of the original drain, it would surely be on our property. We promised that this would be done by the end of this year. We told him we would be happy to plant grass seed once the new storm drain was permanently placed. The neighbor demanded that we get a survey. We informed him that we already had one (done in 2014 prior to landscaping) and that the hubs were visible. He agreed to hold off on hiring a lawyer until the trench was dug. We agreed to keep him updated and tie cord between the property hubs. We hired a crew who began the work and dug out the trench, exposing the original storm drain (which is partly intact). To our surprise, the original storm drain (6” terracotta pipe) appears to be, at least partly, on the neighbor’s property (running on the outside of the planters). Today, our neighbor verbally informed us to cease and desist with burying the drain until he has his lawyer draw up “a waiver”. We’re baffled by this turnaround, we thought he would be delighted that the eyesore would be finally resolved, however, we’re disappointed that a portion of our storm drain appears to run on his property. We are complying with his request to stop work on the project since half of the digging work is happening from his property. Our surveyor stands by his work.
What do you advise us to do? We want to complete the work of burying our storm drain and wish we could move it, however, the large brick planters make it impossible to move the drain fully onto our property without either destroying the planters or trying to dig and place the drain under them (which I’m not sure is possible without destabilizing them or killing the trees growing in them). The delay could mean losing our current work crew and preventing other additional landscaping work from being completed this fall. Our neighbor’s stated concern is liability for any future repairs to the drain, however, since this had not been a concern previously, we feel that his change in behavior is more related to a separation and divorce. From previously having us as guests at his parties, he is now nitpicking every interaction we had and gift we gave.
Here are my questions:
Can our neighbor prevent us from continuing the work of burying the new storm drain because a portion of it lies on his property?
What is the best way to resolve the issue of our storm drain running partly along his side of the property line?
If an easement agreement is the most appropriate solution, do we need to pay his lawyer’s fees for that (in addition to our own)?
Do we need to make changes to the deed of our home as a result of any easement agreement?
We are the fourth owner of this home, and it’s unlikely that the second and third owners were aware of this issue. Is it possible to seek compensation from the original owner’s family (who designed and built the house) for the costs relating to resolving this issue?
Thank you in advance for any advice on this issue. We live in Pittsburgh, PA.