Roofer took over my side yard

[gotbeer74]

Neighbors are having a new roof installed and for some reason my side yard has become their jobsite. Yesterday I saw slates flying into my plants and damaging them, so I went out and asked them to be careful since they are on my property. I went out after they went to lunch and found one plant ripped out of the ground and another bush with plywood laying on top of it. I'm patiently been waiting almost 24 hrs now for my neighbor to come home from work to ask who is paying for the damage.

 

[Soulshine2]

I'll tell you whos paying for the damage...him and his contractor. call police, file a property damage report. if that doesnt help get him going to fix it, take it to court.

 

[JONNYROTTEN]

I own a roofing company. I could shed a little light on your situation. Without a picture of your 2 houses I would say with fair certainty that his house is right on your property line. You cant ripe a roof on a property line without some landing on the other property, its just not possible. The average roof rip is about 10 to 15 yards of roofing and weighs 4 tons. Your neighbors roof is slate. It weighs WAY more than 4 tons. Its literally a rock roof. Its also more difficult to handle when it comes off the roof.
The roofer looks like he did a good job trying to protect your fence and lawn and that amount of roofing in the picture is NOTHING compared to what it could have been. So they must have been doing there best to keep it off your yard. But like I said you cant keep it all out you just cant.

You have to understand the roofer didnt build the house on the property line and would much rather have the house off the property line as it makes for a more difficult job.

If you really loved your plant that much ask the neighbor to by you a new own. I really hope its not a plant that dies and comes or that would douchey. At the end of a day your bitchin about a plant....is it really worth it???

A roof gets done once every 30 years. My suggestion would be relax and have a beer and dont be "that" neighbor that ******* about everything. Its only going to make you look bad.
The guy did his best to protect your property and it will all be over soon. Have a homebrew in the yard and watch how hard they work....might gain a little respect for them

 

[JONNYROTTEN]

I'll tell you whos paying for the damage...him and his contractor. call police, file a property damage report. if that doesnt help get him going to fix it, take it to court.

Youd would be the neighbor I'd be forced to shoot....hes bitchin about a plant...a plant.
While his neighbor is having a massive demo job being done....everything you said to do would make you the worst neighbor on the planet

If my neighbor did what your saying to do over a plant I would make his life a living hell for the rest of his life

Homeowner Rule #1
Dont be a ********* neighbor

 

[Soulshine2]

Youd would be the neighbor I'd be forced to shoot

Id shoot back. If a roofer cant contain his debris,especially from a neighbors property, he shouldnt be in business. Where I come from roofing companies have scissor lift bed dumps, they raise them up to the roof level to avoid things like this.

 

[Soulshine2]

I didnt say have him arrested. just reported in case it goes farther ,then its on record.

 

[JONNYROTTEN]

oh....and if you do bitch and make a scene which is your right make sure you never build a deck or do any other work on your property and house without a permit...and EVERYTHING by law requires a permit that nobody ever gets...or make any noise at a party...or have your dog bark...or ANYTHING else...your neighbor could cost you a hell of a lot more than a plant

 

[JONNYROTTEN]

Id shoot back. If a roofer cant contain his debris,especially from a neighbors property, he shouldnt be in business. Where I come from roofing companies have scissor lift bed dumps, they raise them up to the roof level to avoid things like this.

Pretty sure houses have 2 sides and only one is on the driveway side....I wonder how the OP would feel about the company driving a scissor dump truck across his lawn for the the other side of the roof on the property line so 3 garbage cans of roofing dont land on his protected yard

You will never find a roof rip that requires at least some ground cleanup...its not possible.

Plus the roof is slate. Heavy and razor sharp pieces. Very difficult to handle

The OP is being a difficult non understanding neighbor...if he ******* and files a report on his own neighbor it will come back and bite him in the ass....good luck with filing a report over a plant "just so its on record"


The guy is spending big money on a major project trying to better his house...and your going to ruin that for him " filing a report"

That would award you worst neighbor in history award.

Would you rather he lets his house fall apart and look like crap that you have to look at or "deal" with it for 2 days

 

[JONNYROTTEN]

This is so ridiculous I'm literally shaking my head. I could see if the roofing fell in your pool and ripped your liner or crushed your patio furniture but your filing a report on your neighbor over an F'in plant....I cant begin to tell you how sad that is....AND the company tried there best to protect your yard.....you need to get a grip...like seriously

 

[h22lude]

This is so ridiculous I'm literally shaking my head. I could see if the roofing fell in your pool and ripped your liner or crushed your patio furniture but your filing a report on your neighbor over an F'in plant....I cant begin to tell you how sad that is....AND the company tried there best to protect your yard.....you need to get a grip...like seriously

So let me gets this right, as a business owner if you ruined property of someone you aren't working for, you wouldn't fix it? I don't care how tough the job is or how tight the lawn is, if you need to use the neighbors property you have to ask first. And if you ruin anything, you must fix it at your expense. People spend time and money on making their yard look nice. Even if the plant was $20, it is $20 OP shouldn't need to spend. OP didn't hire the company. It isn't OPs roof that is being fixed. It does look like the company tried to protect OPs yard but not well enough. One plant was ripped out and the bush being crushed by the plywood is probably ruined too.

I wouldn't take this to court as it is such a small amount. I wouldn't make my neighbor pay for it either because it really wasn't their fault. I would 100% talk to the manager, foreman, or company owner and make them pay for whatever they ruined.

 

[gotbeer74]

Id shoot back. If a roofer cant contain his debris,especially from a neighbors property, he shouldnt be in business. Where I come from roofing companies have scissor lift bed dumps, they raise them up to the roof level to avoid things like this.

Dont have any issue with the owner. She works weekend shifts and agrees with me that this should not have happened. I have over 200.00 worth of plants that have been damaged. These are not Home Depot plants, I only plant native plants from my area on my property. They had nothing protected on my house until I said something. I had no issue with them using my property but show some respect for my items. I also found a hole in my siding that I just had installed last year. Also many roof jobs have been done in the past 20 years I lived here and most use chutes to protect other properties.

 

[JONNYROTTEN]

Dont have any issue with the owner. She works weekend shifts and agrees with me that this should not have happened. I have over 200.00 worth of plants that have been damaged. These are not Home Depot plants, I only plant native plants from my area on my property. They had nothing protected on my house until I said something. I had no issue with them using my property but show some respect for my items. I also found a hole in my siding that I just had installed last year. Also many roof jobs have been done in the past 20 years I lived here and most use chutes to protect other properties.

So talk to the neighbor. I wouldnt talk directly to the contractor. You didnt hire them and dont know them. The homeowner will talk to the contractor. $200 sucks for the contractor to lay out but he did damage the plants and its not a ton of money.

Theres a chance the neighbor wont even talk to the contractor and hand you the money to be a good neighbor and avoid an issue with the contractor.

Dont charge for any plants that come back every year like hostas and grasses...just deal with them being damaged for the year and they'll be back to normal next year.

If the contractor becomes difficult then hes a bad contractor. Most likely hell hand over the cash and say sorry for the trouble.
For all you know he could be so understanding and handle it so well you would recommend him....things happen in this world...doesnt mean you need to threaten with filing reports and make his life miserable BEFORE you even speak to anyone and try to get it resolved

 

[day_trippr]

Hahahaha! Love this thread

 

[mongoose33]

When did it become OK to damage someone's property without any attempt to mitigate the damage ahead of time?

And when did it become OK to deride what's important to someone on their property? If I'd invested time and money to get something to be just how I like it, and someone ruined it....why is that OK?

It's not OK. And it's people excusing such behavior that are making it tougher on the rest of us. If you make a mistake, own it, and try to fix it. But for God's sake, don't try to deflect responsibility.

I agree with JohnnyRotten--start slow and amp it up if need be. Give people a chance to make it right before calling in the nuclear weapons. But be prepared, if they don't own the mistake, to do just that.

 

[Still Brewn]

Wow!
1. it is not ok to be on someone else's property without permission. It is not ok to dump construction debris on someone else's property, period.
2. Any roofer worth a damn can prevent any and all damage with the proper preparation. It may take more time and cost more money but that is part of the bidding process and should have been included in the bid. Just because it is heavy is no excuse for sloppy workmanship. As a roofer you are in the service industry and pissing on the neighbor of someone you are providing a service to is not good business. If you don't know how not to prevent property damage while doing you job you should not be in that business.
3. Talk to your neighbor, let her know that you will be calling your insurance company. It is a civil matter not a police matter.
4. Take pictures.
5. Take more pictures.
6. The roofer is 100% responsible for any and all damages and should have insurance to cover everything, if he or she does not they are not worth a damn and should not be in business anyway.
7. Your best allies in this kind of situation are your insurance company and your neighbor. The insurance company will get its money one way or another.

This is a note for everyone else.
We own a corner house with a lot of foot traffic on our sidewalks and a lot of kids walking by. When we had our roof redone we took out an umbrella policy just to make sure that if anything did happen we were covered and covered again. It was a $140 and gave us an extra million in coverage after our homeowners policy for a full year. So falling objects, forgotten nails, tripping kids would be taken care of and we had the piece of mind that we were not going to lose our house because of someone else's mistake.

 

[JONNYROTTEN]

How about a picture of the neighbors house and the proximity to your yard....And a picture of his full roof from your house standing back away from the property line. That would give better insight. Just a picture of some roofing in your yard doesnt tell the whole picture

 

[JONNYROTTEN]

Double post

 

[Still Brewn]

How about a picture of the neighbors house and the proximity to your yard....And a picture of his full roof from your house standing back away from the property line. That would give better insight. Just a picture of some roofing in your yard doesnt tell the whole picture

Although this may seem important it is not, it does not matter if the houses are 2 inches or 200 feet. The roofer should never have done this and could have prevented anything from happening had he/she done the job properly.

 

[JONNYROTTEN]

Although this may seem important it is not, it does not matter if the houses are 2 inches or 200 feet. The roofer should never have done this and could have prevented anything from happening had he/she done the job properly.

That would be wrong...We've had to set ladders and scaffolding up on the neighbors property because there was no other way..2 inches or 200 feet makes a HUGE difference....most/all homeowners are understanding when the houses are so close together. They may also have to go though the same thing at some point and wouldnt want the neighbors to make things difficult when its their turn...that would be most homeowners....there's alway the pain in the ass neighbor that is not understanding of anyone else but themselves and allow for zero tolerance and just doesnt get how the real world works

I'd love to see the pics mentioned...they're is always the chance the contractor was sloppy....things happen...the world isnt rainbows and unicorns. The OP was threatening legal action before even giving the contractor a chance to make it right.."just in case" over $200 in plants....thats really really bad

It sounds like the OP knows his plants as he only uses native plants

What are the names of the plants that were damaged?

 

[JONNYROTTEN]

I also think the OP should start a go fund me page and put it here. I would donate $10 then all you need is 19 fellow homebrewers to donate a whopping $10 and the problem is solved without ever filing legal action against the neighbor or the contractor....keeping peace in the world....I'm an advocate for peace love and harmony

 

[Still Brewn]

By the way if you can't tell I'm a stickler for details and deliberate carelessness gets me.... and that is what this is. I see they put up osb to protect some things but did a halfa$$ job at that. You said there is a hole in the siding... call a siding contractor to get an estimate, they damaged plants, call a landscaper to get an estimate. Turn those over to your insurance company and let them deal with it that is why you pay them so much money.
If you are really pi$$ed you could call the police and have them cited for trespassing but that is about it. The damages are a civil matter and the trespassing citation will depend on your local jurisdiction as to wether or not they will give them a ticket. It's kind of a mean thing to do but it is a lesson this and any other contractor needs to learn.
A good example of people doing whatever they want, where ever when ever.... I had a dozen different roses growing in the space between my side walk and the street. People would come and steal roses all the time not such a big deal but when I would see someone I would holler at them. Then one year one of them got a virus transmitted by mite or an aphid (i cant remember which) they only survive minutes off of a rose plant, the virus, however, survives years in the ground. It wasn't long and the thieves had spread the virus to plants that were nowhere near each other and killed all but the 3 that now remain. My point is that my property may have city right of way on it but dbags think that that gives them free reign to come on my property and be a thief. The most common response I would get when telling people to get off my property is "this is public property". Wrong! It is private property that the city has a right of way in to bury utilities, post signs, plant or remove trees, replace sidewalks. I finally got so mad about losing so many prize winning roses that I started having people cited for trespassing. People seem to have no respect for any one else's property anymore and it is getting a little old.

 

[S-Met]

How about a picture of the neighbors house and the proximity to your yard....And a picture of his full roof from your house standing back away from the property line. That would give better insight. Just a picture of some roofing in your yard doesnt tell the whole picture

Calm down and re-read the 1st then second post. OP made no threat of legal. Advice from second post was to take it to the neighbor, last resort is a claim.

The whole story is already spelled out.

Damage to neighbors property during a job. Nothing else is relavent.

The question is not "what was damaged." The question is not, "could this have been avoided."
The question is, "who is going to compensate for the damage?" Ultimately, it is the responsibility of the neighbor, though the roofer/contractor should have insurance for this type of occurrence.
There are only douches if either of the two parties refuse to compensate for the damages.

The best course of action is to open dialogue with the neighbor and set your expectations. Inform that you are documenting the process and take pics for proof.

 

[Dland]

Amusing thread, as a landscape contractor who installs lots of plants and fences right along property lines, I kind of see both sides. I also was a roofing laborer for a short time many years ago.

That said, we are extremely careful to respect property lines, sometimes going to great lengths to do so. It is the best way to avoid trouble. And I HATE tight lot, in town jobs, and always add a significant PITA factor to the bid on them, if I bid on it at all.

Mature nursery stock is expensive, especially if professionally installed and warrantied. Does not take much damage to rack up $200, as that will get you a medium sized shrub or two, or a small tree. Nice perennials cost around $20 each installed.

Around here these days, with the exception of a few high end hand nailing crews, all the roofers are foreigners with little regard for any niceties. They leave so many nails around their job sites that I've had to get a nail sweep to protect the tires on my equipment on sites they have worked on. We charge that to the customer, and point out how messy their roofers were, and let them deal with them.

 

[JONNYROTTEN]

By the way if you can't tell I'm a stickler for details and deliberate carelessness gets me.... and that is what this is. I see they put up osb to protect some things but did a halfa$$ job at that. You said there is a hole in the siding... call a siding contractor to get an estimate, they damaged plants, call a landscaper to get an estimate. Turn those over to your insurance company and let them deal with it that is why you pay them so much money.
If you are really pi$$ed you could call the police and have them cited for trespassing but that is about it. The damages are a civil matter and the trespassing citation will depend on your local jurisdiction as to wether or not they will give them a ticket. It's kind of a mean thing to do but it is a lesson this and any other contractor needs to learn.
A good example of people doing whatever they want, where ever when ever.... I had a dozen different roses growing in the space between my side walk and the street. People would come and steal roses all the time not such a big deal but when I would see someone I would holler at them. Then one year one of them got a virus transmitted by mite or an aphid (i cant remember which) they only survive minutes off of a rose plant, the virus, however, survives years in the ground. It wasn't long and the thieves had spread the virus to plants that were nowhere near each other and killed all but the 3 that now remain. My point is that my property may have city right of way on it but dbags think that that gives them free reign to come on my property and be a thief. The most common response I would get when telling people to get off my property is "this is public property". Wrong! It is private property that the city has a right of way in to bury utilities, post signs, plant or remove trees, replace sidewalks. I finally got so mad about losing so many prize winning roses that I started having people cited for trespassing. People seem to have no respect for any one else's property anymore and it is getting a little old.

Your completely combining two different things.
A neighbor working on his house and *********s stealing roses out of your yard. TOTALLY different. I lived on a corner house for 12 years and would never by a house on a corner the rest of my life. It sreams F with my yard....I hated it and moved....its not right but in most/all cases its kids....whata ya do, arrest kids for being kids....I would never do that.

And believe me there are plenty of *sshole contractors out there. Plenty of non understanding homeowners out there too.

Saying "this is a lesson this and every other contractor needs to learn" puts you in the PITA homeowner category.....we contractors dont need your lessons.....time to get off your high horse.

Having the contractor cited for trespassing while trying to protect the yard and clean up the mess...are you even kidding me

Out of you own mouth your the angry "get off my lawn guy".....so there goes your whole argument

 

[Still Brewn]

. They may also have to go though the same thing at some point and wouldnt want the neighbors to make things difficult when its their turn...that would be most homeowners....there's alway the pain in the ass neighbor that is not understanding of anyone else but themselves and allow for zero tolerance and just doesnt get how the real world works

Understanding is allowing the contractor use your yard for setting up scaffolds and ladders and walking supplies/garbage through and I understand accidents happen as in the wind knocked over one of the protective pieces of osb so now you have to fasten it so it can't blow over. There are ways to do the job properly and not cause any damage to anything but this contractor is not doing it, wether lazy or cheap no way for us to know. Every job can be done properly if you try. Try telling a marine to do half a$$ a job putting together an Osprey and 25 other marines die. There is one way to do things and that is the right way. There may be more than one path to the right way but the end result should be where everything comes out unscathed.

 

[JONNYROTTEN]

OP made no threat of legal. Advice from second post was to take it to the neighbor, last resort is a claim.

Read post #6. He's going to report either the homeowner or contractor....just in case. That would be a threat of legal

For the record I think the contractor should pay for the plants if thats what the OP wants....I, as roof contractor, would pay for it in a second as we do the right thing.....all the talk of legal crap and insurance claims is what pushes my buttons...so uncalled for in this situation

 

[6Tap]

Communication, communication,
Communication.....

 

[Blazinlow86]

If you as a professional roofer can't complete a job without damaging the neighbors property stop and ask the neighbor if there ok with it before proceeding. Pretty simple. If there not ok with it it's now the person hiring said roofers/ roofers problem no matter how much more difficult it makes it. Cheers

 

[bob1852]

Note to self, find out what company rotten owns and never do business with him. Yikes.

 

[JONNYROTTEN]

Note to self, find out what company rotten owns and never do business with him. Yikes.

Seriously...now your talking about my name. That's Messin with a mans livelihood...dont go there

Pm Me for endless before and after pics....testimonials....and my name and licence number

Twenty six years in business ONLY doing roofing and we still have our original licence number without a single complaint.....ever. Proven by my Consumers Affairs record. Thats 1000's of happy homeowners. I'd be more than happy to share my company info with you