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Reply With QuoteVery tall growing plants.
Landscaping Problem - Short term solution and long term solution needed Hi All,
I hope this does not hurt your eyes as much as mine. We have an issue at our boundary for an IP we just bought.
It's a real eye sore. The neighbour and are potentially thinking of a retaining wall long term. However, no trades available to do until after xmas.
I have a question, what should we do short term to solve and any other ideas long term other than a retaining wall? I'm managing this remotely due to Covid and travel restrictions so any creative thinking or suggestions for a short term fix that won't break the bank and we can get property rented out. Then long term is a retaining limestone wall and fence the best option?
I can't do myself and I also can't look at this eye sore any more. PLEASE HELP! I feel so sorry for our neighbour looking at it every day!!
Thank you in advance!
Very tall growing plants.
Just get someone to pick up and stack the bricks so they aren’t lying around everywhere.
That’s all you need to do if you and the neighbour are planning on adding a retaining wall and fence in 3 months.
It looks like it didn’t have a fence before anyway…
What's that thing on the ground? A pipe?
Which side is yours?
It seems rather straightforward. Get someone to pick up all the rubble, bricks, stuff. Bury or eliminate the 'thing', and turf the area. Job done.
A Colorbond fence would probably be nice if wallet permits. Colorbond can have a treated pine plinth (timber plank between posts) under it so acts as a low retaining wall.
Real knowledge is to know the extent of one's ignorance
Confucius
Looks like a bit of history there as the remains of the weldmesh gate/fence suggests. Could it be the neighbour levelled their land and created the mess.
Certainly a lack of detail as to who owns what?Originally Posted by Marc
Hi Phil,
I think this could be the case and it's a good observation and would make sense. There has been a 20 year feud between both neighbours that our buying agent failed to discover. The eye sore is my side.
Thanks
That's the plan. Unfortunately it seems the dispute has lasted 20 years.
But I guess I have to take the neighbours word that he wants to sort it now and install the retaining wall.
But yes think cleaning up the bricks is a good idea and hoping we can get trades in sooner rather than later.
I own the side that is the eye sore and it ends at the hose basically
Thanks, the neighbour seems to think we have to build a retaining wall. Is it a case that a colorbond fence would last in a location like this. Sorry I really am clueless with fencing.
Just to clarify things does your block end at the side of your house with the side built on the boundary?
Sorry it ends up at the tree in the picture as far as the hose goes is all mine. You could basically use the hose as the boundary line. Sorry I even confused myself with that comment.
It might be a local council thingy but my experience in Perth is the high side is responsible for any retaining, so the neighbour is correct in saying you are responsible for the cost.
However, I am not sure you are required to build one - you could, as suggested, just do some planting - it is a good time to do that now.
Your neighbour is probably concerned about water run off into their place, fair enough, water has to go somewhere.
Judging from your pics I would say that is too steep for colourbond to retain, plinth or not.
Your idea of limestone retaining and fence on top is probably the best solution all round.
Tradies in Perth impossible to source at the best of times, even worse now.
Landscapers (for planting) pretty busy this time of year too.
My pro tip?
Rent the place to a landscaper.
But who decides if you need a retaining wall or not?
Is this the same property you have shown in another post?
Correct, yes
Haha, yes if someone that wants to rent is a landscaper we would almost let them live rent free.The location is pretty good as it is. The house has some problems as anyone can see. However, went with buying the worst property on the best street and we will just have to work through some of these issues.
I live in Sydney and planned to go over and work around the place myself but Covid screwed us over. So now I have blown the budget on the roof and inside renos.
Perth tradies can charge what they want at the moment. However, I have been lucky enough to get some pretty solid trades working on it to date.
Impossible to get trades people at the moment though and can't see that changing until the borders reopen. At least not without being price gouged.
yes, which is what I implied/said.
We can't judge from a pic.
Given the house in question (on the high side) is still structurally sound then probably no retaining required, unless the neighbour is complaining about water run-off.
And we don't know what was there previously, tho it doesn't look like it was retained.
I think Qld is like that too. It seems a very ignorant policy attitude if a neighbour can change natural ground levels and the expectation falls on the party that never interfered with the ground responsible for the retaining wall, I think I'd be feuding too.
South Australian rules for retaining walls at property boundaries are different. We are permitted to change “natural ground level” by up to 600mm, either up or down, without the requirement to build a retaining wall. Obviously you can if you want to. If the ground level is changed by more than 600mm then the property owner that changes the level is 100% responsible for building the wall.
“What a fool believes, he sees. No wise man has the power to reason away”- The Doobie Brothers
What is the level difference between the two blocks at the boundary?
I can see that there is a substantial difference between the two(how much?) but not at the boundary.
The way it is, no one can force you to build a wall. A fence yes, but not a wall.
A retaining wall that size will go past the 10k.
Furthermore ... the responsibility for retaining wall in WA is the same as in NSW. Whoever altered the land.
Generally the person who changes the lie of the land either by excavation or building up is responsible for building a retaining wall.
https://www.legalaid.wa.gov.au/find-legal-answers/homes-and-neighbours/dealing-neighbours/dividing-fences-and-other-boundary-issues
In your case, it is hard to say. You will need to check with council if your side was filled or the other side excavated. To me it is a draw and a retaining wall cost will have to be shared.
Or not built at all.
If your side was clean and had nice turf would you still be talking retaining wall? Probably not. It would be simply a rolling hill
To me it looks like the neighbour decided to build in a ditch.
Real knowledge is to know the extent of one's ignorance
Confucius
And you won’t be getting any more rent by adding a retaining wall!
Unless there is hard evidence, its all conjecture as to what was natural ground level. The neighbor could have dug it out or the prev owner could have brought in fill...or both
I'd suggest unless you can find what actually occurred, then to treat this as day 1 with no history, move on and make your decisions based on what you see today as ground zero.
Find out what you may be obligated to do and who is responsible for payment and balance that with what you need/want to do.
Looks to be at least a meter high btwn hose and house and 15m to 20m long?
So as Marc said, you definitely wont get any change from 10k for a basic retaining wall....would be ~5k in materials min (concrete, steel posts, pine sleepers, drainage - stone, pipe, geotextile, plastic, equipment hire,) plus labor
If there is no survey mark of where the boundary line is, be mindful you may need a survey...ie: additional $ to budget for.
Depending on the rules in WA for retaining wall heights, you may need the wall engineered particularly if there is a risk the neighbor might be a pain.
If you want to go the retaining wall route, be mindful that you wont see the wall from within your property. That limestone will certainly make your neighbor's places look a million dollars but do bugger all for yours, .....so consider solutions that are cost effective for you and not what the neighbor wants. I'd be ensuring that this is clearly communicated to the neighbor should the cost be 100% yours.
If you want something quick and dirty, maybe all you need is to pick up all the crap, level the top to walk on and batter it back.
Obviously cant see the property, but maybe it could tie in with a broader site clean up ie: get a bobcat in for 4 to 8 hours around the side, back and front to dump it into a skip.
You could then put some grass or bark chips/plinth board along the boundary down until your in a position to build a wall in a time frame that suits you....months, years or never
Takes away the urgency, cleans it up, makes it safe to walk through while you focus on bigger works on the house and around the back/front.
If you go for a steel post retaining wall, here are some options for building a fence on top. Just make sure the foundation holes for the wall are deep enough to handle the additional wind load.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V_Qnh_zq91I - colorbond fence on retaining wall
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Al5a0sM1bbs Fence brk
In Perth, under 500 mm high wall don't need Council approval.
Real knowledge is to know the extent of one's ignorance
Confucius
Try checking the council maps to see the application for subdivision which will have the contour lines.
I think your neighbour is trying to con you into building a retaining wall for little benefit to you and a lot for him. As others have said a good cleanup and looks like your neighbour could be difficult a colour bond fence should separate you from him.
In Queensland I was told the person who changed the lay of the land is responsible for the retaining wall, I think this is just a bit of urban talk as I don't know of any law that decides who if any build a retaining wall.
It looks to me as though a fence has been there before,( both ends still visible,) without a retaining wall.
Plenty of fences follow the ground contour, don't see why you couldn't just replace the fence and get the neighbour to pay for half of it.
Posted by John2b, And no, BEVs are not going to save the planet, which doesn't need saving anyway.
Bobcat in, clean up some of the mess. Hire temporary barrier fencing with some shade cloth.
A lot of Perth properties were never retained properly like you get these days in new divisions. I would say the fencing was the "retaining" and that eventually causes it to snap off at ground level.
Try your luck with getting the adjoining owner to pay for 50% of the retaining but the most you really can expect is 50% of the new fence cost.
I hope you had a good building inspection. Can see decramastic roof tile's that look to be in poor condition and some of those did contain asbestos.
just chuck a heap of medium/large rocks over the whole thing, will help hide the mess and hopefully stabilize it.
then talk to the neighbor about fencing options.
if you where actually going to be living there i'd suggest hedging it, but tenants aren't known for their enthusiasm for looking after things like that.
Remember if you don't sin, then Jesus died for nothing
Yes, seemingly dispute has been going for years and trees were put there where the fence continues. There was initially an old fence and it disintegrated, fell over etc. I'm not sure of the exact drop. Yes looks like a retaining wall is best option. I think it's a case of things happening slowly with the neighbour. But I guess it's not necessarily the worst thing for us. It's around 30lm to the back of a retaining wall that would be required.
Thanks , I think the neighbour is willing to meet half way it's just going to take time and then whether what he wants and the cost of that matches ours.
In regards to decromastic tiles we did have a good building report and managed to come to an agreement. We are currently in process of replacing with a colorbond roof. After advise we were told you would just be patching up forever.
Very true, think we just want to not have a dump that no one wants to rent.
Issue is this one fell over. To be honest I think what our ideal scenario is something that will stay the course like a retaining wall. Plus means I don't have to deal with the neighbour any more.
You being up some great points. We do suspect there are two sides to the story although he seems to think it was the previous owner not wanting a solution. After reading WA legislation it is difficult to see who's responsibility and think a cost effective solution for both of us should be beneficial. After great responses here we have decided to tidy up the brick. Lease it out and just put something there when the neighbour is ready for resolution on it and take the urgency from the situation. We are probably putting too much emotion into the whole thing.
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