My Neighbour And His Bloody Extension!!

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Heather
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My Neighbour And His Bloody Extension!!

Post by Heather » Wed May 12, 2010 12:20 pm

GRRR!! My Neighbour is building an extension onto the end of his house, he is doing it himself and because he is A Fireman he can only do building work on his days off and holidays. MONTHS!! it has been going on for now, he has already had problems and the councils building inspector has made him demolish part of it which he has to rebuild.

Every Saturday and Sunday at 7am he starts with the drilling, the hammering and the sawing, I cleaned my windows two weeks ago and I can barely see out of them already, every solid surface in my house is covered in a layer of brick dust and I am sick of constantly sneezing, I have a dust allergy that hasn't bothered me since my early teens and it's back with a vengence.

I feel like dragging him in and handing him a duster and tell him to get on with it, lord knows how long it is going to go on for.

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Marie
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Post by Marie » Wed May 12, 2010 1:48 pm

Heather I feel for you - not much you can do if local ordances permit him to start that early (ours is 8AM.)

It is his right to do his own work though.

The lot next to me is the only lot in our subdivision that has not been built on. I fully expect that soon enough I'll have trucks parking on my grass breaking sprinkler heads and workers swiping my newspaper (happens everytime a new house gets built in our area....) not to mention the dirt and noise. But as long as they own the land and are obeying the law - we have to put up with it.

As a Fireman he puts his life on the line - and he is probably not paid all that well (or he would hire someone to do it for him.) He would probably rather be relaxing too. He sounds pretty handy so I'd be nice to him (in case I ever needed an emergency repair of my house or roof!!!)

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Heather
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Post by Heather » Wed May 12, 2010 3:35 pm

Another thing that worries me Marie is all the other neighbours who are stopping to admire his handy work, they will all be at it soon, at least he is doing it properly and his work is being inspected, we have a programme in the UK called Homes From Hell and I remember one story of a guy who had zero building experience who chucked up this absolute monstrosity of an extension, it was so bad that the terrace of houses attached to his were being pulled apart. At least I don't have that to worry about!

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Marie
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Post by Marie » Wed May 12, 2010 3:51 pm

In the US if folks think neighbors are building without permits they make some phone calls. I certainly would - hey if I have to get my stuff inspected - everyone else should too!!!

I live in a gated community with a Homeowner's Association - folks here would rat on their own Mother. You not only have to get a building permit and have it inspected - before you do that you have to go to a meeting of the Architechtural Review Board and get permission to go forward with your changes. Real pain but at least things get done right.

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Post by Gillian » Wed May 12, 2010 5:49 pm

Sorry to hear it Heather. People in apartments aren't safe either. I had to endure months of noise/dust when they were ripping up our road out front.

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Hilary the Touched
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Post by Hilary the Touched » Wed May 12, 2010 7:04 pm

Maybe afterwards he'll feel guilty enough to invite you over to enjoy a Pimm's and a barbie in the backyard??

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Heather
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Post by Heather » Wed May 12, 2010 7:17 pm

Hilary the Touched wrote:Maybe afterwards he'll feel guilty enough to invite you over to enjoy a Pimm's and a barbie in the backyard??
That is another thing he is going to have to do i.e tidy up his garden front and back because at the moment it is full of slabs and cement, he does have one of those barbeques that is the size of a small flat but you can't even see it at the moment for empty sacks. I feel sorry for the dog! He has a cross collie called Ben who is really old, all the comings and goings must be really upsetting for him.

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Heather
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Post by Heather » Sat May 22, 2010 1:03 pm

Thats it! I have so had it now! He is working on the inside now, constructing Eaves? Unfortunately this seems to be an irresistable attraction to every bloody Pigeon in Aberdeen, if they aren't sitting inside the extensions eaves they are on the roofs making that horrible noise. I am not a big fan of birds, my granny had a budgie which she used to let fly around the house and it just freaked me out!

Anyway! 7am this morning a noise woke me up, I left my bedroom window open because at long last Summer is on it's way and it was hot last night, this noise was disgusting, like regurgitation so I sat up in bed and pulled the curtain slightly aside to see what it was and a bloody pigeon was sitting INSIDE on my widow sill, so now I have panicked the flaming thing and it can't get back out the window again, at this point I have leapt out of bed screaming the house down, if the curtains hadn't been closed it would have been flying around my bedroom and I would have been a fainted heap on the floor!

Couldn't get back to sleep so I got up and online to see if I could find a way to stop it happening again, I hate sleeping with the windows closed. One of the websites I have found suggested smearing the window ledge with petroleum jelly and putting cinnamon on top, the jelly make it hard for them to perch and the cinnamon irritates their feet so I have done that and when I can get to the DIY store on Monday I am buying some of those spikey things.

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Post by grannybear » Sat May 22, 2010 4:38 pm

Thank goodness I have no problems with people building things or with pigeons on my window sill but would anyone like some peacocks?
Yes, after being gone all winter they are back with a vengeance. Now there are two white ones. One more then last year. HELP! They are multiplying.

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Heather
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Post by Heather » Sat May 22, 2010 7:56 pm

grannybear wrote:Thank goodness I have no problems with people building things or with pigeons on my window sill but would anyone like some peacocks?
Yes, after being gone all winter they are back with a vengeance. Now there are two white ones. One more then last year. HELP! They are multiplying.
Are the white ones the females? My Mum had them in her garden all the time and she loved them but her dog Barney is a little yappy Jack Russell cross and has gone for them in the past so now they tend to avoid Mums garden. They are big noise makers aren't they? And their poop is disgusting.

The worst thing about them is they are so big and quite bold and it takes a lot to frighten them off.

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Hilary the Touched
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Post by Hilary the Touched » Sat May 22, 2010 8:23 pm

Heather, the white ones are albinos. Peahens are typically more or less the same colors as the male, though they lack the flamboyant tails.

On edit: well, speak of the devil, grannybear: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/co ... t/asection

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Post by grannybear » Sun May 23, 2010 7:12 am

Thanks Hilary. I didn't know that part of the state was also having problems. They are not native to our country and it shows how things can get out of hand.
The southern part of the state is also having trouble with snakes. Pythons and Boa's have been released into the Everglades by pet(?) owners who don't want them anymore. They are multiplying like mad and beginning to spread north.
Heather, I think I'd rather have your builder than open my front door to a giant snake.

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Hilary the Touched
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Post by Hilary the Touched » Sun May 23, 2010 11:54 am

Look on the bright side, GB--maybe they'll start eating the peacocks!
Actually, that's been a disaster in places like Hawaii--imports decimate local bird species, eating both ambulatory specimens and eggs. :-(

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Heather
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Post by Heather » Sun May 23, 2010 5:06 pm

[quote="grannybear"]
Heather, I think I'd rather have your builder than open my front door to a giant snake.

Amen to that GB! My cousin Gail keeps Corn Snakes in a tank, I don't like them much either.

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Post by grannybear » Sun May 23, 2010 8:21 pm

Heather...Let us know when he's done. Hopefully this won't be a 5 year job.

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