Grouchy Neighbor

Most of my neighbors are delightful but my next door neighbor is a serious grouch. She has been since we moved in years ago and has continued every chance she gets. She loves badmouthing the family who use to live in my house, too.

Anyway, we are having issues with our toilets from tree roots coming from her two big trees near the street. We're going to end of spending thousands of dollars having a plumber come unless the trees are taken down.

I realize that she may have not issue with her bathrooms but I'm thinking of offering to split the cost. These are 2 BIG Trees.

Do you think I should approach her? If so, how would you phrase it?

Message edited 6/12/2020 1:06:03 PM.

Re: Grouchy Neighbor

Where are the trees? Tree law is really specific. You cannot just remove her trees despite their causing damage to your home. You may need an attorney. It will suck, I am so sorry. Edit, be really careful before just hacking at the roots, even if they are on your property. You really need to make sure you are legally allowed to do this. A mature tree can cost $100,000 depending upon the kind of tree.

Message edited 6/12/2020 1:42:07 PM.

Grouchy Neighbor

I don't think it would hurt to talk to her but based on your description of her - I don't think she is going to be willing to split the cost with you.

If she allows you to take the trees down, would it be cheaper than having the plumber come? And would it definitely eliminate the problem?

Re: Grouchy Neighbor

yikes.

if she's that grouchy, i would advise you to do some serious meditation to get you in the right frame of mind before you let her know what's going on.

these are the thoughts that crossed my mind from your post.

* be prepared to pay the thousands of dollars to repair your drain lines.
* find an estimate on the cost of removing the trees, if it's less than the cost of the drain lines... strongly suggest going halfers on it with her. it would be a "savings" for you.
* be prepared that she's might tell you to take a long walk off a short pier... and then go back to my first point of being prepared to pay the cost of the drain repair.

Re: Grouchy Neighbor

if the tree is by like the patch of grass next to sidewalk closest to the street it may actually be the towns and then you can try contacting the town first and see.

if they arent then I would try to talk to you neighbor and see what they say and offer to pay half of it.

Grouchy Neighbor

Whatever happens, you need to get everything in writing. Do not just take her word for it if she says she won’t split the cost but you can take her trees down. As someone said above, tree law is no joke.

Grouchy Neighbor

Unfortunately you can't force her to take down the tree. Something similar happened to us. It cost $750 to unclog the drain. We ended up removing the tree because it was our tree. But your neighbor would have to agree to this. It can't hurt to ask.

Grouchy Neighbor

if the roots are more than 6 feet from the tree base, you can after discussing with her have a real arborists come and possibly shorten the roots.

Message edited 6/14/2020 6:47:14 PM.

Grouchy Neighbor

Contact the town first to make sure they aren't responsible. I know my old town here in NJ would be responsible for removing trees that were within a certain amount of feet from the street You could offer to split the cost with her but I would probably just offer to pay for the entire removal since it's really your problem not hers.

Message edited 6/14/2020 7:45:42 PM.

Grouchy Neighbor

I think I'd be grouchy too if you asked me to take down my 2 large trees.

Frankly, even if you paid the whole amount for the tree removal and gave me cash on top, I'd say no.

Re: Grouchy Neighbor

Honestly, if you were my neighbor wanting to take down 2 big old trees that belonged to me because you are having plumbing issues, my answer would be no. And if you insisted, then you would be paying for it yourself. Asking her to "split it" because you are having a plumbing problem is ballsy IMO. I would just pay for the plumber and have it taken care of yourself.

Check the property line though because if it is on town property, you need permission from the town.

Re: Grouchy Neighbor

Re: Grouchy Neighbor

Grouchy Neighbor

I think you have nothing to lose by asking her. Worse case scenario she says no and then it is a moot point.

Re: Grouchy Neighbor

It shouldn't cost thousands of dollars to clean out your pipes from the roots. My parents literally did it this week for far less than that. Keep in mind, there's also no guarantee the pipes are only blocked by those tree roots and even cutting the trees down will not immediately cause the tree roots to stop growing. They can still grow for decades.

Many people with this issue simply suck it up and have the roots cleaned from their pipes annually. It stinks, but it's part of your home maintenance.

You can definitely try talking to her about taking down the trees, but if you really want them down (and she agrees!) then you'd likely have to pay for it on your own. Personally, I wouldn't split the cost of taking down trees on my property because my neighbors want them down.

There is also the issue of town permits, depending on where the trees on, and some towns will not let you remove trees without replacing them, unless you do so illegally.