Neighbour Issues, Should I fulfil my neighbour's request?

Question

My fiancée and I just purchased a home approximately three months ago and we absolutely love our neighbourhood. We've been getting acquainted with our neighbours and our next door neighbour (driveway side) has had contractors working on building a new garage all summer long, since we've been in the house. They still aren't done for some reason. So we've had to deal with noisy mornings and vehicles parked out front in our house, extra dust etc.

Our home has a garage in the back of a narrow one car drive way that sits in the backyard of our property. The left side of the garage when looking at it from the street or looking directly into the garage acts as a partial fence for our neighbour and there is a fence in front of the garage to back of the neighbours house and another partial fence from the back of the garage to the back of the property lines and our backing neighbours fencing.

So basically the side of our garage keeps the privacy between us and cuts of the two yards in addition to the fences.

Recently our neighbour came over and asked us to go look in her backyard at our garage and requested that we paint it because she's decided to take all the bushes and flowers she had up against it out and off the side of the garage. The garage wood has been eroded and the paint is chipping.

To paint this thing we would need to scrap and sand the side and paint which will probably take a whole day with second coats.

We never intended on fixing this and we were thinking of moving the garage all together. The neighbour asked us to paint this and I'm just not feeling good about it. She didn't offer to help or cover half the expense. She basically said since we own it she didn't want to paint it and thought she would ask us to handle it, in a very awkward way.

I don't know if I feel we should be responsible, we are not legally required to paint it or enhance it as long as it is not causing her problems aside from cosmetics.

My thinking is if I buy the paint and tell her she can paint it or do what she likes, but I won't be doing any additional labour as it wasn't in my plans.

Thoughts?

Answer 1

Tell her if they can finish THEIR project by the end of the week...you will paint your garage by the end of the year.



Take it or leave it. If they continue with the noise...all bets are off & they can look at an ugly garage & wish that they'd made a better, nicer gesture the first time around.



Thay have to be made aware (tactfully) of the fact that it isn't all about them & what they want. There's this wonderful thing called compromise & they have to know how to use it.

Answer 2

I think your neighbor could have been more tactful and presented her request differently. It would be a neighborly gesture for you to buy the paint and let her paint it, but you don't have to if you don't want to. You could share your thoughts about moving the garage at a later date and offer to pay for some or all of the paint for now. But, that's just a thought.

Answer 3

Aside from the neighbor asking it sounds like the garage should be painted anyway. Just get out there and paint it.

Answer 4

If you're going to (re)move the garage in the next few months, then it's not really worth painting it now. Longer term, it comes down to how neighborly you want to be. No one likes to look at cracked and peeling paint. I expect my neighbors to keep their property looking reasonably nice and they expect the same from me.

Answer 5

ARE YOU KIDDING ME? You should be glad to have the opportunity to maintain your garage wall. If it's in that had of shape, it should be cleaned and painted and YEEAAH, it's your responsibility too. It's your house! How big of a deal could it to to clean and paint the one side of you garage? If you don't do it, your new neighbor is going to hate you forever.

Answer 6

I don't think you should have to! If she doesn't want the view leave up the bushes!!!