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I'd first check where the wall lands in respect to the property boundary. I had my lot surveyed recently and discovered the block wall surrounding my property is entirely within my property. I still wouldn't pull shenanigans like this myself but if no part of the wall is in your property, you probably shouldn't touch it.
Pretty sure code these days is 6' max without having to file for a zoning adjustment. Do with that information as you please.
Our neighbors knocked down our entire joining wall and told us about it the day before that they were redoing it. They killed all of our plants and mature trees that we had planted.
I called the city and the city told me if we wanted them to pay that we had to take them to court
Did you? Mature trees are worth tens of thousands of dollars, so they’d be looking at a mighty big bill to pay. Worse, if any were a protected species, it would have also been a crime.
No. The wall was technically 8 inches over on their properties so there was question of whether or not the trees we planted were on their property. The city said this made this more difficult, even though we bought the house like that
They may already have the survey. We had one included in our paperwork when we purchased our home and then we were able to go into our yard and find the metal pins in the ground indicating property lines.
Yeah I don't care, I'm tired of other people making decisions for others when it comes to this stuff. It's selfish. It's the same as people feeding stray cats in my neighborhood. They think they are doing everyone a favor, but in reality my patio furniture smells like cat piss.
Ok so what if you want a higher wall but your neighbor doesn’t want one you are supposed to just keep a low wall because it’s making a “decision for others”
I used to live in apartment and this lady would feed the stray cats at night right by my apartment. Mind you she lived on the other side of the damn complex so it pissed me off she didnt feed them on her side. Then i told her something and she just started doing it when i wasnt home 🤦♂️
Yup. I politely asked a lady to stop feeding in our neighborhood and she flipped her lid and started yelling "I'm getting tired of people telling me to stop feeding the cats".
IDK, I'm getting quite a few downvotes... Which is a bit crazy considering the main point of my post was about selfish behavior, not the cats. Probably asking too much for the downvoters to look a little deeper there eh?
I interpreted that to mean he approached the neighbor to have the work done, which the neighbor refused. I still think OP could ask the neighbor if he has any left over stucco and paint if OP wants to do the job himself.
Yes the neighbor is shitty but in the end the hardest work was done for free.
He’s confirmed the neighbor never talked to him prior to it being installed. To make it even better, the neighbor did this while OP was on vacation so he couldn’t say anything while it was happening.
Except I have to pay a stucco/paint guy - or spend a Saturday doing it/material cost.
Would have been fine if he approached me first. But nah, money I didn’t agree to
I would just paint the top row, the change of texture might make a nice accent! Matching the paint color might be tricky so I would go one shade darker so it does look like you were trying to match. Bummer that they didn’t ask first
I understand why you’re frustrated. They didn’t even clean it up on your side. There’s dried grout that looks terrible. It would be different if they agreed to stucco it and all you had to do was paint. But they put you in a situation where you’re forced to fix a wall that you didn’t want to begin with.
City of Phoenix max height of side wall is 6’. If taller it requires a variance. Can find more info about fences here: https://www.phoenix.gov/pddsite/Documents/TRT/dsd_trt_pdf_00592.pdf
Personally I'd be pretty upset if my neighbor did this. It looks like shit.
And it isn't about a "free upgrade" to the fence, which is a ludicrous position to take anyway imo, but the time + cost OP has to pay to not look at this eyesore.
I'm with OP on this.
For real. I'm curious (not really, but you know what I mean) what their walls and landscaping look like, if this is something that'd be acceptable to them.
Say what you will about HOAs, but not having to deal with bullshit like this is definitely a big check in the Pro column, imo.
You can’t. It’s a civil issue, and the cosmetics on your side of the wall is your responsibility. It’s a dick move that they added a row, but not illegal. You could easily remove that run, and there’s nothing they can do about it.
There's not much you can do without going to court. Arizona has mutual ownership fencing laws and it may differ from city to city. However any removal or modification must have both permission. A buddy went through this
You could try going to smalls claim court but max amount is 3500. He can argue it exceeded that throwing it into civil court which mean you then have to hire a lawyer.
This is what I would do, get 3 to 5 bids to fix your side then either
1) see if it's worth just waiting and paying for it later. It might be worth your budget
2) send him a certified letter or serve him with a processor saying hey I did not authorize you to upgrade our shared wall. I am requesting you to cover the cost on my side if not I will seek legal action.
Or
3) just talk to him if you have a decent relationship with your neighbor
Then you wait. Before all that weigh the option with court because it takes research to make sure the laws will cover you, the bids, plus your time. Is it worth it at that point?
Another comment had a great idea saying check the land survey to see if the fence is in the middle or on either side because if it's on his side. Then you have to kick rocks lol plus doing the survey will help in small claims
Good luck.
I wouldn’t start fighting with some stranger that happens to live next to you especially if I had a wife and kids in the house because people are insane and love confrontation.
I’d patch the wall best I could and be on with my life .
Hard disagree. I always laugh at the HOA hate here. Obviously it's dependent on the competency of the board, but a good HOA stops trashy neighbors from being trashy
My HOA experience was bad.
Moved into a town home, immediately was required to pay 1k in assessments for something I never voted on (voted before I purchased) and they took me to court (and I promptly lost)
So I chose to not have an HOA.
This is now my punishment for being a logical human being lol
Damn the mortar job on your side looks terrible , Id bet they didnt let that pass for their side. Ask for half the cost to stucco and paint the entire side of that wall. If they dont want to help with your surprise expense just make it known when you will be taking off the top part of the wall so they can make sure its clear when the blocks start falling back to their side.
Do you have an HOA? He would’ve had to get permission to make it higher like that from them.
My friend did, one of his walls was crazy low and looked into his neighbors house, reached out to HOA, they sent someone out to look at it, they agreed it was too low and let him build two more layers on it
I live in Scottsdale, I had a neighbor approach me on something like this but he offered to have his guys stucco and paint the new course for me. I paid, I was happy to have a little higher wall.
I would have paid if he approached me.
He didn’t. And has been ghosting me after he agreed to come to agreement to fix it.
Completely opposite beginning bruh.
Did you agree to have it done? And did you agree to help pay for said agreement?
I ask because when my grandfather did this, he asked all the neighbors to help pitch in for the ‘cosmetic’ side to be nice, none of them pitched in, so he paid for the entire wall, except fixing their side of the wall. I think only 1 neighbor pitched in to help pay for cosmetics but he didn’t make them pay for materials- so just the labor part.
So I ask because if you agree to have it done, but not pay for the work, then that’s where the agreement kind of fails on your end. Can’t agree without paying for the labor of at least making it look nice.
Yep!
If he’s allowed to put it up without requesting permission I’d take that as you can take it down without requesting permission. 😂
But if it were me, I’d welcome it and stucco and paint that up as a weekend DIY project.
Anyone who thinks this is ‘just paint’ doesn’t know anything about construction.
Bad grout job, possible redo.
Stucco.
paint THE ENTIRE WALL (not just the grey section)
This could cost thousands as silly as it sounds.
Look at the grout, gaps, etc. It needs more than paint. And you can’t just paint 12” and think it’s gonna look uniform. And you might need to paint the other walls. The logic in here is really disappointing.
It needs more than just paint to look uniform. And they’re going to have to paint the entire wall, and potentially the other walls in the backyard if they want them to match perfectly.
As long as it doesn't break any city or HOA rules, consider it an almost-free upgrade that increases the attractiveness of your property for when you eventually go to sell, and an immediate bonus in that you will have less face-to-face with your favorite neighbor. Get on Nextdoor and ask for recommendations for a stucco guy who works for cheap and pony up the dough to finish off this unexpected gift.
I’d probably try to approach them friendly first, assume positive intent they might not have realized and might have some paint or extra brick or something you can use to color match. Feels like something you can avoid having to go to the city for but if you want to back yourself up, do it all in writing.
FYI, i know your upset right now, but removing the excess grout in spots like the support column caps, etc is really easy. You can get a mortar chisel / hammer and those excess pieces will chip right off. Everything else wont be noticeable after you texture and paint or if you chose to just paint / stain and do a two-tone look. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CRN95wydMEs](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CRN95wydMEs) . I dont think it's unreasonable to ask your neighbor to have the contractor come back and do some cleanup on your side for the excess mortar including the chunks that may be on the ground.
Paint? You realize it takes these steps to properly paint an outdoor wall:
1. Fix grout on my side
2. Stucco entire wall (must wait to dry for paint job)
3. Paint ENTIRE wall. If paint doesn’t match other walls, paint other walls to desire
The above steps on the low end would, a contractor would charge 1-2k. On the high end/depending on work load 2-3 k.
You can’t just paint a brick and call it good. But nice try?
Based on what I read they didn’t talk about the work beforehand. And now they’re ignoring OP. It’s sloppy and needs more than just paint. Then they gotta paint the whole wall, and maybe more if they want the others to match.
It needs more than just paint to look complete. And they will have to paint the entire wall, and maybe the rest of their walls if they want them to match perfectly.
I’m not saying OP is right or wrong, everyone is entitled to their opinion. But labor is expensive and so are materials. If I woke up to an additional layer of wall separating me from my neighbor I’d happily paint my side and call it a day.
Shitty of him to not consult you first/care about what it looks like on your side. Dude clearly never watched Mr. Rodgers Neighborhood as a kid or he’d know how to be a friendly neighbor.
You can go to your HOA and see if there’s anything in the CC&R’s against what he did (there is almost always an architectural clause which prevents people from doing modifications like this without board approval). The CC&R’s usually also cover things like maintenance of shared walls, which this undoubtedly is. Tell him to pay for a painter to do your side or you’ll report him and face the fines that are coming his way, a bit of blackmail never hurt anyone. Source: am on an HOA board and we’ve dealt with petty shit like this before.
You can paint it yourself and then threaten to sue him in small claims court to recover the cost of said paint job, if he doesn’t comply you can always file the suit. You may or may not win.
Check over on r/legaladvice first or consult with a real estate attorney: If you want to go the full nuclear option you can contact a surveyor to officially document that the wall is indeed “half yours”, then contact a real estate attorney and have them draft a letter telling him to either take it down, paint it, or face a suit.
Yeah you had me except in the “threaten to sue” your neighbor part. I don’t think that’s a good idea. Neighbors can make your life miserable, more so than just extending a wall upward… everything else is spot on though.
Fair enough, I only brought it as a point because it didn’t seem like their neighbor was up for talking it out, usually when the word “law suit” gets thrown out people seem to come to their senses to work things out on their own.
Yeah, that’s a shared wall. He can’t modify it without your approval. Also, he might have caused it to violate the city ordinance. There are rules on fence height. Check the ordinance for your city and see if he also broke the rules and send the city after him. Odds are, the police will call this civil and you’ll end up in small claims. Good luck to you!
You'll turn a little issue into a big issue and potentially end up on an episode of fear thy neighbor dude should understand after being ghosted that the neighbor probably doesn't care especially if his side looks nice. Take him to court .
just got back from visiting fam in Chandler-Tempe and sorry all I can say to your photo is that it looks like 95% of the yards in the east valley! Completely indistinguishable.
First off, your neighbor isn't obligated to get your permission unless you live in a municipality that has specific language on this or your hoa has rules around this. Both neighbors have equal rights to the shared wall and it can be argued that this is improving the wall for free. Unless its now well over 7ft high you wont find a city code inspector that will give two shits about this. Your neighbor should have at least given you a heads up / FYI, but they really aren't required. Its not cheap for the materials or labor to extend a block wall so you should be thankful and just paint it and be done with it IMO.
How high is the fence with the addition? In most parts of the valley, fences cannot be higher than 6 feet. If it's higher, call the city, and they might make them tear down and replace the entire thing.
Before you go to small claims court get three estimates to texture and paint. Get a lawyer to send a letter of intent to them requesting that he pick one contractor to resolve the issue or use his guy, and if its not resolved in 15/30 days he will be served. Threats and putting things in motion is usually enough to get results, like with a lein.
I'd probably top it with barbed wire but that's just me being me.
(Barbed wire is probably illegal on a residential fence in Phoenix for those considering it)
You could contact your city council person to see if you have any recourse related to zoning. If not then pay an attorney to write a demand letter. Or go the small claims route.
If you want to go this path, what you're likely looking at is the wall is probably now an overheight wall (generally limited a 6' height in Phoenix, where that height is measured from is always a fun game to play).
If you want to go higher than that 6', it'd require a variance. And this tends to be one item that is very common and does not amuse the variance hearing officer.
You can make a complaint through the non-permitted construction site if you are itching to start a war.
Short version, it's approval to build something that doesn't meet the Phoenix zoning ordinance (building a business in a residential neighborhood, adding fewer parking spaces than required, installing a digital advertising sign, and building a fence taller than the code allows are all examples).
It's an annoying process and it is not fast. The way that they are 'approved' is usually if there is no one that objects to the request, and there are special circumstances that required the change for fair use of the property. When someone applies for one, there's a requirement they notify everyone within a certain distance about when the city will hear the request after a few weeks / months for comment.
The variance for fences can be retroactive (in the rare cases they are approved), but the few I've seen in person usually required the overheight fence be reduced back to the max allowable height.
So my issue is on my side it’s at 6 feet. On his side. It’s about 7-7.5 feet.
If they measure off my side, it would be in approved status.
I think I’m going to take one more good crack with him.
Then if he doesn’t respond in any positive manner (hell I’ll even help split what’s left) - but out of principle, I will not be bending over 100% to his desires (hehe phrasing). He needs to understand that shared means shared decision. He doesn’t own it 100%
It looks to me like they did the cosmetics on their side, maybe ask if they have extra materials? Super frustrating that they didn’t ask you, but not sure you can legally force anything unfortunately.
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I'd first check where the wall lands in respect to the property boundary. I had my lot surveyed recently and discovered the block wall surrounding my property is entirely within my property. I still wouldn't pull shenanigans like this myself but if no part of the wall is in your property, you probably shouldn't touch it. Pretty sure code these days is 6' max without having to file for a zoning adjustment. Do with that information as you please.
There a six foot limit with my HOA also.
This is exactly what id do
And maintain unblinking eye contact the whole time while you do it.
Maybe that’s what they’re hoping for
🤣
lmaoo
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Found the neighbor lol.
Our neighbors knocked down our entire joining wall and told us about it the day before that they were redoing it. They killed all of our plants and mature trees that we had planted. I called the city and the city told me if we wanted them to pay that we had to take them to court
Tree law can be serious business. Probably would have been worthwhile to take them to court.
We just built a 2 story swing set for our kids that overlooks the new wall.
Put some bright ass lights on it - for safety
Bright lights and a camera on it for the child’s “safety”.
We had a neighbor in Mesa report us to an HOA for building a “structure” in our back yard. It was a playhouse with a slide.
But do you really want to go to court with a crazy ass neighbor? I feel like that's how people get shot in Arizona.
Did you? Mature trees are worth tens of thousands of dollars, so they’d be looking at a mighty big bill to pay. Worse, if any were a protected species, it would have also been a crime.
No. The wall was technically 8 inches over on their properties so there was question of whether or not the trees we planted were on their property. The city said this made this more difficult, even though we bought the house like that
Sheeeshhh thanks for the input. I may do the small claims court. 🤷🏻
You may want to look into the exact property line. One of you may OWN the fence. If it's you you could take action.
Nor a bad idea
requires a survey and research $$$
They may already have the survey. We had one included in our paperwork when we purchased our home and then we were able to go into our yard and find the metal pins in the ground indicating property lines.
I have one. I used to be a LO for mortgage companies so I have every document. I’m checking property fence lines tonight
Please let us know what you find
A higher wall (for free) is not a bad deal.
Except that it looks ugly as shit now?
A paint job cost a lot less then the bricks, but neighbor should have asked prior so they could have worked it out.
Yeah I don't care, I'm tired of other people making decisions for others when it comes to this stuff. It's selfish. It's the same as people feeding stray cats in my neighborhood. They think they are doing everyone a favor, but in reality my patio furniture smells like cat piss.
Ok so what if you want a higher wall but your neighbor doesn’t want one you are supposed to just keep a low wall because it’s making a “decision for others”
They don’t care about you. They do it for the cats! Poor babies!
I used to live in apartment and this lady would feed the stray cats at night right by my apartment. Mind you she lived on the other side of the damn complex so it pissed me off she didnt feed them on her side. Then i told her something and she just started doing it when i wasnt home 🤦♂️
Yup. I politely asked a lady to stop feeding in our neighborhood and she flipped her lid and started yelling "I'm getting tired of people telling me to stop feeding the cats".
Im starting to think its the same lady…
IDK, I'm getting quite a few downvotes... Which is a bit crazy considering the main point of my post was about selfish behavior, not the cats. Probably asking too much for the downvoters to look a little deeper there eh?
Maybe he had that extra row to keep the cats out of his patio
Then they should have thought this through and added electricity.
Yes, but stucco and paint on a row of block is not a huge job. Neighbor might have enough left over.
OP already said he talked to the neighbor twice to no avail.
I interpreted that to mean he approached the neighbor to have the work done, which the neighbor refused. I still think OP could ask the neighbor if he has any left over stucco and paint if OP wants to do the job himself. Yes the neighbor is shitty but in the end the hardest work was done for free.
He’s confirmed the neighbor never talked to him prior to it being installed. To make it even better, the neighbor did this while OP was on vacation so he couldn’t say anything while it was happening.
Neighbor might not have it on their side. It looks great when new, 5 to 10 years later, not so much.
Except I have to pay a stucco/paint guy - or spend a Saturday doing it/material cost. Would have been fine if he approached me first. But nah, money I didn’t agree to
Wait until he goes on vacation and then add one more row on top. Literally, what could he say? Then post it in a revenge subreddit
Then gaslight him into thinking he was the one who did it
Oh yeah, deny it!
I would just paint the top row, the change of texture might make a nice accent! Matching the paint color might be tricky so I would go one shade darker so it does look like you were trying to match. Bummer that they didn’t ask first
He’s responsible for half the replacement cost of this higher wall now too… insurance would like to know it’s higher as well.
some cities in Phoenix area have a 6 foot limit on wall height. Check your local ordinance
Lmao, naw. Insurance doesn't care about this.
Not even close to the point
It’s kind of startling how many commenters here don’t see the issue.
Add another level of a different color. Then paint your side.
Lmfao this one made me laugh out loud
It’s what I would legitimately do.
At least at 8-9 feet I won’t have to see his roof
I understand why you’re frustrated. They didn’t even clean it up on your side. There’s dried grout that looks terrible. It would be different if they agreed to stucco it and all you had to do was paint. But they put you in a situation where you’re forced to fix a wall that you didn’t want to begin with.
Exactly. People are acting like all it needs is a little paint. There’s multiple issues here.
Thank you.
Good fences make good neighbors
What do bad fences do?
They are just downright offensive
Pin this to the top somebody!
City of Phoenix max height of side wall is 6’. If taller it requires a variance. Can find more info about fences here: https://www.phoenix.gov/pddsite/Documents/TRT/dsd_trt_pdf_00592.pdf
Personally I'd be pretty upset if my neighbor did this. It looks like shit. And it isn't about a "free upgrade" to the fence, which is a ludicrous position to take anyway imo, but the time + cost OP has to pay to not look at this eyesore. I'm with OP on this.
Seriously. The weirdos defending this are bizarre lmao. It’s ugly as shit
For real. I'm curious (not really, but you know what I mean) what their walls and landscaping look like, if this is something that'd be acceptable to them. Say what you will about HOAs, but not having to deal with bullshit like this is definitely a big check in the Pro column, imo.
You have a brain, nice.
You might want to show your neighbour what it looks like on your side, they may have no idea.
You can’t. It’s a civil issue, and the cosmetics on your side of the wall is your responsibility. It’s a dick move that they added a row, but not illegal. You could easily remove that run, and there’s nothing they can do about it.
There's not much you can do without going to court. Arizona has mutual ownership fencing laws and it may differ from city to city. However any removal or modification must have both permission. A buddy went through this You could try going to smalls claim court but max amount is 3500. He can argue it exceeded that throwing it into civil court which mean you then have to hire a lawyer. This is what I would do, get 3 to 5 bids to fix your side then either 1) see if it's worth just waiting and paying for it later. It might be worth your budget 2) send him a certified letter or serve him with a processor saying hey I did not authorize you to upgrade our shared wall. I am requesting you to cover the cost on my side if not I will seek legal action. Or 3) just talk to him if you have a decent relationship with your neighbor Then you wait. Before all that weigh the option with court because it takes research to make sure the laws will cover you, the bids, plus your time. Is it worth it at that point? Another comment had a great idea saying check the land survey to see if the fence is in the middle or on either side because if it's on his side. Then you have to kick rocks lol plus doing the survey will help in small claims Good luck.
I just called for some quotes, I’ll keep you updated :)
I wouldn’t start fighting with some stranger that happens to live next to you especially if I had a wife and kids in the house because people are insane and love confrontation. I’d patch the wall best I could and be on with my life .
well yes it is s***** plant you some nice tall bothavillas and let them suckers grow in a couple years you'll never see it.
The amount of commenters who apparently don’t care to be disrespected and ignored by their neighbor multiple times is astounding.
Yeah I’m in disbelief lol. I’m actually getting mad for OP 😂
Do you have an HOA?
No. Which is probably a good thing in most cases lol
It wouldn't be in this case.... this is precisely the reason they exist.. This wouldn't be an issue for you...
He could fix the wall for much less than an annual HOA fee. You very rarely get any return on the dues you pay an HOA.
Hard disagree. I always laugh at the HOA hate here. Obviously it's dependent on the competency of the board, but a good HOA stops trashy neighbors from being trashy
My HOA experience was bad. Moved into a town home, immediately was required to pay 1k in assessments for something I never voted on (voted before I purchased) and they took me to court (and I promptly lost) So I chose to not have an HOA. This is now my punishment for being a logical human being lol
Damn the mortar job on your side looks terrible , Id bet they didnt let that pass for their side. Ask for half the cost to stucco and paint the entire side of that wall. If they dont want to help with your surprise expense just make it known when you will be taking off the top part of the wall so they can make sure its clear when the blocks start falling back to their side.
People sayings ‘it’s just paint’ lol
Do you have an HOA? He would’ve had to get permission to make it higher like that from them. My friend did, one of his walls was crazy low and looked into his neighbors house, reached out to HOA, they sent someone out to look at it, they agreed it was too low and let him build two more layers on it
I live in Scottsdale, I had a neighbor approach me on something like this but he offered to have his guys stucco and paint the new course for me. I paid, I was happy to have a little higher wall.
I would have paid if he approached me. He didn’t. And has been ghosting me after he agreed to come to agreement to fix it. Completely opposite beginning bruh.
Did you agree to have it done? And did you agree to help pay for said agreement? I ask because when my grandfather did this, he asked all the neighbors to help pitch in for the ‘cosmetic’ side to be nice, none of them pitched in, so he paid for the entire wall, except fixing their side of the wall. I think only 1 neighbor pitched in to help pay for cosmetics but he didn’t make them pay for materials- so just the labor part. So I ask because if you agree to have it done, but not pay for the work, then that’s where the agreement kind of fails on your end. Can’t agree without paying for the labor of at least making it look nice.
Didn’t agree. Just woke up to it
Shared wall, just remove it
You'd better be really sure of your property survey before you FAFO. None of it may be on your property.
Yep! If he’s allowed to put it up without requesting permission I’d take that as you can take it down without requesting permission. 😂 But if it were me, I’d welcome it and stucco and paint that up as a weekend DIY project.
Nice, love that accent trim on top 😂
Add another row on your side.
Anyone who thinks this is ‘just paint’ doesn’t know anything about construction. Bad grout job, possible redo. Stucco. paint THE ENTIRE WALL (not just the grey section) This could cost thousands as silly as it sounds.
Thousands? I’ll do it for hundreds
When can I hire you?
Same idea I had lol
Gonna fix/add grout. Then stucco the entire wall Then paint the entire wall For hundreds? Deal Edit: no? I didn’t think so.
You got a free wall, do it yourself
It’s not just paint. It’s texturizing THEN paint.
Moenic is 100% your neighbor lol, freaking out in comments all over this post.
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Look at the grout, gaps, etc. It needs more than paint. And you can’t just paint 12” and think it’s gonna look uniform. And you might need to paint the other walls. The logic in here is really disappointing.
It needs more than just paint to look uniform. And they’re going to have to paint the entire wall, and potentially the other walls in the backyard if they want them to match perfectly.
As long as it doesn't break any city or HOA rules, consider it an almost-free upgrade that increases the attractiveness of your property for when you eventually go to sell, and an immediate bonus in that you will have less face-to-face with your favorite neighbor. Get on Nextdoor and ask for recommendations for a stucco guy who works for cheap and pony up the dough to finish off this unexpected gift.
Still money I didn’t agree to pay.
Ask him if he has any left over paint I guess
Not just paint. The texture on it too
I’d probably try to approach them friendly first, assume positive intent they might not have realized and might have some paint or extra brick or something you can use to color match. Feels like something you can avoid having to go to the city for but if you want to back yourself up, do it all in writing.
We have never had any negative interactions. Always talked. He agreed to fix. Kept asking him for timelines. And then he ghosted me. That’s that
Politely ask them to buy you a can of paint so you can match your wall to their new work. If they say no, just try to interact as seldom as possible.
Even if it's allowed, why wouldn't they offer the spare paint? Jerk move
Had a contractor do it.
Shame. Is your house a new build? Might be able to use original paint to cover it. Hopefully contractor has leftover
Cinder block trim so hot rn 🤣
Right? So fresh
If it’s on their property line your are SOL but they should do that for you
FYI, i know your upset right now, but removing the excess grout in spots like the support column caps, etc is really easy. You can get a mortar chisel / hammer and those excess pieces will chip right off. Everything else wont be noticeable after you texture and paint or if you chose to just paint / stain and do a two-tone look. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CRN95wydMEs](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CRN95wydMEs) . I dont think it's unreasonable to ask your neighbor to have the contractor come back and do some cleanup on your side for the excess mortar including the chunks that may be on the ground.
Why don't you politely ask if they have any leftover stucco and paint and handle it yourself? Sounds like a fair shake to me..
I did that the first times. He has nothing left and is refusing to pay for it now (after agreeing to help fix it)
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Paint? You realize it takes these steps to properly paint an outdoor wall: 1. Fix grout on my side 2. Stucco entire wall (must wait to dry for paint job) 3. Paint ENTIRE wall. If paint doesn’t match other walls, paint other walls to desire The above steps on the low end would, a contractor would charge 1-2k. On the high end/depending on work load 2-3 k. You can’t just paint a brick and call it good. But nice try?
That’s nothing. I like to swim in the nude and the next door neighbors put up an elevated slide for their pool.
Shitty neighbors suck
Which one exactly is shitty here?
Based on what I read they didn’t talk about the work beforehand. And now they’re ignoring OP. It’s sloppy and needs more than just paint. Then they gotta paint the whole wall, and maybe more if they want the others to match.
Ding ding ding
I’m stupefied at the amount of commenters who ignored that point in your post.
I’m surprised how many are attacking OP
Shit I’ve been getting attacked too. Insane.
The one who's angry about a free wall upgrade because it's not pretty.
It needs more than just paint to look complete. And they will have to paint the entire wall, and maybe the rest of their walls if they want them to match perfectly.
What’s a free wall upgrade? A few cinder blocks? I need to texturize about 100 feet/ paint that texturizing
I’m not saying OP is right or wrong, everyone is entitled to their opinion. But labor is expensive and so are materials. If I woke up to an additional layer of wall separating me from my neighbor I’d happily paint my side and call it a day.
It’s not as simple as just painting it lol
Shitty of him to not consult you first/care about what it looks like on your side. Dude clearly never watched Mr. Rodgers Neighborhood as a kid or he’d know how to be a friendly neighbor. You can go to your HOA and see if there’s anything in the CC&R’s against what he did (there is almost always an architectural clause which prevents people from doing modifications like this without board approval). The CC&R’s usually also cover things like maintenance of shared walls, which this undoubtedly is. Tell him to pay for a painter to do your side or you’ll report him and face the fines that are coming his way, a bit of blackmail never hurt anyone. Source: am on an HOA board and we’ve dealt with petty shit like this before. You can paint it yourself and then threaten to sue him in small claims court to recover the cost of said paint job, if he doesn’t comply you can always file the suit. You may or may not win. Check over on r/legaladvice first or consult with a real estate attorney: If you want to go the full nuclear option you can contact a surveyor to officially document that the wall is indeed “half yours”, then contact a real estate attorney and have them draft a letter telling him to either take it down, paint it, or face a suit.
Done
Yeah you had me except in the “threaten to sue” your neighbor part. I don’t think that’s a good idea. Neighbors can make your life miserable, more so than just extending a wall upward… everything else is spot on though.
Fair enough, I only brought it as a point because it didn’t seem like their neighbor was up for talking it out, usually when the word “law suit” gets thrown out people seem to come to their senses to work things out on their own.
It’s a two tone wall. Done. Btw, you’ll get used to it.
 You just got a net benefit
Yeah, that’s a shared wall. He can’t modify it without your approval. Also, he might have caused it to violate the city ordinance. There are rules on fence height. Check the ordinance for your city and see if he also broke the rules and send the city after him. Odds are, the police will call this civil and you’ll end up in small claims. Good luck to you!
Cheapest alternative would be taking the addition down. If this post is from today, time is of the essence as the mortar will only dry and cure more.
You'll turn a little issue into a big issue and potentially end up on an episode of fear thy neighbor dude should understand after being ghosted that the neighbor probably doesn't care especially if his side looks nice. Take him to court .
Its a large enough issue for them to ask reddit, so I provided a cheap solution as they are concerned with cost. Court does cost considerably.
just got back from visiting fam in Chandler-Tempe and sorry all I can say to your photo is that it looks like 95% of the yards in the east valley! Completely indistinguishable.
First off, your neighbor isn't obligated to get your permission unless you live in a municipality that has specific language on this or your hoa has rules around this. Both neighbors have equal rights to the shared wall and it can be argued that this is improving the wall for free. Unless its now well over 7ft high you wont find a city code inspector that will give two shits about this. Your neighbor should have at least given you a heads up / FYI, but they really aren't required. Its not cheap for the materials or labor to extend a block wall so you should be thankful and just paint it and be done with it IMO.
City of Phoenix code is 6’ not 7’ without a variance. https://www.phoenix.gov/pddsite/Documents/TRT/dsd_trt_pdf_00592.pdf
What’s ‘variance’ mean in this case
And by your logic Op can just push the blocks off no issue as he’s not obligated to get permission.
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It’s not just paint nummy. Stucco. Labor. Paint. (Also look at the grout - horrible job - needs new grout)
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He knows. I’ve gone to him twice and talked about it
How high is the fence with the addition? In most parts of the valley, fences cannot be higher than 6 feet. If it's higher, call the city, and they might make them tear down and replace the entire thing.
And they did not do a very good job.
Before you go to small claims court get three estimates to texture and paint. Get a lawyer to send a letter of intent to them requesting that he pick one contractor to resolve the issue or use his guy, and if its not resolved in 15/30 days he will be served. Threats and putting things in motion is usually enough to get results, like with a lein.
Did he paint and texture his side?
Yup!
Turn the blocks then
‘What happened?!’
🤣
I'd probably top it with barbed wire but that's just me being me. (Barbed wire is probably illegal on a residential fence in Phoenix for those considering it)
Contact the HOA.
they put it up. you take it off
HOA will probably make him take it down if they exist in your neighborhood
First see if it’s code-compliant.
Omfg, that would annoy me!
You could contact your city council person to see if you have any recourse related to zoning. If not then pay an attorney to write a demand letter. Or go the small claims route.
Good idea
If you want to go this path, what you're likely looking at is the wall is probably now an overheight wall (generally limited a 6' height in Phoenix, where that height is measured from is always a fun game to play). If you want to go higher than that 6', it'd require a variance. And this tends to be one item that is very common and does not amuse the variance hearing officer. You can make a complaint through the non-permitted construction site if you are itching to start a war.
What’s a ‘variance’
Short version, it's approval to build something that doesn't meet the Phoenix zoning ordinance (building a business in a residential neighborhood, adding fewer parking spaces than required, installing a digital advertising sign, and building a fence taller than the code allows are all examples). It's an annoying process and it is not fast. The way that they are 'approved' is usually if there is no one that objects to the request, and there are special circumstances that required the change for fair use of the property. When someone applies for one, there's a requirement they notify everyone within a certain distance about when the city will hear the request after a few weeks / months for comment. The variance for fences can be retroactive (in the rare cases they are approved), but the few I've seen in person usually required the overheight fence be reduced back to the max allowable height.
So my issue is on my side it’s at 6 feet. On his side. It’s about 7-7.5 feet. If they measure off my side, it would be in approved status. I think I’m going to take one more good crack with him. Then if he doesn’t respond in any positive manner (hell I’ll even help split what’s left) - but out of principle, I will not be bending over 100% to his desires (hehe phrasing). He needs to understand that shared means shared decision. He doesn’t own it 100%
It looks to me like they did the cosmetics on their side, maybe ask if they have extra materials? Super frustrating that they didn’t ask you, but not sure you can legally force anything unfortunately.