Solar Power for Homes

[Jenny]

(Don't you love it? You have idle thoughts about solar collectors and the rest of us plot out the project!)

It seems to work that way here!

Don’t work too hard at it, though, lol. The solar thoughts were part of my pro/con list to make sure I wasn’t making a knee jerk reaction to the neighbor. Because that would have been a nearly instant no, so I was trying my best to give it actual, legitimate, due consideration.

 

[vickie]

There was a big push here with solar panels about 7 years ago. And most of those are leased systems. The 20-year lease agreement encumbers the deed for a property. The lease is binding on heirs. According to realtors, solar leases are a big negative when you try to sell. Paying off the lease fixes that problem even though the contract itself is still in effect.

 

[Tvan]

One of my co-workers had to take her neighbor to court. The neighbor “accidentally” removed trees that were not on his property, but on my co-workers property. She is taking him to court for the assessed value of the trees that were removed … over $120k. Keep that security camera pointed at that tree.

 

[Jenny]

One of my co-workers had to take her neighbor to court. The neighbor “accidentally” removed trees that were not on his property, but on my co-workers property. She is taking him to court for the assessed value of the trees that were removed … over $120k. Keep that security camera pointed at that tree.

Wow! How many trees got removed?

 

[Tvan]

Wow! How many trees got removed?

40. Imagine the scale of that "accident". Police were called, reports were filed and lawyers are involved. Pretty important to know where your lot boundary lines are.

 

[elemmac]

40. Imagine the scale of that "accident". Police were called, reports were filed and lawyers are involved. Pretty important to know where your lot boundary lines are.

A good friend of mine is going thru a similar situation. They had a house built in the empty lot next to theirs, the new owner's contractor messed up (didn't take into account?) stormwater drainage. They live on a huge hill, and the new house is uphill-ish from them. The last major rainstorm messed up their driveway and leech field due to a bunch of trees that were cleared. That's when my friend got a surveyor to mark their land. Turns out the new owner's driveway is partially on their property, along with a shed and a bunch of the trees they removed. They're trying to come to a conclusion without needing to go to court. Last I knew my friend was asking to have them fix the drainage, offer to sell them the land they're using, and have them pay for the damage caused and the cost of redrawing property lines with the town. It's still pretty new, so I'm not sure what the status is for negotiations.

 

[Jenny]

Another wow.

 

[MissySki]

A good friend of mine is going thru a similar situation. They had a house built in the empty lot next to theirs, the new owner's contractor messed up (didn't take into account?) stormwater drainage. They live on a huge hill, and the new house is uphill-ish from them. The last major rainstorm messed up their driveway and leech field due to a bunch of trees that were cleared. That's when my friend got a surveyor to mark their land. Turns out the new owner's driveway is partially on their property, along with a shed and a bunch of the trees they removed. They're trying to come to a conclusion without needing to go to court. Last I knew my friend was asking to have them fix the drainage, offer to sell them the land they're using, and have them pay for the damage caused and the cost of redrawing property lines with the town. It's still pretty new, so I'm not sure what the status is for negotiations.

Ooooof.. That's horrible for all parties involved! Did the new owners buy the land and build the house, or just buy the newly built house? I would hope they have some type of title insurance and then these types of things with property lines etc. should be covered under it? Not sure how it all works with a new build though.. What a mess.

 

[elemmac]

@MissySki - I'm fairly certain the owner bought the land, hired a contractor, and built the house. I'm really not sure how it happened...the contractor/designer may have incorrectly drawn the property lines/set backs on drawings and got a permit to build even though it was incorrectly drawn (this would be contractor and town mistake). Or they had the correct drawings, but messed up the actual building process (e.g. everything shifted 20' to the south). Or there's an off chance that they were shady about it and knew the whole time (I doubt this was the case). I'm not sure at this point, nor do I have any idea about the insurance aspect...

My friend and her husband are both civil engineers with extensive general contracting experience. So at least they can read site plans, evaluate surveys, have plenty of resources to figure out a "fair" outcome, and won't settle on anything less. If the new owner (or contractor) doesn't compromise, then they'll end up taking it to court.

 

[MissySki]

It's great that they have those backgrounds and are able to more easily advocate for themselves!

 

[marzNC]

It's amazing how builders can mess up knowing where a property line is located. Our lot is pretty big and all woods on one side. When a house was being built on the other side of the woods as part of a large development (long story that was a positive for us), the national builder messed up. They thought an old fence line was the property line but the fence was actually a few feet away from the line. It had been a while since the property line markers had been done since that house was one of the last to be built.

My husband easily got the appropriate city official to agree that the builder had gone into our woods and cut down trees that they shouldn't have touched. In our case, it was easy to come to an agreement. We got extra sod in the area along the road that is in front of the trees. Plus they cleared up trees that needed to be cut. So in the end it looks much better than before.

As for solar panels, we have them for hot water only. They are on a big separate shed that was built by the original owner/builder of the house (custom built). The original system from 1985 was junk by the mid-1990s, which was soon after I got married and moved in. About 15 years ago, we had a new system installed. Could use the two original panels plus added a third. Had to cut down a few pine trees that had grown up and were shading the shed roof. It's nice to have extra hot water but not a huge deal since we only have two people in the house at this point.

@Jenny : hope you keep the walnut tree.

 

[vickie]

I don’t fault them for asking, and we may offer a compromise of some branch cutting. DH thinks there are about five branches that could be cut and the tree would still look nice - I’m so far of the opinion that there's only one, but he hasn’t pointed out the others to me yet, so we’ll see.

I got my trees trimmed last fall after seeing a limb on the ash tree touching the street, weighed down by heavy snow/ice. I learned that trees should be trimmed every 2 to 3 years and that they can't remove more than 1/3 without risking harm to the tree.

 

[Christy]

It's amazing how builders can mess up knowing where a property line is located.

Sounds like laziness/cheapness in terms of not getting a surveyor out there. Even here in the city where we are all close to each other, I've known many people surprised at the results of a survey. Then of course you have to decide whether it's worth "taking" that extra foot or two of property that is legally yours, but you and your neighbor never knew that. My neighbors 2 and 3 doors down just dealt with that--both parties assumed the edge of the retaining wall in the front yard, with which the fence was aligned, was the property line, but nope.

Cutting, topping or girdling trees then pretending it's the tree company's fault, or saying you thought it was your property, occasionally makes big headlines here. Since we are a hilly city surrounded by water and mountains people love their views and will occasionally take illegal actions to cut trees on others' or public property to preserve or obtain those views. There was just an instance of this in the news a few days ago. Sometimes it's just awful and egregious, like the retired judge who cut 120 maple and cherry trees in an adjacent park to improve his view, or the West Seattle homeowners that cleared an acre of trees on a landslide-prone slope above a busy street to improve theirs. Massive public outrage always follows. The fines run in the hundreds of thousands, though that can't make up for the damage.

 

[marzNC]

Sounds like laziness/cheapness in terms of not getting a surveyor out there.

There were plenty of surveys done and markers were in place at the start of the actual building of the new subdivision. But it took about three years to accomplish a group sale with a dozen former neighbors and two years for two national builders to build out 140 pretty fancy houses. We sold an empty lot so benefited as well even though we didn't move. The project manager had only recently taken over the job from the man who had been in charge for the majority of the construction phase. Quite different from a situation with an existing house and a neighboring lot.

 

[Jenny]

Sometimes it's just awful and egregious, like the retired judge who cut 120 maple and cherry trees in an adjacent park to improve his view, or the West Seattle homeowners that cleared an acre of trees on a landslide-prone slope above a busy street to improve theirs. Massive public outrage always follows. The fines run in the hundreds of thousands, though that can't make up for the damage.

I'm just appalled at what people will do.

 

[Amie H]

Don't get rid of that tree! After reading this thread I am extremely angry at your pool-prioritizing neighbor!!!

 

[Jenny]

We’re not getting rid of it. I'm now debating whether we have to make a general announcement to that point, or if we can just ignore the request unless they approach us again.

 

[Amie H]

I know how you feel; we've been dealing with an outrageously obnoxious neighbor for a few years now. People are the WORST.

 

[elemmac]

We’re not getting rid of it. I'm now debating whether we have to make a general announcement to that point, or if we can just ignore the request unless they approach us again.

I'd say it depends on the conversation when they first asked...if it was a direct request and you said, "I'll think about it and get back to you" or if they said "let us know once you have a chance to think about it". I would reach out and let them know you decided against it. But, if they left it open ended or it was just a casual "would you ever consider removing that tree" conversation, just wait until the opportunity presents itself.

 

[ilovepugs]

However you decide to communicate with your neighbor, I heartily second the suggestion to keep cameras pointed at the tree. He doesn’t seem all that trustworthy.