retaining wall responsibility california

Am I supposed to send another certified letter with the bids on replacing the fence and give them a demand again or just go to small claims court and ask the judge to rule that they need to split the cost on fixing the fence? However our back fence was not vinyl, but an older wooden fence, in some need of repair. The fence has deteriorated and a section has fallen over. Thank you for your article. Retaining walls of 50 feet or more typically cost between $4,000 and $10,000. The panel sits at about 8-9 ft off the ground. I appreciate your advice. We asked if we could pay for a gate to be put into the fence at our cost so we could have access to the area. width: 50%; This was attached to the existing sideyard fence that was part of the developments construction. text messages, etc.) The rest of the fence between our backyards is fine. Now as far as the law is concerned although your neighbor is not being a very good neighbor nor is he being very diplomatic, but I believe he still has a right to refuse the vinyl fencing whether or not he is paying a dime. PDF CALIFORNIA RETAINING WALL TYPE 5SWBP-DETAILS No. 1 All the Best. Retaining wall responsibility My neighbors are claiming that an existing retaining wall that is failing is on my property and that I am 100% responsible for it. The spiders build their webs on the 2x4s and birds perch on the 2x4s. 9. The neighbor does not want to share the cost to fix it, and states it is my sole responsibility. It benefits the homeowners as they now have a legal route to take to replace their fences, which obviously is exactly the reason the law was created! California's Good Neighbor Fence Law RC Fences and Decks Dispute arising between neighbors over boundary fence? Use of tiered walls is a special condition where two or more short walls, horizontally offset from one another, are used in lieu of a single tall retaining wall. First off, if there was no fence there already you shouldnt have to pay anything, especially if it will not finish enclosing your yard giving you that security benefit. He does not live in the area. #gallery-1 .gallery-item { Neighbor also charged me for dirtying his vehicles while i was cleaning my front yard. State they didnt have insurance policies he wanted. Fight it until the very end! Any time children, especially my own, sat on the fence, the homeowner would yell get off my fence. Eventually, we could no longer see the fence from our side. neighbors. Practical Uses & Property Aesthetics If you dont approve of this my advice would be to split the cost equally in which you will probably have to agree to alternate panels or build a good neighbor fence. Part of our fence fell down last year we contacted the gentelman who owns the home ( its a rental) and has a pool. She just moved into the neighborhood in December, but the strong winds we had back in January/February left us both with a collapsed fence. If he asks, and you dont want to pay for any of the fence I would just repeat what I have said here, and that should be the end of it! What can we do? A new fence is going up tomorrow. My backyard borders three neighbors (cul de sac), and the fence was in approximately the same (poor) condition across all three. Michael, thanks for the question. They claim they sent us a letter with some sort of ultimatum, but we never received any letter. In short, each owner has to pay one-half of the cost of maintaining or replacing the fence. As an example, two tiered retaining walls each with an exposed wall height of 3 feet, and level back fill that are horizontally offset by a distance of 2 feet would be treated as a single 6 foot tall wall and as a result, a building permit would be required. To further answer your question as to what constitutes a valid reason to replace the fence in the first place, the fence must absolutely be beyond repair and failing. Who is Legally Responsible for a Retaining Wall My question involves real estate located in the State of: CA (unincorporated Alameda County) I am the uphill homeowner, my neighbor is the downhill owner. The neighbor wants me to replace the fence and pay for it 100%, saying this is not a boundary fence. If he continues to do so anyway, call the cops. If you are looking for a contractor in the San Francisco bay area to construct your retaining wall, be sure to contact Montclair Construction. I have been a general contractor for nearly 20 years, a carpenter longer than this and a construction law attorney for over 10 years and I can recall the uphill neighbor being responsible for a retaining wall on only rare occasions. Most houses have nothing between them in the front yards other than a concrete mowing strip or plants, if anything. ( Remember, we were never approached about this at all. Thanks. Sloping retained soil You sound very knowledgable, friendly, and it sure looks like you build some top notch fencing. This is the height referred to in UBC 106.2, item 5 and it includes the wall and depth of footing below grade. This guy is very unstable and recently called the cops on me for vandalizing his toyota camary because my sprinkler popped and (lightly) sprayed his cars passenger side, which he berated me for. She insists I pay half of the new fence. I understood and said whatever wood you do your fence we can get. The development has remained pretty much the same over the years, and only a handful of people chose to put up decorative front yard fences. The allowable height of walls is stipulated in the Zoning Code. As long as you took the proper steps in contacting the owner, getting multiple bids which you presented to him, and hopefully sent him a notice a month prior to starting the work of Intent to Alter Shared Boundry, than according to the CA Good Neighbor Law he is legally responsible to pay you half the costs. The quotes Ive gotten for a survey are from $750 to >$6000 depending on how much work they need to do, well in excess of the cost of replacing that portion of the fence. I hope I am understanding your question here correctly?? Your Responsibility As A Homeowner: Maintaining Retaining Walls No work until 30days after certified letter. are frequently available from local building supply warehouse stores. 2017 Montclair Constructions | Designed by by Web and SEO Guru. Fast forward 30 days the fencing contractor pushes us out to May. We have both got estimates that are similar in price. I gave them 15 days to accomplish this and also gave my phone number. Without consulting us they decided to remove their fence and replace it with a six foot vinyl fence. We were gone for a free days, and the contractor had a job cancel, so he asked if he could come early and remove the fence. Usually driven into the material with boring, or rotation and drilling anchors are then expanded at the end of the cable, either by mechanical means or often by injectingcement, which expands to form a bulb in the soil. We deal solely with fences and decks and not siding, etc. When building a tiered set of retaining walls, position the higher wall behind the lower wall at twice the distance as the height of the lower wall. The most common dispute is who will incur the costs and whether or not there should be a shared responsibility due to the equal benefit the fence will have. Maximum spacing between piles is shown. Ok here goes I understand your frustration with your neighbor after stating you would cover all the costs, for him to complain about a vinyl fence. In short, the law says that the lower neighbor "owes" support to the upper/higher neighbor. again please do not pay him a dime. The existing fence isnt bad at all. Construction Landing Page Pro Theme by: Rara Theme. Every property on the North side has the planks and the on Southern fence you have the 2x4s. Nolo.com. I share a fence that is 75 long with a neighbor. It is a common misconception by builders, designers, landscape contractors, pool contractors and homeowners that this section of the UBC allows retaining walls of up to 4 feet in exposed wall height to be constructed without a permit, regardless of the back slope conditions. Some homeowners don't like enlisting the help of professionals when building at home, but this isn't the time for that. I know this sounds very complicated and it is, so please try and answer the questions to the best of your ability! The only issue is now you must collect the amount ordered to be paid to you. Next door landlord(just purchased the land) approach me daughter of owner of the house & ask to sloppy cost on shared fence that was very water damaged. Lateral resistance of each pile: and edge of footing is 1'-6". when we started doing the siding work. Retaining Wall Permit | County of San Mateo, CA Many legal problems can arise otherwise. and defecate on them. 12. and municipalities are committed to developing vibrant urban forests. In relation to dividing fences, the Department of Housing and Works has produced an excellent booklet - "Dividing Fences", which can be freely downloaded at www.dhw.wa.gov.au. I am willing to pay for fixing the fence as needed but it does not need to be replaced with a new fence. My partner and I ran across this different website and decided to take a look around. Retaining walls are a popular landscaping feature, especially for homes sitting on sloped or uneven land. During these early years, most of the neighborhood had children. As far as extending the fence, as long as it was built on the boundary line between your two properties, I do not see why you couldnt continue the fence off the post where he ended the one he built. Compare. Or, do I need to move the fence towards my house a few inches, and be solely on my own property line? Vancouver, BC Generally speaking, if a fence or retaining wall is on your neighbour's side of the property line, then they're responsible for paying for it. She does not want to do it that way. They are extremely weak and the most a customer should expect from them is a few years life. The back part of the fence, in the backyard, fell and is neighboring all of the neighbors front yard. Our backyard neighbors dont trim their trees (70 feet high) or their shrubs and now a few sections of the fence are leaning in our backyard due to the foliage pushing against and through the fence. Which has become an eyesore. Maldri, I would recommend that you try and sit down with your neighbor and explain to them that the wall they built along with the overwatering is causing the fence to fail prematurely and see if they are willing to make the necessary changes to prevent this from continuing to take place. If replacement is needed because of improperly planted bamboo and neglected maintenance of plants causing encroached on our property line and has warped and beoke pickets, posts and rails, is cost still split? At the very least they are very cheap, which would mean an inferior crappy fence that isnt going to last as long as it should! A day later, while I was out, the neighbor came and spoke to my wife in a very critical fashion. We live on a hillside, so our backyard is 3 stories down. I dont think I see this covered: I share a fence with a neighbor, and they have six 2-story-tall trees (overgrown weeds, really) growing tightly next to each other, just on their side of the fence. The neighbor and his fence company will then need to do what any reputable company would do and fix it to make sure both adjoining neighbors are 100% satisfied with the final fence. The last thing you want is to be fined by city inspectors because you were found to be in violation of building codes. We could not afford to replace it so we said we did not want it removed, as it was enclosing our property. If they dont listen, then you can inform them you are monitoring and documenting the issue and when the time comes to replace the fence you will not be paying 50% of the costs due to their actions causing the premature failure. Remember he Neighbor Disputes Over Water Damage | Nolo You might want to contact legal counsel to review this matter. I just had a fence erected between me and my neighbor. Who is responsible if a retaining wall on or near property lines - Avvo Minimum Requirements for Retaining Wall/Level Backfill | Development Also, I dont agree that this information only benefits the contractor, IT DOES NOT! Well, its simpler than that. I mentioned it to my neighbor and he does not see anything wrong with the two fences. The walls can be designed as cantilever walls, or receive additional lateral support from anchors or bracing. Engineering calculations and associated data; Soils report (if applicable) For detailed plot plan requirements see Building Permit Requirements. Whos fence is it and do we have the freedom to modify it or remove it without permission from the neighbors? Home About Us This appears to be the pattern on our block. It refers to a fence that uses sandwich construction, i.e. He was not able to remove our fence othe next day, but was able, last minute to come three days later when we were out of town for the day. Legal Question in Real Estate Law in California Who is responsible for a Retaining Wall? 2. I appreciate your comment, but you must realize the majority of the time, these cases will be fought in small claims court by neighbors without much legal knowledge or without additional attorneys and the judge will likely follow the letter of the law. a picture frame fence since it looks the same from both sides, or when a basic nail-up fence is built with alternating panels, hence both neighbors get equal shares of the bad and good sides. There has never previously had a boundary fence. He then complained about us buying expenseive material (6ft red wood) and did not want to spend that. So if the wall was built because your neighbor (when the property was graded) wanted to level his yard he had to replace the lateral support to your property by building a retaining wall. If the neighbors refuse to pay half of the costs for repairing the fence, will we be able to take them to small claims? It seems we can not agree. Building a Retaining Wall: 8 Dos and Don'ts - Bob Vila The second option is to leave the failing wood fence there and build a vinyl fence a foot or two into your property. poor maintenance, or sprinklers hitting the fence, etc., causing damage to the fence, therefore, causing the fence to have to be replaced before it should have with proper care and maintenance. 2) If a retaining wall is attached to a building or if a building foundation is directly dependent upon the location and design of the retaining wall it is to be included in the building permit for the construction of the building. Retaining Walls Retaining walls are frequently used to stabilise and modify slopes, level sites, and correct grade differences between properties. margin-top: 10px; Our situation is different then all the comments I have read. I want to get this done the sooner the better and he has not giving me a response since December 2020. Include good color pictures. Re: Retaining wall law. I didnt even have the option of getting my own bids or anything. Actually, under the law, any maintenance to keep the debris from the trees off the the fence could be billed half to the neighbor. There is a large high substantial retaining wall holding back higher ground in the ownership of our client which is in poor condition. Thank you for your comment/ queston! Code 841, but my fear is that after having a letter certified to her, she will either ignore it or refuse after the 30 days. Cantilever or segmental gravity retaining walls with an exposed wall height of three feet or less, where the retained soil does not support a surcharge (i.e. area let me know and Ill go talk to him!

Texas Sample Ballot 2022, Articles R