Cheeky fucker neighbours?

[GhostHoward]

We live in large terraces, with a passageway between us and our neighbours. Theare currently doing up their garden and back of house (painting the back; new fence; garden studio; new patio, etc.)

They were really good when we had our house renovated a few years ago. Signed the party wall act without question and never complained. It took a whole year, so not insignificant, and we didn’t live there during.

We say hello in passing but don’t really chat like we might with other neighbours. When they were having the studio built they did ask if they could show me what they were doing as they needed to temporarily remove my fence. I had no complaints other than to just be careful when cutting an overhanging branch of a large shrub/small tree as it was given my my (newly deceased) grandma. Strictly speaking the studio would need planning permission (it’s size and that it has a bathroom in it) but we’re not petty and it has no impact on us so why would we care. (Only mentioning this as I feel it shows an openness on our side).

When they had the back of the house painted I was just about to take my youngest to the park. I saw someone using our outdoor tap (it’s at the back of our utility by the bin store, but in the alleyway, not in our enclosed back garden). I was a bit taken aback and asked what they were doing? It was a young guy, who worked for the painting company. He was apologetic and said that he didn’t think we’d mind but he was sorry. Said no one was at home to get water from them and their outdoor tap was broken. (although neighbour came out at that point, so clearly was). I’d left my daughter by the road so had to rush off, but because they hadn’t asked I was more annoyed than I would be. We’d absolutely have agreed if they’d asked.

That was about a month ago. Last weekend and weekend before that they started having the patio done (really gorgeous York stone if anyone cares ). No problem our end. They put up with our building site so crack on and we’ll just keep our doors shut.
Last week I noticed a load of splattering up the back of the house under the outdoor tap. I had suspicions so bought a tap lock (as I meant to do when we moved back in after the Reno but never got around to doing). Lo and behold yesterday their builder comes over and asks if they could use our tap (neighbour was home) as neighbours is broken. We agree but ask them if they’ve used it for the rest of the patio work. They admit they have. We explain that we’d always have said yes (limited use though as we’re on a water meter) but we weren’t impressed that they just used it and didn’t ask. They knew we were in on both days they used it.
As a thank you the builder took away an old wardrobe we’d not taken to the tip, and levelled the area next to the bins with leftover sand.
There were absolutely no hard feelings and we left it all positive.

But am I wrong to think that using your neighbours tap without asking is in the cheeky fucker category.

I don’t know if the neighbours told them it’d probably be ok or if the painters and then separately, the builders thought it’d be ok but in all of this the neighbours haven’t apologised once.

Tap lock has gone back on and they can ask next weekend (it’d be a shame if we went out that morning )

 

[Beechbum]

Definitely cheeky fuckers, especially if you’re on a water meter. The neighbours should have sorted their own tap or let them come inside to get water.

 

[Moonflower]

100% cheeky fuckery. At least ask (given you've always been reasonable before).

 

[cowtastrophe]

I’d feel the same as you, I would have said yes but not being asked would piss me off.

 

[mysteriousgirl69]

Cheeky fuckers, 100%.

Reminds me of my neighbour having his roof done earlier this year and volunteering use of my driveway for them to park their wagon on when removing the tiles while I was out. When I confronted the blokes, apparently my neighbour said to them he'd cleared it all with me and I'd said it was fine!

It's taught me never to underestimate the length of sheer NECK some people have

 

[Libbub]

I'm not that generous , I'd have agreed as long as there was some compensation for the water used and that they clean ALL the mess that's been made. I would also point out that the homeowners could actually run a hosepipe out of a window for their use and they should suggest it. The fact the neighbours haven't asked or had the decency to speak about it would piss me off.

We had similar, a neighbour , who again we only said hello to but recently they were picking our brains about who we'd used for our new windows etc, sent a builder along to tell us that they need to use our side access and come across our garden to get into their garden to install a new window. I said to him I was surprised that they hadnt mentioned it whilst we were talking, but left it til 2 days before work was due to commence. I told him that I would want to be there as I would want to make sure no damage was caused to my new 6k decking . He said oh don't worry about that. I told him he either needed to reschedule to fit in with me or go to the other end and go through there. He then reveals the other way told him to basically jog on.

It seems they went through the house instead which the homeowners didn't want because of damage inside!. The nerve of people.

 

[cowtastrophe]

The people who owned our house before us were by all accounts massively cheeky. The neighbour on one side told us she allowed former owners to have a side gate onto their drive as there’s no side access to our house otherwise. Apparently, neighbour came home one day to find that former owner had installed an outside tap which she was annoyed about but decided to let go. Worse, they then started directing all their mates to go in my neighbour’s gate and use the new side access rather than their front door. Neighbour quickly got fed up with this and bricked up the gate.

 

[Kim Mild]

I'm sure people think outside taps are a free for all.

They've been putting the new broadband cables in the ground at the end of our street and the workmen were asking people if they could use their outside taps to get water to mix their cement . They collected it in containers with lids so they could have brought it with them .

At our old house, the local stoners used to use our outside tap to get water for their bongs before smoking them at the garages. At least they only took a little bit at a time.

Sometimes the outside tap has its own stopcock and can be switched off independently of the other taps.

 

[Tinkerbell cat]

There is a small alley between my dad's house and his neighbour's house. It leads to their back gardens. My dad has an outside tap on the steps and then his back gate so the tap was just outside the back gate but still on his side of the house and on his property. The neighbours started to use it at the start of summer to fill their pool without even so much as asking my dad if would it be ok!

My dad being the petty bigger he is and a builder by trade moved the back gate down the steps so now the tap was blocked off from the neighbours and inside his garden. They were absolutely fuming about this. The thing is, if they had asked then it would have been zero issue but the fact they just helped themselves and they did this quite often my dad said, kids filling water balloons, neighbour filling buckets for cleaning etc. He always let it go until they decided they wanted to fill a massive swimming pool. Some people are just so cheeky.

I bloody loved seeing the back gate moved and the tap now inside the garden - their pool got wrecked a while back by one of their feral kids jumping in from a trampoline so they had to get a new one, they still haven't filled it as the weather has been shite but my dad says there is no way they're using his tap after their attitude towards him for moving his fence so he's waiting patiently for sunshine to see how they fill this thing

 

[GhostHoward]

So I’m not the only one with cheeky ducker neighbours. (Didn’t expect to be but still )

The plot thickens.

Just as I was leaving to go water my mum’s garden (with her own water ) a guy from the water company knocked on the door to read one of our meters (we bizarrely have two). He’s coming back tomorrow as there’s no way my 2yo would have gone back in the house.
I asked him why he might have been sent (random or a reason) and he said usually he gets sent to houses where they’ve noticed a noticeable difference in the water consumption. (Is there a leak/meter tampering?)

Now, I’m no expert but how much have they used the last three weekends to trigger a call out?
We’re on a meter so pay for what we use. Water guy thinks if we called the company they could tell us how much extra has been used (and it’s worth). How expensive IS water? I’ve never really thought about it “by the litre” AND how much would an entire gardens-worth of patio cost (cement is pretty water intensive).

Ultimately it’s probably not worth complaining over as I’d rather be out of pocket than have poor neighbour relations, but maybe that’s what they were counting on. They have to ask now, as we have the tap lock, so the ongoing problem is fixed.

Lastly, this is not our sand and they didn’t ask to keep it there. I also want to ask the builders to clean my wall as all that splatter is from them making the cement. Might be an odd thing to be annoyed with, but that wall was newly built last year and pristine. (Ok, writing it out I can see I’m in crazy mode, to care about a wall).

 

[Rosie glow]

Definately cheeky gits water prices have recently gone up too They could of been drawing litres off?
Our cheeky git neighbours were filling up our bins walking across our front garden because they won't cut their trees back telling their guest they could park on our drive and I came home one day to find their old gas radiators and pipes in my front garden

 

[Moonflower]

You should be able to work out your usual consumption (and therefore cost) from your bills and compare this with the latest readings/bills

 

[Tinkerbell cat]

So I’m not the only one with cheeky ducker neighbours. (Didn’t expect to be but still )

The plot thickens.

Just as I was leaving to go water my mum’s garden (with her own water ) a guy from the water company knocked on the door to read one of our meters (we bizarrely have two). He’s coming back tomorrow as there’s no way my 2yo would have gone back in the house.
I asked him why he might have been sent (random or a reason) and he said usually he gets sent to houses where they’ve noticed a noticeable difference in the water consumption. (Is there a leak/meter tampering?)

Now, I’m no expert but how much have they used the last three weekends to trigger a call out?
We’re on a meter so pay for what we use. Water guy thinks if we called the company they could tell us how much extra has been used (and it’s worth). How expensive IS water? I’ve never really thought about it “by the litre” AND how much would an entire gardens-worth of patio cost (cement is pretty water intensive).

Ultimately it’s probably not worth complaining over as I’d rather be out of pocket than have poor neighbour relations, but maybe that’s what they were counting on. They have to ask now, as we have the tap lock, so the ongoing problem is fixed.

Lastly, this is not our sand and they didn’t ask to keep it there. I also want to ask the builders to clean my wall as all that splatter is from them making the cement. Might be an odd thing to be annoyed with, but that wall was newly built last year and pristine. (Ok, writing it out I can see I’m in crazy mode, to care about a wall).

You have every right to be annoyed, that really is a joke. You are a better person than me as I'd have gone out, put the tap on, and washed all the sand away
---

Definately cheeky gits water prices have recently gone up too They could of been drawing litres off?
Our cheeky git neighbours were filling up our bins walking across our front garden because they won't cut their trees back telling their guest they could park on our drive and I came home one day to find their old gas radiators and pipes in my front garden

We have neighbours that put stuff in our bins when we leave them down to get emptied. It pisses me off because if the bin lid won't close fully then the bin men won't empty the bin! On a few occasions they haven't emptied our bin for this reason. I literally go down now and wing all the shite from the bin that isn't mine and leave it lying there. Might seem petty but its just so rude.

 

[Rosie glow]

You have every right to be annoyed, that really is a joke. You are a better person than me as I'd have gone out, put the tap on, and washed all the sand away
---

We have neighbours that put stuff in our bins when we leave them down to get emptied. It pisses me off because if the bin lid won't close fully then the bin men won't empty the bin! On a few occasions they haven't emptied our bin for this reason. I literally go down now and wing all the shite from the bin that isn't mine and leave it lying there. Might seem petty but its just so rude.

We used to go out on way to work take all their stuff out of our bins but by the time I got home they had put it all in again including crappy nappies one day I just snapped and sent them the mother of all snotty letters they ordered two extra bins from the council and never did it again

 

[bluefootedbooby]

You should be able to work out your usual consumption (and therefore cost) from your bills and compare this with the latest readings/bills

Yes - I'd be doing that and seeing what the increase was over the period and ask them to pay. It is cheeky BUT also working in the building industry, let me tell you workmen are a pain in the ass and will often do stuff without thinking because it's more convenient for them. Definitely ask them to clean your wall and the remaining sand. Fuckers.

 

[Rxt156]

Cheeky fuckers absolutely. Neighbours probs just won’t want the workmen going into their house. Using your tap instead lol the cheek is he fuming. Also shocked that his water man came…. They must’ve been using LOADS

 

[littlepup]

Now, I’m no expert but how much have they used the last three weekends to trigger a call out?
We’re on a meter so pay for what we use. Water guy thinks if we called the company they could tell us how much extra has been used (and it’s worth). How expensive IS water? I’ve never really thought about it “by the litre” AND how much would an entire gardens-worth of patio cost (cement is pretty water intensive).

Water isn't that expensive. It's about 20p to fill a bath (for just the cold water, not heating it). Most of the bill goes to the sewerage and supply service.

 

[Web30]

My parents house have a tap at the front of the house, thier old neighbor used to always have her hosepipe attached to water her garden, It was sneaky at first then she was super open with it! Drove my mum mad but she was elderly so she didn't feel like she could say anything.

 

[Lottiehx]

We used to go out on way to work take all their stuff out of our bins but by the time I got home they had put it all in again including crappy nappies one day I just snapped and sent them the mother of all snotty letters they ordered two extra bins from the council and never did it again

see I'm on the other end of this, we have a pathway outside our house that goes from the bottom of our driveway, up to our front door. Due to the position of our house on the street, there are 3 neighbours that put their bins on the pavement infront of our garden on bin day which is a bit annoying, but it's fine. However there's 1 particular neighbour that puts his big black bin right ON our pathway, I'll move it to the pavement and then he does the same again next bin day! He's a middle aged single man who only ever puts in 1 bin bag tops, we however are a family of 5 and never have enough bin space so I have started putting my extra bags in his bin If he's going to leave his bin on my property, I'm going to use it

 

[didisaythatoutloudoops]

We seem to have the worst luck with neighbours. We live in a detached house, the one next to us is about 2 metres apart. The guy who moved in next door was very friendly and nice to our face - but we came home one day to discover he'd built a kind of smoking shelter and attached it to our garage wall! I was furious. Didn't say anything as thought best to keep relations good.

I've heard him banging all day now though - I'm scared this lean to is being converted into something much more permanent.