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February 27, 2009
property ends at the sidewall
Hi. Sorry for posting so many questions. This is my first house.
So my house is the last rowhouse on the block and its sidewall is exposed to the rear side of the backyards of the houses around the corner. So our property ends at the sidewall and the neibours backyards starts at that very point. As you can see from the picture two neighbors built boxes for the plants right on the my sidewall. Instead of the original design with grade sloping away from the house. I assume they will dump water into the box and this water will go right into my basement. I suspect there was no hydro isolation put between their soil and my wall.
What would be my options in this situation?
Should I leave it as it is (since it was like this for many years and the house did not fail yet)? Should I ask them nicely to disturb their soil and put the watertight membrane again the wall? Any other way to deal with this?
Also you can see on the picture there is a massive tree grows ~4' away from the wall. I afraid that its roots will damage the foundation. Should I convince myself, that this tree was there longer then I was alive and go around my business. Or should I freak that the tree's roots will push the foundation and house will crash?
Or maybe the best way to deal with this is to call a foundation specialist or a structural engineer for inspection. Can you recommend somebody in this field? Of course I need an objective concussions, not a sales pitch for the expensive repair work.
thanks.
Comments
Did anything come up at inspection? My feeling is you can't really complain about a problem until there is an actual problem. You've got potential problems, for sure. Maybe tomorrow. Maybe in 50 years. I mean, those roots have been down there for a while and aren't likely to be doing a lot more growing.
If I were to write up a list of things to do in the house, these would be low on the list.
Posted by: Ringo at February 27, 2009 9:21 AM
That tree is quite old and any damage would already be visible.
Posted by: daveinbedstuy at February 27, 2009 9:23 AM
The small amount of water needed in that raised flower bed is extremely unlikely to cause damage.
More importantly, how do you sleep at night?
Posted by: mod squad at February 27, 2009 9:28 AM
thanks for the answers. I will sleep better at night.
I was looking to finish basement and need to understand whole water sipping though the wall things.
As for the tree - I hope it will not fall otherwise its roots will push in the foundation.
So I have no legal leverage in the fact, that the neighbors tree pushes in my foundation or that neighbor's water sips throw my wall? Oh well.
Posted by: bobjohn at February 27, 2009 10:00 AM
I'd differ with some of the previous posters. Just because no damage is visible doesn't mean none is being done. It's a tricky situation because you don't want to alienate your neighbor, but you need to protect your house also. I'd try and have a friendly conversation about your concerns, and mention you'd like to follow it up with a letter. And do so. Maybe you could share the cost of an engineer with your neighbor. BBG has a list of arborists and folx that you can consult with.
Posted by: denton at February 27, 2009 10:08 AM
Bobjohn, to put things in perspective here, it is almost impossible for the tree to do any serious structural damage to your foundation without quite a bit of very obvious evidence -- for years -- beforehand. I'm not saying the damage can't be done, but it will be quite gradual and very apparent in the form of cracks and movement in the wall long before it gets to the point of making your house crash.
As to the question of water damage, the answer is you're going to have to find out over the long term. I'd recommend the following course of action if you're really concerned or if you begin to see evidence of moisture damage on that wall. Buy yourself a moisture sensor with metal probes at the hardware store (about $30). Draw a big rectangle on a piece of paper, representing your wall, and record moisture readings on the rectangle in the locations where you test (by pushing the metal probes about 1/8" into the mortar joints). Do this on a dry week, then do it after a rainstorm. Keep this log and repeat every three months or so. This will help monitor the situation if it gets worse, and also may be useful information in your conversations with your neighbor.
Posted by: Smokychimp at February 27, 2009 11:47 AM
yeah but what do you do when it rains? who can you blame for that? there is no way a lil flowerbed is going to make a difference here. does your basement leak now? look at it this way, if your cellar walls have issues, you will probably end up destroying the flowerbed when they dig around the foundation. problem solved!
Posted by: Jimmy Legs at February 27, 2009 11:48 AM
I agree with Smokychimp, and especially if you're planning on finishing your basement space you should definitely monitor the wall for water. Then you will know if you need to waterproof exterior or not. The last thing you want is mold growing in your new space.
Posted by: werner at February 27, 2009 2:53 PM
Wow!
Don't worry about leaks (unless there are some). Worry about termites. They live in the soil and go into your house for dinner. Then again, if that's a brick wall, maybe the termites will be stopped dead in their tracks.
Posted by: mopar at February 27, 2009 6:24 PM
tnanks for the replys. I will monitor the moisture in the spring/summer. I hope neighbors are not going to grow rice in the flower beds.
Posted by: bobjohn at February 28, 2009 12:23 AM
I had a similar issue and ended up getting permission from the neighboring landlord to dig up his planter, excavate about four feet down, flash the the foundation, refill the dirt, and pour new cement sloping away from my building.
But like previous posters have said, I wouldn't worry about it either unless you see evidence of water leakage into your cellar.
Posted by: IronBalls at March 1, 2009 8:33 PM
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