neighbor doing no permit basement dig out

any tips on the best course of action to protect myself and not create a toxic neighbor environment?

solehappy

in General Discussion 4 years and 11 months ago

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stevecym | 4 years and 11 months ago

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@op: your use of the term “dig out” implies a container out front for soil or 50 five gallon buckets full of soil – or bags containing a like amount. short of that, what green thinker and maggie suggest might be a more prudent way to proceed. if a dig out is five green contractor bags, i would not drop a dime as you might just create unneeded issues with the neighbor. if it were five or ten 1/4 filled trash bags, i would probably not even take note.

Guest User | 4 years and 11 months ago

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My thinking exactly, @GreenThinker. The OP gives us no indication of what specific activity they are seeing that has lead them to conclude that the neighbor is doing illegal construction. As many of us remember from the fun times with a certain poster who claimed that their neighbor was actively demolishing their shared party wall and was trying to move it in order to gain square footage in their basement, just because you can conceive of something, doesn’t make it reality.
So take a look at your property, take photos, document any cracks or water infiltration and monitor. These are things that are good to do whether your neighbor is doing construction or not. Then if you have an amicable relationship with your neighbor, ask them what’s going on. Yes, that assumes the neighbor is reasonable, but I think we owe it to each other to start with that assumption in the absence of any evidence to the contrary.

GreenThinker | 4 years and 11 months ago

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Just because someone gets a permit doesn’t mean the work is going to be done properly. It’s just thousands of dollars with the end result being the same as if there wasn’t one, that the contractor and workers are left to do what ever it is that they know how to do. It could just be that your neighbor has a rat slab/dirt floor/humidity problems and wants to pour out a level concrete slab, and to do so, needs to remove a few inches of dirt. I recommend asking them about it before making a huge fuss about it.

stevecym | 4 years and 11 months ago

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and to those people who suggest a conversation. someone said it on here in another post; “…conversations only work with reasonable people”. anyone who would do something like this is so full of himself that he is not going to want to answer any questions from a neighbor. this person is beyond that-

stevecym | 4 years and 11 months ago

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if this guy gets caught, even at this early stage, if a city inspector enters the premises and decides that what he has done compromises the structure and those attached to it, you will not be allowed to access your premises until an engineer investigates and once that is done, if they decide the situation poses a hazard, you will not be allowed in until it is rectified. also, they may issue YOU a violation if they feel your structure is unsafe as a result of what was done next door as they will want to force you to get an engineer to look your property over.

you should have done what 2345bcde says on day one.

BKALLDAY | 4 years and 11 months ago

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Speak to him first and let him know of your concerns. Try to determine the extent of what he is doing and tell him how it could impact your foundation. If he decides to be dismissive then I would report him to the DoB and go ask your local firehouse to stop over. It would be the firemen who would have to go through and sift through any collapses so they may show up and demand access and work to issues a stop work order. But try to just have a conversation first before escalating.

2345bcde | 4 years and 11 months ago

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You should call 311 and immediately report your neighbor to 311. Your neighbor is jeopardizing the integrity of your home and you and your families safety. If this neighbor cared about you he or she would have obtained the proper permits and be doing the work correctly. Don’t wait you should call immediately and tell the 311 operator you are concerned about the structural integrity of your home ( this is in fact what is being jeopardized ). If not stated to 311 as dire weeks will go by before anyone from DOB will come out.

Arkady | 4 years and 11 months ago

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First I’d take pictures of your walls – lots of them showing corners & lines along ceilings & floors. Then I’d speak w/ the neighbor. Your next move should be based on what you discover from him.

Guest User | 4 years and 11 months ago

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do you have a relationship with the neighbor now? if not, this is going to be a challenging place to start from but I think your best bet for keeping things amicable until that needs to change is to just ask what they’re doing. You don’t actually know what work is going on so try not to assume that something inappropriate or dangerous is happening.