Neighbor wants to build a "party" parapet wall above our attached flat roofs
I own an attached 100 year-old four story brick. There is currently no parapet wall separating our roof areas, but my neighbor wants to construct one, at his expense, and with a contractor of his choosing. Regarding the adjacent walls of our buildings, I know that each of our buildings has it’s own discreet wall. The thickness of each wall is the width of two bricks with every other brick interlaced lengthwise across the wall. So, although the the bricks in each wall are interlaced, I don’t think that there is any interlacing between our two walls. I hope this makes sense. He intends to peel the roof off over these walls and extend the parapet above the roof line, then flash and seal both sides. I think it should be OK for him to build the parapet, but the question is, should it span across both of our walls, i.e., equal to the width of four bricks, or should it just cover the width of his wall? What should my concerns be with this type of project? Thanks
merc120
in General Discussion 11 years and 11 months ago
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5 replies
Smokychimp | 11 years and 10 months ago
We do this sort of work and so I have direct experience with some of these issues. There are a number of steps you could take here (I’m not schilling for work here it sounds smaller than what we are geared up to handle). The first step is to document the condition of your townhouse. I would photograph, with a time stamp, the condition of all interior walls facing the proposed new construction so that if there’s any damage in your building from the work, you can prove it. You could supplement this with a report from an engineer as well. Definitely document the roof condition. The neighbor may likely have the right to build their building higher, but not on your roof, not on your property, and if it’s like any other building in NYC the property line is the center of the paired walls. Even though the walls are touching, and may have crept into a condition of structural interdependence over the years, they are built in New York City as completely discreet and independent structures. The width of your neighbor’s wall (two wythes of brick) is all the room they could possibly need to create a new fire rated wall about the existing brick. There shouldn’t be a need to trespass onto your property for a wall. In terms of trespass, any scaffolding, protection, work done over your property is trespass and you are entitled to enforce that as you’d like. While it may be absurd to think you’d need to start from this position, I’m just trying to illustrate how strong your rights are in this situation. In addition, as long as your neighbor is building higher than your property you are entitled to standards of protection that are quite high – it would be extremely wise to hire a reviewing engineer to serve as your agent on this matter. The engineer could professionally document the conditions for you, and advise / review protection measures proposed by the neighbor. You have two risks. On is building settlement due to the new loads added to the wall. Again the wall should be in theory structurally independent, but over the 100 year age you describe, buildings can settle into each other and cause an interdependence. And the scenario of damage I’m talking about is very real, even if it’s unlikely to be a life safety issue — old plaster in a building cracks extremely easily. It is entirely plausible that even light loads added to a party wall could cause splitting of interior plaster. The other scenario is water damage, due to the removal of roofing while the work is being done. Again an engineer reviewing the protection plans can go far to help represent you. I highlight the value of an engineer or other professional here because in this case, since your neighbor is building higher than your property, you are fully entitled to reimbursement for all legal, professional, and other advisory fees brought in to protect your property. As you can imagine in NYC, there are strict rules in place for all these steps and you’re better off being protected as it’s free for you. The earlier in the process you do this, the more credible and better off you are.
arch007 | 11 years and 10 months ago
If it is a true party wall, there should have been a party wall agreement. It should not be a problem to add that minimal weight to your wall. It is a good idea to prevent or slow down the spread of fire. make sure they file plans and get permits. http://expediter-nyc.com
masterbuilder | 11 years and 11 months ago
We have done this type of work under an engineer. The masonry conditions are likely to be poor and especially weak along the chimney sections. We’ve rebuilt the top of the party walls, reinforced with epoxied steel and raised the parapet with concrete. How high do they want to go? If your neighbor is open to it, we’d be happy to come take a look. masterbuildernyc@gmail.com
jcarch | 11 years and 11 months ago
The walls your describing would be very thin. I think it’s possible/likely that you actually have a party wall all the way down to the cellar. If you do have a party wall, while you can delay him w/ legal action, I believe he would have the right to extend that wall upwards. If you don’t have a party wall, then Let him build his parapet above his wall, on his own property. He should hire an engineer and/or surveyor to determine if it’s a party wall or not before anything else. jcarch ———————— James Cleary Architecture brownstoner.staging.wpengine.com/jamescleary
jockdeboeraia | 11 years and 11 months ago
He would need a agreement with you to build on top of your wall or his structural engineer can design an offset beam so as to not sit on your side.