Ricarda
2021-08-31 15:06:49
- #1
Hello everyone,
after unfortunately not making much progress through searching, I would like to ask you for advice.
25 years ago, we bought a one-and-a-half-story detached house in NRW with garages attached on the right and left, on a 600 m2 plot, located in a rural area. The plots to the right and left were undeveloped at that time.
Our garages and the 1.05 m high enclosing wall attached to each are built right up to the boundary, but constructed on our property. The actual garden is behind our house and is enclosed on all sides by the same wall, also on the boundary but on our land.
The plot on the right was developed a few years later with a detached house and garage, also on the boundary. The left plot has been vacant until now.
The left plot is currently being developed. The owner couple are laypeople, and a construction company is building the house. I had briefly seen and spoken to the couple by chance before construction began. It is supposed to be a detached house without a basement, with a garage that is to be connected on the side to our garage. So far, so good.
I have already come into conflict with the excavator driver, as he tore out a large section of our enclosure wall near the base with the excavator bucket, as did with the neighbor's wall. When confronted, he denied everything. At least the owner has since verbally promised to have the damaged sections replastered.
I lost further goodwill when I repeatedly asked him not to park his 33-ton excavator directly in front of the new construction plot (on the future sidewalk), but rather on the property itself.
The reason is that under the so-called sidewalk (in front of our house constructed with sand and gravel) runs piping for a brook, which is usually dry but can carry quite a lot of water during heavy rain. The piping (brook inlet) starts exactly at our property, continues under the sidewalk, and somewhere far away empties into a rainwater retention basin.
About 30 years ago, there was flooding here, which is why the piping was installed. It lies only about 70 cm below the finished ground level and is gray. I don’t feel good about 33 tons parking on it. (I myself experienced flooding years ago elsewhere where a small brook overflowed due to heavy rain, turning into a raging flood that destroyed the surroundings.)
The excavator driver dismissed this, saying the pipe can handle it. The two (too short) steel plates laid for load distribution also don’t help much.
However, if the pipe collapses in front of the new plot, the water would back up exactly in front of our property (due to the water flow direction). After bothering the excavator driver for three days in a row, the excavator is now parked on the new construction lot with its weight, hopefully from now on.
A few days ago, the ground level of the new garden was raised by about 40 - 50 cm with excavated earth; the rest was taken away. Therefore, the garden ground level of the neighbor to the left of the new lot and our garden ground level are, of course, lower now.
This neighbor has a concreted mesh fence with privacy foil along her long garden boundary. As she told me yesterday, the 40 - 50 cm high embankment of the new garden soil along her mesh fence is supposedly to be retained with stones, but she was not entirely sure about the execution or if she understood it correctly (as of yesterday evening).
Now the problem: On our side with the garden wall, the excavator simply heaped the soil against our wall on the planned garden side with the raised level.
By chance, I noticed this. Direct consultation with the excavator driver regarding moisture damage to our garden wall caused by this led to little success. I raised concerns about soil moisture seeping into the wall, rain, frost, and feared plaster flaking off the wall as a result.
The next day, the owner came to the site with two rolls of bubble foil, which I again only noticed by chance. I also communicated my concerns to her again.
The excavator driver then wanted to place simple bubble foil with the bubble side protruding directly against the wall after removing the soil embankment along the wall again, and then heap the earth against the wall once more. He believed that rainwater could drain off via the bubbles and that the bubbles would also provide ventilation behind the wall.
I objected that rainwater would poorly drain between the bubbles and the wall, so the wall could no longer dry out at this spot. Snow would also lie on the upper edge of the bubble foil in winter.
The wall has no cover on top, so it would remain damp behind the bubble foil because no wind would reach the wall there.
The puzzled owner then promised a call from her husband in the evening, which unfortunately has not yet come. Instead, her husband came briefly to his construction site the next morning, as a neighbor told me, and apparently also looked at the wall situation. However, there was no conversation. I did not see him and he did not ring the bell.
Yesterday the excavator driver leaned two rolls of bubble foil against the wall with the bubble side facing the wall and shoveled the earth against it with his excavator. Unfortunately, I only saw the mess yesterday evening.
The wall has a narrower foundation base (probably concrete). On this base, hollow blocks (similar to pumice and wider than the base) were probably laid at the time.
At one spot where this (formwork) cement flaked off last winter, I was able to see all this very well now. And yes, this spot will be repaired before this winter.
Inside the wall, the internal hollow spaces of the (pumice) blocks are visible from above; externally, about 15mm thick cement plaster was applied. However, slight imprints of formwork boards are visible outside.
In my opinion, the garden wall will be damaged.
Unfortunately, the couple have not made further contact on their own. My kindly expressed concerns were noted but probably not taken entirely seriously.
I am grateful for any advice!
Best regards,
Ricarda
after unfortunately not making much progress through searching, I would like to ask you for advice.
25 years ago, we bought a one-and-a-half-story detached house in NRW with garages attached on the right and left, on a 600 m2 plot, located in a rural area. The plots to the right and left were undeveloped at that time.
Our garages and the 1.05 m high enclosing wall attached to each are built right up to the boundary, but constructed on our property. The actual garden is behind our house and is enclosed on all sides by the same wall, also on the boundary but on our land.
The plot on the right was developed a few years later with a detached house and garage, also on the boundary. The left plot has been vacant until now.
The left plot is currently being developed. The owner couple are laypeople, and a construction company is building the house. I had briefly seen and spoken to the couple by chance before construction began. It is supposed to be a detached house without a basement, with a garage that is to be connected on the side to our garage. So far, so good.
I have already come into conflict with the excavator driver, as he tore out a large section of our enclosure wall near the base with the excavator bucket, as did with the neighbor's wall. When confronted, he denied everything. At least the owner has since verbally promised to have the damaged sections replastered.
I lost further goodwill when I repeatedly asked him not to park his 33-ton excavator directly in front of the new construction plot (on the future sidewalk), but rather on the property itself.
The reason is that under the so-called sidewalk (in front of our house constructed with sand and gravel) runs piping for a brook, which is usually dry but can carry quite a lot of water during heavy rain. The piping (brook inlet) starts exactly at our property, continues under the sidewalk, and somewhere far away empties into a rainwater retention basin.
About 30 years ago, there was flooding here, which is why the piping was installed. It lies only about 70 cm below the finished ground level and is gray. I don’t feel good about 33 tons parking on it. (I myself experienced flooding years ago elsewhere where a small brook overflowed due to heavy rain, turning into a raging flood that destroyed the surroundings.)
The excavator driver dismissed this, saying the pipe can handle it. The two (too short) steel plates laid for load distribution also don’t help much.
However, if the pipe collapses in front of the new plot, the water would back up exactly in front of our property (due to the water flow direction). After bothering the excavator driver for three days in a row, the excavator is now parked on the new construction lot with its weight, hopefully from now on.
A few days ago, the ground level of the new garden was raised by about 40 - 50 cm with excavated earth; the rest was taken away. Therefore, the garden ground level of the neighbor to the left of the new lot and our garden ground level are, of course, lower now.
This neighbor has a concreted mesh fence with privacy foil along her long garden boundary. As she told me yesterday, the 40 - 50 cm high embankment of the new garden soil along her mesh fence is supposedly to be retained with stones, but she was not entirely sure about the execution or if she understood it correctly (as of yesterday evening).
Now the problem: On our side with the garden wall, the excavator simply heaped the soil against our wall on the planned garden side with the raised level.
By chance, I noticed this. Direct consultation with the excavator driver regarding moisture damage to our garden wall caused by this led to little success. I raised concerns about soil moisture seeping into the wall, rain, frost, and feared plaster flaking off the wall as a result.
The next day, the owner came to the site with two rolls of bubble foil, which I again only noticed by chance. I also communicated my concerns to her again.
The excavator driver then wanted to place simple bubble foil with the bubble side protruding directly against the wall after removing the soil embankment along the wall again, and then heap the earth against the wall once more. He believed that rainwater could drain off via the bubbles and that the bubbles would also provide ventilation behind the wall.
I objected that rainwater would poorly drain between the bubbles and the wall, so the wall could no longer dry out at this spot. Snow would also lie on the upper edge of the bubble foil in winter.
The wall has no cover on top, so it would remain damp behind the bubble foil because no wind would reach the wall there.
The puzzled owner then promised a call from her husband in the evening, which unfortunately has not yet come. Instead, her husband came briefly to his construction site the next morning, as a neighbor told me, and apparently also looked at the wall situation. However, there was no conversation. I did not see him and he did not ring the bell.
Yesterday the excavator driver leaned two rolls of bubble foil against the wall with the bubble side facing the wall and shoveled the earth against it with his excavator. Unfortunately, I only saw the mess yesterday evening.
The wall has a narrower foundation base (probably concrete). On this base, hollow blocks (similar to pumice and wider than the base) were probably laid at the time.
At one spot where this (formwork) cement flaked off last winter, I was able to see all this very well now. And yes, this spot will be repaired before this winter.
Inside the wall, the internal hollow spaces of the (pumice) blocks are visible from above; externally, about 15mm thick cement plaster was applied. However, slight imprints of formwork boards are visible outside.
In my opinion, the garden wall will be damaged.
Unfortunately, the couple have not made further contact on their own. My kindly expressed concerns were noted but probably not taken entirely seriously.
I am grateful for any advice!
Best regards,
Ricarda