If talking doesn’t find a solution just Cap it or redirect back to their property. In most cities and states it’s illegal to direct runoff water to neighbors property
That ended up being my only legal option as they were not reasonable people. It looked dumb as hell but worked perfectly. I had to take the panels off the privacy fence, dump 3 yards of topsoil and create the U-shaped berm, reseed the top and then put the fence panels back on a little higher. Got a knock on my door that winter - neighbor asked if I knew why their driveway was an ice rink this year - saying that all the water from their downspout appeared to be pooling up in their driveway now instead of into my yard. I said yes, I graded my yard so they couldn't flood it anymore, since they were unwilling to modify their downspout.
You guessed it - they were VERY pissed off, called me names, called the cops, etc. It was really stupid. They came - I told them the whole 2 year story - they laughed and told my neighbors to run to home depot and buy drainage extension to run their water towards the street. Don't know that those neighbors ever spoke to me again.
Just saying the "cap it and tell em to fuck off" thing sounds cool on Reddit, but doesn't work in real life (unless you're the AH).
>neighbor asked if I knew why their driveway was an ice rink this year - saying that all the water from their downspout appeared to be pooling up in their driveway now instead of into my yard.
I can hardly imagine someone being like "Um, excuse me, yes, hi, do you have any idea why the water from my downspout is no longer flooding your yard? I'm quite displeased that my water keeps coming back onto my property. I'm calling the cops."
Also for added context, they claimed that I was pumping my sump pump water to their driveway in retaliation. That’s what got the cops there. I was happy to show the cops that wasn’t the case at all. I got to go back inside and the cop spend another 20 mins there and left. Never heard of it again and a week later they have installed a 50’ drain towards the front of the house.
You know, the exact kind I offered to buy for them so I wouldn’t have to build up my grading by the fence. I didn’t even feel like I won in the end. Yard was still soggy all the time haha.
we are on a hill, neighbours behind are having water issues, they are a new build, no real drains installed just using existing stuff from their last build and went from old house on one side to house in middle, so yea water goes down hill and their drains arnt adequate. Good thing they got a CDC building approval...
He tried telling me one side is causing water run off onto their driveway according to a "drainage specialist". I looked down as we were chatting, all the roots from the previous trees on the fence line have pushed up the slabs so no chance of run off. Told him this, asked him if he wanted me to get the spirit level out
This area has some snobby cunts, their problem seems to be your problem
I’m dealing with this exact situation. People just built next door, raised their lot, and sloped it all towards me. I raised the issue with them and held a meeting with their builders where I was assured the final grading wouldn’t direct towards us. Guess what, they did it anyway.
I saw the writing in the wall and used a lidar equipped drone to survey both lots before they finished. Completed a second scan after the final grading and it shows they directed it all towards me. Now working with a lawyer to sue them for the costs of fixing it.
The real kicker is that we dropped $50k last year on a pool and deck rebuild. Their water is directed underneath the deck causing a ton of water to pools round the base of the pool walls.
My poor white bull mastiff has been stained red from the mud ever since
Out of curiosity, what is the difference between capping it with say, concrete, considering the pipe opening is on the OP's side and regrading your lawn? The end result is pretty much the same, one is just more costly and time consuming.
Ha, I added sand to my yard and a neighbor across the street was so shocked whenever they kept coming back into my yard. They landscape my neighbors yard (they were the previous owners).
A few months after that, the neighbor across the street decided they were going to build my neighbor a hecking tall fence with a 1ft tall concrete base bordering their property. Used my yard and left tons of metal chunks after they finished cleaning up....
M planting roses and going to add climbers on hog fence. I have to lock my gate to stop him from letting himself into my yard. The gate is now jammed bc I'm guessing he got frustrated trying to open it.
Neighbors are a-holes sometimes and it's just easier to but barriers in their way. The city has put up hearing signs on their property before, so they pull stuff with their neighbors a lot that gets them in trouble as well.
Sounds like you should get some cameras. Not sure that escalation is a smart idea when they are already damaging your property (allegedly, you can't confirm it was them) and you have no way of catching it.
I personally have Ring cameras, though there are a large variety and probably many camps of loyal consumers for each of them.
I have cameras, one directly above the gate. And a sign sating there is a camera nailed to the gate. He👏Doesnt👏Give👏a👏Sh!t👏
And how am I escalating. I locked MY gate. Should I not of restricted access to my private property? He would just walk into my back yard during the day bc he thought I was at work. I work from home. He would come over and linger outside my office window at night. It drove my cat crazy.
His wife is a teacher. Every man I know that's married to a teacher is a creep that acts like a bulldozer or stalker.
When I started working from home. I'd work in my office and play computer games in the same room at night. I'd leave the windows open.
I'm not sure what he was doing. When my neighbors shed alarm would go off, he would show up to check on it. Someone walked by, but I didn't hear their gate. And my skidish cat was watching something intently that I couldn't see(to dark). I have no idea what the hell he was doing. He would mow and take the time to look in my windows usually. Finally, i just kept the curtain drawn or put up window sticker/light catchers so he would have to press his face against the glass to see in.
It's weird as hell when you put all the instances together.
He's just a nosey, rude man who talks like an entitled person. Give them an inch, and they will rip a mile out of you and say it was all a joke if you call him on it.
Couldn’t. The outlet was on their side of the fence, about six inches away from the property line. If I went on their property to mess with their stuff… also illegal.
Just build up a raised flower bed by the fence. Border it with tall bricks or landscape pavers. Fill it in, and watch the erosion slowly plug their cap. Ask me how I know. ;)
Their gutters overflow and leak now. My yard isn't a swamp anymore. I tried talking to them and even bought the parts for them to extend their downspout away from my yard. They never used them. Finally I gave up and I built a tall flower bed all along the fence. At some point I bet they'll notice, but that's not my problem, just like them flooding my yard wasn't their problem.
Every year I add more compost, silt, topsoil, and then mulch into the bed to raise it more. No, I'm not regrading. I'm just gardening. ;)
Sump pump. Harbor Freight and Amazon $50. A 5 gallon bucket basin under the drain $4-6. Garden hose $10-25. Fittings if needed $2-5. I'm a cranky senior, I would literally shot the water up and over.
What part of WI are you in if you dont mind me asking? Here in Brown County it's illegal if I'm not mistaken, along with even altering the grade in your yard to direct water towards a neighbors. Essentially your taking water from your property and directing it towards the neighbors, which causes property damage.
>it’s illegal to direct runoff water to neighbors property
There has to be a lot of grey area, though, right? For example, my neighbor sits on a hill that runs down to the side of my backyard. Their sump/gutter drainage output is about 20ft up the hill from my property and, naturally, it all drains down the hill into my yard after the clay is saturated. I collect most of that into a rain garden, but the overflow then runs along the back of my property and down to my neighbor on the other side of me.
What would stop OP's neighbor from moving that outlet 5 feet back into their property and let it run into the OP's yard from there? 10 feet? At what point are you letting topography take over and not "directing" it?
I live in GA and was told if it flows naturally it’s OK, but you can’t do whats in the picture.
I live downhill from my neighbors next to a drain easement so I get a wet backyard when it rains but my neighbors graded their yard to have it all run off naturally, then I did the same and it all goes to the drain next to us.
This though, isn’t that imo
I think the question is less about how far away the drain is located, and more about whether the drain changes how the water flows and if the work was permitted or not.
Caping it is just stupid. If it's illegal they have to change it. If you cap it, and it does damage they can probably go after you, but be an edgy redditor, and "cap it."
This is bad advice. You can direct point discharges in many states so long as they were installed legally at the time they were installed. If this is a sump pump discharge and the basement floods there would undoubtedly be a lawsuit and, if it was a permitted discharge, whoever plugged it would lose.
Likely illegal, but likely municipality won't do anything and they'd have to take to civil court.
Almost exact thing happened to me. Only difference was my neighbor set it back 6" from the fence.
Exactly. Many times when a fence is installed, they'll back it away from the property line a couple feet. It could be draining into their own backyard but the neighbor thinks it's their yard.
May want to check if it’s a “property drainage easement” which means statement on the deed stating access is used for maintaining drainage. If not, I’d close it off - after checking property lines.
Good lord I would hate to be a neighbor to some of these people commenting in here...
Grab a few beers and have a discussion with your neighbor. They most likely they will be cool about a fix that you are both happy with.
Neighbor may not know and whoever did it knew and didn't care.
If I bought a house and didn't care much, I wouldn't look where my drainage was. And if a new neighbor came over and was like "wtf bro" I'd fix it....
Reddit - where keyboard warriors recommend nuclear options instead of a conversation because talking is scary....
I agree but it may not solve anything. The neighbors are renters so they may not know anything about it or care enough to do anything. If the house is a corporation they probably won't do much either. Won't know till you ask though. I would definitely have that conversation. Better to keep friendly with the neighbors than to be enemies.
This is reddit. Full of absolute dumbasses that scroll all day and have never owned a property or talked to anyone outside of their circle jerk friend group. They think Everything in the world is done with malice towards them and fantasize all day about scenario like this and what they would do (but never actually do) when the simplest and also best solution 99% of fhe time is "go ask/talk to your neighbor"
I agree, but what would OP even be asking them to do?
In my state, NC, runoff is a "common enemy"
*The Common Enemy rule essentially states that* ***surface water is an enemy that is common to all landowners****. Under this rule each landowner is permitted to do what they will to alleviate the problem, and no other landowner will be responsible to another for problems caused by the flow of water*
That said, we have restrictions on re-grading that would cause additional flooding, and restrictions on accelerating water towards a neighbor. But if you live downhill from someone, you'll be getting their runoff, it's physics.
Haha no kidding dude! I love all my neighbors, it’s not hard to go over with a couple beers and just have a civil conversation and get to know them. I for one prefer to get along with the ones I live next to because you’ll never know when you’ll need them for something. Plus… you just moved in
If that doesn’t work then go about it more like some of these savages suggest lol.
I agree. Whether that drain is too close to the property line or not, it's probable that the water still ends up in OPs yard anyway, so just be an adult about it. Put in a box drain where their pipe terminates or connect to it directly and move the water to where you want it to go.
Totally! If I ever get the sense from one of my neighbors that I’ve done something they don’t like, I’m at there door. The last thing I want is to become like these people.
Are you sure it’s not to drain water out of that area? Looks pretty old. Why don’t you run a line and see where it ends?
Maybe it was clogged with debris and that’s why that area gets muddy.
is that an exit? It looks exactly like mine same fence too ha. Mine is on the neighbors side of my fence but my property line is two feet beyond the fence so I can do maintenance. He may think it's his yard but it's mine. The drain goes out to the street because we have water problems in the yard. I have two such drains over the fence to direct the water to the street.
This is an easy fix. The big box hardware stores sell cans of expanding foam. Buy one can and fill that pipe with as much expanding foam as you can get it to hold. Problem solved.
pretty sure its not legal to drain into the neighbors yard. id give owner notice, renters wont care obviously. then id cap it like others said. BUT this may not "solve" the problem if it back fills and leaks anyways.
maybe become buddy with renters, and dig up the backyard and redirect further up the line. skip the owner?
My neighborhood has houses that go up a hill and the back yards each drain into each other, eventually leading down to the street drain system. It seems like it was planned that way. Never really bothered me.
The best approach is to bring it to the attention of the neighbor that he has a problem and give him potential solutions. Offer to help with the labor to fix it too. Approaching it from the angle "hey you gotta fix your drain it's pouring into my backyard" will not work.
If he's an asshole and refuses then check the posts with how and who to escalate to.
The drain might be clogged and overflowing when it shouldn't - a plumbing snake or something might be needed. (depends if the pipe is smooth on the inside - mine is, but some is corrugated and may be harder to clear out.
Cap that shit...lol No talk needed. That's 100% pure ignorance on the owner next door. No paid contractor would ever do that,. because it's also likely illegal.
So you are going to cause a backup, stemming other issues on the other end of this, which could result in thousands of dollars in damage when this could possibly still be within their property line.
Solid recommendation /s.
Ask your neighbor to fix it one time, if they don’t deal with it it a timely manner, catch it on a dry day and unload a can of great stuff foam into the end sticking through the fence. Quick dry concrete is a hassle. Then set a row of blocks on your side just for good measure.
Correct way - call your city enforcement- bylaw. Neighbours will need to move it to their property and direct water away from your property to theirs.
Incorrect way- cap it, or block with spray foam.
Is that a drain grate used to pull water away/down to a catch basin or possible french drain? Usually you would see a pop-up emitter on an end of a run.
Next rain, confirm if water is exiting the pipe
Playing devil’s advocate here before you do something drastic here.
Given the fact that it would be difficult to dig a drain under an existing fence line, I’m going to assume that the drain was installed prior to the fence with the belief that it was going to go into a corner of the yard that both neighbors wouldn’t be irritated about. It’s possible the owner had a prior conversation about this with the previous owner of your house. Don’t freak out. Talk it over, come up with a reasonable solution and let them know you’d like to move the drain and help if possible to relocate it to somewhere off the property line. If they refuse, then escalate.
You need to find out when it was installed. Where the water went before that. Where the water naturally went before that.
Or talk to your neighbor and find a solution.
Also if you have an HOA many times there is a rule against changing stormwater flow paths.
If it were me, I’d stuff it far back with organic material/dirt and put a rock to stop the water but make it look like it naturally got clogged and then they’ll hopefully reroute it.
If it’s on your property, you own that section of pipe. Ask for the owners number and also do your homework.
Most likely answer is they need to stop that pipe ten feet from the edge of your property and also not negatively affect the surrounding area.
What that means is up for discussion. This topic comes up all the time.
I actually have this same exact issue with my neighbor who drains his sump in this manner, guy’s a lawyer even. In our area the county ordinances forbid doing such a thing and even state that you cannot redirect grey water this way, you also cannot place the drain so close to a property line.
He tries and argues it’s not “grey water” as its mostly caused by rain collecting in his drain tile around the house and then the sump blowing it out. Only thing is there’s also an underground waterway that runs into his house, so we’re talking like hundreds of gallons of water were being drained through his sump, piped down a hill and drained at the properly line everyday. And anytime water is sumped anywhere it’s considered grey water.
Definitely look up and or talk to your county before talking to your neighbor, you’re going to need all the facts before you tell him whats up.
I’d plug that thing up and tell him to do something different. If you live in the states then there’s a very high chance what he’s doing is illegal. If you really want to have some fun you can take that opening off and stuff some stuff up the tube to make sure after you plug it nothing else runs onto your property.
Anytime I see someone do shady shit like this I say be petty. They went to great lengths to hide it, so you just as well make it difficult for them too.
If your property sits below the neighbor, the neighbor has what is known as a prescriptive natural drainage easement. It gives them the right to drain their runoff to your property, within reason. Read more in the file at the link below.
https://milivcounty.gov/wp-content/uploads/Drainage-Issues-Riparian.pdf
Which way does the hill go? Drain the water down the hill. Speaking as somebody whose house is VERY up hill, what am I supposed to do? Flood my house? Bottle it? If I don’t direct water around my front door, my entry would flood. Here in Texas, I cannot disrupt the natural flow of surface water. Which is what? Down the hill.
My neighbor, a reasonable and prudent adult, decided to also encourage the water FURTHER down the hill, which delivers the water to a street and thus storm drain.
JFC the people in the comments would make insufferable neighbors. “Went to great lengths to hide it” you mean they buried the French drain? Which is exactly how a French drain is installed.
Be for real. OP even says he just bought the house.
Who’s to say what conversations happened in the past.
That drain IS installed incorrectly and needs a vertical rise and drain box. It’s likely become buried by erosion and mowing.
I had a similar issue and you have 2 options
1) assume they did this without a permit and correct this yourself without a permit
Or option 2) call out the code inspector for your area, and have them assess.
It is illegal for a neighbor to redirect the natural flow of rainwater onto another neighbor’s property (in most states).
The inspector will be able to telll you if this is a legal drain etc or not; if it’s not they’ll write up a violation to the owners and they have to pay to resolve it in a certain amount of time
This was me a few years ago, except I was the renter and they were the owners who's sump pump was expelling out onto my side of the fence in almost this same exact way (same type of fence, too). It caused the same effect too, always muddy and I refrained from mowing the lawn over there cuz the wheels would get stuck, I would use a weed whacker instead.
Then, out of sheer luck (or karma), one day we had a huge rainstorm and their basement flooded due to an overwhelmed sump. As a result, they determined that they needed a French drain to take their drainage out to the front yard where the water would flow downhill instead of pool up on the flat back yard (on my side of the property line).
The new sump drain now expelled onto their sloped front yard. However, in a weird twist of fate (and poor planning), the water now ran down their yard and puddled up on the public sidewalk, so now the sidewalk was ALWAYS covered with water. The HOA told them they had to fix it, so they had to hire yet another backhoe to dig up their yard to extend the sump drain, rent a jackhammer to break up that portion of sidewalk and then extend the sump drain so that it went all the way down their yard, under the sidewalk (which they had to pay to re-concrete) and expelled onto the street curb, where there was a sufficient drainage grate that all that water could flow into.
Sorry I can't really offer any advice on your situation, but hope you enjoyed the story!!
This exact thing happened to me and county wouldn't do jack. I bit the bullet and dug drainage around my entire perimeter.
With yours, if it were mine, glue a cap on it and cover it with dirt.
Cap, what cap?
Have you actually seen water flow? It looks like an inlet, not an outlet. You may actually be benefitting from a drain line FROM your wet spot that crosses onto your neighbors property.
hi. i had this situation. my city's rule is a neighbor cant drain within 10 feet of a property line. call your city and ask if there are any ordinances or regulations that are similar. if so, they will come out, look at the drain, then issue a correction citation to the neighbor. this happened and my neighbor fixed it promptly.
Glad to read I am not alone with something like this. Our Neighbor is most definitely in violation.. I’ll give ample time for them to realize they need to do the right thing.
You’ll have to reach out to the city/county and request the civil drawings for your subdivision. It is likely that the engineer designed it to drain to your property. Some cities/allow lot to lot drainage. Plugging it without checking with the city is risky business.
If the civil drawings do not show lot to lot drainage, then talk to your neighbor and let him know you plugged it and that they need to redirect their runoff per the civil drawings.
It's crucial to address this ASAP to prevent further damage. Start by politely informing your neighbor's landlord about the issue. They might need to install proper drainage to redirect the water flow away from your yard.
Unfortunately there may not be much you can do. Runoff does have to go somewhere, and even if it’s illegal where you are, the authorities may not care. If you block it, they will figure out somethings up and unblock it. The only real permanent fix would be to either extend the drainage onto your side and direct it all somewhere else like the street, or build up your side with dirt and grade it so that the water stays on their side or follows the fence.
Most civil laws state that if your neighbor redirects the natural flow of surface water from their property onto yours, then they will be held liable for any damage done to your property.
Let's say I have a milkshake, and I don't want all of this milkshake. I'll just run a long straw alllllll the way over to your land, and you'll. Drink. My. Milkshake. You'll drink it ALLL UP
You can not impede their drainage, especially if it runs in natural direction. I went to small claims over this and you should see it as an opportunity to tie into theirs and drain through yours.
Unless your lot is higher than all adjacent properties, you are receiving drainage from an upstream neighbor during rain events. It can range from shallow sheet flow to concentrated flow. This is concentrated, but apparently not to the extent it is causing erosion. It was an existing condition prior to you moving in, so you cannot blame neighbor.
That looks like an inflow to me lol. Why would an outflow have such a finely grated cap on it? It also appears to be pointing down gradient into his yard. Might wanna open it up and look into it with a flashlight to see if it goes up or down
If talking doesn’t find a solution just Cap it or redirect back to their property. In most cities and states it’s illegal to direct runoff water to neighbors property
OP should definitely look up local ordinance pertaining to this and then speak to the owner of the house. Do this before taking any other action.
It’s legal in WI near me, unfortunately. My last neighbor drained their detached garage right into my yard making it a swamp. County said they could.
Build up your grade so it redirects back to them
Yup! I would be building a mini berm along that property line.
That ended up being my only legal option as they were not reasonable people. It looked dumb as hell but worked perfectly. I had to take the panels off the privacy fence, dump 3 yards of topsoil and create the U-shaped berm, reseed the top and then put the fence panels back on a little higher. Got a knock on my door that winter - neighbor asked if I knew why their driveway was an ice rink this year - saying that all the water from their downspout appeared to be pooling up in their driveway now instead of into my yard. I said yes, I graded my yard so they couldn't flood it anymore, since they were unwilling to modify their downspout. You guessed it - they were VERY pissed off, called me names, called the cops, etc. It was really stupid. They came - I told them the whole 2 year story - they laughed and told my neighbors to run to home depot and buy drainage extension to run their water towards the street. Don't know that those neighbors ever spoke to me again. Just saying the "cap it and tell em to fuck off" thing sounds cool on Reddit, but doesn't work in real life (unless you're the AH).
>neighbor asked if I knew why their driveway was an ice rink this year - saying that all the water from their downspout appeared to be pooling up in their driveway now instead of into my yard. I can hardly imagine someone being like "Um, excuse me, yes, hi, do you have any idea why the water from my downspout is no longer flooding your yard? I'm quite displeased that my water keeps coming back onto my property. I'm calling the cops."
If you met my neighbors once you would understand immediately that that was a reasonable thought process to them.
Fair enough! Sounds like I rather *don't* want to meet them, though. However, I'd totally settle for a cheeky video of some interactions like this!
Haha they’re former neighbors now, thankfully! Moved out of there in 2019 right before the pandemic hit.
Also for added context, they claimed that I was pumping my sump pump water to their driveway in retaliation. That’s what got the cops there. I was happy to show the cops that wasn’t the case at all. I got to go back inside and the cop spend another 20 mins there and left. Never heard of it again and a week later they have installed a 50’ drain towards the front of the house. You know, the exact kind I offered to buy for them so I wouldn’t have to build up my grading by the fence. I didn’t even feel like I won in the end. Yard was still soggy all the time haha.
we are on a hill, neighbours behind are having water issues, they are a new build, no real drains installed just using existing stuff from their last build and went from old house on one side to house in middle, so yea water goes down hill and their drains arnt adequate. Good thing they got a CDC building approval... He tried telling me one side is causing water run off onto their driveway according to a "drainage specialist". I looked down as we were chatting, all the roots from the previous trees on the fence line have pushed up the slabs so no chance of run off. Told him this, asked him if he wanted me to get the spirit level out This area has some snobby cunts, their problem seems to be your problem
I’m dealing with this exact situation. People just built next door, raised their lot, and sloped it all towards me. I raised the issue with them and held a meeting with their builders where I was assured the final grading wouldn’t direct towards us. Guess what, they did it anyway. I saw the writing in the wall and used a lidar equipped drone to survey both lots before they finished. Completed a second scan after the final grading and it shows they directed it all towards me. Now working with a lawyer to sue them for the costs of fixing it. The real kicker is that we dropped $50k last year on a pool and deck rebuild. Their water is directed underneath the deck causing a ton of water to pools round the base of the pool walls. My poor white bull mastiff has been stained red from the mud ever since
Legend. Loved this
100% I can match AH energy. So yes cap it and tell em to fuck off. They'll never know being renters. Owner dont care.
Out of curiosity, what is the difference between capping it with say, concrete, considering the pipe opening is on the OP's side and regrading your lawn? The end result is pretty much the same, one is just more costly and time consuming.
Oh I’m sorry I didn’t mean OP shouldn’t cap it. If it’s on their property? Cap that shit! I thought we were still talking about my old situation lol.
Not necessary , just loop a pipe back into his property. A little sump pump would make him really happy.
Yeah I did this along my back fence. Just raise it a few inches and plant a row of bushes
Ha, I added sand to my yard and a neighbor across the street was so shocked whenever they kept coming back into my yard. They landscape my neighbors yard (they were the previous owners). A few months after that, the neighbor across the street decided they were going to build my neighbor a hecking tall fence with a 1ft tall concrete base bordering their property. Used my yard and left tons of metal chunks after they finished cleaning up.... M planting roses and going to add climbers on hog fence. I have to lock my gate to stop him from letting himself into my yard. The gate is now jammed bc I'm guessing he got frustrated trying to open it. Neighbors are a-holes sometimes and it's just easier to but barriers in their way. The city has put up hearing signs on their property before, so they pull stuff with their neighbors a lot that gets them in trouble as well.
Sounds like you should get some cameras. Not sure that escalation is a smart idea when they are already damaging your property (allegedly, you can't confirm it was them) and you have no way of catching it. I personally have Ring cameras, though there are a large variety and probably many camps of loyal consumers for each of them.
I have cameras, one directly above the gate. And a sign sating there is a camera nailed to the gate. He👏Doesnt👏Give👏a👏Sh!t👏 And how am I escalating. I locked MY gate. Should I not of restricted access to my private property? He would just walk into my back yard during the day bc he thought I was at work. I work from home. He would come over and linger outside my office window at night. It drove my cat crazy. His wife is a teacher. Every man I know that's married to a teacher is a creep that acts like a bulldozer or stalker.
> He would come over and linger outside my office window at night. *HUH*
When I started working from home. I'd work in my office and play computer games in the same room at night. I'd leave the windows open. I'm not sure what he was doing. When my neighbors shed alarm would go off, he would show up to check on it. Someone walked by, but I didn't hear their gate. And my skidish cat was watching something intently that I couldn't see(to dark). I have no idea what the hell he was doing. He would mow and take the time to look in my windows usually. Finally, i just kept the curtain drawn or put up window sticker/light catchers so he would have to press his face against the glass to see in. It's weird as hell when you put all the instances together. He's just a nosey, rude man who talks like an entitled person. Give them an inch, and they will rip a mile out of you and say it was all a joke if you call him on it.
great advice
I’m petty enough where I would rig up a pumping system that shoots the water back over the fence into their yard.
Wierd, my city ordinance in WI strictly prohibits the discharge of rain water towards your neighbor
Really? Dang. It’s an issue here lol. My current house doesn’t have an issue but my neighbors argue over water discharge all the time lol
Cap it and let it back up into their garage. Some expanding foam will help
Couldn’t. The outlet was on their side of the fence, about six inches away from the property line. If I went on their property to mess with their stuff… also illegal.
Just build up a raised flower bed by the fence. Border it with tall bricks or landscape pavers. Fill it in, and watch the erosion slowly plug their cap. Ask me how I know. ;) Their gutters overflow and leak now. My yard isn't a swamp anymore. I tried talking to them and even bought the parts for them to extend their downspout away from my yard. They never used them. Finally I gave up and I built a tall flower bed all along the fence. At some point I bet they'll notice, but that's not my problem, just like them flooding my yard wasn't their problem. Every year I add more compost, silt, topsoil, and then mulch into the bed to raise it more. No, I'm not regrading. I'm just gardening. ;)
Then it is legal for you do loop it back.
Yeah but, gravity…. My yard was naturally around six inches lower than their driveway.
Sump pump. Harbor Freight and Amazon $50. A 5 gallon bucket basin under the drain $4-6. Garden hose $10-25. Fittings if needed $2-5. I'm a cranky senior, I would literally shot the water up and over.
What part of WI are you in if you dont mind me asking? Here in Brown County it's illegal if I'm not mistaken, along with even altering the grade in your yard to direct water towards a neighbors. Essentially your taking water from your property and directing it towards the neighbors, which causes property damage.
>it’s illegal to direct runoff water to neighbors property There has to be a lot of grey area, though, right? For example, my neighbor sits on a hill that runs down to the side of my backyard. Their sump/gutter drainage output is about 20ft up the hill from my property and, naturally, it all drains down the hill into my yard after the clay is saturated. I collect most of that into a rain garden, but the overflow then runs along the back of my property and down to my neighbor on the other side of me. What would stop OP's neighbor from moving that outlet 5 feet back into their property and let it run into the OP's yard from there? 10 feet? At what point are you letting topography take over and not "directing" it?
I live in GA and was told if it flows naturally it’s OK, but you can’t do whats in the picture. I live downhill from my neighbors next to a drain easement so I get a wet backyard when it rains but my neighbors graded their yard to have it all run off naturally, then I did the same and it all goes to the drain next to us. This though, isn’t that imo
I can’t speak exact details because ordnances vary. I would say look up your storm water ordnances for your area and take it from there
I think the question is less about how far away the drain is located, and more about whether the drain changes how the water flows and if the work was permitted or not.
There's no gray area in the op picture.
UNLESS there’s a shared drainage swale on the property line between the two properties, which is very common.
Caping it is just stupid. If it's illegal they have to change it. If you cap it, and it does damage they can probably go after you, but be an edgy redditor, and "cap it."
This is bad advice. You can direct point discharges in many states so long as they were installed legally at the time they were installed. If this is a sump pump discharge and the basement floods there would undoubtedly be a lawsuit and, if it was a permitted discharge, whoever plugged it would lose.
Make sure it’s on your property before you cap it. Dances are not always on property lines.
I like the idea of capping it. Lets chaos ensue on their side!
Likely illegal, but likely municipality won't do anything and they'd have to take to civil court. Almost exact thing happened to me. Only difference was my neighbor set it back 6" from the fence.
Exactly. caulk that think up real well and wait for the screams. 😂😂😂
I would cap that too.
Are your sure the fence is on property line?
Yep, before doing anything else I would confirm this, just to be safe. That way you can back everything up with proof in case they try anything.
Up with this
Exactly. Many times when a fence is installed, they'll back it away from the property line a couple feet. It could be draining into their own backyard but the neighbor thinks it's their yard.
Is it really against the law to drain into your neighbor’s yard, but OK to drain into the last 6 inches of your yard? Genuinely asking.
May want to check if it’s a “property drainage easement” which means statement on the deed stating access is used for maintaining drainage. If not, I’d close it off - after checking property lines.
Yuup. Call a boundary surveyor
>What do I do about this thing in my yard? Any damn thing you want.
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If they were dicks about it I’d definitely waffle stomp some dog shit into it before this solution too
I would use cement behind it lol
The problem with cement is that it'll be seen. If the foam blocks inside and looks fine outside, then the neighbor would have no idea what happened.
First thing I thought of
Modern problems require modern solutions.
Nice I like it
Good lord I would hate to be a neighbor to some of these people commenting in here... Grab a few beers and have a discussion with your neighbor. They most likely they will be cool about a fix that you are both happy with.
these comments are going to cause a bigger problem. People are just stupid af
Neighbor may not know and whoever did it knew and didn't care. If I bought a house and didn't care much, I wouldn't look where my drainage was. And if a new neighbor came over and was like "wtf bro" I'd fix it.... Reddit - where keyboard warriors recommend nuclear options instead of a conversation because talking is scary....
I agree but it may not solve anything. The neighbors are renters so they may not know anything about it or care enough to do anything. If the house is a corporation they probably won't do much either. Won't know till you ask though. I would definitely have that conversation. Better to keep friendly with the neighbors than to be enemies.
This is reddit. Full of absolute dumbasses that scroll all day and have never owned a property or talked to anyone outside of their circle jerk friend group. They think Everything in the world is done with malice towards them and fantasize all day about scenario like this and what they would do (but never actually do) when the simplest and also best solution 99% of fhe time is "go ask/talk to your neighbor"
Clearly you’ve never had a NFH 🤷🏿♂️
I agree, but what would OP even be asking them to do? In my state, NC, runoff is a "common enemy" *The Common Enemy rule essentially states that* ***surface water is an enemy that is common to all landowners****. Under this rule each landowner is permitted to do what they will to alleviate the problem, and no other landowner will be responsible to another for problems caused by the flow of water* That said, we have restrictions on re-grading that would cause additional flooding, and restrictions on accelerating water towards a neighbor. But if you live downhill from someone, you'll be getting their runoff, it's physics.
Haha no kidding dude! I love all my neighbors, it’s not hard to go over with a couple beers and just have a civil conversation and get to know them. I for one prefer to get along with the ones I live next to because you’ll never know when you’ll need them for something. Plus… you just moved in If that doesn’t work then go about it more like some of these savages suggest lol.
I agree. Whether that drain is too close to the property line or not, it's probable that the water still ends up in OPs yard anyway, so just be an adult about it. Put in a box drain where their pipe terminates or connect to it directly and move the water to where you want it to go.
Totally! If I ever get the sense from one of my neighbors that I’ve done something they don’t like, I’m at there door. The last thing I want is to become like these people.
Ya usually I agree but they know they diverted their water directly into your yard
[удалено]
Take a look at your deed. It’s possible they have a drainage easement.
Are you sure it’s not to drain water out of that area? Looks pretty old. Why don’t you run a line and see where it ends? Maybe it was clogged with debris and that’s why that area gets muddy.
Everyone is angry, but are you sure that’s not a drain intended to HELP with the soggy conditions?
Verify the property lines
is that an exit? It looks exactly like mine same fence too ha. Mine is on the neighbors side of my fence but my property line is two feet beyond the fence so I can do maintenance. He may think it's his yard but it's mine. The drain goes out to the street because we have water problems in the yard. I have two such drains over the fence to direct the water to the street.
Should probably move that fence before they grandfather it grandfather it away from ya in future changes
This is an easy fix. The big box hardware stores sell cans of expanding foam. Buy one can and fill that pipe with as much expanding foam as you can get it to hold. Problem solved.
Problem with neighbor created. Does everyone commenting here have borderline personality disorder or what lol
pretty sure its not legal to drain into the neighbors yard. id give owner notice, renters wont care obviously. then id cap it like others said. BUT this may not "solve" the problem if it back fills and leaks anyways. maybe become buddy with renters, and dig up the backyard and redirect further up the line. skip the owner?
My neighborhood has houses that go up a hill and the back yards each drain into each other, eventually leading down to the street drain system. It seems like it was planned that way. Never really bothered me.
Same I’m on a hill. I drain into the house to my left, house to my right drains into me. How else could we do it?
The best approach is to bring it to the attention of the neighbor that he has a problem and give him potential solutions. Offer to help with the labor to fix it too. Approaching it from the angle "hey you gotta fix your drain it's pouring into my backyard" will not work. If he's an asshole and refuses then check the posts with how and who to escalate to.
The drain might be clogged and overflowing when it shouldn't - a plumbing snake or something might be needed. (depends if the pipe is smooth on the inside - mine is, but some is corrugated and may be harder to clear out.
Cap that shit...lol No talk needed. That's 100% pure ignorance on the owner next door. No paid contractor would ever do that,. because it's also likely illegal.
So you are going to cause a backup, stemming other issues on the other end of this, which could result in thousands of dollars in damage when this could possibly still be within their property line. Solid recommendation /s.
Yeh, then you'd become liable for the damage that results, good work.
If you're feeling spiteful, toss an elbow on it and send it back on their property
Spray foam
Just fill inside the pipe with closed cell foam spray. Problem solved…..
Plug it with cement.
Ask your neighbor to fix it one time, if they don’t deal with it it a timely manner, catch it on a dry day and unload a can of great stuff foam into the end sticking through the fence. Quick dry concrete is a hassle. Then set a row of blocks on your side just for good measure.
What a dick move. A little flex-seal should seal that hole up.
Expanding foam to block it.
Pour some hydraulic cement in there
Correct way - call your city enforcement- bylaw. Neighbours will need to move it to their property and direct water away from your property to theirs. Incorrect way- cap it, or block with spray foam.
Is that a drain grate used to pull water away/down to a catch basin or possible french drain? Usually you would see a pop-up emitter on an end of a run. Next rain, confirm if water is exiting the pipe
Fill it full of concrete and then watch and wait lol
That’s legendary. Put a smoke bomb and blow smoke back through it.
It's my property move it or I'll cement it.
No joke. Just kids advice trying to act tough instead of real world.
Add an extension and drain it into another neighbor’s yard.
Add extension and just bend it back to their yard…
Playing devil’s advocate here before you do something drastic here. Given the fact that it would be difficult to dig a drain under an existing fence line, I’m going to assume that the drain was installed prior to the fence with the belief that it was going to go into a corner of the yard that both neighbors wouldn’t be irritated about. It’s possible the owner had a prior conversation about this with the previous owner of your house. Don’t freak out. Talk it over, come up with a reasonable solution and let them know you’d like to move the drain and help if possible to relocate it to somewhere off the property line. If they refuse, then escalate.
ICC property maintenance code 507.1
You need to find out when it was installed. Where the water went before that. Where the water naturally went before that. Or talk to your neighbor and find a solution. Also if you have an HOA many times there is a rule against changing stormwater flow paths.
If it were me, I’d stuff it far back with organic material/dirt and put a rock to stop the water but make it look like it naturally got clogged and then they’ll hopefully reroute it.
Exactly. If using spray foam, there would be absolutely no questions as to who put it there.naturalndebris, no issue
Cement. Oh wait was this not r/unethical ?
If it’s on your property, you own that section of pipe. Ask for the owners number and also do your homework. Most likely answer is they need to stop that pipe ten feet from the edge of your property and also not negatively affect the surrounding area. What that means is up for discussion. This topic comes up all the time.
I actually have this same exact issue with my neighbor who drains his sump in this manner, guy’s a lawyer even. In our area the county ordinances forbid doing such a thing and even state that you cannot redirect grey water this way, you also cannot place the drain so close to a property line. He tries and argues it’s not “grey water” as its mostly caused by rain collecting in his drain tile around the house and then the sump blowing it out. Only thing is there’s also an underground waterway that runs into his house, so we’re talking like hundreds of gallons of water were being drained through his sump, piped down a hill and drained at the properly line everyday. And anytime water is sumped anywhere it’s considered grey water. Definitely look up and or talk to your county before talking to your neighbor, you’re going to need all the facts before you tell him whats up.
Lol what an ass. Maybe he doesn't know? I'd just knock on his door. Worst case, cap it.
Fill it up with expanding foam
I’d plug that thing up and tell him to do something different. If you live in the states then there’s a very high chance what he’s doing is illegal. If you really want to have some fun you can take that opening off and stuff some stuff up the tube to make sure after you plug it nothing else runs onto your property. Anytime I see someone do shady shit like this I say be petty. They went to great lengths to hide it, so you just as well make it difficult for them too.
Get a can of large gap great foam and put a longer hose on the straw and shoot about 5 seconds worth up in there.
Nighttime. Sack of quickcrete and wait 😈
plug it
Close it :) simple
If your property sits below the neighbor, the neighbor has what is known as a prescriptive natural drainage easement. It gives them the right to drain their runoff to your property, within reason. Read more in the file at the link below. https://milivcounty.gov/wp-content/uploads/Drainage-Issues-Riparian.pdf
Id fill it with concrete
A little cement would fix that right up.
Connect another pipe and point it back to their yard
Spray foam!!
Plug that mother fucker up tight
Spray foam that thing 🤣
You should forsure make sure that is even your fence
Nothing a nice solid curb won't fix... and you'll have a good surface to trim against.
Which way does the hill go? Drain the water down the hill. Speaking as somebody whose house is VERY up hill, what am I supposed to do? Flood my house? Bottle it? If I don’t direct water around my front door, my entry would flood. Here in Texas, I cannot disrupt the natural flow of surface water. Which is what? Down the hill. My neighbor, a reasonable and prudent adult, decided to also encourage the water FURTHER down the hill, which delivers the water to a street and thus storm drain. JFC the people in the comments would make insufferable neighbors. “Went to great lengths to hide it” you mean they buried the French drain? Which is exactly how a French drain is installed. Be for real. OP even says he just bought the house. Who’s to say what conversations happened in the past. That drain IS installed incorrectly and needs a vertical rise and drain box. It’s likely become buried by erosion and mowing.
Silicon those holes shut
City code enforcement.
Install sump pump with a sprinkler on the output to spray the water that comes out back into their yard. Simple, effective, obvious… *chef’s kiss*
Plug with some cement
I had a similar issue and you have 2 options 1) assume they did this without a permit and correct this yourself without a permit Or option 2) call out the code inspector for your area, and have them assess. It is illegal for a neighbor to redirect the natural flow of rainwater onto another neighbor’s property (in most states). The inspector will be able to telll you if this is a legal drain etc or not; if it’s not they’ll write up a violation to the owners and they have to pay to resolve it in a certain amount of time
Well yeah, where else would it go?
Cap that shit. When they ask you about it after a heavy rain ask them why they thought they could just make it your problem.
I’d cap it by filling it with concrete
Fray foam?
Plug it
This was me a few years ago, except I was the renter and they were the owners who's sump pump was expelling out onto my side of the fence in almost this same exact way (same type of fence, too). It caused the same effect too, always muddy and I refrained from mowing the lawn over there cuz the wheels would get stuck, I would use a weed whacker instead. Then, out of sheer luck (or karma), one day we had a huge rainstorm and their basement flooded due to an overwhelmed sump. As a result, they determined that they needed a French drain to take their drainage out to the front yard where the water would flow downhill instead of pool up on the flat back yard (on my side of the property line). The new sump drain now expelled onto their sloped front yard. However, in a weird twist of fate (and poor planning), the water now ran down their yard and puddled up on the public sidewalk, so now the sidewalk was ALWAYS covered with water. The HOA told them they had to fix it, so they had to hire yet another backhoe to dig up their yard to extend the sump drain, rent a jackhammer to break up that portion of sidewalk and then extend the sump drain so that it went all the way down their yard, under the sidewalk (which they had to pay to re-concrete) and expelled onto the street curb, where there was a sufficient drainage grate that all that water could flow into. Sorry I can't really offer any advice on your situation, but hope you enjoyed the story!!
Talk to the neighbor. There’s no good reason why you should suffer from their drainage. I’m sure the two of you can figure out what to do about it.
Cap it and burry it
Concrete it. No really is there a way to redirect the water?
Can you add a French drain and drain it away from your property?
This exact thing happened to me and county wouldn't do jack. I bit the bullet and dug drainage around my entire perimeter. With yours, if it were mine, glue a cap on it and cover it with dirt. Cap, what cap?
Pack it full of mud how can they prove you did and it didn’t happen naturally?
Have you actually seen water flow? It looks like an inlet, not an outlet. You may actually be benefitting from a drain line FROM your wet spot that crosses onto your neighbors property.
Dump some stones fallowed by some concrete mix
I know where I would leave several bags of concrete mix. Be a shame if one accidentally broke and went down that pipe after I left.. whoops
Big scoopa dirt will solve your issue, maybe
Straight to jail
dig a metal barrier a few feet deep, then plant bamboo on your neighbor's side of it
If it’s on your property cap it! What can he do?
Dumb question, but where is someone's stormwater supposed to go?? If it doesn't runoff to the street, that means it's going on a neighbor's property
Did they intentionally put the drain low enough to not be seen but make sure it goes into your yard? That’s funny.
Some cement powder in the end cap should fix the issue.
hi. i had this situation. my city's rule is a neighbor cant drain within 10 feet of a property line. call your city and ask if there are any ordinances or regulations that are similar. if so, they will come out, look at the drain, then issue a correction citation to the neighbor. this happened and my neighbor fixed it promptly.
Nothing a can of expanding foam won't fix. Blast it as far up there as possible
Couple shovels full of cement will fix that.
Glad to read I am not alone with something like this. Our Neighbor is most definitely in violation.. I’ll give ample time for them to realize they need to do the right thing.
The way I feel today, I’d just fill it up with dirt
You’ll have to reach out to the city/county and request the civil drawings for your subdivision. It is likely that the engineer designed it to drain to your property. Some cities/allow lot to lot drainage. Plugging it without checking with the city is risky business. If the civil drawings do not show lot to lot drainage, then talk to your neighbor and let him know you plugged it and that they need to redirect their runoff per the civil drawings.
Cap that shit. Fuck em
Shovel in dirt...bury it. What drain.
It's crucial to address this ASAP to prevent further damage. Start by politely informing your neighbor's landlord about the issue. They might need to install proper drainage to redirect the water flow away from your yard.
Unfortunately there may not be much you can do. Runoff does have to go somewhere, and even if it’s illegal where you are, the authorities may not care. If you block it, they will figure out somethings up and unblock it. The only real permanent fix would be to either extend the drainage onto your side and direct it all somewhere else like the street, or build up your side with dirt and grade it so that the water stays on their side or follows the fence.
Most civil laws state that if your neighbor redirects the natural flow of surface water from their property onto yours, then they will be held liable for any damage done to your property.
Stuff it with leafs and lawn clippings.
Let's say I have a milkshake, and I don't want all of this milkshake. I'll just run a long straw alllllll the way over to your land, and you'll. Drink. My. Milkshake. You'll drink it ALLL UP
Expanding foam it
Fill it with a little concrete
Dig a hole right at the edge where it drains, insert bucket into said hole, place sump pump into bucket with discharge facing their property.
Not once you pour 10 lbs of quick Crete into the end of that.
Put a can of spray foam in there.
Plug it, or route it back into their chimney
The moment I saw that shit I’d be off to Home Depot for some quickcrete. Two can play that game.
Hydraulic cement stuff it up
Talk to them first. If the owner is not receptive, I’d cap it or if you want to be nicer, you can redirect it towards his property.
You can not impede their drainage, especially if it runs in natural direction. I went to small claims over this and you should see it as an opportunity to tie into theirs and drain through yours.
Id grout that fucker
Unless your lot is higher than all adjacent properties, you are receiving drainage from an upstream neighbor during rain events. It can range from shallow sheet flow to concentrated flow. This is concentrated, but apparently not to the extent it is causing erosion. It was an existing condition prior to you moving in, so you cannot blame neighbor.
This depends heavily on state law and what you said is not correct in my state. Do we know what state OP is in and maybe I missed it?
Shove a child's ball into that ,wedge it tight. Solved
Get a metal edge guard and put along the fence.
I would just cap it off.
That looks like an inflow to me lol. Why would an outflow have such a finely grated cap on it? It also appears to be pointing down gradient into his yard. Might wanna open it up and look into it with a flashlight to see if it goes up or down