I have to laugh. When the contractors arrived at 8 am, I went over and greeted them a "good morning" and asked if the owner was around. They said "no" but would arrive in about 20 minutes. So I waited, and when a guy in a pickup truck arrived in 20 minutes, I went over to introduce myself.
He wasn't the owner. The workers considered him the "owner" perhgaps because he is their boss. He wasn't actually the owner, LOL! The workers are not native-english speakers (just a fact), so I can understand that "boss" and owner" may seem very similar.
But I talked to him (the boss) and we discussed the fence, the trees shading my garden, and where the property line actually was. He agreed that they would not paint my fence, and that he would give the card I had made with the my name, address, phone number and email to the actual owner (but he feared giving me the same information would get him in trouble). I understand contractors can be cautious about that.
The main thing is that he seemed to understand the fence was not their's to paint and he would have the actual owner contact me by email or phone. Hopefully, that will start a discussion. I understand the new owner wants a particular look on the inside of his yard. But I equally want an exterior view of the outside of mine. A besides, it IS my fence.
But until I get some assurance from the actual owner that he won't just tell his contractor to paint the fence anyway, I won't be sure.
It will be interesting to see what happens next. I want the new owner to contact me be email so that it is all on the record. If he calls on the telephone, I will insist on a followup email about what we discuss.
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I think I have it figured out now. I needed basic frame strength (cubes) plus top support (arches with a ridgepole) for shedding rain and s... -
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If the new owner doesn't come by to check on the contractor work, maybe he or she is just looking to flip it and couldn't care less. It seems odd the they haven't been around, don't you think? Anyway, good luck with it. Good that you're there to protect what's yours at least.
If the new owner phones, then presumably you'll take on the task of documenting the outcomes of your discussion and send him an email - which means that you only have to extract his email address, not an entire email from him.
When our newest neighbours moved in four or five years ago, they immediately wanted to erect an ugly paling fence around their entire property where there hadn't been one before - just open garden beds and lawns. Aaaargh. We were not happy. However, we were not entitled to prevent it happening and, indeed, we were legally obliged to cover half of a reasonable cost for the fence that ran along the boundary between our two properties. We didn't end up doing that because the new chap, as a conciliatory gesture, said that he would cover the entire cost. Having the fence is still a disappointment to us but ... it has turned out that the neighbours are an almost perfect fit for us: they're very quiet; they keep to themselves; but they're happy to help out collecting our mail etc when we go away (and we do the same for them). We keep in touch by email and phone messages in the main, and just exchange friendly waves when we actually see each other our in our yards. So, although we got off to a difficult start, we're very happy to have them next door.
I hope things turn out as well for you.
Megan
Sydney, Australia
PS. I meant to say: "Well done you" on initiating - well, trying to initiate - personal contact with the new owner, although he turned out to be merely the boss. I know that you're not really a 'people person', so doing that might have been a bit uncomfortable, but you did it anyway. Yaaaaay you.
Megan
Sydney, Australia
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