Neighbor's grass watering ruining our fence - anything we can do? (HOA, safety)

[HX_Guy]

I've seen this happen to fences before and it's caused water from sprinklers wetting the fence. Aside from asking the neighbor to adjust the sprinklers (which they may or may not want or be able to do), is there anything we can do on our end? Some sort of coating to stop the water from coming through?

Their lot is elevated compared to ours so it's coming out right in the middle of ours which is basically ground level on his side.

[pbenjamin]

Discussion sounded familiar, here is the last time it came up. No solution though.

http://www.city-data.com/forum/phoen...-staining.html

[stevek64]

There's a product called "Drylok" that's used to seal cement block basements from water issues that might be something to look into:

How to Use DryLok in a Wet Basement | DoItYourself.com

Maybe there's a "clear" version which would be nice so you can treat only the small area with the issue instead of having to paint everything for matching purposes.

[Burning Madolf]

There is a product at Dunn Edwards called EFF-STOP that the painter in my HOA just used before painting all the walls. Don't know how well it works, but claims are that it will help prevent efflorescence.
One problem, I think it would have to go on your neighbors side. Also, the type of raised wall shown in the picks tend to have this issue.
You might check with your HOA if you have one (and/or read your CC&Rs) because they might address this issue. I know in my HOA this guy would be liable for damaged caused from watering the walls (if he was doing it right up against the wall).

[cully]

PS In your situation you need to be thinking "retaining wall". Yes, a fence/block wall is on top of it but there are different issues, different mindset, different expectations with a retaining wall. Perhaps the builder is the one at fault who didn't provide enough safeguards.

[LBTRS]

I was wondering the same thing, a block wall isn't designed to have his yard half way up it. That seems like a safety hazard to me. Is that an approved "retaining wall"? I think I would get the builder involved and complain about a design issue as you shouldn't be getting your neighbors grass watering water running down the middle of your wall. Block walls are like fences, not to retain his yard that far above you.

[Bungle]

I would personally look into ways of masking it instead of trying to prevent it. Considering how high that wall is I think it would look great if you had a raised planter back there running the length of the wall with some vines and shrubs.

[HX_Guy]

It is a retaining wall...I think. The lots are staggered like steps.

I'll talk to the neighbor first and see if they can adjust their sprinklers and if it's ongoing, I'll talk to the HOA and the builder.

[Bungle]

Originally Posted by LBTRS

I was wondering the same thing, a block wall isn't designed to have his yard half way up it. That seems like a safety hazard to me. Is that an approved "retaining wall"? I think I would get the builder involved and complain about a design issue as you shouldn't be getting your neighbors grass watering water running down the middle of your wall. Block walls are like fences, not to retain his yard that far above you.

It's clearly a retaining wall up until that point of there the tiny ledge is. The blocks are 8x8x16 and likely reinforced with rebar and concrete. The wall above that line is using 8x4x16 blocks which are typical for non retaining barriers (think normal fence). Who knows what they have landscaped in their yard but the ground level typically will be just above the retaining wall. The water could be coming from shrub/tree emitters that are located around the perimeter of the wall that is seeping in the ground or even from sprinkler heads that are improperly installed and spraying the wall.

[DetroitN8V]

I would love to have monster of a wall like that behind my yard. I think a raised planter bed would look great.