Did I pay for my neighbor's repair? (installed, plumber, pipes)
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Although I realize it's far too late to do anything about it, this event has been nagging at me for a year now. Time for C-D opinions!
One day I see the city utilities truck parked in front of my VERY close (about five feet from mine) next-door-neighbor's house. These were both built in the late 1800s. Then I get a knock on the door from said workman telling me my neighbor's basement is flooding, and I -- whose basement is not flooding -- have a water main break and need to call/hire a plumber to dig it up and repair it. So I'm scratching my head at that one but am like... What can I say? So I call a plumber who confirms that, although our two water supply pipes are right next to each other or connected or joined somehow, it is indeed MY water main which has broken and for which I end up paying nearly $1k to repair. I didn't see the proof of this (I wasn't home at the time of the repair), but always wondered how they could tell it was mine; both are apparently on my neighbor's side of the yard and, again, it was THEIR basement that flooded and not mine. I have the sneaking suspicious they owe me $1k, and my neighborly feeling toward them has, as a result, cooled considerably.
How can I resolve this, at least in my own mind?
Last edited by otterhere; 04-28-2021 at 12:56 PM..
Your plumber said that it was your water line that was broken. Sometimes life sucks. The one good thing, is that your basement is better than the neighbors.
Your plumber said that it was your water line that was broken. Sometimes life sucks. The one good thing, is that your basement is better than the neighbors.
But how could they tell? And why are they both on my neighbor's property?
But how could they tell? And why are they both on my neighbor's property?
Perhaps they used a scope to see which way the pipe was going? If the homes were built in the 1800's, perhaps the property lines have shifted and thats why the pipe is on their property? I think if it were me, I would let this one go.
But how could they tell? And why are they both on my neighbor's property?
Follow the line to the meter, which is recorded to a specific address most likely.
My neighbor's water line is on my lot. It made more sense to dig only one trench for most of the length instead of two side by side (the meters for each house are in the same pit). If your house is late 1800s it's quite possible that the water service was installed decades after the house was built, as is the case with mine (built 1916, neighbor's 1913).
Just be glad your pipe is on your neighbor's land, otherwise you'd likely be paying not just for the plumbing repair but to clean up and repair your own basement and its contents. I'd be miffed if I were the neighbor.
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