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Old 10-05-2010, 07:07 PM
 
78 posts, read 187,932 times
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First time homeowner here...

I bought a house near Spring Valley in March, and don't really converse with my backyard neighbors. They have a great backyard, very green and healthy, but last month I noticed black mold and water marks would appear every morning on the cinderblock wall that separates our properties.

This has gotten worse, now the wall is starting to disintegrate in places. I have reported the overwatering to SNWA, but I'm looking at a hefty bit of property damage.

I know it is due to my neighbor because I have nothing but dirt and rocks in my backyard and haven't watered since I moved in. I also checked my sprinkler system to see if there was a leak...there was not.
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Old 10-05-2010, 07:43 PM
 
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I'd be interested to hear the answer. I see what you're describing on the block walls in a lot of older neighborhoods. I assume it is due to not preparing the wall/yard correctly to drain the water away, but honestly I see it on so many walls that I wonder if it just happens over time since it is usually on older properties.
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Old 10-05-2010, 08:07 PM
 
Location: NW Las Vegas - Lone Mountain
15,756 posts, read 38,050,066 times
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Unfortunately there are a couple of different cases.

One is simply over watering leading to a wet wall that efflouresces...That is a process where the salts in the wall are carried to the surface where the water evaporates leaving the salts behind. That is the white pattern you often see on walls in older Las Vegas neighborhoods. My walls have some in spots. If you keep the sprinkler off the wall it does not happen.

A more significant problem is when the wall is a retaining wall...where the dirt level on one side of the wall is higher than on the other. Now you can get a wall that is wet all the time. That leds to efflourescence and mold and even deterioriation.

The fix is a pain. The wall needs to be waterproofed to fully stop it. That means digging it out and coating it properly, Another thing that can help is drain holes to allow the water to pass through. Simply drill one inch holes every foot or so low to the ground.

If it is a retaining wall you might check who owns it. If it is yours you can simple fix it.

Note that this kind of problem is actually the fault of whoever built the wall. If it was built in the last ten years you might even be able to get some relief from the buillder. If not...

YOu should talk to the neighbor. They may be able to provide some relief...particularly if it is not a retaining wall.
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Old 10-05-2010, 09:43 PM
 
Location: Here and there, you decide.
12,908 posts, read 27,863,243 times
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i'd be a bit cautious on talking to the neighbor... is your backyard finished.. some hoas require you to have a backyard finished within 6 months of move in (terrawest), otherwise you can be fined until you correct the problem
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Old 10-05-2010, 10:42 PM
 
Location: Las Vegas, Nevada
12,686 posts, read 36,221,704 times
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That's a common problem here. For one thing, paraphrasing a buddy of mine (he doesn't think an architect ever visited Las Vegas), I don't think a real brick layer has ever visited Las Vegas. Now I'm not a brick layer, stone mason, or any of that stuff, but I was a hod carrier in my teen years. One thing the mason taught me was how they build the corners of block walls to overlap for strength. My side walls, and I see this all over town, butt up against the back wall. They didn't build in an overlapping corner, and there are big cracks where they have separated. I notice that some block wall builders use a kind of sturdy joint (I don't know the nomenclature) every so often in a straight wall. I have some of those on one wall, but not the others, and at the weakest point, where the two walls come together, they just butted them and didn't even make sure they were plumbed. I hope they at least put in rebar. To me it looks like most of the walls around town are held up by shear luck, because I don't think they always put in rebar.
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Old 10-06-2010, 01:11 AM
 
848 posts, read 1,718,388 times
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My family have the same problem with their neighbors, one of my sisters has white stuff on her backyard wall while the other one has a problem with overgrown tree leaves falling on her pool but my sisters are too nice and do not say anything. If it was up to me, I'll be pounding on these neighbor's doors and tell them to fix these problems.
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Old 10-06-2010, 03:12 AM
 
Location: Las Vegas, Nevada
12,686 posts, read 36,221,704 times
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The white stuff is just accepted as a Las Vegas thing ...the black stuff is a little different, but except for what olecapt said, there's not much else you can do about it. You can pound on the door all you want, and about all you'll get out of it is a more trouble, if not a bullet between the eyes. As far as leaves in the pool, that's just one more reason not to have a pool. Your neighbor can't tell the leaves where to go. I have a nasty neighbor that is so unfriendly I've threatened to put in pine trees as close to his pool as possible just for spite. But I know I wouldn't do it.
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Old 10-06-2010, 03:54 AM
 
848 posts, read 1,718,388 times
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I meant to say "their neighbors" instead of "these neighbors".
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Old 10-07-2010, 12:54 AM
 
78 posts, read 187,932 times
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Thanks everybody. So what's the deal with the black stuff? Should the white stuff be showing up on my side even if I'm not watering? Also, the water marks or moisture only occurs in a large section...approx 15 feet long and up to 5 feet high, with dark, moist dirt at the base of the wall.

My neighborhood doesn't have an HOA so I'm not worried about getting fined for my dust-bowl recreation. I'm not crazy about the wall in the first place, if it crumbled I wouldn't be upset except for the costs associated with fixing it.

I feel that it's going to end up crumbling unless something is done, and I don't want to get stuck with half (or more) of the repair bill, especially when the cause is clearly my neighbor's wasteful practices. I'm also not comfortable heading over there, introducing myself, and blaming them for damage..."lawn people" are kind of crazy in my experience. I'd say these people fit the bill, I'm awakened every Friday morning at 6:30 to the sound of thier lawnmower.
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Old 10-07-2010, 01:09 AM
 
Location: Las Vegas, Nevada
12,686 posts, read 36,221,704 times
Reputation: 5516
Have you looked over the wall to see what is there? I think olecapt probably came up with the problem and the solution. If the neighbor's yard is a higher level than yours, then it's a retaining wall, and when he waters his lawn the water goes down through the dirt and soaks the wall. Maybe you could catch him out cutting his grass and strike up a conversation with him. It's his wall too, and I doubt if he wants it to fall down. You could offer to help him fix the problem.
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