Bad neighbor, how to stick it to them? (home, contractor)

[nashvols]

It's a puddle.

[smartygurl]

That looks like a health hazard: stagnant water, mosquitos...etc.

[woodchuck79]

A puddle is something I can step on, with shoes on, and not get my shoe and sock soaking wet because it came up over the top of my shoe. It is in no way possible a "puddle" unless you lived somewhere that rained 98% of the time.

[nashvols]

Originally Posted by woodchuck79

A puddle is something I can step on, with shoes on, and not get my shoe and sock soaking wet because it came up over the top of my shoe. It is in no way possible a "puddle" unless you lived somewhere that rained 98% of the time.

You either have small feet or have never lived in Nashville during the springtime.

[CountryGirl2b=]

I actually had an issue with the neighbor behind me. Very small yards that all back up to each other, separated by a wood fence. My back yard would flood in one corner after a rain. Once it became an actual stream out to the street! I happened to notice (nosy me) that my neighbor had connected those black accordion-ish tubes to both his back drainspouts and was directing water to the edge of his yard, OR right into mind. He must have had some flooding issues and decided to send it MY way!

WFT!!!

So I got in touch with the HOA. Although there are no HOA rules on the book, they sent a letter to the guy. In the meantime, I got in touch with the City of Franklin and a guy actually came out! He agreed it seemed unneighborly. Went back to the office with some photos he had taken and . . .

There was NOTHING he could do about it. It was on private property. And there are quirky rules (not just in Franklin, but in general) about water. It gets to go where it wants to, sit where it wants to. Water gets to decide pretty much on its own where to go. I can't seem to find the website about water but seriously, it is it's own entity and a real gray area in terms of enforcement. Unless you are polluting a reservoir.

How long is the water there? I mean, does it eventually drain???

The guy actually eventually rerouted his back drain spouts underground and out to his side of the street, bless him, but there was nothing I could do to force the issue.


http://realestate.findlaw.com/neighb...-disputes.html

[BirdieBelle]

Water does go where it wants, until the city puts up a concrete barrier to make it stay in front of your house.

Private property/neighbor-to-neighbor issues are different from issues like the OP, where water from the street (public right of way) is affecting private property.

See, this is one of the neighborhoods that doesn't have sidewalks, gutters and underground strom drains. So runoff can be a very tricky problem.

Municipalities can enter private property to construct a runoff swale if the runoff is coming from a street.

I will be very surprised if the city leaves this the way it is, unless they look at the water pooling and evaporating in front of your property as the lesser of two evils.

[woodchuck79]

I don't know how long it would take to evaporate, after 12 hours it was still there and then it rained during the night so it's still a swimming pool. I've taken some photos since I'm sure they will send the surveyor out after it hasn't rained for 3 weeks.

[North Beach Person]

Even private property drainage is getting legislated now. Tennessee may be a few years behind but we've really gotten it here in MD. New construction has to contain runoff on the property (green roofs and rain barrels are the most common fix) while, unless a natural water course (try to define that one) runoff from current buildings can have complaints filed and measures ordered to contain it.

Runoff from streets is now directed to stormwater catchments (a wrinkle being thrown out there is treating the runoff). That's one reason why curbing is being installed where there wasn't any before.

[BirdieBelle]

Originally Posted by North Beach Person

Runoff from streets is now directed to stormwater catchments (a wrinkle being thrown out there is treating the runoff). That's one reason why curbing is being installed where there wasn't any before.

As you can see from the photo on page 1, the curb is not directing the water anywhere. It's just damming it up in the cul-de-sac.

[North Beach Person]

Originally Posted by Wmsn4Life

As you can see from the photo on page 1, the curb is not directing the water anywhere. It's just damming it up in the cul-de-sac.

Which is what happens a lot of the time when you back engineer stormwater systems in places that originally didn't have them. The road was likely sloped to direct the water down the hill which is now somebody's yard. Expect repaving.

Just looked at the first (dry) picture. The curb has a paving lip on it so the OP should expect even more disruption in the next few weeks.