I wouldn’t exactly phrase it the way that anyone is at fault here. If I, in my wildest imagination, had foreseen this, I would have pressed him on the gutter issue when it first became obvious. Or had offered to have it repaired/ help finding a professional to do it.
Truth to be told, they are still new here, have not hired any professionals so far as I can tell, so this is a real problem for them: If you call a roofer/plumber to fix a leaking gutter, they will all be busy and out 6 months or longer. Who want’s a minor repair job fixing a gutter that will easily hold another two decades. There’s no money to be made in this at a first glance. And it‘s not like they don’t know that that ’big job’ that could come from it will most likely never come, because when that ‘big job’ is up for grabs, they will still shop around and not just award it to that guy that came around 5 or 10 years ago to fix that minor issue.
I honestly did not see that one coming, speaking of today’s discovery. And the neighbor, he just lacks the experience, for him it was just a leaking gutter. I’m sure that if he allowed me into his basement to measure, we’re getting elevated levels of moisture and highly likely the same overall picture speaking of the condition of the wall/ mortar.
Still, I fully agree with you
@drivesitfar - this is a delicate situation and I need to word/phrase that very wisely when talking to him and present it as a ’we are in the same boat’ type situation. I hope the way I write my posts conveys that I’m not angry/mad or whatsoever. It’s an issue that requires an adequate repair - probably in both basements - and that needs to happen. Without going into too much detail, these are valuable houses and properties, the cost of such repairs done right, easily offsets vs. having to bring them to the market at some point with a moist basement.
As with every problem, you need to find the cause and eliminate. Replacing the mortar has to happen anyway, but just doing that won’t get rid of the underlying problem. If it is/was just the gutter issue, it’s an fairly easy fix along what you lined out. Remove mortar & replace with waterproof variant, maybe inject sealant another meter down the wall and 2 or 3 rows of stone high. But now I want to be sure about that.
The lucky part here is, we chose purely mineral/silicate based materials for the boiler room as well, so it’s almost all water permeable and no risk of mold. Except obviously for stuff stored in that room, which still could get moldy if exposed to this for longer.
I’m not going to be unreasonable and blow this up, but the down pipe needs cctv inspection down to the bend to make sure its not the culprit and then I want our wall repaired. And if that means temporary removal of the gas line, that will have to be done.
At this point, what I expect is his insurance to sign off/ pick up the cost of inspection. I don’t care who, I won’t insist on my preferred HVAC/plumbing company to do it - perfectly fine if the insurance company sends someone or if the neighbor gets to choose. Just take plenty of pictures or have a video - with time/date and length and give me a copy. All good.
I will have my insurance agent take a look at it, I will have my specialist take a look at it. That is at my discretion and while the insurance agent’s visit will be free of charge, I will pay my specialist‘s hourly rate and travel expense. It’s quite likely that he won’t be asking for payment for such a short visit/ assessment, then it’s a summer BBQ or whatever on us, we have history, so all good as well. Either way, I’m not going to claim those expenses from either the neighbor or his insurance just for the sake of it.
I’m not an idiot, so I’m not going to discuss any of the latter with the neighbor‘s insurance in the first step.
For the second step, if it is the easy fix, I will offer to do this myself for an agreed lower lump-sum based off the cost of/ compared to having my building specialist and my HVAC specialist do the work.
I don’t need to make money of this, if it covers materials and the HVAC specialists quote, as I’m not getting around having my HVAC specialist remove and reinstall the gas line (as I’m obviously not ’messing’ with that myself) I’m satisfied.
Most of the time, when dealing with insurance, they are far more likely to quickly accept that, vs. them arguing with the professionals over quotes/ quoted work they think is not necessary or ‘too expensive’ compared to some low-baller they would typically hire.
If it is not the easy fix, it isn’t entirely my ’problem’ anyway. Then my neighbor’s insurance will split the cost of what has to be done for us off to their third party liability branch/department and what has to be done for him will come out of the home owner/property or building insurance department If he is lucky.
But I’m hoping it’s the easy fix and then I don’t think that we will encounter any real problem at all that would jeopardize going forward as neighbors. And it is entirely up to him/ them to fix it on their end or leave it as is. That does not affect us.
I also don’t see any reason here at all that this will end up in the hands of lawyers or in front of a judge/court.
Again, if we have that wet spot, chances are 98% that they have the same wet spot on their wall. They might not have checked or realized that yet, they might have a cupboard, shelving, boxes … in front of it. But if it is the pipe that causes it, even if just partly blocked and leaking, it won’t go away and come to bite everyone if not fixed properly. I’m sure they will understand it is their property & home at risk as well.
I’m really laid back and easy going all the time, so we’ll see how that goes and where we are on this next week.
Kind regards,
Olli
