Some friends describe me as difficult. You be the judge.
The May 2022 storm brought down a neighbour's tree. Actually, the tree was a backyard and a half away. The wind took the top 50 fifty feet of the large maple tree up and over the neighbour's yard and dumped nearly all of it in my driveway and backyard with some in theirs.
The tree wiped out my garage, my pergola, the fence on the far side, and all the plants in my yard including several bushes and small trees, along with many decorative wrought iron items.
The bill for the tree removal was $2,600. The tree owning neighbour said that as most of the tree was in my yard, my portion was $1,600 and that was generous considering how little was in their yard. i paid without comment.
Their damage was a BBQ and a cushion storage bin and some damage to their side of the garage roof easily repaired with sheeting and shingles.
The garage was unusual but typical in this neighbourhood. A single building two car garage, i own half on my side, they own half on their side, separate doors, dividing wall between. My side was destroyed and needed to be removed and replaced. Their side had some roof damage easily repaired.
i decided to remove my half completely as my side needed to be rebuilt or replaced. I decided to replace it with a small shed. The joining wall needed some work to make the other side weatherproof and safe. The bill for this is $1,900. None of which has any benefit to me. But the bulk of the work has to be done from my side to repair the ridge beam, reshingle the peak, and close the top to protect their side. The contractor said their side would cost about $700 for labour, roofing panels, and shingles. While the work from my side was the balance. The neighbours decided that we should split this bill equally to protect their half.
Meanwhile, i paid to have my pergola removed and replaced from the damage from their tree. And now rebuild my garden with new plants, decorations, walkways and other things to make a backyard livable.
Their cost, maybe $2,000 while i am over $10,000 and climbing from their tree. And i am difficult?
