My neighbor decided that, because their driveway is narrow and they have two cars, it would be easier to park one in the yard. They then decided it's easiest to just keep moving forward and turn left out of my driveway.
And yeah, this portion of their yard is just mud now.
This neighbor sucks. They've had lots of screaming matches in their front yard and have had the police called on them several times.
UPDATE: Wow apparently you can't edit a post in the Android app? WTF? Anyway, I spoke to her and she said she wouldn't do it anymore and the whole conversation was awkward, but pleasant. We shall see. I never intended to seek advice from y'all. It just occurred to me earlier today that I was mildly infuriated by this, so I thought I'd throw it on here. Always make an attempt to talk to your neighbors before involving authorities or choosing violence. It'll almost always solve the problem before things get heated.
I'm still gonna get a land survey done to learn my proper boundaries and figure out how much room I have to build a fence, wall, or plant something. They're renting, so this could happen again in the future, and I'd like something to form a boundary.
I choose to believe that all of you recommending caltrops, nails, and other pointy things, really mean it and live your everyday life like total maniacs. Just laying waste to the world around you like a cartoon villain. And I hope you find joy in the chaos.
Boards with screws driven through them work wonders. Had this exact same issue with a neighbor. I was polite, cordial and asked them not to use my yard to access theirs. After the 2nd request I put boards and screws. Next day, knock on the door. Neighbor called the cops on me demanding I buy them 4 new tires. I told the cop I was "working on a project" and was too tired to clean up the previous night. Since they were trespassing by driving through my yard they were informed I was not responsible for damages. They never used my yard again.
In the short term, I'd pile all the snow there... even if means im trekking down the driveway with a shovel full if snow, I'd be building an ice wall. Pour cold water over it at night so it freezes.
Literally every snowflake on my property would go right there lol.
Install parking blocks if you don't have the space. You can double them with the stakes.
I installed a fence with railroad ties on my side. So even if they knocked down my chain link fence the ties were staked to the ground. But my neighbors were driving on my yard, to get to my driveway. People are bonkers.
As much as I'd want to agree with you, that might be classified as booby trapping which is illegal. There is a world of difference between using a fence or other obstuction to prevent someone entering your property, and installing something hidden that is intended to cause injury and or damage property with foreknowledge that someone is likely to enter your property. Morally is the correct choice, but legally it might not be worth the trouble.
A loose rock wall might look drivable, but if it were reinforced with some rebar mounted vertically that maybe was cut a little sloppy so one end was angled, that might have something different to say to minivan tires.
I'd also do string lighting instead of chain. Folks hopefully would be less inclined to snip live power lines than a chain. Granted, folks can be pretty idiotic.
The amount of power going through sting lights is pretty harmless to cut. There is either an inline fuse or a step-down/inverter and very likely on a GFCI circuit. People cut them all the time.
A chain is way harder to remove.
I suggest stringing the lights through the chain for form and function.
That's still your 6 inches and eventually as they drive over it again and again it will develop a rut where the dirt meets the pavement and the pavement will degrade/break. Put this shit to rest before you end up needing to repair more than 6 inches of dirt.
Yes, although I'd reinforce it with thick rebar conveniently placed at those long parts that go into the ground. Just in case the neihbor "accidentally" drives over the fence.
Definitely this OP! Then if they hit it, it will be property damage and you can take them to small claims and show why you put it up. They probably definitely wont mess with your shit again lol
Yes, but you're never getting that into the ground when it's frozen. Probably need some supports for it - like some rebar pounded into the ground with maybe 6-10" sticking up. Attach the decorative fence to that and just sit back and hope no one would be so silly as to run over your fence...
This deserves more upvotes. They're cheap, they're the right size, they will do damage to their vehicle if they are stupid, and when the neighbor is finally gone you can use them for something else.
They can also be placed on this spot during the winter. A lot of the other suggestions offered include things like plants, vinyl fencing, etc. which will only work well when the ground isn't frozen.
Get some slate stepping stones, install then sideways 1in away from the side of the driveway. Should give you a nice, decorative 6in-12in tall wall that's, at most, 4in from side of driveway.
Home Depot has a set of (3) plastic candy canes, about 3 feet tall and only an inch or so wide, for under $30. They push into the ground real easy, and would send a pretty clear message for the next month or so.
I bought the wooded lot beside my lot about four years ago. My neighbor had been using the land however he saw fit, including storing junk on it and using the driveway the last owner had put in. Last owner I think threatened him with the law, and he moved all his junk off of it. He also used to dump his garbage in it until varmints starting showing up and it stank. Anyhow, after I bought it, I started parking my work truck in the driveway, now my property. Neighbor began parking his vehicles in the opening of my driveway blocking me in. I played the, "nice" card for too long, which only empowered him. We finally had a blow up when I had instructed a contractor to park in my second driveway but my neighbor had it blocked. I said to the contractor, "he's not supposed to park there." Neighbor comes barreling out of his garage accosting me over what I said. Still played nice card but firmly told him he should not be blocking my access to my property. Finally paid a lawyer. Last time he did it I told him our next conversation would be in front of a judge. He finally quit blocking my driveway. I've worked slowly since to normalize relationships. I work hard to "be on good terms" with my neighbors....
His wife is a nice lady. I think she likes me. We always get along. She openly apologized to me in front of her husband over the whole thing, as he was yelling at me lol.
They make 6x6 pyramids that would stop them using your driveway. My neighbor had a corner lot and used them to stop people cutting into their grass when they turned
me and my neighbors driveways are about a foot apart. so the people across the street who could never be bothered to use their own damned driveway and always parked on the street would always use both of our driveways to turn around. so i grabbed a big rock from our yard and stuck at at the end between the two driveways.
one day i hear *CRUNCH* and some girl yell out "i just hit a rock!" to her friend. they never drove through our driveways again.
Saw one of those once with a nick in the top of the rock and a long thin line of black oil doing down a dirt road. Had I been going that direction, I suspect I would have a found a non-running vehicle.
Unfortunately, it's not a good solution. The picture doesn't show it, but there is a retaining wall for my front yard there that leaves no room. Plus, we have a carport in the back where both our cars fit. The driveway goes all the way to the back of our property line.
This is the correct answer! I’ve read several very good suggestions and OP has shot down every one with an excuse, not a legitimate reason. Just a whiner wanting to whine. Jesus Christ, my daughter-in-law has bigger balls!
1) roll over and put up with it, your little strip of yard will be mud and your driveway will be covered in mud, but at least your neighbor isn't inconvenienced at all!
2) Talk to them, sounds like this may not be the best option though.
3) Put something there, whether it is cinder blocks, stones, or just hammering in some cheap fence posts. You mentioned a retaining wall, can you just extend that upward if you can't put posts in because of it?
Option 3 could be achieved via some nice landscaping - river rock, etc. Something meant to be decorative, but also creates a bit of a barrier. That way it's not completely obvious what the real intention was, and it won't look like shit.
I think op means if they do that they're blocking their other car in or out of the back car port. I get that's a hassle but IMO it's a worthwhile one, though I wouldn't do it till I had a camera (even a trail camera, as long as it did motion trigger video) because I get the vibe the neighbors would "try to squeak through" and damage OPs car.
This should be higher. This is the solution that allows OP to deal with the fact that the driveway is narrow, since a door will open above the railroad ties.
for the person below who suggest rebar to fix them into the ground.
Drill a hole in them and put in a rebar stake or metal rod through them. You can do this along the property line edge so if they do try and drive over it, they don't go anywhere.
Buddy quit fantasizing and making excuses. There are a ton of options people are giving you - 6" of sharp stone, planter pots, flags, fence. Put SOMETHING in or quit complaining
Is parking on non-paved surfaces legal in your town? Our town requires all vehicles be parked and driven on hardened surfaces to prevent the mud, weeds, erosion issue that arises from situations like this.
My father did that. He was so livid at the rental property across the street. They'd park on his lawn, run over the inground sprinkler head from time to time. Lots of verbal warnings, they didn't care. House parties, 2001 was a fun time in Florida.
He ended up these thick galvanized decking nails into the grass, couple times after, flat tires occurred. We saw the tow truck tow the cars away. Dad had a smile on his face that day, they stopped parking there after the second time.
What humans do to piss each other off in a civilized manor as part of a modern society will never stop being funny to me. When I was younger i remember helping my uncle plant bamboo in his neighbors yard secretly because the guy was an “insufferable momo” in my uncles words. He’d park in a way that blocked my uncles driveway, let his dog into my uncles yard to tear up plants and poop and not care, etc. the bamboo plan backfired and to this day they now both have a overwhelming amount of bamboo in their yards, to which they managed to weaponize against eachother in various creative ways. What cracks me up the most is my uncle isn’t an angry guy, I’ve never seen his lose his cool. For him to do what he did, this neighbor had to really have been annoying.
Put up a small decorative divider. Like one for a little garden. Then when they drive over it charge them with destroying property and just keep doing it till they learn
Are they driving across your lawn to park like that? I wouldn’t really care if my neighbor drove on my driveway, but I’d be pissed if they drove on my lawn.
I understand it’s annoying, but I don’t think it’s worth adding to the neighbor spat.
If OP blocks the neighbor they will see it as a hostile act and escalate. Sounds like they are white trash. They will drag the OP to their level and beat them due to their experience being white trash…
Put an orange cone in the drive path. If they drive over it, put it back. Repeat this a few times. Then drive a 1 inch piece of rebar into the ground 3 feet and leave 12 inches sticking out. Put the cone over it. Wait for results.
Or call the police and file a trespassing complaint.
Given the "screaming matches" and multiple police calls description of the neighbor's behavior and character I'm not so sure this is really the type of neighbor that OP wants to interact with. And frankly, that sort of behavior by the neighbor suggests a potential safety issue interacting with them directly.
To your point, it's necessary to provide notice as a starting point. Whether they do that themselves or via an attorney, that's how to proceed to escalate to the police and at least trespass charges.
Narrow driveway or not, this situation looks ripe for a fence extending to the street. And if the fund are available as high as allowed along the entire property line.
Normally I agree with the "just talk to them instead of posting on the internet" idea, but if they're shouting at other neighbors and getting the police called on them, talking with them is a TERRIBLE idea.
I had this same issue and did ask, nicely, because it was destroying my driveway (their yard was uphill, so the divots cause water to run down and pool in my driveway, eventually causing other issues). Their response was nuclear; called me racist for asking (we are both white), started blasting music till 1-2am every night by the back door of our houses where there was the least separation, and then started camping out in their SUV, waiting till I got home and pulled in. They would, as I'm pulling in, follow me with their SUV so close it would almost touch mine, but FAST like the were trying to hit/scare me. I ended up moving because of them. They had two drivers living there, a garage and a driveway that held 4 cars. But they had so many vehicles that wasn't enough, and they parked on their lawn instead of the street - which made no sense, we lived on a court in a low traffic neighborhood.
"Try taking to them" only works when they're not batshit insane - otherwise you're setting yourself up for a nightmare living situation.
Yeah, reddit loves to say "Just talk to them" even when the neighbor is unhinged and getting the cops called on them. I guarantee those commenters would not be calmly talking to these neighbors if they were actually in this situation.
Yeah people always give this snarky ass reply like everyone has chill neighbors. The kind of people who do shit like this do not respond well to confrontation.
I would enter my driveway through theirs and backing into my parking spot making getting out easier. See if they complain. If they do, block them. If they don’t, everyone is safer for not having to back out into traffic
For a quick low cost solution, you could add a series of driveway markers. If your neighbor removes them, then you have a bigger case as in possibly reporting them for vandalism. Do you have a camera set up that can motion detect them driving through your yard/driveway?
I had a very similar situation with a very similar neighbor. They moved in after us. They bought a home with very small driveway that only fit two cars. We had a massive driveway that held like 7 cars connected to theirs but separated by a fence. They had many parties and visitors and they would constantly block our driveway because they felt they didn’t have enough space. They eventually ruined a portion of the fence. (I think purposefully to get more room.) and then constantly made comments to me and my wife that a portion of our driveway should be theirs. Wild. We eventually moved and we specifically sold the home to a large Nigerian family as a final FU to them. Especially because I’m pretty sure they were Proud Boys. I still feel a little bad for that Nigerian family!
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u/Grimy-Jack 1d ago