Motar Dust on my neighbor's house

August 9, 2007 12:40 PM

My chimney was in need of repair so i am having part of it re-built/ new caps and re-tuck pointed. The contractors created a lot of dust grinding out the old motor joints. Some of the dust landed on our neighbor's house and she is complaining about the damage it has caused to her in progress paint job. We are working on a solution, but who is responsible for this? What legal responsibility do i have if she discovers permanent damage in the future? Would the contractors be held responsible after I have paid them?

Here is the re-cap:
-Neighbor is painting a newly sided house herself. It is currently partly primed and partly unfinished wood.
-day 1: contractor talks to neighbor about potential dust problem. Talked about postponing work for a month, but neighbor thinks dust on finished paint job would be worse. Both contractor and neighbor put up tarps around work area and on side of house to prevent any problems.
-day 2: Dust generation is more than neighbor expected and ends up getting on house anyway. Contractor works out a solution to pay to pressure wash neighbor’s house to remove dust. Also complaining about good painting days lost due to dust.
-day 3: pressure washer shows up, neighbor "did not see eye to eye" with pressure washer so sent him away. neighbor felt pressure washer did not have an adequate solution to cleaning unfinished wood. I talked with neighbor and she is currently trying to find a different pressure washer that can do the job.

This is where i stand right now. I am confident that we can come to a solution. (I don't think it would be hard to clean mortar dust off a house) and the contractor currently is ok with paying for the solution. I am worried that neighbor might want reimbursement for the partial paint job, or claim there is permanent damage. What can i do more than talking with the neighbor to prevent any legal responsibility in the future? I haven't paid the contractor yet, should i wait till the problem is resolved before I do?

posted by retro88 to home & garden (7 comments total)

IANAL, but it seems your neighbor was fairly warned and reasonable measures were taken to prevent dust contamination, when that happened in spite of your contractors best efforts he attempted to rectify the situation reasonably and she refused. So it seems as though you shouldn't be at fault for this, and she is being a jerk about it.
posted by BobbyDigital at 12:45 PM on August 9, 2007

I'm not remotely qualified to answer your main question (and IANAL), but thought I'd add my $0.02 anyway.

I'd document everything. It doesn't sound to me like your neighbor is going to do this in 'good faith.' (How do you "not see eye-to-eye" with someone who comes to wash your house for free?)

I'm with BobbyDigital: it's not like the contractor haphazardly started spraying dust everywhere. He went out of his way to accommodate her.

(Whether this has any legal meaning or not, I have no idea.)
posted by fogster at 1:05 PM on August 9, 2007

Even if she is a jerk, it's definitely between her and the contractor.
posted by mrbill at 1:06 PM on August 9, 2007

God forbid the EXTERIOR of her house is exposed to the elements, so being so accommodating, worry less.

If she bothers you, talk to her less.
posted by Max Power at 1:14 PM on August 9, 2007

Yarr. I'm no lawyer either, so what do I know? I, however, assume your home is insured. Is your insurance agent someone whom you can go to for honest advice? If so, I'd expect him/her to have experience in cases of contractor-related damage and bitchy neighbors threatening suits.

I would assume, though, that the contractor is the more likely target of any suit. Pity, because it sounds like they're doing their best to keep things happy for everyone.
posted by mumkin at 1:15 PM on August 9, 2007

I think the neighbor made the mistake of allowing you to continue work. Dust on a finished paint job is about as easy as ONE TWO THREE

1) Bust out hose
2) point hose at house
3) turn hose on

She obviously is one of "those people"

My advice; Document EVERYTHING. Proceed with caution.
posted by crewshell at 1:29 PM on August 9, 2007

I just got a copy faxed to me of the agreement between the neighbor and the contractor. It states that the contractor would pay a specified total to get the house professionally power washed and releasing them from liability. Since the first power washer showed up and she sent him off they mailed her a check... This should be the end of it, anything else i need to worry about it in the future?
posted by retro88 at 3:25 PM on August 9, 2007