Just a quickie. I'm hoping to put up some concrete posts to hang some driveway gates (bargain €70) but will need to put up a wall between the gate post and the house wall. It will run parallel to the lane. The nearest neighbour's house it will affect is on the opposite side of the lane, approx 30 feet from the wall so shouldn't interfere in any way with light etc.
Am I right in thinking it can be up to a max of 2m high?
I'm trying to get someone to reduce the tree by at least half because as well as roots it gets terrifyingly close to the phone line but it's too tall at the moment for me to shinny up and lop it (I don't like heights). It's a sticky lime so can shoot up 3 feet a year. If it's reduced to 8 or 10 feet I'll cope but not 20 +. I myself actually toyed with the idea of moving the driveway down the garden a bit and simply planting hedging along that section so no-one would be looking straight at the kitchen door, through the windows etc but there's quite a slope further down and it was looking more and more difficult.
The idiot next door doesn't actually talk to me. If I say good morning (he's English) he turns his head away - much like a 5 year old girl in a playground who's got the hump - but when he thinks I'm not around he slows down and is craning his neck to see anything and everything that's going on. Maybe he's too stupid to realise that I have special glass in my kitchen window that you can see through. Any old how, he also doesn't like the sound children make when they play - I want a barrier between him and my 10 year old in case he decides to say something nasty to him. Cue Katie Perry's "You're gonna hear me roar" ....
But apart from all that, the existing gate is naff, these will look much smarter and the slight amount of noise insulation might mean the dogs don't hear so much if someone's walking past and will keep quiet.
Aha.... similar problem here;- one especially nosy neighbour who could look into our courtyard and field while walking his dogs along the lane (more a dirt track, really);- just makes you feel slightly intimidated when the conversations start with an " I see you're doing.........". It was tempting to go naturist just to shock him into silence!
We took the lazy option and planted some hornbeam saplings - little more than twigs along the boundary; it took a couple of years but hornbeam easily 'flat tops' and keep most of their leaves in winter; mix in some beech and oak for good measure. Mind you, I'm now looking for a petrol hedge trimmer!
Top the wall with trellis and a few climbers / ramblers perhaps?
Your mention of a "huge tree" makes me think of potential root damage / ground heave etc.....
The gate posts / wall would definitely be on my property as they're going up about 12 - 18" more into the driveway, so inside the existing gates, as they're slightly narrower and the wood delivery man and I will have less of an angle to manoeuvre round (if you know what I mean - narrow lane so quite tight to turn in). Thought bringing them in about a foot will allow for a slightly gentler turn. The brick wall wouldn't be load bearing as such, simply to fill about a 4 feet gap between the gate post and the house. The other gate post would have a 4 feet wall running between it and a huge tree. It will absolutely not affect The Toad's light in any way but it may stop him glaring in at me to see what I'm doing ...
Hi Valerie,
Sounds perfectly reasonable, but probably best to check with your Mairie and the cadastral to make sure the wall is going to be on land you own and won't obscure any sight lines for traffic. See what your neighbour has to say: for non-contentious planning applications it is generally taken that only those within 6m of the walls have sustainable objections (ie: the impact needs to be considered in determining the matter).......and my understanding is that in France there is no "Right" to light, but at 2m height this won't be an issue!
On a technical note, you'll doubtless provide a solid foundation on which to build and properly attach the wall to the house. Make sure there isn't a ditch which could undercut the structure. I frequently see lean-to stores which have been stuck onto houses and then proceed to pull the house wall away due to subsidence / inadequate groundworks.