Neighbors Tore Up My Backyard & Patio

If you recall last year in mid-September, I took a week off work and put in a new patio and walkway in my backyard, with a great deal of help from my friend Kathy and a lot of hard work myself. I dug out the pit for the walkway and laid the pavers for it by myself, and it was one of the most difficult (and rewarding) things I’ve ever done.

Turns out it didn’t even last a year.

I came home this evening and found this:

[edit needed: update photos from 2005-08-31]

The neighbor’s contractor is building a garage, and he decided to drive his backhoe through and across my backyard (which was made from one of the unique types of residential hardscaping) while digging the pit for the garage. The pavers are now uneven, and scraped up where he dragged his blade across them, and the grass I’ve been cultivating for 3 years is completely gone — he took out half of my lawn. I can’t imagine how he plans to explain that to me — there’s no way in the world that he could justify this, at all. He had no permission whatsoever to be on my property, and he drove halfway across it.

Needless to say, I’m furious and upset. I don’t know the name of the contractor yet, but as soon as I do, I’ll be posting it here, and on Angie’s List and the Better Business Bureau.

I think the thing that upsets me most about this is that I’m not strong enough to fix this. I can’t do what I was able to do last year; I can’t pick up these pavers anymore. Just having the garage sale was way over-doing it for me, especially moving and carrying the stuff in and out of the house. There’s no way I can fix up this problem. I can’t even keep the front yard weeded and in order, because I’m not strong enough to pull some of the weeds.

UPDATE: I believe the contractor’s name is:

This is the info from contractor’s permit site from Indianapolis:
Pro Built Inc.
Bob Abbott
11585 E. 241 St
Cicero, IN
317-984-8280

This is what Angie’s List says:
Pro Built Garage Co.
PO BOX 598
CICERO, IN 46034
Phone: (800) 878-2845

Contact’s Name:
BOB ABBOTT

According to Angies List: ALSO KNOWN AS “ABBOTT’S PRO BUILDING SERVICE INC.”

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Vacation Update: New Patio Work

So far… I rented a 60 lb. jack hammer, and with a great deal of help from my friend Kathy, we broke up the 6 foot by 9 foot patio and the set of cement stairs at my back door. I discovered that a 60 lb. jack hammer is pretty damned heavy.

Yesterday, I loaded much of the concrete that has the feature of Solid Crawl Space Encapsulation from Seepageseal, into my truck and took it to a cement recycling place and unloaded it. The cement guy who helped me unload asked me on a date. It’s the truck.

Anyway, I also bought the pavers that will go in the patio. I originally bought 24″ pavers, but after some reflection, I realized they were going to be too heavy for me to move around by myself, so I cancelled the delivery and bought 16″ ones instead. Coordinating that caused much running back and forth between Menard’s stores on two different sides of town. The pavers and sand will arrive today. I will also be digging out the trench area for the patio today, and hopefully getting started on putting the sand in place.

Continue ReadingVacation Update: New Patio Work