We are getting a home ready to sell in Altadena. Living in Southern California, last week we all experienced the power of WIND! Wind speeds were alarmingly high, especially in Pasadena and the surrounding area. Blame it on the “Santa Ana Winds”. Hundreds of thousands of residences lost power and had minor or major tree damage.
Iam doing a major remodel on a property in Altadena, right next to Pasadena. Long story short, the neighbor’s tall pine tree broke in several spots and the 20-foot plus branches fell onto my garage and driveway. It looked REALLY bad. There was stucco damage (minor), no access to the driveway (minor), and garage door damage (minor).
I contacted the neighbor, who lives in New York (his house is a rental). I let him know what happened and that it would be a couple hundreds dollars to get things back the way they were. I could tell he was skeptical of it being that costly (it wasn’t that much considering the clean-up and hauling involved for the branches alone), even after I sent photos and video.
The neighbor seemed like a really good guy, so I wanted to make this situation easy. I talked to my contractor and we agreed to add it to our repair list. I let the neighbor know that I wasn’t going to ask for any money from him. Although, I did ask if he would getting the remaining branches trimmed. Those winds are expected to return! He was very appreciative and thankful.
The moral of the story is this. Be a nice neighbor, not a naughty one. You want to feel safe and happy in your home, surrounded by people who will take care of you. If slight inconveniences will help your neighbor, then let it be.