In a bit of a bind with the next-door neighbor...

Port Snowman

Port Snowman

New member
Joined
Dec 1, 2010
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18
Location
Ozaukee, WI
I had some buddies come over to meet at my house for a little trail ride. I live right on a state trail so you can ride right off our property to the marked trail.
One of my buds went across the apron of my neighbor's driveway. The snow has since melted away and the driveway apron has some surface scratches from the carbides. My neighbor's not happy about it, and I can't say I blame him. I told him I'd get it taken care of when spring comes.

I tried searching the forums to see if anyone's discussed cleaning up or resurfacing concrete and didn't find anything. Doing some Google searching, I have found some info. Looks like you can rent equipment to get scratches off concrete. And that's all these are, "scratches" as opposed to "gouges". I guess I'm wondering if anybody here's done this kind of work and how were the results? I've scratched up my sidewalks and driveway with the snowblower and ice scraper before, and it seems by spring they are gone. Is this gonna be a big deal?
 
no big deal they will wear away with time. tell your buddys to stay on marked trail and tell your neighbor to medicate himself somehow since there is much more to worry about in life. I know some would say he has a legitamate beef but dude come on really? Scratches in his concrete? somepeople are way over strung!!! jmo
 
I have been in the concrete business for 24 years, it is how I make my living. There is no way to repair those scratches without making it worse than it already is. The only true and best way to fix it is to replace it. there are surface patches and epoxy's and other repair products out there but none of them will stay on for long especially on a driveway apron near the road. You are going to have to by the guy a case of beer and become buddies with him and hope that as a friend/neighbor he forgives you. then go punch your riding buddy in the nose for gettting you in all this trouble! lol...... :D:DP
 
I'd definitely rather have Port Snowman as a neighbour than Yamahizal700. I think it is good to see that you are being a responsible neighbour by showing concern for your neighbours defected property (especially when damage resulted from your guests). I think you should mention waiting to see if the moisture from the winter cures the scratches by spring if it is okay with him, and if not, call in someone that knows about concrete driveways (concrete contractor, driveway company or maybe an asphalt sealing company might do maintenance on concrete driveways as well?) and ask them what the best remedy is. Maybe they will even say time will heal it and your neighbour will be reassured and let it slide. If it needs repair, whatever it ends out costing, if your friends are anywhere near as responsible and courteous as you are being in this situation, I would think that the one who scratched it would offer to reimburse you at least half of your cost.
 
Any way of "fixing" the scratches will make it worse. As sledhead said there are products that can patch the area but it will make the repair area very obvious. If its just a scatch and not a gouge the damage will fade away over time.
Your buddy that did the damage is responsible for any costs if you do plan on trying to repair the driveway. You are not at fault for his control of his sled.
You are an excellent neighbor for stepping up and offering to repair his driveway of damage that you did not even do.
Again , explaining to your neighbor thats its just a scratch and it will fade over time and that any repairs will make it worse should resolve the issue if your neighbor has atleast half the integrity that you do.
 
Wayne084 said:
I'd definitely rather have Port Snowman as a neighbour than Yamahizal700. I think it is good to see that you are being a responsible neighbour by showing concern for your neighbours defected property (especially when damage resulted from your guests). I think you should mention waiting to see if the moisture from the winter cures the scratches by spring if it is okay with him, and if not, call in someone that knows about concrete driveways (concrete contractor, driveway company or maybe an asphalt sealing company might do maintenance on concrete driveways as well?) and ask them what the best remedy is. Maybe they will even say time will heal it and your neighbour will be reassured and let it slide. If it needs repair, whatever it ends out costing, if your friends are anywhere near as responsible and courteous as you are being in this situation, I would think that the one who scratched it would offer to reimburse you at least half of your cost.
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Thanks all for the replies so far.
I hadn't really even thought about asking Dean to help me pay for it, assuming I do have to pay. But that's an idea, no doubt.

As for my neighbor, I don't think he's being unreasonable at all here. As my wife pointed out to me, if the situation were reversed, I'd probably be just as upset. I left out that this is a brand-new subdivision and he's got a pretty nice home and is pretty "neat" about how he keeps his yard and landscaping and such. You have to respect that.

I'm a little worried about what sleddheadd posted! I had been reading all this stuff about some machine you can rent that is made for this kind of thing? There are not "grooves" like you get from studs, they really look like surface scratches and do not penetrate down into the concrete. You said you're in the business so I certainly respect what your opinion. You really have to replace the concrete? I'm really hoping that by spring it all fades like the snowblower marks fade. I suppose I can go take a pix of it to show you what it looks like?
 
I, like Sleadheadd, have been in the concrete business for about 20 years. And he is totally correct, any repair will be more noticeable then the scratches themselves. The equipment you have found, most likely are floor polisher/grinders and are not an option for exterior concrete.
Replacing the concrete will be more noticable then the scratches also, even though his concrete is relatively new, the new concrete will cure out in a different color!

If you are unable to reason with him, any local concrete contractor will tell you the same(except they may push to replace the piece, just to give themselves work ofcourse)
 
Sno-Xr said:
Those will most likely disappear in a fairly short time.
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I sure hope so! On the bright side, we're looking a whopper of a snow storm (looks like three-day storm on the way!) and that should keep his mind off the driveway apron for awhile...
 
Any repair made will be more noticable than the scratches. Tell your buddy to talk to him, Ask how much it will cost to have him forget about it. they will fafade with time. I have found a few bucks usually smoothes things over. Or, just ask the neighbor what he wants done, leave the repair option up to him, then when he gets what he wants, he can't complain.
 
ottawaair said:
Any repair made will be more noticable than the scratches. Tell your buddy to talk to him, Ask how much it will cost to have him forget about it. they will fafade with time. I have found a few bucks usually smoothes things over. Or, just ask the neighbor what he wants done, leave the repair option up to him, then when he gets what he wants, he can't complain.
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I'd be afraid he says "Sure, I want a new driveway apron!"

We just had another discussion about this, he was out there with his dogs so I went out to talk. He said he is willing to see if they fade away over time. I said I was REALLY REALLY sorry about this and took personal responsibility for it, rather than say "It was one of my friends" and he seems to be pretty agreeable at this point, so we'll see. He did say "PLEASE don't let this happen again!" and I assured him it won't happen again.

I've been around a long time and we know it's important to get along with your neighbors. You never know when you might need them or they need you. These people are actually pretty good neighbors, they keep to themselves and never bother anyone.
 
Well it sounds like he is a reasonable type of guy. Those scratches will fade away. Like some one stated, they are like marks from a snowblower.
I have a stamped/exposed aggregate driveway myself. My house seems to be the meeting place for our group outings. I keep atleast 3-4 inches of hard pack snow on it for this reason. Once in awhile one of the guys goes wide onto the stamped area on the edge of the driveway. This area does not hold snow and it gets scartched up by the carbides. It happens.
Bottom line its a driveway and we drive on it, not eat on it or frame it.
 
my old Boss had to replace a guys whole driveway..it was a special finish driveway of some sort.One of the workers dripped a little oil from his truck on there.The customer being unreasonable demanded the whole driveway be replaced.Boss wanted to sent guys out there to use something to remove oil drops..customer did not accept it.Had to go thru company insurance coming to replace the whole drivway..imagine the cost there.Some people are anal when it comes to there driveway.I had a guy wiyth an old truck part halfway on the concrete in front of my garage..they were doing the roof on my house.I came home and there was like a 1 foot round oil patch there..I was pissed.I could of called the company and make them come back to clean it..but had a method of getting it out and it worked..I am not that anal I guess.I could tell you stories about customers driveways...
 
I had alot of scratches in my shop floor when I moved into it. There is a company near us that sands and buffs the concrete floor. It looked new when I moved in. I was thinking of having them come again this summer to repolish it and remove the over spray. It was less than $500 for a bay which was 20X50. Al
 
Invite him over, cook him a nice steak and be good neighbors. Crap happens...life is too short to be mad at your neighbor for something like scratches in concrete. Carry on!!!
Now noisy dogs...That's another story...HAHA!
 
Sleddheadd/Sno-XR, when I have had concrete work done they always finish up with some white spray. I am guessing that this is a normal practice for concrete anywhere, but the point I am getting to is that I wonder if Port help hide the scratches by having this done to his neighbors approach? Or something similar?
 
Port Snowman said:
I'd be afraid he says "Sure, I want a new driveway apron!"

We just had another discussion about this, he was out there with his dogs so I went out to talk. He said he is willing to see if they fade away over time. I said I was REALLY REALLY sorry about this and took personal responsibility for it, rather than say "It was one of my friends" and he seems to be pretty agreeable at this point, so we'll see. He did say "PLEASE don't let this happen again!" and I assured him it won't happen again.

I've been around a long time and we know it's important to get along with your neighbors. You never know when you might need them or they need you. These people are actually pretty good neighbors, they keep to themselves and never bother anyone.
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I rode across my neighbor's (Sterling Heights LEO) stamped/colored path towing jr. and his kitty a couple years back. Long story short - the guy across the street made a bigger mess than I did but the neighbor was cool and dyed/painted the damage.

He has access to my wood pile for bonfires anytime.
 
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