Neihbour’s big tree fell over on to my lawn/cottage.

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Help! Neighbour had this big evergreen right at the edge of his property, which was blown over onto my side, catching the front porch of the cottage.

Minimal damage to the porch roof, but this 50 to 60 foot tree is now covering a huge portion on the front lawn, making a heck of a mess.

Is he required to clean it up? Wondering how to approach him about it. (Have to email him, since he is not up much, especially in the winter.)

Not expecting any compensation for the minimal damage, but I would like to have him pay for cleaning it up, or come and do it himself.

Any suggestions for how to approach this would be much appreciated!

 

[RjCorazza]

There's a topic here currently active about this very issue :

Legal question on trees on property line that could cause damage...

Neighbor is about 100 yards off the left of our house. The guy we bought this place from 18 years planted about 100 Leland trees trees over there as a privacy fence. Turns out the other neighbor who owned a small section of land over that way put in a trailer there to rent out years ago before...

www.tractorbynet.com

Unless there is some backstory, like you noted the tree was diseased or damaged (and notified the owner), you're likely on your own to clean up what's on your property.

I would politely discuss the matter with your neighbor. I personally would take care of a tree that fell from my property onto that of a neighbor.
On edit.... I see you're from Canada. I have no idea what Canadian law says about the matter! My comments are based on my jurisdiction!

 

[Snobdds]

I would just clean it up. Not even say anything to the neighbor.

If he ever asks, I would tell him by the time I crafted a letter and took all the time to drive to the post office to mail it... I could be done.

Looking at the picture, it looks like a tree might fall on his place one day and the precedent is set to just clean it up.

 

[K5lwq]

I would just clean up myself. Certainly is not worth getting into a argument over. Nobody wins when neighbors start fighting.

 

[MTGreen]

I had a similar thing happen where a carport roof was blown off of a property I owned and struck a building on the neighbor's side. Per both insurances, I was deemed not to be responsible for damage to the neighbors because it was an act of God. The neighbor had to use their own insurance to repair damage to their property.
So unless you are willing to go to court to try to prove that the neighbor was somehow being negligent about tree trimming or some other such thing I would think that it's unlikely the court would force the neighbor to pay for anything.

 

[Alan46]

I had something similar happen during our last wind storm here in Oregon where one Fir tree broke and took out another and both came down on my neighbors fence she texted me and said her husband was out of town. I went over and bucked up the trees and adjusted the field fence as best as I could. She said I could leave the brush for the cows.
They are great neighbors. Had he been home I’m sure he would have helped!

 

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Kk guys, thanks for the advice. I will buck the tree and burn the branches. (The fire pit is right next to it.)

Then I cN use The main trunk for firewood for the renters. A tree like that will dry out pretty quickly, and I think they can even use it this summer. A great opportunity to use my new (to me) gas powered wood splitter!

 

[two_bit_score]

Kk guys, thanks for the advice. I will buck the tree and burn the branches. (The fire pit is right next to it.)

Then I cN use The main trunk for firewood for the renters. A tree like that will dry out pretty quickly, and I think they can even use it this summer. A great opportunity to use my new (to me) gas powered wood splitter!

Looks like a pine tree with a dead center. careful about burning pine in a FP or wood burning stove.

Trees will fall from time to time. Glad it didn’t do any serious damage to property or injury to anyone.

 

[4570Man]

The legal responsibilities of that scenario are a bit sketchy. Also the majority of the opinions here are from the USA. Maybe the Canadian laws are different. Maybe your neighbor is a nice guy and wants to help out but if it went to court it’s likely that the responsibility would fall on you.

 

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Looks like a pine tree with a dead center. careful about burning pine in a FP or wood burning stove.

Trees will fall from time to time. Glad it didn’t do any serious damage to property or injury to anyone.

Don’t worry, this firewood would be strictly for the outdoor fire pit, which is about 20 feet from the cottage.