The inspector measured twice before placing a red stop-work notice against the unfinished deck.
Whitney’s contractor had designed the expansion using the six-inch strip where my fence had stood. Without that land, the deck violated the city’s setback requirements and no longer matched the approved permit drawings.
Work stopped immediately.
Whitney argued that six inches could not possibly matter. The inspector explained that property boundaries were not estimates, and neither her contractor nor her permit application gave her permission to build on land she did not own.
Then my attorney sent a demand covering the destroyed fence, damaged posts, survey costs, legal fees, and restoration of the soil disturbed by the crew.
Whitney offered to replace the fence if I allowed the deck to remain.
I declined.
Her contractor had to dismantle part of the new framing and submit revised plans. The redesign pushed the deck several feet away from the boundary, reduced its size, and delayed completion by nearly three months.
Their insurer eventually paid for a new cedar fence installed entirely inside my property, just like the original.
Whitney called me vindictive.
“You removed something you did not own to create space you did not have,” I replied. “The survey did not punish you. It corrected you.”
She believed five inches of cedar stood between her and the perfect backyard.
In reality, those inches marked the exact point where her confidence ended and my property began.
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