I think you mean ain't that a birch

Why should she always have to keep her curtains closed? It's her property. Her neighbor should respect privacy and not place a tree fort near bedroom windows.

Also, she might like keeping her curtains open to get sunlight into her room, which a tree house effectively blocks. Not to mention, creepy lurking factor aside, if the kids are playing up there late at night it will probably get noisy.

Words might help too.

Chainsaws speak louder than words.

Haha made my day dude!

So does a lightening strike

It might just be my town, but when my mom was considering building a guest house on our property it had to be a certain amount of space away from the property line, even if it was on our property. I think it's zoning rules.

In many towns, if a man made structure is over a certain height, it cannot be built within a certain distance of neighbors' property. Where I used to live, if we want a two story shed, it had to have a thousand feet clearance front neighbors' property in every direction.

You're really not thinking about this. You are thinking about the effort the neighbor put into this and how it will effect the kids. Let's turn this around. Why should the OP have to suffer because the neighbor wants a treehouse. Who cares how excited the kids are going to be. It's within 3 feet of OP's house. Kids will be kids and WILL cause damage to the house. If it is over the property line OP becomes responsible for injuries. Even if it's not upheld in court, OP wIll still have to defend themselves. And don't tell me this can't happen. Lastly, you have a lovely platform for someone to break into the house. It's also a safety issue. That treehouse has to go.

We don't know if it's over the property line, so we'll hold on that until OP responds. If it is, have him edit the thing a little bit. If someone wants to break into your house, a basement or ground floor window is much more likely than them booting it up their neighbours tree house and into the bedroom. Burglars usually prop open unsecured windows, lift sliding doors, etc. There are more vulnerable things to op's house than this one window. No burglar is going to climb up the tree house, lean out over the deck to try and prop open the window while two stories up. Come on now. And seriously? "damage the house"? What are they going to do? I think the worst they could do is smash a window if they're little hellions, and then you make the parents cover the costs. What damage could they possibly do? I hate this modern mentality that everything is about ourselves and the "why should we have to put up with other people" crap. We put up with other people and make compromises because we're not heartless bastards, and we all have to live together. This is a lot easier if we pick and choose our battles rather that screaming about everything and making everything bigger than it needs to be. A little inconvenience of putting up curtains and, oh my God, talking to the neighbour if there is an issue, gasp, goes a long way into making your life easier in the long run. Who wants to be fighting with your neighbours if you don't have to be? It's a compromise. A little effort and you're not known as "that dick down the street who made David take down the treehouse he made for his kids". We have to live with people. It's not always about us.

Why can't the dad make a playhouse on the ground? 1. It would be safer. 2. It wouldn't be an invasion of OP's privacy? OP shouldn't be forced to keep their blinds closed all the time, nor their window. OP shouldn't have to worry about having a kid looking into their window when she walks out of the bathroom after a shower. She should be allowed to sleep soundly with her window open without needing to worry about an easy entry point into her home. And even if the neighbor kids are non destructive, that doesn't mean that their friends aren't. There is huge potential for vandalizing OP's house because it is now easy pickings.

All of that plus it could be argued that the tree house brings down OP's property value as the view is now lessened by it. A woman that I know had a very similar situation and she called the city about it and they made the neighbor change it to be 1) within code as she didn't have a permit and it broke building codes and 2) not in the line of sight from neighbors. It's not OP's fault that the kids will be upset, it's the neighbor's for not thinking the tree house through before building it.

When I think of damage to the house I'm not only thinking of what the kids can end up doing, but what if the tree house isn't built well? One nice gust of wind and that tree house can easily do plenty of damage to OP's house if it's already that close. Personally, I think I would have a conversation with the neighbor, and let things play out. If it becomes an issue then take action from there; if it's a non-issue then I'd probably just let it be. However, OP may need/ want to make some sort of contact with the city regarding it, just to cover their butt if future problems occur. If they let it be and down the line something happens OP could be considered partially responsible. I've seen instances in similar situations where that has occurred. Overall, it's pretty inconsiderate of the neighbor to build a structure that close to someone else's home, regardless of it's for kids or not.

It's not just about others looking in the window. Some people enjoy looking out of their windows and not seeing a wall 3 feet away.

It's the neighbors fault for not talking to op about it despite it being so close to their home. It affects them but they didn't care enough to see if it was okay.

it's a treehouse not a bomb you all are over reacting it Seriously until op says that it is in their property, then it's the neighbors property it is their kids, pull on your big girl panties and buy some curtains. In case you guys have your heads way up your asses to see treehouses are way better than ground level forts.

Doesn't have to be a bomb to cause damage? And it could be a figurative time bomb depending on the tree. If the tree gives and starts falling, where do you think that tree house is going to go? When you build something that's going to affect others, you ask them for permission and make sure they're okay with it. Throwing a fit over someone being upset that something like a treehouse is so close to their home and specifically bedroom because "it's fun" is much more childish. Welcome to being a responsible adult: you have to be conscious of others.

#14 I don't know who you wanna impress here by siding with the neighbor or showing some kind of fake consideration for the kids, but I guess if this happened to you you'd be the first one to file complaints. This case is clear as he'll. **** what the kids want or how much effort that guy put in, it's too damn close to OP's house and why in the hell wouldn't the neighbor take those 5 minutes to at least inform OP or letting her in on his plan. For me, not doing so is the real crime here. Total dick move and shows that the neighbor ***** on OP. Case closed, if need be tear that damn tree house apart with your bare hands Viking style!

I'm not trying to impress anyone. I'm the kind of person who doesn't complain about shit if I don't have to. Confrontation isn't always needed. In this case, no, I wouldn't be the first to complain if it happened to me. I would be like "holy shit sweet treefort!" and toss snacks at the kids from the window. If you have the chance at awesome things and to just be okay with your life, why not take it? It's too much energy to be angry about everything all the time. My neighbours have 3 dogs that are always out and right next to my basement apartment bedroom window, and they bark non-stop. Do I call the cops or yell at them or file a complaint? No. I leave it be because some battles aren't worth fighting and the world isn't about me. The dogs are happy for the exercise and I get to see dogs whenever I go out. Why would I ruin that for them? We put up with shit because we have to live together with other people and being all about ourselves just makes life shittier for all involved.

Honestly, 56 explains it perfectly lower down. This isn't just a sound annoyance, there's plenty of issues.

48, City ordinances exist for a reason. As an extreme leftist I never thought I'd have to utter these words: you don't exactly seem like a homeowner, so don't expect you to underdtsnd the frustration. It's not like she can just up and move.

Kingdomgirl, I haven't seen such stupid responses for a long time. let me make some things clearer for you. 1) if the tree is literally three feet away from the bedroom window, you can assume it is within OP's property. No house has a bedroom 3 feet horizontally away from the property line. 2) Liability issues. If the kids fall out of it and break their bones on OP's property, what do you think will happen? A bit of brainpower goes a long way, doesn't it? 3) privacy. It doesn't matter if they're teenage boys or girls, they will look through the bedroom window because they're curious. EVEN if the didn't, OP would still be paranoid that they will. WHY should OP have to put up curtains or blinds when they SHOULDN'T have to? 4) vandalism. kids will be kids, and they will one day accidentally throw a rock, baseball bat, or whatever they're playing with and it will come crashing into the bedroom window. we all know this will happen, it's just a matter of when. kids will play games that are pretty dangerous and stupid, and they CAN cause destruction. Should OP have to live in fear of their window having something thrown through it? These are valid points that others have made in this thread. You're ignoring them and using emotion to side with the neighbor. I'd trust people who actually own houses versus someone who's just living in an apartment. Sorry if it sounds mean, but it's the truth. You say to pick your battles, but I see your recurring comments. Hm, go figure.

Kingdomgirl, maybe you should start standing up for yourself. You shouldn't have to leave if the neighbor's dogs are barking. That's very inconsiderate of them. People are just going to walk all over you the rest of your life if you don't stop being a wuss. Maybe you need to put on YOUR big girl panties.