Nice neighbor

[tomsteve]

contempt prior to investigation is a principle that will keep a person in everlasting ignorance, and your new neighbor seems to be choosing ignorance. does she have any solid proof that says saw dust will cause this? i think you may want to suggest she look into other variables that could cause the staining, variables on her own property. a lot of possibilities stated already. i'm wonderin iffen theres a sprinkler system and well water. even if they all have water piped in, it could be a community well. any others in the area having a problem? wood siding? could be leaching(?) from cheap paint/stain.
i also believe that granite is supposed to be sealed to prevent this.
so i guess what i'm saying is: it aint yer problem. she needs to find out the exact cause before laying blame and i would be willing to put money on it coming from her own house/property.

 

[Madsaw]

Could just be iron deposits in the granite too. When they rust it will cause brown stains. She needs to be after the place she got the granite not you.
Bob

 

[mikeb1079]

i read your post with sympathies brother, i too have had many "problems" like this come up with neighbors. seems like anyone (man or woman) that does things has to deal with bozos like this. one thing that i've always wondered about is why is it that the authorities give credence to the whiners? i would love to be the authority that receives such a call: caller: "yes hello my neighbors sawmill is discoloring my new granite steps..."
me: "hmmm....well you see here maam the problem is that your an idiot....have a nice day" click.

 

[chaikwa]

i would love to be the authority that receives such a call: caller: "yes hello my neighbors sawmill is discoloring my new granite steps..."
me: "hmmm....well you see here maam the problem is that your an idiot....have a nice day" click.

Funny you should say that. While unrelated, I can relate something you may appreciate...

Many years ago I was a police officer in a small Massachusetts town. One cop on duty at a time, very rural area but was being built up rapidly in the early and mid 80's. We had people building 1/2 million dollars homes in the wooded area on the edge of a sandpit. For years, the sandpit had been abandoned and was used primarily as a night time party spot and daytime dirt bike riding area, both 'illegal' activities, but it kept the young people off the streets and basically out of trouble. As the new people built houses and moved in, we would get numerous calls of "dirt bikes in the sand pit", disturbing the peace and tranquility of the newcomers. This went on for 3 or 4 years; what could we do? The pits were barely accessible by dirt bike, let alone a Ford Crown Vic cruiser. Some officers would walk into the pits and surprise the participants, even making a few arrests from time to time, but it was time consuming and potentially dangerous if the cops attitude rubbed the crowd the wrong way. Even with backup from nearby towns we'd be outnumbered 30 to 1.

A lot of the new comers eventually resigned themselves to the fact that they'd moved into an area where an activity had been going on for years and it wasn't going to change, but there was one guy who got MORE adamant that this dirt bike activity had to cease. He'd call 3 or 4 times in one shift to complain and demand something be done. One Sunday when I was on duty he called complaining that there were "dirt bikes in the pit". I'd had enough of being politically correct and polite. I pulled into his driveway to find him standing at the edge of his lawn, looking out over the pits. I joined him in observing the goings-on in the pits, didn't say anything, and after about 30 seconds he turned and looked at me and said, "Well"? I looked at him, then back out to the pit, grabbed my radio off my belt and told the dispatcher, "The caller is absolutely correct, there are dirt bikes in the pit. I'll be clear, resuming patrol."

I heard about that Monday morning from the Chief.

 

[mikeb1079]

"The caller is absolutely correct, there are dirt bikes in the pit. I'll be clear, resuming patrol."

perfect!

 

[Justsaws]

alrite guys now this could turn out to be a long story...but anyhow i had a new neighborhood built across the street from me and my new neighbor had granite steps installed and recently they have been getting a brown type staining on them and she is blaming the my sawmill for it which is well over 400 yards from her.she claims the sawdust is blowing over there due to prevailing winds so now she has called the town on me and they came out to talk to me and said she wants to shut me down....has anyone had any problems with sawdust and granite.and i'm willing to help her but i'm NOT going to stop sawmilling...thanks guys i really appreciate any help

She probably found out that there is no noise ordinace in place and the person that she talked to told her to place a property damage complaint. If you have not started you should start documenting any interaction with any police or other governmental types. Pictures, they loooove to have pictures taken. Tell them to speak into the microphone while explaining to you why they are there. Cells phones can solve a alot of problems.

 

[rarefish383]

I skipped a bunch of stuff cause it looked like, "just cap her arse and be done with it", which doesn't really help you much. So if I missed any one else saying this, sorry. Poplars constantly drip a sticky sap residue, dirt will stick to it making it look like a stain. See if it will power spray off. If you were milling a lot of Oak, and piles of sawdust sat wet on the stone the Tanic Acid could leave a stain. But, it would take a lot more than one flake of sawdust, Joe.

 

[qweesdraw]

You might want to just call an established stone company and tell them your situation.
when they can find the cause give her a bottle of bleach and a scrub brush and tell her to stop pissin' and moanin.
I also wonder if the granite needed a sealer?
Seems it's always somebody elses fault (got blame somebody else).
Mark

 

[Cody Colston]

The stain on her granite is probably just a convenient excuse to get your milling shut down. If that doesn't work, it will be something else next time.

I would have a private conversation with her, ensuring the absence of witnesses or recording devices and explain how a bunch of really bad stuff might start happening if she persists in bothering you. Try to look maniacal when describing the bad stuff, maybe have a Bic lighter in hand and constantly flick it lit.

When she reports the conversation to the authorities, just deny everything and suggest that she might be a little wacko.

 

[Woodsrover]

Just read this thread and I think I have your answer. The mulch beds are what gave it away to me.
Your neighbor as "artillery fungus" coming from the mulch beds. Very common around New England. If you look around you'll see she's starting to get these spots on the side of her house and other places too. I bet they look just like this:

Educate her and you'll earn yourself a friend instead of a pain-in-the-a$$ neighbor. I'm milling some logs for my neighbor for free this week! That's how to keep 'em happy!

 

[MHouse1028]

i called a granite company who has been mining granite for over 150 yrs and they had never heard of this happening and said some granite has iron ore in it and where she is having it acid washed it will cause it to rust or corrode..i think somebody on here already said this same thing...and now she's tired of hearing the noise from my milling ..it's behind a garage with about 5 acres between us and it's a 20 horse honda with a large muffler on it..ahhhh haha thanks all for giving your input and it goes to show how tight knit this community of sawyers on here is...much appreciated

 

[KenJax Tree]

i called a granite company who has been mining granite for over 150 yrs and they had never heard of this happening and said some granite has iron ore in it and where she is having it acid washed it will cause it to rust or corrode..i think somebody on here already said this same thing...and now she's tired of hearing the noise from my milling ..it's behind a garage with about 5 acres between us and it's a 20 horse honda with a large muffler on it..ahhhh haha thanks all for giving your input and it goes to show how tight knit this community of sawyers on here is...much appreciated

This is a Brotherhhod without all the union BS