Reply #9: First, your neighbor isn't the problem

[Warpy]

but that construction company is. Blow the whistle on THEM. Call the utility companies and let them know what's going on. They will come out and VERY CLEARLY mark where all lines and cables are. Then, if the construction company interrupts your service again, call a lawyer. It's lawsuit time. If you don't do it, then the next time they slice through something it might be a gas line, and we all know what that means. You'll be saving some other homeowner out there a huge problem.

Second, keep the lines of communication open. Even though your neighbor may be the dumbest and most worthless human being on the face of the earth, let him know what's going on, blame his construction company (not him) and don't make threats. Just tell him that you've had to call the utility companies about it. Those hamfisted idiots are breaking the law by not getting all those lines marked beforehand (the utilities come out with dayglo orange spray paint to do it). The law's on your side, use it. Just don't start a war with a neighbor to do it. He's not the problem. Yet.

I've only blown the whistle on a couple of neighbors. One was for violence, called the cops when a screaming fight came to blows. The other was for the most annoying dog I've ever heard in my life, a little pom that didn't bark, it shrieked, was left alone and bored all day, and I worked 12 hour night shifts in critical care and needed my sleep. That one was to a landlord, not the flicks.

I generally have a good relationship with neighbors wherever I am, and neighbors with their eyes peeled have saved my butt. I would do all I could in your case to maintain a good relationship with your neighbor. You don't have to like him. You are going to live with him (sort of) and you'll want to keep things as civil as possible.