Robert I thought of you when I saw this!

[hoover1060]

I didn't know there were bans on these things!

http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/CSM/story?id=3523847&page=1

 

[skip]

Love a clothes line

I have always loved clothes dryed on a clothes line, to me You can't beat the smell once there dry

Skip

 

[Unimatic1140]

Well thank you Jeff, I wonder if my six dryers are counted as part of that 88 million number????

 

[hoover1060]

or my 3 dryers?

I've never hung clothes out to dry myself, never thought of it really, and living in a townhouse, I don't have alot of space for a clothesline.
My mom always hung stuff out though, and I remember when I was growing up all the neighbors around us had clotheslines too.
Its definately a lost art I suppose.

 

[2drumsallergy]

Clothes Line Ban

OMG I have never heard the likes of that. I can't imagine such a ban being passed into law in the UK or indeed anywhere in Europe.
Line dried clothes are wonderfully fresh and I'm particularly lucky that I can dry my laundry in a sea breeze as my garden runs down to the beach.

David

 

[whirlcool]

David, what a lovely English garden you have! What are the types of plants in the foreground?

I think that as a token of agreement, we should all buy a clothesline from the Vermont Clothesline Company!

There is some interesting information on their website. It's worth a read anyway.



http://www.smartdrying.com/googlec3de8f368dd7ad42.html

 

[2drumsallergy]

Hi whirlcool,
Thank yu for your comments. I'm not a plant expert by any means that's Mum's department. I can tell you the pink flowers on the left are an old fasioned trailing Rose, the larger red shrub is a Fuschia and the white blooms are some kind of large Daisys. I will ask Mum later is she knows the proper names. The Fuschia attracts all manner of Butterflies and Bees as its produces a lot of nectar rich blossoms and it keeps blooming constantly throughout the spring and summer months.

The garden actually turns to the right as it nears the beach and runs behind the next two houses. It takes me a good hour to cut on the ride on mower.

David

 

[lavamat_jon]

David, what part of the country do you live? That view is stunning... better then my view of suburbia, though I do have the Lincoln Ridge and fields in the background as well as the cathedral if you look to the left.

Here's my humble little rotary airer in suburbia:

 

[2drumsallergy]

Location Location

Hi Jon,
Thank you, you have a nice view yourself.
I live on the Ards Peninsula in Northern Ireland between two small villages on the east coast. I like the sea view as its constantly changing, the tide is out in the picture when its in all the rocks are covered and then there are calm days and rough days with white waves. On a clear day I can see the Isle of Man and the west coast of Scotland.

I think it's full moon tonight so I will try and grab a picture of it rising, it always makes a nice picture.

David.

 

[tlee618]

I really hope this movement catches on as I would love to be able to hang clothes out. Sadly in my area here it is a no no!!

 

[gansky1]

We put in a permanent clothesline this summer and I typically have dried no more than a few loads of towels in the dryers since then. I love the scent of the fresh air in the clothes and it's FREE!

I'm all for "right-to-dry" laws but would be more excited with a comprehensive NATIONAL energy policy that would overturn line-drying bans in the entire country, among other things. (Hummers) I'm not saying every home in Beverly Hills needs rope strung between trees in the front yards, communities can certainly attach rules such as not being used on Sundays, between certain hours of the day, etc. -- just not ban them completely.

 

[polkanut]

I agree that there should be some sort of national policy overriding HOA's banning clotheslines. Isn't this still a free country? Tell the old biddies to stay inside, and pull their shades if it bothers them that much. I have posted the link many times for the type of clothesline that we have, and I love being able to move it around the yard to catch the best possible breeze.

http://www.freudenthalmfg.com/clothes_line/

 

[andrewinorlando]

....... I would love to be able to hang clothes out. Sadly i

Terry -

If you want to hang your clothes out, GO FOR IT! Since you live in Florida, it is illegal for any entity - government or homeowner's association, to ban the use of clotheslines as it qualifies as a renewable resource device and cannot be banned. If someone is telling you it's a no-no, they may not know what the hell they're talking about.

Andrew

 

[magic clean]

What if your

Homeowners Associations deed restrictions specifically state that clothes drying lines, apparatus etc. are not allowed. Is the "renewable resource" able to withstand that language?

The HOA's are good about reminding members that you've signed off on a set of documents and of course agree to all the rules and regs contained within. Otherwise you are not in compliance etc. You are part of some sort of a democracy in an HOA.

I've been written up for these serious offenses:

*putting trash cans out too early in the evening before trash day.
*rust stain in the driveway from fertilizer overspray
*brown spot in the lawn within "X" # of feet from the sidewalk
*vistors parking their car on the street overnight
*not immediately replacing a palm tree killed by a lightening strike.

Heaven forbid, a clothes line!

 

[DADoES]

^^Lord Have Mercy!

 

[launderess]

Homeowner Associatons are like co-op boards; usually a bunch of pint sized sargent major bossy boots with a control problem. Cannot think of any house one would wish so badly to put up with living under either's tumb. Long as I pay my bills and are not committing a crime, what I do on my property/in my home is my business. First person who tries to take away my clothesling may very well find themselves strug up by it. Or at the very least keel-hauled though a gold fish pond.

*LOL*

L.

 

[andrewinorlando]

In Florida, no entity can ban the use of a clothesline...not a Home Owners Association, county, city or state government. It's been tried and tried over and over again, but the law is very clear. Of course, that's just Florida. That doesn't stop HOAs from making other assinine rules, but they do not have the authority to ban a clothesline under any circumstance. HOAs have been sued and lost.

I am certainly not saying that people should have lines strung across their front lawns, or have clothes hanging over balconies. I purposely refuse to buy a house within a HOA as I don't want to be told what I can and cannot do with my home.

 

[hoover1060]

HOA's

My HOA is not the brightest group, and I've gone a couple rounds here and there with the association manager numerous. I'd repeatedly asked them NOT to use my roof to get onto the roofs of the houses on either side of me(mine is the lowest in front of the house) mainly becuase it freaks Jack out. I'd initially asked them to notify me when they would be on my roof, that way I could crate Jack and he would not freak out with the footprints on the roof.
I was pretty much ignored, until I came home one day to find my front gutter all bent, and a flowerpot broken. I summoned the assoc. manager over and showed the bent gutter and broken plant and repeated that nobody was to be on my roof without my permission.
The manager told me I'd just have to deal with it and the broken plant and gutters were MY responsibility to fix. I calmly went in the house and grabbed my mortgage payment book off the kitchen table where I keep it, and took it outside and handed it to her. She was puzzled, so I told her if she was going to make all the descisions about the house then she could make the mortgage payment every month then too. I put the book in her hands and walked back in the house and shut the door. Only seconds passed before she was ringing my doorbell. I took my book back, and have had no problems since...I don't pay that fee every month to be a servant to the association!

 

[gansky1]

I can't believe your write-ups from the HOA, Leslie! That's just incredible. I guess the only way to neutralize some of the venom is to get involved in the governing board and risk being swept up in the frenzy of brown spots on lawns.

Good for you, Jeff, your property rights should be respected and it sounds like you were able to illustrate that point well!

My neighbor and I both have clotheslines, mine is the "T" posts and lines, theirs is an umbrella-type dryer. They once told me that a few years ago, some friends bought a house a few blocks from here. They put up an umbrella dryer in the back yard and began using it. Within a few days, they had a letter from several of the surrounding homeowners complaining about the clothes hung outside and expressed their disdain for not only that, but offered a veiled threat of legal action claiming possible damage to their property values. The husband of this family is a lawyer and with the neighborhood covenants and restrictions in hand, moved the clothes line to the FRONT yard where it stayed - used daily for the rest of the season. No more was heard from the neighbors on that subject again. The neighborhood/development was formed in 1947 and the covenants made no mention of clotheslines whatsoever - mine are almost identical, no mention of clotheslines.

 

[launderess]

Much of this stems from the fact for the most part many people do not buy homes with the intention of remaining in 10 years if that. Thus they are consumed with property values because god forbid they should decide to sell and not get three or more times back what they paid. One can't get away from these people, they wake each morning and check the houses for sale adverts/property listings to see what homes/apartments in their area/building are selling/sold for. If property values drop, someone is slacking off and bringing the area down, and a witch hunt is launched to find the offender(s), and bring them to justice.

Then there are of course the "White Man's Burden" sort who feel it is their God given duty to preserve the area and save those not so blessed from slipping slowly down the social and economic ladder. Clothes lines are for "poor people", who cannot afford to own much less use a dryer, or so goes the rationale.

Those condesending Hyacinth Bucket types get right up my nose. One would just like to turn the hose on them or set the dogs upon them the minute they show up at the door. Don't bother answering nor inquiring why they have come, it is never good news and always an occasion for dressing you down for yet another infraction of the endless stupid rules.

 

[frigilux]

There are actually clothesline bans? Never heard of such a thing. Must be a 'city' issue. Except for my college years, I've lived in very, very small towns (2,000 and 4,500); No one would dream of trying to ban clotheslines.

I'm a recent convert to outdoor line-drying. I love it---and the savings on my electric bill.

 

[whirlcool]

Watch Out For "Undercover Agents"

we live on a cul-de-sac. The first two years we lived here, just about everyone on our block would get bombarded with "nasty-grams" from our HOA. It could be:

Your house paint color is not becoming to the neighborhood.
You are putting your garbage bags out too early.
You have been caught taking garbage down to the end of your driveway in your "morning clothes".
Your grass is too tall/your grass is too short.
Your automobile is not "of the level of condition that one would expect to see in a neighborhood such as ours". I actually got that one for having my 1970 VW Squareback on the driveway!

Then our little 80 year old granny that lived at the end of the street moved. All of a sudden all of these nasty-grams stopped.
It didn't take too much for us to conclude who was at the bottom of all that mess with the HOA.

Most HOA people are little Hitler's that are also major league control freaks. I would say the women on the board are much worse than the men. At least with a guy, he'll understand the mechanics of your property.

 

[rinso]

I think our HOA consists of 2 Schnauzers, a Lab, several mutts, 16 cats, 4 horses, 2 cows, about a dozen ducks, a goat, and other assorted barnyard critters. At least that's what I can see from our back yard.

They haven't complained too much about our clothes lines. Good thing, too, as we have a standing rule in our house. We never put in the dryer, what can be hung outside. This should help Mr. Fisher's and Mr. Paykel's (I heard they were lovers) dryer last a long time.

 

[frigilux]

Wow, HOA's sound like a pain in the ass! We have no such thing in my little burg. I can't imagine someone telling me what I can or cannot do with my own home and property. Bitching about putting garbage cans out too early or guests parking their cars on the street overnight? Lordy!

 

[badata]

WOW!!!!

Terry............hang your damn clothes on the line!!!!!

what i'm hearing from you guys is just unbelievable!!! WHO GIVES THESE PEOPLE THE RIGHT TO MAKE THESE DECISIONS?? NEVER NEVER NEVER !!!! I would do the opposite of these stupid "rules" just to CAUSE a problem!!!! WHAT is wrong with hanging your clothes on the line? and taking your garbage out too early??? WHAT???????? are you serious?? i would tell these people to ---- off!!!! none of this affects me but i can tell you i'm getting pissed!! the more i think about it the madder i get!!!! who do these people think they are?? unless they are paying MY mortgage and MY taxes.....they don't have a say!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! maybe i'm seeing things too narrowly? i don't know but WOW!!!! incredible

 

[hoover1060]

Well I never...

Intended this thread to go off in this direction!

For the most part my HOA is ok, and I have done some stuff to the house that I did not seek approval from the HOA for(just wait til I paint my front doors harvest gold or pumpkin orange like I saw on another house in the neighborhood)
I also know that the HOA people have jobs to do too, but they have to be responsible and courteous as well.
I am pretty lucky though, my monthly HOA fee is only $140, that pasy for all outside maintenance(Lawn, weeds, leaves, snow removal) garbage pickup, and allows me use of a 9 hole golf course(literally steps from my front door) and a clubhouse with two outdoor and one indoor pool. They keep pretty good care of everything, so I have no real gripe about the money every month.
Some people I know pay twice that every month for much less service!

 

[re563]

First of all I have to say, Being a Realestate appraiser, Clotheslines DO NOT effect property value. This falls under "Personal Preference". As does the choice over carpet or tile, Rocker lightswitches over conventional lightswitches, Blue painted interior walls over yellow. All personal preference and does not effect the value of a home. All of these things can be changed/removed when a new owner takes the home.

The debate over clotheslines goes right along with many, many laws that are getting passed everyday that everyone has no idea how they effect them. I would be willing to bet that all of us here are breaking some sort of law everyday that is on the books that we don't even know about. Slowly "they" are trying to take away rights of everyone. People of America need to stand up and take back the control of our governments. I quote both from the Constitution and the movie "American President"--"It is not only the right of the American public to question our leaders, but our responsibilty"

 

[tlee618]

Thanks everyone for the information about the clotheslines. Not sure what would happen here because as Leslie mentioned I signed a contract of such when I moved in stating I would follow the rules. This has become a very interesting thread!!

 

[63getelevision]

RE563, Have You Met

Mr. Councelor? That is his name. In 2005, I was reeling from abuse at work, three major hurricanes that had damaged my house, a depression from personal problems, and at the time, the grass was not high, but there were some daisies growing in clumps, maybe four, and the planter was a mess. There were much worse around here, (River Park) and I get this detailed property assessment and old picture of the house, from this twisty-assed Naziesque little queen, which in turn caused me no end of anguish. My brother, one of the owners of this property, gave no sympathy or support. After having complied, I never heard a word out of the little weasel, and had to call him, but he did show in person the day my next door neighbor got busted for animal abuse. Bottom line, neighbor was not charged with abuse, because animals were fed and well cared for, but the inside of the house was another story. Situation was corrected to the best of my poor friends ability, and her eldery dog was put to sleep as a result of her interfering "friend" that had to take posession of the house because of a forclosure. Long story, but anyhow, I have a clothesline, that I use for airing out bedding and rugs.

 

[magic clean]

Here is an overview into

the world of Florida HOA's. Really, they are not bad. They can be somewhat onerous depending on whom you have for neighbors as Whirlcool mentioned earlier.

http://www.ccfj.net/HOAFLCCRnorm.html