Family builds a new house with a view of the trees. Then their neighbor puts up a sign: ‘This is payback????’

A family working on a new house said they looked out from the construction site one day and saw something unexpected sitting in the middle of their backyard view. Claire Garretson, who posts on TikTok as @clairegarretson, shared a video that appeared to show stacks of lumber on the dirt ground with a thick line of trees in the distance across a grassy yard. A small sign was visible attached to a fence line within the trees.

On-screen text in the video stated, “Our lovely neighbors (who we can’t even see) are pissed that we are building a house” and “So they put this lovely sign right in the middle of our beautiful backyard view.” The camera zoomed in on two signs attached to a wire fence: a red and white “BEWARE OF THE DOG” sign above a yellow and black “POSTED: Private Property” sign. The signs appeared positioned directly in the center of the view through the trees.

Garretson wrote in the video’s caption that they showed up to the job site and looked out the back door to “this lovely little sign.” She said, “I get you’re mad bro but come on. I mean it’s whatever, I’ll get over it, but not my beautiful view.” 

Update video describes hunting and reported gunshots near the property

She added that they could not really see the neighbors’ house, as it was barely visible off to the side through a thick tree line. According to the caption, the neighbors had been upset the whole time about the building on their own property. “So I guess this is payback????” she wrote.

In a follow-up TikTok video, Garretson appeared to provide more context about the signs and later events. On-screen text stated that three days earlier she had posted about the sign her neighbor put up and that it went viral. The text continued, “We assumed it went up because they’re pissed that we’re building a house (which is true).”

The video showed the signs nailed to a tree. It read “BEWARE OF THE DOG,” then said private property and that hunting is prohibited. She noted she thought it was stupid because they were not hunters.

The video then showed a house under construction with a wooden porch frame, stacks of cement bags, and a man in a grey shirt and shorts standing on a ladder. On-screen text stated that she found out two days earlier that her husband had given one of their builders permission to hunt some doves in a tree facing the back of their property, which extended about 30 acres.

Garretson wrote in the update caption that selling was not an option. She said they were building on the family farm and planned to be a part of it for the rest of their lives, adding that this was the only location for them to build.

She stated they were going to reinforce the fence to keep any dogs out and put up some nice privacy trees along that property line. She asked if anyone had any other advice or had been in a similar situation.

She explained that she really was not mad they put up the sign to begin with. It was more that it seemed hypocritical that they were apparently not allowed to hunt, but the neighbors were allowed to, and toward their property. She said she did not care if they hunted on their property, as they were in the country.

According to the caption, they had already caught the neighbors’ big, mean German shepherd dogs on their property multiple times, and they had young children. She wrote that she now had to worry about stray bullets as well.

In the final scene of the update video, Garretson sat on a couch wearing a grey hoodie with her hand over her mouth, looking concerned. On-screen text stated that her builder had informed her he was constantly hearing gunshots from the neighbors’ property and that he had even heard stray bullets fly by him. The text added, “Our house will be done in a couple months and I was NOT expecting this turn of events to take place.”

Viewers offered a range of reactions to the original post. One commenter suggested a practical response to the blocked view and wrote, “Plant bamboo right on the fence line.”

Another focused on the wording in the caption and commented, “The last sentence makes you the villain.” A different viewer recommended taking a legal step and stated, “make sure no trespassing sign on your property.”

One person appeared to side with the neighbors, writing, “I don’t blame them. You’re new, so they can’t assume you know where the boundary lines are. Better safe than sorry.” Another commenter pointed out a possible legal angle, noting that a “Beware of Dog” sign can be seen as them acknowledging that they have, and are liable for, a dangerous dog. One viewer kept it simple and said, “I’d build a fence and move on with my life.”