A Wisconsin woman praised two of her neighbors for using their snowblowers to clear all of the sidewalks and driveways on her street. However, she shared why they refused to help one house on the block.
In a video with over 511,000 views, TikToker Kristina De Kaos (@kristinadekaos) walks out of her house on a snowy day, giddy to show viewers her “neighbor drama.”
She explains that two of her neighbors have a friendly competition every time it snows to see who can clear the street’s driveways and sidewalks the fastest with their snowblowers.
“It’s very neighborly here,” De Kaos says. “But you can always tell there’s one neighbor on the street that they don’t like.”
She points to a house at the end of the street, with its sidewalk and driveway still mostly covered in snow.
While she didn’t initially plan to share the lore behind the snow feud, she eventually caved to commenters and posted a follow-up video.
What Sparked The Snowblower Feud?
De Kaos explains that the singled-out house is owned by the youngest guy on the street. But despite being in good health, he refuses to help his older neighbors clear the sidewalk and driveway he shares with them.
While one of the neighbors used to blow his driveway for him for 10 years, an altercation over snow sparked the feud.
“One day he got drunk and picked a fight with [the neighbor with the snowblower] about the snow being in his driveway after this guy cleared his driveway for 10 years,” she explains. “He’s never helped.”
The neighbor with the snowblower now retaliates by completely avoiding the man’s property every time it snows.
She notes that the offending neighbor now hires a professional snow removal service to plow his driveway.
Are You Required To Clear Snow On Your Sidewalk?
While sidewalks are city property, many states require homeowners to clear all snow off the walkways surrounding their houses.
According to the City of Madison, Wisconsin’s capital, homeowners have 24 to 48 hours after snow stops to clear their sidewalks and private driveways. If homeowners fail to remove the snow, they may receive a citation or a fine from the city.
On the r/MadisonWI subreddit, homeowners debate the fees for failing to clear snow.
“It bothers me so much that citizens are responsible for shoveling public sidewalks. I don’t own the sidewalk, I shouldn’t be responsible for it. Why don’t we just make it so the city crews don’t have to do anything and clear the road along our property lines as well?” one wrote.
Another suggests, “Fines should be a percentage of people’s net worth. S— would change so fast.”
What Do Viewers Think Of The Drama?
In the comments of De Kaos’ video, many viewers agreed with the snowblowers’ decision to ignore the combative neighbor.
“You gotta be a good villager to have a village! His loss!” one commented.
Another shared, “Our street has a neighbor like that. All the neighbors help each other out except him. I feel bad for the wife and kids but he picks fights with everyone over the smallest things.”
Others commented on their own neighbor drama and shared how they handle it.
“We had someone in my apartment complex asked us to shovel out his car when we were all out helping each other. We put all our snow behind his car,” a commenter said.
“My next door neighbor is this way. We share a driveway and I only do my side,” a second wrote.
A third shared, “Oh my goodness…I have neighbors JUST like this. The wife called the police on my daughter because she mowed their grass which is actually our grass. We share a property line.”
@kristinadekaos neighbor drama and the snow wars
BroBible reached out to De Kaos via TikTok comment for further comment.