Neighbour's dryer again

gundo

Sometime ago I posted on here about the neighbour's tumble drier making a low frequency rumbling noise which was preventing me sleeping or even enjoying the tv in my own home. I live in a 3 bed semi which I own, it's breeze (well Thermalite actually) blocks and plasterboard walls built sometime in the late 80's.

The noise before ended when the drier got fixed (it was still under warranty). Well some 12 months later it's gradually come back and is making a disturbing noise again. It's not particularly loud as such but so low frequency that it propagates everywhere in my house (my bedroom's as far away from their tumble drier as physically possible) and impossible to cover up (music just sort of floats above it frequency-wise). When the noise went away, the silence was idyllic. Obviously I hear stuff like doors slamming, footsteps etc. but that doesn't bother me as it's not continuous and doesn't go on for hours at a time. However it's hard to ignore the drier rumble at 1.30am as the house is quiet and earplugs aren't pleasant (they become painful after 45mins) and during the week I daren't use them in case I sleep through my alarm clock. They have the drier on everyday from 7-7.30am til 9'ish and again in the evening at 8-9'ish to 1-2am.

FWIW I'm a quiet and very considerate neighbour, just me no pets and no loud music etc. I'd be mortified if it was brought to my attention that I was disturbing them similarly. The neighbours are fine but I feel awful bringing this drier noise up again but I'm not sure how long I can go on with only 5 hours of sleep a night and also avoiding being in my own home as much as possible. I wonder if it's touching a pipe or a wall.

I dream of moving to a detached (not a reality on my salary) but really the house suits me and without the noise I actually really love the place. But with the noise I'm really struggling and it's affecting my whole demeanour and well-being...

What to do...?

delain

To be honest Id be mortified if I thought I was disturbing my neighbours and they didn't tell me I'd think they thought I was some kind of screeching harpie

Just go over and say that it's back, and did they know, maybe they can't hear it in their house maybe its against the connecting wall you your house etc etc

bertiebots

I think the only way you are going to resolve this is to talk to them. Is there somewhere else they can put the drier like a garage so that the noise isn't travelling through the walls. Or can you ask them not to use it during the night?

I really simpathize with you as we were driven out of our old house by constant noise and it was a 70's semi built the same etc. But for us talking didn't resolve the problem . They were just ignorant people.
Most people aren't !...so I am sure with a friendly chat they will try to sort this problem out with you. Good luck

delain

That raises a very good point, In my first flat my elderly (downstairs) neighbour mentioned to me that she goes to bed quite early and that the washing machine kept her awake and we agreed that I would not use it after 10pm, and I genuinely did not know before that that she could hear it!

Also every time I move house I always introduce myself to my neighbours, we're a busy family with young children and I realise probably not the quietest neighbours ever and I always make a point of telling them that I try to be quiet and if I'm making too much noise I probably haven't realised and please don't be afraid to tell us to keep it down

paulwf

Who uses a dryer for 7 hours each and every day? Their electricity bill must be absolutely horrendous. And how do they get enough sleep if they turn it off at 2am and back on at 7am?

Tell them to use a washing line and if it needs finishing off briefly in the tumbler to do so before 10pm.

Sneezy

1am?? I'd def go over and ask them to either fix it or stop using it at that time of night!

Horace

Speak to them and if that doesnt work then a complaint to your local environmental health department might work and you could always report them to the council for running a business - its odd to have a tumble dryer on for so long.

[Deleted User]

I'd go and speak to them, ask them how the probs with the tumble dryer were resolved and mention in passing that u can hear it again. Then say, it wouldn't be such a problem if it was during the day but it seems to go off at night. Just sort of lead the conversation in the direction u want it to go. Then u can ask if they could stop running it at night unti its fixed.

As others have said, I'd be upset to know i was keeping someone awake. We've got a fairly abrasive person next door who seems to hear me whisper (she complained she could hear me on the keyboard would u believe it) but I would be embarrassed to have her say I was making too much noise. I am sure most (but not all) people are the same. I'd appreciate someone saying something.

Errata

I'm struggling to understand how anyone has enough wet washing and enough money to keep a dryer running for 7 hours in every 24, every day of the week.
You say the neighbours are fine - so why not have a chat with them about it ?

gundo

Errata wrote: »

I'm struggling to understand how anyone has enough wet washing and enough money to keep a dryer running for 7 hours in every 24, every day of the week.
You say the neighbours are fine - so why not have a chat with them about it ?

Thanks to everyone for your replies.

As I understand it, she's using a tumble drier that requires a vent but she doesn't have a vent so it vents straight into the kitchen so this may explain why it's on so long i.e. it can't work very efficiently (their backdoor gets left open a lot of the time, even in the winter which I presume is to let the humid air out). I can't be certain though as last time I offered to have a look at the problem and see if I could solve it but she was adamant that I couldn't do anything i.e. she wouldn't let me in to have a look at it.

She has two kids so there's school uniforms etc. to do. She's ok with me but last time obviously after months and months I was getting quite upset (not angry at all but actually tearful at one point because it was affecting my life so badly) and since then I've sensed a bit of a "chill in the air". To be fair I keep myself to myself and don't really see her to talk to. I never hear the telly and hardly if ever hear loud music or other noise, so in all other respects a nice neighbour to have. With the previous drier she had, I never heard a thing until it started screeching one night in the early hours and then got replaced with this noisy one. Perhaps she's overloading it which would make it noisier?

I'm just a huge coward who hates confrontation or upsetting people. So the thought of complaining/pestering other people just terrifies me. I live on my own with very few friends and no family locally to speak of so I feel quite insecure and "vulnerable" to life in general anyway...

Yeah I know, it occurs to me that perhaps I need some counselling/assertiveness training.

Arthurian

This excessive and regular fan noise sounds like some agricultural routine rather than domestic tumble-drying. Coupled with your neighbour's reluctance to let you in to see the problem, I wonder...

http://www.thctalk.com/cannabis-forum/showthread.php?3427-Loft-growers....how-much-noise-can-people-hear-outside-your-house

Have you been in your loft recently?