neighbour noise question -working in garage

worbikeman

Nobody should have to suffer constant or intermittent noise in their home.
I recently had a big dispute with the council over their own workmen carrying on works past 5pm (the allowed time here is 8.30am to 5pm weekdays only). I was getting stressed caused by long term drilling and hammering, about which I hadnt been consulted or informed on. You dont know when it's gonna start and when it does start.....you dont know when it's gonna stop. This is stressful to those who have to put up with it, which is why there are stringent rules already in place to avoid this kind of thing as it leads to confrontation. Your home is your home. End of.

Norman_Castle

I have no contacted council. but do they take in to consideration that its a pressure noise + low level hum all the time rather than a big booming noise?????

Yes, any noise, at any time, can be considered a problem. Write down every time this noise has bothered you and how it has made you feel, and add to it at every further instance. Do it tonight. Most people would prefer to forget problems, if this continues your noise diary will remind you how bad the problem is. You do not have to tolerate this. You have tried speaking to them and received a negative response. Contact the Enviromental Health team and ask what their opinion is of this. They will not take any action unless you ask them to.

MaggieBaking

Whilst I agree that it's a big problem, and needs to be sorted the OP shouldn't forget that the husband is not making the noise.

Maybe his wife is lovely, and her husband is just a horrible man. Perhaps she will be very upset that the noise is bothering you so much.

You should start a "nuisance" diary - writing down all the times the noise is bothering you, mention any contact with the neighbours etc. But personally my next step would be to try and talk to her whilst he is not there. Perhaps she will be very upset that she is causing a nuisance. I know I would be and I hope dearly that our neighbours would talk to me as soon as there is a problem rather than letting it fester. Obviously you're very stressed about the issue but try not to talk to her angrily - just ask if there are any measures she could take to help the problem.

As suggested, maybe anti-vibration feet, maybe she could move her equipment to the other side of the garage etc. For now I would try and avoid the talk of what times she is using it and ask her what she can do to stop the noise.

If she's as unreasonable as her husband I'd phone the council. But be wary because you don't want this to turn into a "Neighbours From Hell" situation.

JenC

I'm in the situation of having vile noisy neighbours (who are thankfully being evicted) and would say defintely keep a diary of events. I was advised to do this and naively thought it would be over the top and not needed. I was wrong. I hope your situation improves.

Phils_debt

If its her garage wall adjoining your house then it will be just breeze block on her side ;they could quite easily put that soundboard stuff up from wickes cheap and its supposed to be very very good

Jaynne

I would try the amicable route one more time if you can, maybe try to get a time when only the lady is in and see if her reaction is any better? As others have suggested things like anti-vibration mats and noise deadening foam (the pyrimidal stuff you see in recording studios or even lots and lots of egg boxes) on the wall could cut out the majority of the noise.

The reason I'd try again is that the levels of noise that can be considered a disturbance for legal purposes are actually relatively high, about the same level as a normal conversation in a room. My mum had some noisy neighbours and tried to get the council involved and although they did try to help the noise level was just below what was actionable. If as you say this is more of a hobby than a business then she could simply say she'll stop selling the bowls and you would have no recourse under the business from home route.

As for when she should stop, I'd say it depends on just how loud it is. You said the husband said it was making her better, maybe she's suffering from depression and having a hobby is chearing her up but regardless she really shouldn't be using power tools regularly past 10 in close proximity to others.

Norman_Castle

oh she doesnt use the hoover at night apparantly

Whatever she is using for dust extraction may be part of the problem.

paddy's_mum

What an idiot the husband is! Who in their right mind would choose to lock horns with a neighbour over something that could so easily and amicably be resolved?

blue_monkey_2

Also contact the planning department and tell them she is running a business from the property and they'll come round and decide whether she can do it or not. Working from a laptop in the home where you are not causing a nuisance is allowed - anything more than that, not a chance. I've had someone do this to me because I was working from home - not nice but at least I know where I stand now.

Hoody

Got problems with noise abuse from our neighbours as well and have done for the last four or more years. The police don't want to know even when we reported the racial abuse we had from them... The local Environmental Health team eventually fitted recording equipment and gathered enough noise to serve an abatement notice even though they shipped out three of their five kids due to the council warning them they were about to be recorded. And now they are due to turn up to the third court appearance in Jan due to breaking the abatement notice.

What gets me though is the councils housing dept has stated on no circumstances will they evict due to the fact they have kids :mad:


Not sure if the mods will allow this? (if not then pls delete) but several of us have an gov e-petition going here http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/20315

And any signatures would be more than appreciated. The site does ask you for some details like email address and home address. But neither myself or any member of the general public can see these details.