Neighbour changes use of garage and then complains about noise

anselld

moneyistooshorttomention wrote: »

Errrm....but isn't this the whole crux of the matter though. That is, the neighbours have converted a garage that adjoins a "garage". The OP is the one that was first on the scene regarding using a garage as something other than a garage. The OP isn't using his garage as a garage. Instead, he is using it as a workshop.

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No.
The neighbour was first on the scene with a use requiring proper building regs and sound insulation.

Two workshops would not have been a problem.

tunnel

moneyistooshorttomention wrote: »

All other garages I know of are either used as garages (ie for parking a car in ONLY)

Most garages i know of are filled with tools and crap from the house

Most garages i know of you'll be lucky to get a car in(driven around any new housing estates lately?)

Most garages i know of are used as a part time workshop to oversee house repairs/car repairs/any other repairs

I use mine for tinkering with my motorbikes, so does my neighbour, i know of only one neighbour who uses theirs as a garage for "A" car, thats "A" car in a double garage fitted in between all the cr&p from the house.

moneyistooshorttomention

Perhaps this is another difference in how people live in their homes in different parts of the country or different areas within the same part of the country??

Most of the men I knew back in my last (ie Home) area don't go in for "workshop" type activities. I guess they either pay for things to be done or they don't get done. Hence garages are only garages or are turned into rooms.

Maybe these two neighbours come from different parts of the country or different parts of the same area? Hence the different expectations as to what constitutes living normally in a house.

I can think of several ways in which houses are lived in rather differently by some people here to in my home area and I'd barely even heard of before coming here. So things do vary..

tunnel

In London where space comes at a premium i could understand it. But the OP lives in a link detached which i'd assume would be on a newish estate or at least an area where all the houses are built the same way(a friend of mine actuallly has one and all the houses around are the same)

For the neighbour to expect the OP to "quieten down" his activities in his own garage/workshop is a step to far and should be ignored.

In fact if the neighbour needs to utilise the space in his own garage to make a living space then maybe he should look at moving to a bigger house.
If the neighbour can't afford to move then he should live with HIS decision to convert HIS garage/workshop and should have taken the precautionary measures of sound proofing that so many posters on here have already stated

googler

moneyistooshorttomention wrote: »

Errrm....but isn't this the whole crux of the matter though. That is, the neighbours have converted a garage that adjoins a "garage". The OP is the one that was first on the scene regarding using a garage as something other than a garage. The OP isn't using his garage as a garage. Instead, he is using it as a workshop.

A garage is a brick-built room in which a car is stored. It is NOT a workshop.

Oh, no, no, no.....

Where do you get that idea that homeowners CANNOT use their garage for any purpose other than storing a car? Garages have been used as work areas since day one. They're a place for doing dirty work that would otherwise foul up the house, and which can't be done outdoors.

If a garage isn't a workshop, why is it that for many years, folks up and down the country have referred to filling station/workshop businesses as .... wait for it ..... 'garages'

The neighbours should have established whether or not the transmitted noise was acceptable to them BEFORE conversion. They should also have consulted the OP, possibly in terms of party wall considerations.

moneyistooshorttomention

But maybe the neighbour can only afford the size of house he has, but it isn't big enough for him (sympathies...been there..done that). Maybe now he has got just enough money to convert the garage into a room, but not enough to move, so from his pov he might well be wondering why the neighbour (OP) lives in a different sort of way to what he has been used to, as maybe he has only known garages to be used as garages before now?

It may well be that there is a Lifestyle Clash going on here, between two different sets of expectations as to How to Live in a House.

I haven't stopped to verbalise what my How Tos are but they boil down to:
- garages are just garages
- houses have front and back gardens and those gardens are looked-after
- there isn't any rubbish in the street or surrounding streets
- the area is quiet and generally well-behaved.
- the second you move into a house you make sure its modernised and your taste.

We all have what WE regard as the norm.

GwylimT

Would the neighbour also complain if OP did something terrible liking starting a car in a garage as thats pretty noisy.

OP, just ignore them, their actions have absolutely no bearing on you, if they want their garage to be quieter they can sound proof it, even if they followed the appropriate channels to turn their garage into a living room they will be unable to do something as it would be assumed that garages are noisy therefore it is their responsibility to remedy the problem or put up with it.

A while ago now we converted a garage into a bedroom, but we did it properly, so the noise from next doors garage was no louder than it would be from a normal dividing wall in a house.

tunnel

tunnel wrote: »

If the neighbour can't afford to move then he should live with HIS decision to convert HIS garage/workshop and should have taken the precautionary measures of sound proofing that so many posters on here have already stated

moneyistooshorttomention wrote: »

But maybe the neighbour can only afford the size of house he has, but it isn't big enough for him (sympathies...been there..done that). Maybe now he has got just enough money to convert the garage into a room, but not enough to move, so from his pov he might well be wondering why the neighbour (OP) lives in a different sort of way to what he has been used to, as maybe he has only known garages to be used as garages before now?

It may well be that there is a Lifestyle Clash going on here, between two different sets of expectations as to How to Live in a House.

Did you not read my post?

googler

moneyistooshorttomention wrote: »

But maybe the neighbour can only afford the size of house he has, but it isn't big enough for him (sympathies...been there..done that). Maybe now he has got just enough money to convert the garage into a room, but not enough to move, so from his pov he might well be wondering why the neighbour (OP) lives in a different sort of way to what he has been used to

How could he 'not be aware' of the OP's current use of the garage?

All he needed to do was stand in his own garage, pre-conversion, or outside the door of same, and listen at different times of the day ....

Surely any reasonable person would do this, OR talk to the OP first?

bouicca21

Surely the important issue here is not wrangling about whether OP should bear the cost and disruption of soundproofing his/her workshop, but whether the neighbour followed the requisite procedures for converting the garage. In many areas local planning policy effectively prevents this by requiring every house to have two off street parking facilities. Does this apply in OP's case? Does the conversion meet building regs?

If the neighbour is in breach of either it gives OP a bit of ammunition in the argument. Mind you if I were OP I'd still be thinking about soundproofing my workshop/ garage on the grounds that I would want to avoid having to declare a dispute if I ever wanted to sell. But I'd be wondering about sharing the cost ....