What evening noise is acceptable when neighbours are building?

swingaloo

Just wondered what people would think is acceptable for someone to carry on with building work in the evening.

I live at the bottom of a small cul de sac of 11 houses with open plan gardens and its just a single road in and out so a very small area.

The houses are semi detached and the people in the next semi are having an extension built at the back but all the building materials and skip etc are at the front as there is only a narrow path down the side of the house.

The building has been going on about 3 weeks now and obviously we understand that the work needs to be done and so a bit of dust/inconvenience is going to happen and this is no problem.
They have a men coming to do parts of the job at various times of the day but what I do have a problem with is the fact that the guy who owns the house seems to start working out at the front in the evening after his workmen have finished.

Last week he was removing fencing from the back of his house and clearing the ground at the back. He was using an electric saw to cut up the fencing and throwing it in his skip. Over the last few nights he has been using a cement mixer and last night he was taking paving flags which had been delivered from the front of the house to the back using a wheelbarrow. So you would have a few minutes of him dropping the flags into the barrow then it would go quiet when he took them to the back then he would return for the next lot.

Our houses are at right angles to each other and its virtually like having him right under the bedroom window. Of course because he weather is warm I have the bedroom window open (I sleep with it open all year round but have tried to close it whilst this is going on but it makes very little difference to the noise).

I get up for work each day at 5.30 and both myself and his next door neighbour leave the house for work at 6.15am. However the next door neighbour is away on holiday at the moment so it is not bothering her. I do usually go to bed between 9.30 and 10pm which I know will seem early to some and thats why Im asking what people think is realistic in terms of the time he should stop working outside.

Last night it was 10.20 when he finished and I was lay there getting madder and madder but I dont know if Im just being unreasonable or if he is being an inconsiderate so and so.

Hes not easily approached and he does not speak to anyone in the close. His poor wife is always being shouted at by him and keeps herself very much to herself. He is a real 'Mr Angry' but I am at the point where I feel the need to say something unless its me thats being unreasonable which is why I thought I would see what others think.

Thanks for reading.

.j.e.j

Just chat to him. Ask him how the works coming along and when it'll be finished. At least there's an end in sight. I've had to live in areas where the noise is constant and ongoing and it does grate on your nerves after a while.

swingaloo

Unfortunately he isnt the sort of person you can have a chat with. He blanks anyone who even says good morning and does not join in with any neighbourly conversations.

They havent even finished laying the foundations yet and its a 2 storey extension plus a garage and a porch so we have a while yet!

I really want to just go and ask if he wouldnt mind stopping around 9 pm but dont want to come across as unreasonable myself.

The thing is that I would always consider others and would probably have gone round to each house just to say what we were having done had it been me having the work done. He cant be oblivious to the noise he is making which makes him quite selfish in my book.

Ive just mentioned it to my next door neighbour who has said the same as me that she is really annoyed by his lack of thought for others. She has suggested that we go round together tonight with her 2 sons but I dont think getting a mob together is the answer.

AndyBSG

Unless it's between the hours of 23.00 and 07.00 then you're pretty much stuffed.

Councils do have powers to impose notices on constructions but for short term residential building works this is very unlikely and more for long term commercial projects.

As suggested, your best bet is simply to have a chat and ask him if it's possible to restrict any noisy activities to before a sensible time and 21.00 seems perfectly reasonable to me.

As you said, getting a mob together isn't the right way to approach it but if you and several neighbours happen to speak to him separately he may be more compliant.

.j.e.j

Yeah don't corner him, he's likely to get defensive (or aggressive!!)

Hard_Up_Hester

When we did building work on our house the council rules were that we could only work between 8am and 8pm, outside of those hours work had to be silent, painting or something similar.

firebird082

I would think that 9pm is a reasonable time to ask for quiet after - I won't do anything (even hoovering) after that as I think it's only fair for our neighbours. 11pm is ridiculous!

Rosemary7391

I play flute and clarinet, and make a point of not doing so after 9pm (frequently earlier) as I'm aware that the sound carries. I think it'd be perfectly reasonably for you to ask him to stop at 9pm, that gives you room to compromise to 930pm or 10pm if you have to. I find it helps to know when noise will stop as you can prepare to sleep instead of getting so worked up it takes forever to get to sleep when the noise does stop. Try talking to him when he's probably got time to listen, hopefully he'll be reasonable about it even if he's not into all the neighbourly relations.

pickledonionspaceraider

Does this neighbour work in the day, are the evenings the only time he can do these works?

The annoyance 'laying there getting madder and madder' seems a bit excessive to me, as he only kept you awake 20 minutes, not hours on end.. its 20 minutes of inconvenience and you are talking of getting a mob together

Just putting a little perspective on it

People comparing playing instruments or hovering to having building works done is wildly inaccurate, in terms of, if he is trying to keep building labour costs low, and he himself works full time, he is perhaps only able to work at night and I for one would not be gasping in shock if a neighbour was doing this at 10.20pm...its a one off event isn't it, building, when it is over it is over its not like he is blasting drum and bass at 3am..bloke is doing his house up for gods sakes

I know this response is bound to have some people chomping at the bit for not following the crowd, however the OP does ask if they are being unreasonable or not so yes, I think so

I am out of the house for at least 12 hour days, and on the odd night if I feel like hoovering at 9pm a neighbour were to knock the door to complain about, what actualy is, a few minutes of dull noise - I would ask them to leave my property unless they were paying my mortgage? I understand live and let live however expecting complete silence in this day and age at 9pm is not going to happen is it..many of us have no choice but to do tasks at night.

elsien

Anything after ten and I've been round to the neighbours to ask them to stop for the night.

SailorSam

Whenever i've been doing any noisy building work i'll mention what i've got planned to my neighbours a week or so before i start. I probably wouldn't start before 9am and i wouldn't work later than 9pm.
In my last house i had new people move in next door who worked until after midnight, but i felt they weren't the type to approach.