What evening noise is acceptable when neighbours are building?

Mr_Toad

Based on your description I think the problem isn't that he's over noisy, it's that the sound is different to what you usually get in the evening.

It won't last forever so why not just accept it and adapt.

Thousands of people work shifts and sleep during the day, they just have to adapt. I was one of those people and you do learn to ignore noise. When I moved to my current home it was the almost total silence that kept me awake until I got used to it.

If you complain to the council they will probably come round with a noise meter and take noise levels in your bedroom. I doubt very much that the saw or cement mixer will be over their noise limits let alone loading slabs into a barrow.

meer53

I think you should accept it and not try to sleep before he's finished. It's not permanent, the work will be finished eventually and losing 45 mins sleep occasionally isn't going to have a major effect on you. The more work he gets done the faster the work will stop.

I spent 2 years only sleeping for 4 hours at any one time when my daughter was a baby, i was also working full time so i soon learned to cope with a few nights where my sleep was disrupted, i kept going because i knew that it wasn't forever.

Primrose

I think 9 pm is a reasonable compromise, especially if you have to go to bed early to be up early in the morning and have to have your windows open because of the temperature.


Once we start getting into August the daylight will start fading more rapidly in the evening so hopefully this will make it more difficult for him to work after a certain point in the evening.

pickledonionspaceraider

swingaloo wrote: »

Originally Posted by pickledonionspaceraider View Post

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

Yes he does work during the day and is home at around 5.30. There are builders working there during the day. The thing is that for some reason he does not start doing this work till maybe 8pm most nights.

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.

Its not 20 minutes when Ive been in bed since 9.30 and he is still at it till till after 10 most nights. the latest it has been is 10.50pm. Its not 'only 20 minutes' when its happening regularly neither is it just an inconvenience when you are already asleep and are woken by it.

Just putting a little perspective on it

To put a bit more perspective on it perhaps you could read my post again. I never for one minute suggested 'getting a mob together' in fact what I actually said was that I did not think
doing anything like that would help the situation.

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

If he only able to work at night as you suggest then perhaps it would be more considerate to start a little earlier and finish a little earlier. I have no issue with him doing his house up, as Ie said already the dust and noise during the day is to be expected. What I do have an issue with is his sheer inconsideration for other people.

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?

Thats a bit of a ludicrous comparison. Why would nayone knock on someones door to ask them not to use a hoover. A few minutes of dull noise is one thing and part of life. Using an electric saw beneath someones bedroom window, running a cement mixer, shovelling gravel and repeatedly dropping flagstones into a metal wheelbarrow is not dull noise.


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.

I dont expect complete silence at 9pm, however I do expect people to show some level of courtesy towards others. Ive actually rung the local council this afternoon and spoken to planning then they put me through to Environmental health who told me, amongst other things, that he is not supposed to use any kind of plant machinery which includes the cement mixer after 6pm.
She advised me to fill in an nuisance diary pack for 14 days and then return it to them. I told her I would rather give it a couple of weeks before taking that step as it may not last long but she told me to start sooner rather than later as I dint have to other to return the pack if it was not on going. When I gave my address she said she had already advised another householder in the close of the same thing. I dont know who the other complainant is but I do know its not the neighbour I spoke to earlier today so clearly its not just me who is cheesed off with it. .

When you asked in your OP ''am I being unreasonable?' You should have made clear that the only response acceptable to you, was to agree with you, otherwise you would get rude and patronising.

To respond in this way indicates anger management issues when you do not get your own way. This says a lot about your over reaction to the given, temporary and trivial situation

Your latest posts actually make you sound hysterical.

Georgiegirl256

No OP, I don't think you are being unreasonable, your neighbour is though. You'll get people on here telling you you're overreacting and that surely you can put up with it because it'll be over with soon, but I'm sure if the same thing was happening with them they wouldn't be too happy and would be the first to complain about it.

Personally I think 7pm is the latest anyone should work. People want to settle down and relax at night, not have to put up with noise that goes on for weeks.

KingS6

I hate to state the obvious but earplugs/ear defenders/ noise cancelling headphones?

That way if the problem continues for longer than expected or if another neighbour suddenly decides they want work done too you're covered regardless.

swingaloo

pickledonionspaceraider wrote: »

When you asked in your OP ''am I being unreasonable?' You should have made clear that the only response acceptable to you, was to agree with you, otherwise you would get rude and patronising.


To be quite honest I dont think I was rude nor patroninsing although I did find the tone of your response to my post to be somewhat rude. I dont expect all posters to agree with me, hence my original question. There would have been no point in opening the thread if that was the case. Your suggestion that I was about to get a mob together was ridiculous especially as I stated in my post that that was far from what I wanted to happen.


To respond in this way indicates anger management issues when you do not get your own way. This says a lot about your over reaction to the given, temporary and trivial situation

Really? I dont suppose we have ever met but clearly you feel able to make some sweeping assumptions about me. But to make things clear- I dont have any anger issues. I get annoyed when I think someone is behaving in a thoughtless way, not just to me but also those who live around me but the reason I posted was to get opinions on what others thought.
From those opinions it seems a large percentage of those who have posted agree with me. Perhaps they all have anger issues as well!.

Your latest posts actually make you sound hysterical.

Wow, and you accused me of being rude. Your latest post actually says far more about your shortcomings on a personal level than it does about mine. But thank you for your input.

pickledonionspaceraider

swingaloo wrote: »

Wow, and you accused me of being rude. Your latest post actually says far more about your shortcomings on a personal level than it does about mine. But thank you for your input.

To quote your last post:- I dont suppose we have ever met but clearly you feel able to make some sweeping assumptions about me..


Ironic to be accusing me of acting in a certain way yet go ahead and display those exact same behaviors yourself..


I am certain you will get all defensive again...feel free to respond all you like, but you will be on ignore...I have far better things to do...like having a good nights sleep..

swingaloo

Thank you to those who have replied with sensible replies and advice. Its much appreciated.

To the silly person just out to provoke reactions please take yourself off to 'contribute' to someone else's thread. Im sure you may be of some use somewhere and your opinion on me or my subject matters not a jot to me.

Keyboard warriors are full of self importance.

Georgiegirl256

Is it still happening Swingaloo?