Noisy DIY at weekends

IAmWales

Robin-o'-the-Hood wrote: »

He told the neighbour on the other side, whose wall he does not adjoin, that it will take 5 months. More than a few weekends.
But hey...

Five months is nothing in the scheme of things. You don't want to alienate someone that might be your neighbour for twenty years.

If my neighbour said "how you doing" to me I'd smile, nod and go about my business. It's not something that requires any more than that. That's not impolite, but normally when people are outside they're there for a reason, not to make small talk. If you would like to form a neighbourly relationship then take a cake and introduce yourself, or suggest coffee when they're free.

And stop making irrational judgments about people.

kelpie35

It is prerogative wither he becomes a "friendly" neighbor or not.

Only going by what you have said I certainly would be keeping my business to my self and only give you a neighborly nod.

There are options open to you......... move to a detached property or buy headphones.

Robin-o'-the-Hood

kelpie35 wrote: »

It is prerogative wither he becomes a "friendly" neighbor or not.

Only going by what you have said I certainly would be keeping my business to my self and only give you a neighborly nod.

There are options open to you......... move to a detached property or buy headphones.

Seriously? I made the effort, was friendly and get a cursory nod in return (and it wasn't just once or twice, as everyone can have an off day, or be distracted). Now I just nod too. What do you do with people who give nothing back??

Robin-o'-the-Hood

IAmWales wrote: »

Five months is nothing in the scheme of things. You don't want to alienate someone that might be your neighbour for twenty years.

If my neighbour said "how you doing" to me I'd smile, nod and go about my business. It's not something that requires any more than that. That's not impolite, but normally when people are outside they're there for a reason, not to make small talk. If you would like to form a neighbourly relationship then take a cake and introduce yourself, or suggest coffee when they're free.

And stop making irrational judgments about people.

The neighbour who told me he would be working at it for 5 months also said he was a serial renovator who does up a house, lives in it while he does up the next one then moves into that and so on. That's about all my neighbour got out of him as he doesn't talk to him much either. If you know you're only going to live somewhere for a year or two you might not be too concerned about being that friendly with the neighbours.
As for the irrational judgements...as I said he hasn't bothered taking out any permissions/notifications for ANY work. Another member pointed out there are procedures for major works involving party walls, involving notifications in advance. We're not talking about drilling a few holes here. So my 'judgments' are not irrational. I am simply concerned about the effects on the property where I live. If that's irrational....!!!!

Brighton_belle

Well seems I'm going to buck the trend OP and offer you sympathy: that level of relentless noise, weekend after weekend would be wearing me out too.
I don't think there is much you can do though, other than check he has all the necessary permissions. But that won't stop the noisy demolition of the chimney breast, as that's already happened. If they really are a serial renovator, it sounds like they are unlikey to be too worried about fostering good relations.
We recently had our bathroom gutted and refurbed and I agonized about the noise it caused, especially the cutting of the tiles which seemed to take for ever, even though it was within the working week, because there are plenty of people here who are at home for a variety of reasons. But there was no way round it, the work needed to be done.

Callie22

I have no advice, but I do sympathise. The house next door to us has recently been bought by developers who are working all day, every day, from 7am to 9-10pm at night. If they're not there then they've got contractors there too. I fully appreciate that development makes noise but it's the lack of consideration that starts to grate - blocking us in (or out!) with cars and vans every day, standing outside our windows for half an hour or more every evening talking at the tops of their voices (and one of the blokes has a VERY loud, very honky voice) and generally being a bit 'grabby', trying to discretely pinch bits of our property because they think we won't notice (to be fair, they have been politely told and they stopped, but it's stressful when you come home and wonder what they've done today).

It's irritating too as they're developers so they aren't making any effort to get on with the residents or be sympathetic to the area in their renovations, they've been off with us because in our first conversation with them, we made it clear that we weren't willing to sell them our garden so they could build another house ... It's stuff like bonfires too, every weekend they light one, and then go home and leave it smouldering overnight so there's no chance of hanging washing out or opening windows. It's all very well telling people to put up and shut up but some people do lack consideration.

Marktheshark

Removing a chimney Brest is not DIY, if this is on your adjoining wall, you need to call the council immediately monday morning and get the work stopped until the correct plans and indemnities are in place with a party wall agreement.

He could be the bodger from hell for all you know and the work needs notifying and signing off.

FreeBear

cjdavies wrote: »

I just do these things at weekends when not working that is what it is for.

Like some, I could do some of the DIY after I get home from work... But the neighbours wouldn't be best pleased as it if often after midnight. So the noisy stuff usually waits for the weekend.

Just to keep the neighbours happy, there is a small development going on across the road - 70 or so new houses being built on a redundant industrial site. The noise and dust from the demolition took three months, and the building work looks set to continue for another year,

Robin-o'-the-Hood

Callie22 wrote: »

I have no advice, but I do sympathise. The house next door to us has recently been bought by developers who are working all day, every day, from 7am to 9-10pm at night. If they're not there then they've got contractors there too. I fully appreciate that development makes noise but it's the lack of consideration that starts to grate - blocking us in (or out!) with cars and vans every day, standing outside our windows for half an hour or more every evening talking at the tops of their voices (and one of the blokes has a VERY loud, very honky voice) and generally being a bit 'grabby', trying to discretely pinch bits of our property because they think we won't notice (to be fair, they have been politely told and they stopped, but it's stressful when you come home and wonder what they've done today).

It's irritating too as they're developers so they aren't making any effort to get on with the residents or be sympathetic to the area in their renovations, they've been off with us because in our first conversation with them, we made it clear that we weren't willing to sell them our garden so they could build another house ... It's stuff like bonfires too, every weekend they light one, and then go home and leave it smouldering overnight so there's no chance of hanging washing out or opening windows. It's all very well telling people to put up and shut up but some people do lack consideration.

That sounds horrendous. My situation is not as bad as that by any means. Although I will bear in mind the bit about grabbing bits of land as the amount of blocks in the front yard make me think there is an extension in the offing.

missprice

Robin-o'-the-Hood wrote: »

Seriously? I made the effort, was friendly and get a cursory nod in return (and it wasn't just once or twice, as everyone can have an off day, or be distracted). Now I just nod too. What do you do with people who give nothing back??

You can be as friendly as you wish to be, doesn't mean others are forced to be friendly in return.its not compulsory to be matey with people even the neighbors. You at least have an end date.
We took a year to fix up this house, we did tell neighbours and apologized a lot and bought a hamper at the end. But if they had been aloof then we wouldn't have given a damn. And the work would still have had to be done.
Look on your local councils website, look for planning applications and building regulations. You can usually search by address.