Noisy 'DIY'

Coveredinbees!!!!

My neighbour, who maybe a council tenant (they may have brought it from the council I don't know) have been building a decking. I have no problem with that but all last week they have been starting at about 6pm and working until 9pm. It was quiet on Friday but then they started up again at around 9:30am and went on to about 3pm, we went out for most of the day so it wasn't too bad. Today we were in all day as it was my Dads Birthday and we were doing lunch. They started up again at around 10am and by 7pm I had had enough and ask politely when they planned on finishing and the guy said half an hour. I left it until around 8 (about when my kids should be going to bed) and he said they were nearly done. We got in to a slightly heated debate about what he should and should be doing on a Sunday. I mostly kept my cool but he started f'ing at me. They finally shut up at 8:45, when we put the kids to bed as it would be a waste of time doing it earlier.



I had a look on my local council web site as they had now got my back up and the 'guidance' says 8am to 6pm week days, 8am to 1pm on Saturday and no work on Sundays or bank holidays.


In reality I don't have a problem with doing a bit of DIY on a Sunday but getting on for 12 hour of it is a bit much, I though 6pm finish is reasonable. We all have work to do from time to time.



What should I do, if I report them as I suspect they are contractors doing some weekend work or just put up. We are thinking of moving in the next couple of years as they have been a pita since they moved in and have had enough. We had problems in the past with noise and we are not on speaking terms.

G_M

It's primarily daytime noise.
It's bank holiday - when lots of people do DIY.
It's a one-off project that will shortly be finished.


Annoying, but not much to complain about realistically.


Assuming relations are decent, invite neighbour to tea (or take a tray round to his garden) along with a nice bit of madeira drizzle cake and negotiate a daily end-time for noise eg 7 PM or whatever.

hazyjo

Blimey, don't start a neighbour dispute over something small like that. It's a short term job. What happens when you want to extend, or convert the loft, or your kids want to scream on a trampoline in your garden or kick a football against the fence!

Should be pleased you have neighbours who improve and maintain their property.

Norman_Castle

The work will be finished by the time you get a reply to the complaint. If the council did consider this a breach of rules they would ask the householder not to do it again. It would take multiple breaches for enforcement action to be taken.

Fosterdog

Just let it go, even if they have a huge area to complete building decking doesn't take that long really and it sounds like they work all day to only be able to start at 6pm on weekdays. It can't be far off finished with the worst of the noisy bits.

Personally I would have offered to help them so the job gets done quicker, in my street whatever starts out as a DIY or garden project for one house ends up being a community project with everyone pitching in to help. Most recently it's been cutting back the overgrown garden of an elderly neighbour who can no longer manage it himself, a few weeks ago it was laying a new patio for another neighbour, the week before that it was cleaning out everyone's guttering, a few months ago taking down old fir trees from a garden and generally tidying and clearing the garden. Next project I know of is our garden with us building a new wall, new steps and laying a patio. We know we'll have plenty of help to do it all.

Davesnave

Coveredinbees!!!! wrote: »

I had a look on my local council web site as they had now got my back up and the 'guidance' says 8am to 6pm week days, 8am to 1pm on Saturday and no work on Sundays or bank holidays.

What should I do, if I report them as I suspect they are contractors doing some weekend work or just put up.

You 'suspect' they are contractors, but if you report them, the neighbour will say they're mates.

The guidance is just that; it has no standing in law for ordinary DIYers, though repeated incidences of loud noise, however caused, might be actionable.

You have been temporarily inconvenienced.

AdrianC

Coveredinbees!!!! wrote: »

I had a look on my local council web site as they had now got my back up and the 'guidance' says 8am to 6pm week days, 8am to 1pm on Saturday and no work on Sundays or bank holidays.

Which is clearly unrealistic, since it means anybody who has a normal working week has just one morning per week to do any property maintenance.

My own local authority's website gives no times, only...

DIY
Don't mow your lawn or start DIY too early or late - you may be an early riser or a night owl, but others may not be! Noisy DIY activities should be kept to a minimum amount of time, or pre-warn neighbours about lengthy DIY work. When buying new power tools, look for the Quiet Mark Award which can help you choose quieter equipment.

So it's all about what's a reasonable hour. They aren't starting until 9.30-10am? So no problem there. 8.30-9pm? Well, it's hardly stupid-late, is it? Complaining at 7pm? No, that's a bit much.

We got in to a slightly heated debate about what he should and should be doing on a Sunday. I mostly kept my cool but he started f'ing at me.

I'm sorry, but I fail to see what relevance "it's Sunday" has to the price of fish. And, from reading between the lines of that, I suspect that his version of the conversation may differ markedly from the one you just gave...

babyblade41

Pick your arguments carefully, this isn't one of them ....

Sedge123

Well I can speak from the other side. We’re coming to the end of a total renovation of our house and can only be thankful we have very understanding neighbours. Expecting people only to do diy on a Saturday morning is unrealistic. As others have said it’s a short term thing- at least by working later they will have got it done quicker.

ognum

So many messages on here about people living next to messy, dilapidated houses. Be thankful they are doing improvements.

After a long day working I can understand them getting fed up when you complain. Take around a cake, explain your frustration and try to rebuild your relationship.

Doozergirl

I'd be apologising for having a go. (I wouldn't have had a go in the first place because it's inappropriate and his reaction to you therefore irrelevant).

It's frustrating, but it's very temporary and you'll be living next door to them for far, far longer than this continues for. It's just decking. Neighbourly relations take precedence.

You cannot have conversation where you tell people what they can do 'on a Sunday'.