Noisy Neighbours - DIY

no.1swimmum · 13 May 2018 at 8:01AM

First let me apologise if this in the wrong section, and for the long post.

We have lived in our house for 30 years, for 20 of those we had horrible neighbours - but had little to do with them and kept ourselves to ourselves - they moved out 2 years ago and we were delighted as the younger couple that moved in seemed pleasant, we thought things would improve - how wrong could we be.

At the end of the first week one night we were woken up by hammering which started at gone midnight - I went out and knocked, it took them 10 minutes or more to answer - and I told them they needed to stop as it wasn't acceptable and that we had work the next day - they explained that they were hiring a sander for the floors the next day and needed make preparations - but they would stop for now!!! They made no apology but stopped and the next couple of days we had the noise of constant sanding up until gone 9 at night.

Then a couple of months later they moved out and had builders in to knock down chimneys, plastering and fitting an en-suite - the builders were great stopped all noisy work by 5.30 pm and cleaned up etc.

Since then the couple has moved back in and the DIY noise is everyweek, at strange hours - on more than one occasion starting after midnight, recently waking me up when he started scraping paint of the woodwork on the wall adjoining our bedroom (and their main bedroom) at 12.35 a.m. We banged on the wall on that occasion as I physically couldn't go out and knock, he stopped and for the next week I knocked on regular occasions when i knew they were in to talk about the noise, but they didn't answer. I then took in a parcel for them and when she knocked to collect it I said that we needed another talk about the noise, she was apologetic and very upset but he came out and started having a go at me telling me that he wasn't using power tools so it was ok to scrape paint etc - he really didnot get how much we can hear, i told him that I really didn't want to make a complaint to the council but it had now got to the point that I would if things didn't improve.

This morning he has again woken us up but this time scraping on the wall in our bedroom again - at 7 a.m. I am really torn as to what to do I think now that I need to contact the council. This is currently impacting on my health - I have osteo-arthritis, fibromyalgia and am currently recieving treatment for thyroid cancer.

Sorry to vent but I just wanted to get this off my chest - I think the time has come to ring environmental health and make a complaint, we've put this off as we want to move in the next 12/18 months.

anselld · 13 May 2018 at 8:15AM

Unfortunately people who work 9-5 jobs may still want to do some diy.

Some noise between the hous of 7am and 11pm would generally be acceptable. Outside those hours not on.

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/noise-nuisances-how-councils-deal-with-complaints

no.1swimmum · 13 May 2018 at 8:26AM

Thanks for your reply - DIY up to 11 pm I am surprised. He is at home all day as DH is here in the mornings and I only work until lunchtimes (when I am working - which is not at the moment) but he often doesn't start until 8pm onward.

I will ring the local council tomorrow for advice.

Alfrescodave · 13 May 2018 at 8:31AM

You mention moving in the next 12/18 months; is it possible to bring your plans forward and try and move sooner? before relations between you and neighbours deteriorate even further.

captainusa · 13 May 2018 at 8:33AM

Unfortunately, we found the council advice useless. Our council send out numerous warnings first before supplying us with recording equipment. Then, when they provided us with said equipment they explain exactly what is happening to the noisy neighbors. So of course there was no noise when we had the recording equipment. It did solve the problem though. We had anti social music all day and night for three years and it’s been okay for the last two. Soured any possible good relationships with the neighbors and now that we’ve sold our number 1 priority is a detached house!

anselld · 13 May 2018 at 8:38AM

captainusa wrote: »

Unfortunately, we found the council advice useless. Our council send out numerous warnings first before supplying us with recording equipment. Then, when they provided us with said equipment they explain exactly what is happening to the noisy neighbors. So of course there was no noise when we had the recording equipment. It did solve the problem though. We had anti social music all day and night for three years and it’s been okay for the last two. Soured any possible good relationships with the neighbors and now that we’ve sold our number 1 priority is a detached house!

Not sure how problem solved equates to useless advice. Seems to have been successful in your case.

no.1swimmum · 13 May 2018 at 8:58AM

Thanks for all your replies, I am surprised that noisy diy i.e. hammering and drilling can continue until 11pm, when are we allowed to relax sometimes we can’t even hear the tv because of the noise!

Unfortunately I doubt that we can bring forward our expected moving date, I can’t contemplate moving until my treatment is finished and our youngest has completed uni. He is living at home and we want to move some distance away!

Davesnave · 13 May 2018 at 9:09AM

no.1swimmum wrote: »

I think the time has come to ring environmental health and make a complaint, we've put this off as we want to move in the next 12/18 months.

If you are happy to flag up the noisy neighbour to your prospective buyers, carry on, but once the complaints become formal, you'll have to declare this on the seller's information form. (TA6)

7am is early on a Sunday, but the birds and someone on a large tractor woke me in my detached house in the counry a long time before that. I didn't get stressed; I got up and thought what a lovely morning it was!

ProDave · 13 May 2018 at 9:45AM

Let me give the story from the other side, as this was me nearly 30 years ago.

I had bought a 1930's semi, completely neglected for probably the last 30 years in a terrible state, most buyers today would not even have moved into it and deemed it uninhabitable.

Anyway it was the location that sold it, and I had to bring it up to standard on a shoe string budged which meant do it all myself. so I could only work after work and at weekends, and it would take a long time.

I had some really noisy work to do, I had a wall to knock down. So I went and had a chat with the neighbours. What I asked them, was would they inform me when they were going out, so that I could do the noisy work while they were out. The guy exploded going off into a rant "I shouldn't have to go out to get away from your noise". I tried to explain I was not asking him to go out especially , but when he did go out to let me know so I could do the heavy work.

I got nowhere with this. So I just dd the work to suit me and never spoke to the neighbours.

My point is they HAVE to do the work. So if, unlike my neighbour, you can agree times to do the work, it will be better for both of you. If, like my neighbour, you refuse to even discuss it, then expect them to carry on at all hours.

Remember any time you get them to stop, only DELAYS the work being done.

happyandcontented · 13 May 2018 at 9:54AM

I have some sympathy with both sides here, but employing someone to do the work means they do so in the part of the day when most people are out at work. DIY, is done whenever, so I do think that to be neighbourly that should be factored into the issue even maybe before the house purchase is made.

We had almost 2 years of it next door (at one point 3 weeks before Xmas) their builder put in a hole in the wall in our dining room! It was sorted out with no hassle, but the noise element from their DIY which was the bulk of the work they did was a major inconvenience, especially as my OH worked from home at that point.

Gloomendoom · 13 May 2018 at 10:02AM

no.1swimmum wrote: »

Thanks for your reply - DIY up to 11 pm I am surprised.

So am I. This is the guidance on DIY hours from Cheshire East Council...

"The times you will be doing the work (we recommend that you only carry out noisy work between 9:00am and 8:00pm and try to ensure that noisy works are undertaken in the middle of this time period)."

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Noisy Neighbours - DIY

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