Neighbour has complained about Portaloo

we had one outside for 6 months when we had our extension done. Our house is detached but it was on the front garden. The builders were welcome to use the downstairs loo but said they had to have a portaloo as it was protocol. It never once smelled bad. Your neighbour will have to just get over it

I agree with this. I think it’s really unreasonable not to let the workmen use your toilet. I’ve got an acute sense of smell and I wouldn’t be happy to have a portaloo so close to my house. Let’s hope your neighbour isn’t upset enough to get someone to tip it over.

Bloody neighbours!

I often think of that SF film The Purge where you are allowed to go out and kill them one night in a year. I would gladly take an AK47 to some of mine. I had to settle for a "Cease and Desist".

Write TARDIS on it 🤣

It will be in their contract. Maybe you don't have it included.

My parents also had a semi detached and it was in the front garden

I’m sure the portaloo company will know the legalities around where their items are to be placed

This has been our experience too - it was priced into the quote. We actually said we didn’t want one but they brought it anyway. Ours is a 9-12 month job, that we’re around 4 months into. Even during the heatwave, it didn’t smell and there are around a dozen workmen on site most days. Our neighbours have never once complained about it (and we have nervously asked a couple of times to make sure they’re happy with it!).

Its my opinion. FWIW being rude to someone who has a different view to you isn’t big or clever.

Loads of reasons -

builders are doing dirty work and it’s hard to not traipse stuff in. When I work in my own garden and get messy, I don’t go in for the toilet, I just piss in the garden.

doors opening and closing and pets getting out

etc

i have builders in and they are using my bog, but I have put boxes up to stop my dog getting through and I have to clean the floor every day. It’s nothing to do with piss and shit. It’s a really messy job.

Why is it stressful for workers to use your toilet?! Mumsnet is obsessed with people not using their toilet for the intended purpose

The neighbours are at it, just ignore them.

My parents builders had a portaloo in their front garden as my parents were on holiday for a lot of the time. Neighbours didn’t complain and it was a naice area too 😂

But she wasn't talking about cleaning the toilet. She said she had to don a mask and gloves and disinfect all surfaces.

Really?

She’s being entirely unreasonable. A properly functioning portaloo cleaned as appropriate won’t smell from standing outside it. It’s also fairly common (I’ve seen them in front gardens) so I can’t see how it’s not allowable.
And yanbu to not want the builders using your loo - I’ve also read the horror stories on here!
£40 a week is well worth it.

Well obviously it's not ideal but presumably after you'd put down the smelling salts you just pressed the flush and it went away? It seems a bit much to hold a grudge about for 22 years 😂😂

I still shudder at the memory of coming home to an enormous, massive, unflushed POO in my loo, kindly donated by my builder. Who was working in my house with full trust and access while I was at work.

he turned up next day at 08.00 as usual, no shame.

this was in 2003 and I still hate him. Never hired him again. I’d only just had a new bathroom put in. I’m with OP.

I always let workmen use my loo and never had any problems. I made them tea and biscuits too. They are just normal people you know.

But if you must have a portaloo I’d say by the time she’s complained to the council and the council have replied, the work will be done.

Oh how big of you to allow them into your house when they're needed 🙄I really don't get the obsession over workmen and toilets on here. If you want the work done YOU should be sucking up the inconvenience not your neighbours! I have OCD and don't even use public toilets but it's just something you have to put up with. I wouldn't get a portaloo and stick it in front of neighbours so I didn't have to deal with the inconvenience. People are so selfish these days on here saying neighbour will have to put up with it-maybe OP should put up with letting them use her loo!

Erm, most reasonable people? We've taken on a lot of projects and had a lot of building work done one way and another and it's never occurred to me to tell the people working on our house that they can't use the loo. Feels a bit dehumanising tbh. We've never had an issue.

I doubt the council will care - I was offered a Portaloo out front (access at the back not possible, whilst there is access, the contractors weren't allowed to move the portaloo by hand and no one was paying to crane it over the house) - mostly for the contractors but also for us - we declined it because it would not have been accessible to me and I don't really care who uses our toilet, it is a toilet.

Tell the neighbours there is nothing you can do, it will be gone when its gone, you can't detect a smell ... and leave them to grump to themselves about it.

Have you cleaned a toilet yourself after 6 men have used it all day carelessly? Also what if the area that is being worked on isn't where the toilet is, if cutting blocks/ digging trenches/ plastering there will be a lot of dirt on clothes. I believe the toilet did need a deep clean daily and personally wiping over a toilet and cleaning up wee splashes and poo marks from a workforce got old very quickly. The posters saying its not messy must be thinking of having and electrician or plumber round for a few days. This is not the same.

This ^. It's ludicrous!

You'd be absolutely gutted if you experienced a fleeting chemical disinfectant smell when you left your house for a period of 4 weeks. Do you realise how strange that sounds. You haven't left much room for expression of feelings when something actually bad happens, if that 'absolutely guts you'

@Helenwalker2 YANBU OP and stand firm. Have a look at this to check your compliant with regulations: www.wcportables.co.uk/blog/ensuring-portable-toilets-meet-local-regulations-and-accessibility-standards/
Specifically:
Hygiene Standards for Portable Toilets
Cleanliness is critical for user health and satisfaction. Regulations often require portable toilets to be:

• Regularly cleaned to maintain hygiene.
• Stocked with handwashing essentials like soap, water, or sanitiser.
• Well-ventilated to prevent unpleasant odours.

• Minimum distances from buildings or boundaries.
• Screening requirements to minimise visual impact.
• Placement in accessible, well-lit, and safe locations.

If you honestly can't detect any odour from a portaloo in your own garden, I don't see how your NDN can.

Our neighbour had one when they did a 6-8 month project. The only time we could smell anything was when it was emptied. She will have to be patient, 4 weeks is nothing!

It's a blue plastic box, and they don't smell unless improperly used. It's there for a few weeks. You and the NDNs need to get a bit of a grip.