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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

AIBU to resent neighbours doing DIY on bank holiday Monday?

266 replies

Twisterlollies · 25/05/2026 16:20

It feels like every time the stars align and we all get the day off and the weather is good, the morons appear with their power tools/bonfires.

AIBU to expect them to knock it off for the day so for once we can all just bloody relax? This racket has been going on for 3 hours now and shows no sign of stopping (neighbour with his work bench and drills out)

OP posts:
KojaksLollipop · 25/05/2026 18:10

Well, my DH has been to work today, all these stupid men with nothing better to do than make life nicer for their families.

Nofeckingway · 25/05/2026 18:08

No one person in an area gets to decide what is appropriate or not as regards Bank Holiday work . You can seethe and complain all you like but doing DIY or lawn mowing during the day are normal activities. It's the price we all play for living in urban communities of mixed people . People who work FT may only have weekends to do maintenance jobs . They are taking advantage of Bank Holiday , a warm dry day to do work . Not everyone has garage or workshops to use .
Sounds like you need to consider moving to a more isolated house .

BestZebbie · 25/05/2026 18:08

Bank Holiday weekends are the traditional time for DIY projects!
And the outdoor tasks need it to not be raining, so the spring/summer bank holidays will be used for those.

aspidernamedfluffy · 25/05/2026 18:06

Notmyreality · 25/05/2026 16:58

Never met a woman who would know how to use an angle grinder..

👋I do. I can use a MiG welder and a whole host of other "boy toys" as well.

LadyTable · 25/05/2026 18:05

Twisterlollies · 25/05/2026 17:16

If it needs doing then why wait til BH weekend? It’s an arsehole move, sorry.

Btw I’m not stamping, I’m cooking in the kitchen and hallelujah the noise has stopped!

If it needs doing then why wait til BH weekend?

Because it's their absolute prerogative.

Gosh, do you find all simple things so difficult to comprehend? 🙈

cravingicedwater · 25/05/2026 18:04

You’d hate us OP, it’s 6pm and we’re just lighting the BBQ, and we have music going 😁

Manxexile · 25/05/2026 18:00

Twisterlollies · 25/05/2026 16:44

I just think it’s part of the fact many men are selfish and simple don’t consider the needs of those around them before launching into whatever they want to do. Admittedly I’ve never seen a woman get power tools out at an inconvenient time.

Edited

These men are probably just doing stuff their wives have browbeaten them into doing.

HoraceCope · 25/05/2026 17:59

one time a neighbour shouted out of her window at someone banging, he called back, quite aggrieved, i am just fixing my shed Grin

MsGreying · 25/05/2026 17:59

My neighbour is unwell. He's not strimming or cutting hedges today. Mostly because he's dog sitting I think rather than ill health.

WheretheFishesareFrightening · 25/05/2026 17:58

Twisterlollies · 25/05/2026 16:44

I just think it’s part of the fact many men are selfish and simple don’t consider the needs of those around them before launching into whatever they want to do. Admittedly I’ve never seen a woman get power tools out at an inconvenient time.

Edited

Well my DH is going power tool DIY specifically at my (female) request. Most of our bank holidays are planned around DIY, which again is mostly projected managed by me.

And my MIL is the most anal person you’ll ever meet about lawn stripes, to the point that she comes and mows ours as well as hers as we don’t do it well enough.

Things can be annoying without being sexist.

Bravest · 25/05/2026 17:58

This

AgnesMcDoo · 25/05/2026 17:56

I had to listen to my neighbour using power tools all day today. Very annoying.

TheFairyCaravan · 25/05/2026 17:56

Twisterlollies · 25/05/2026 17:27

And weekends and late afternoons presumably.

DH gets home at 6pm. You’d soon have something to say if he cracked on with mowing the lawn or cracked out his power tools after 7pm. He wouldn’t dream of doing either, though, because a lot of little children live near us so they’ll be getting ready for bed.

He has precious little time at a weekend because he cares for me, as well as working full time. He’s, also, helping his elderly MIL clear out her house and late FIL’s garage filled with many, many old power tools, so she can downsize and we like to spend time with our grown up children. So, frankly if he wants to do DIY on a bank holiday weekend, then he will.

If you don’t like the noise that comes with living 6ft from your neighbours then maybe you should move to the middle of a field?

Bravest · 25/05/2026 17:56

This

Growlybear83 · 25/05/2026 17:54

Fizzybluewater · 25/05/2026 16:36

Those boys who have never grown up love playing with noisy toys don't they?
Don't see many women messing about with angle grinders, power tools and being anal about their lawn stripes.
Maybe it's because women have more interesting things to do.🤔

Im very anal about the stripes on my lawn and I love using my power tools. When you work, when are you meant to do DIY and use lawnmowers/ strimmers?

Dollymylove · 25/05/2026 17:53

LadyTable · 25/05/2026 16:48

Or maybe it's because too many women expect men to do the DIY?

'Playing with toys' is a strange way to describe home maintenance.

Yeah c'mon girls get that patio laid after you've levelled the ground. Those slabs dont weigh that much ya know!!

boredandgrand · 25/05/2026 17:53

Move somewhere with no neighbours.

FieryA · 25/05/2026 17:52

Twisterlollies · 25/05/2026 16:44

I just think it’s part of the fact many men are selfish and simple don’t consider the needs of those around them before launching into whatever they want to do. Admittedly I’ve never seen a woman get power tools out at an inconvenient time.

Edited

Isn't it possible that the woman of the house asked the man to get the tasks done? Why assume that the man is out to inconvenience you? Many people finish pending jobs on holidays. There is no rule that everyone has to be out in the sun relaxing.

ilovesooty · 25/05/2026 17:52

Twisterlollies · 25/05/2026 17:23

No thankfully he’s stopped. I’m going to park our car outside his house to make it difficult for him to lay the tool bench out tomorrow. Ha

Tomorrow isn't a bank holiday.

So have you actually spoken to him about it or not?

AngelinaFibres · 25/05/2026 17:52

I live in a village. It's been beautifully quiet all weekend. Not a mower,not a strimmer and ( remarkably) not a bonfire either. So, so lovely. Do feel for people who live with noisy neighbours

Twisterlollies · 25/05/2026 17:48

Let me join you!

OP posts:
PinkDaffs · 25/05/2026 17:48

Walkden · 25/05/2026 16:41

"It feels like every time the stars align and we all get the day off and the weather is good, the morons appear with their power tools/bonfires."

How intolerant of you. People with different hobbies or a bank holiday project are not morons.

If you live in a street/ estate there will be people doing all sorts of things. ...

It's not intolerant 😂. One of our neighbours is the same. It's literally every single time there is a nice day. Every single time. It completely ruins the peace. Sometimes would be fine - jobs need doing, some have different hobbies etc but all the time on nice days? It's just rude. If you know you have a particularly noisy hobby, be considerate of other people - that doesn't mean never do it, it just means don't do it during every daylight hour on every day when it's beautiful weather!

PicknStick · 25/05/2026 17:47

Twisterlollies · 25/05/2026 17:46

Next weekend would be fine

Thanks! I’ll make a note.

Twisterlollies · 25/05/2026 17:47

AlmostAJillSandwich · 25/05/2026 17:46

Unless you're sat out there in complete silence, you'd be annoying people too.
Music, or even just chatting, is louder than you think it is and neighbours will hear you, does that make you just as selfish?

So you think I shouldn’t speak between 8pm and 7am? Because it’s as bad as drilling? Ok then!

OP posts: