We've had a noise pollution letter from the council!!!

[Stillmonday]

We aren't big DIYers but February my husband fitted us a new kitchen, it took a whole month inbetween work and he always stopped any noise at 6pm.
Now we are doing some decking in the garden whilst on lockdown. Some sawing, sanding & banging again stops at 6pm.
A letter has just arrived warning us of noise pollution and excessive hammering, banging & use of power tools.

Our neighbour was really annoyed when we had our kitchen, they even recorded the noise it made one day but I tried to explain it was a one off and that's what happens when a new kitchen is being fitted.

Now we are quite shocked to receive the letter but don't know where we stand. Are we allowed to finish the decking or shall we not bother?!

Even if we stopped until after lockdown, they are retired anyway so don't go out to work. It would take us even longer as we'd be doing it whilst working full time.

They are in all day everyday apart from weekends.

@Honeyroar My point was that they could afford to do their house, as another pp said they probably couldn't!! Read through the thread before making comments ☺️

I do hate it when posters say that people have a brand new car, therefore they must be wealthy!!!!! OP I do think that at the current time, why not maybe reach an agreement with the neighbours (whichever complained doesn't really matter as maybe they are all being irritated) that you will may be do 2 or 3 hours every morning at a set time then leave the rest of the day free. Thats a neighbourly and nice/kind thing to do.

@Thighmageddon I'm not judging anyone - they are judging us!!! I'm merely replying to others messages Ffs!!

Decking will take a few more days, maybe a week

Doing it yourself is going to take longer then getting professionals in to do it. So you’re dragging the noise out longer than usual.

Same with the kitchen: it took your husband a month of diy noises compared to less than a week for professionals to fit it.

And we should all try and BEkind during these times.

You aren't reading all my messages so I feel
I'm just repeating myself 🤦🏻‍♀️🤷🏻‍♀️

Agree OP, I would give up trying to defend yourself. I've read the whole thread and with your numerous updates I can say you aren't being unreasonable at all. I can't be arsed to justify why I think that, as you have repeatedly clarified things on the thread already.

What I would do is get the decking finished as soon as possible. I would probably hold out an olive branch and leave them a bottle of wine thanking them for their patience and ignore that you have received the complaint. You are stuck with your neighbours, give and take. Give more at this time just to smooth things over.

Then I would leave anymore DIY until it all settles. 2 hours a day on a kitchen is nothing and I think a lot of posters are just taking our their own frustrations on your thread. Talk about an epic pile on!

Good luck OP!

Honestly OP you're fighting a losing battle on here.

For some people nobody should do any DIY at any time (as whatever time it's mentioned on here people always complain it's wrong and should be done another time). If you have contractors in during the week then you're a pest to the SAHP and those who work from home. If you do work yourself and the weekend then you get slated for it going on for months and for ruining the weekend for the neighbours. Also nobody should buy a house if they're wanting to make home improvements to it, too much gardening is a problem too, don't even think about pressure washing a patio or drive a couple of times a year.

But at the same time houses must be well presented, guest ready at all times and homes that don't meet this standard are grim or vile.

Obviously houses magically become this wonderful image of interior design without any work ever being done to them.

OP your posts are filled with judgy comments about your neighbours. Read them back.

What does the letter actually say? No one can help unless you at least post the contents

They complain, nothing changed, so they complained to the council. Sounds like they are doing everything right....

On the entire thread, OP you have been extremely negative and unpleasant towards your neighbours. Yes. you are obviously pissed off by the letter, but not once have you tried to be a bit more accommodating. If that's the attitude you have in real life (and probably more noise than a couple of hours "occasionally", no wonder your neighbours have had enough!

Are you in a semi or a terraced? Are they also suffering from so-called "daily noise"?

Decking is a rat haven

The kitchen wasn't really a 'one off' though - it was a thirty-off. Followed by an all-Easter-weekend-off that's still going on now.

The 'fancy cars' are most likely ones rented through Motorbility. Which would be in keeping with not being physically able to wash windows or fix things, as a) Disabled people generally need transportation (hence the scheme, which is a lot more expensive than running and fixing cars yourself, but they aren't generally able to qualify for standard finance - it's like Brighthouse for the Disabled) and b) getting workmen in costs a lot of money - as evidenced by your choosing to do things yourselves to save money - which they won't have if they've had to use their additional DLA/PIP/AA on vehicles and then the cost of petrol on top.

A couple of days of noise is hard but manageable. A couple of months, though, every single day, seven days a week - well, that's significantly harder/more stressful/intolerable.

It's also unlikely that they are the only people to have complained to the council - that noise would affect everybody for some considerable distance.

If you stopped for a few days, you'd be able to hear the birdsong, thanks to reduced traffic and flight noise. For them and everybody else around you, a time which has been remarked upon repeatedly for the number of birds and the peace has been no different from any other, if not worse than usual.

It was really horrid of you to do your kitchen for an entire month! Now you’ve started again with your DIY noise. During lockdown when your neighbour can’t escape. It’s not surprising they’re worried.

I speak from experience and living next door to house improvements can be awful- particularly if the sawing etc is being done in the garden. Our neighbours in our old house were always doing something - kitchen, decking, patio, summer house. It made our garden unusable and the noise was unbearable.
You are being very dismissive of the upset this is clearly causing them.

Definitely ring the council and ask for specific complaint details and so you can explain what you have been doing

Jesus I can’t believe the amount of posters jumping on your case. What else are you meant to do when you have a renovation project on your hands? I don’t think you’ve been unreasonable especially if you’re stopping work by 6pm each evening. Having a kitchen and decking installed is perfectly normal and hardly an excessive amount of noise?! You’ve done the polite thing and let them know about the kitchen work. We did the same for our neighbours and they (like any normal person would) have accepted it’s par for the course of living next to other people who have DIY to do. Your neighbours are being unreasonable and have too much time on their hands if they’re filled out a 2 week noise diary to submit to the council...

I sympathise, but as someone whose neighbours have been doing noisy DIY projects on and off for the last 18 months, some of which appear to have involved removing all sound-insulating material. I do feel for the people next door to you, OP.
We haven't submitted any complaints, as we're mindful of the obligation to report any neighbour disputes if we sell up, and it has to come to an end sooner or later, but fuck me, it isn't pleasant. At all. Though I will admit it has made us less considerate than we might otherwise be about keeping our own noise down. Sometimes we're simply trying to block out the drilling.

Oh come on the weathers been glourios and you’re at it until 6pm. That’s really not fair.
Mornings only 9-12 for the noise so everyone can enjoy having to be at home. Why should anyone care that you want to live in a nicer home?

they are retired anyway so don't go out to work.

That’s kind of the point of retirement

Oh fuck them, you do your garden! Some people just have to moan about anything and everything.

We haven't even power washed our patio to avoid noise. People are working from home. Children are out in gardens. We all need to show consideration.

People making noise are anti-social.

Fitting decking is so unbelievably selfish that this must be a wind up.

Three of my neighbours have had the builders in for the last two years. Two at the same time, one off and on for all of that time.

Not only do the builders bang, hammer, cut bricks etc from before 8am every morning, they also have their shitty commercial radio blaring out for us all to enjoy, turned up good and loud so they can hear it over their power tools. Plus inane conversations held at bellowing volume.

Then sometimes, when they go home, the homeowners celebrate by having a party in the garden, complete with outdoor speakers.

I’m ready to commit murder. I’d swap houses with your neighbours in a heartbeat, OP. You sound more than reasonable.

Seems abit ridiculous as you are entitled to do home improvements. It's not like you are having constant bonfires, blasting music and having parties.

We've had the house next to us doing d.i.y for over a year. They bought it dirt cheap as the previous scruffy owner had rats and the place was a wreck!

We've had banging, screwing, drills, sawing and everything. He even plays the radio loud. Doesn't bother me at all. He in return can put up with my mum voice and my kids making noise outside in the summer 😊

LolaSmiles

Unpleasant behaviour brings unpleasant lives.

I have been home on maternity in a flat whilst my neighbour was gutting theirs and redoing completely. Because none of us were twats, and I minimised the noise of my own children as much as I possibly could, they always gave us warning and made everything stop during my babies nap times...
Not ideal, but life was completely bearable.

It IS very possible to improve your house, within the legal hours, whilst still respecting your neighbours. Everybody wins. I never understand the point of a noise war, and trying to disturb the others at the most inconvenient times for them. If you are a bit civil, people are a lot more understanding.

I had neighbours who were always doing something. Thank god they moved on after 5 years

They weren’t nice people but we never said anything.
One day we woke up with an Awful start. Some om drilling right near our bedroom window. We are single storey.
Rotten bastards didn’t even say, Btw we are Having the outside altered if you hear a noise. Heard a noise alright
Was like a dentist was drilling in my mouth.

So please have a word with them and warn them first .