How on earth do you cope with neighbours renovating?

[Motherofajuggernaut]

The house next door tonus has been empty for 6 years.
A chap bought it in August

He's been renovating ,every weekend and every evening since. He obviously goes to work in the day (electrician) comes to the house about 3pm and works til 7pm

He has on one occasion started work at 7.30 in the morning on a Saturday but usually it's after 8am
This morning he has a cement mixer running outside by 7.30 and was scraping the wall and banging by 8.30.
He's a nice chap, he's been in with some biscuits to apologize for the noise, he's knocked down a wall along our front and when he has his drive done were getting ours done at the same time but the same people at a discounted rate.
We have had a few chats and he's always reasonable and apologetic about the ruckus.
But I am sick to the back teeth of it at weekends now. I know he's got to get his work done..and I believe he will be a good neighbour once it's done, but OMG just shut up already!

Tips for coping?

Well, we went on a lot of day trips at the weekend but obviously during lockdown that's not an option! I'd be going for walks for a break and investing in some noise cancelling headphones - it's annoying but it sounds like he's been pretty considerate and the work needs done. Although I think I'd be asking him if he could start later at least one morning over the weekend to get a long lie.

Mutter under your breath, smile sweetly and plan your own massive schedule of works - once he has moved in, of course! 😆

Building works aren't supposed to start before 8am.

Honestly OP, I asked a similar question in the last lockdown and was told to just get over it by 40 people which was a bit shit as I was having a really hard time with the constant noise so I’m definitely not going to say that you to! Our new neighbours moved in in February and it went on every single day (yes, including Sundays) during the entire lockdown, from March to September (we moved out in September...)

I think the very best thing you can do is try to leave the house every day, even if it’s just a quick walk to clear your head. You could try noise cancelling headphones, they’ll work for some of the noise. I used to watch films with mine, not just listen to music, or have TV shows/ podcasts on quietly as “white noise” when doing things around the house. I lived in a terrace and it sounded like my neighbours were about to come through the wall most days. Maybe try to have a friendly chat with the guy and understand what his plans are, you’ll have a better idea where he is with things and you can picture the work coming along. Try to remember there’s lots of jobs to come which are much quieter (plastering, painting, etc.) and importantly, remember that, when it’s FINALLY all over, a good neighbour is absolutely priceless. He might live there quietly for many years to come and there’s enough nightmare neighbour threads on Mumsnet to make you thankful for that!

Truly good luck and keep your head up! I know how crap the situation can be.

My sympathies our neighbours had sporadic extension going on for three years. Painful doesn’t even express the utter hell. Weekend stopped and started.. never knew the schedule of when the hell was going to end .. no apologies. You have my sympathies

I also received some helpful “they shouldn’t do X, Y, Z before whatever time” comments. Well, the cement mixer used to start at 7:20 on Sunday morning... so I asked the thread if I should report the noise in that case and practically had my head bit off with negative comments! Consensus seems to be it’s crap but get over because “you’d want to do the same if it was your house” and yeah, they’re totally in the wrong sometimes but get over that as well!

Oh OP, I wasn’t trying to be unsympathetic. I hope you didn’t take my somewhat short response as a “just suck it up”...
I live in a cul-de-sac, and as various people have moved into the road over the past 20+years, they have all extended MASSIVELY and the works have gone on, 7 days a week, with only a few months break between each new occupancy.
However, I have come to terms with it, as I’d rather not fall out with anyone over it.
Getting away from the noise on a walk for a couple of hours a day helps, as does switching on the telly or playing music, and I have found that it really no longer bothers me, although I openly joke with any neighbour that does apologise for noise and dust, that we are waiting for them to finish so that we can start ours!
💐

Do you know what he’s doing and his long he thinks it might be? A schedule means an end date, which is something to look forward to!

I would definitely ask him- if he’s a nice guy - if there could be a guaranteed window of peace and quiet at weekends e.g. Sat morning till 10 or whatever. This month particularly in lockdown I think he’d be sympathetic- it’s not as if you can get away yourself.

It is horrendous. In our last house our neighbour gutted it and built/renovated it every single day for months. Long hours of noise all day into the evening whilst I was trying to work. We only managed because it wasn't in the middle of a pandemic and we could escape. He also turned out to be a horrible person. Would your neighbour be open to leaving it one weekend a month just to give you some peace?

We've been lucky that our neighbours tend to do one job at a time with breaks in between. A friend lives next to a builder who's a permanent tinkerer and they find it unbearable. They replace the kitchen every 5 years which seems quite bad from a landfill point of view

You are used to the house being empty as well, so any noise will be amplified. It really is shit though, I'm sorry you are finding it tough.

The good news is that the longer he spends working on it now, the sooner he'll finish.

Our next door neighbours on both sides have been working for the whole three years I've lived here with my DP. I think the ones on the left are pretty much done, but the guy on the right has been pretty much ripping his house apart over lockdown, or it sounds like it anyway.

At least you know it's not forever, and hopefully you'll have a nice neighbour when it's done.

Try to plan exercise out of the house, listen to music, and plan nice, relaxing activities for after 7pm when he finally finishes.