If you had scaffolding going up at 8:30 on a Saturday morning, would you tell your neighbours?

[ThedaBara]

I would, apologetically, beforehand. Saturday is a day a lot of people might be having a lie in, I would imagine, after a long week with lots of late nights. And I would also tell them how long the works were supposed to take.

And my experience of scaffolders is that they give you a vague time for when they will arrive and then you build a three hour window either side of that time and hope for the best.

Yes, of course I would.

Yeah, most places have them? Why would you dread such an everyday thing you're not obliged to join in with?

We’re having work done on our house at the moment and tried to warn the neighbours before it started, but they weren’t in. We’ve then moved out and haven’t caught them when we’ve done brief visits back to the house.

maybe the same thing with your neighbours?

I'm close to my neighbours (as in friends, not proximity) on both sides, so I always drop them a text if I'm having work done. That said, the neighbour on one side is a builder, and it's usually him doing the work for us!

Depends on the impact on neighbours.
If lorry blocking road, scaffolding near party wall, its going to cause overlooking/ privacy issues , lived in a flat etc then id defintely tell them.

Yes I absolutely would. It's just polite isn't it?

No, wouldn't cross my mind to tell them, hardly ever see them.

I'd tell the house either side that we are having work done (which is more than one of them did when they started a 6 month extension project) but not the specifics of what was happening when as you don't usually know. I don't think 8.30 on a Saturday is early either, I know there are people working shifts etc but you can't adjust for that and I guess when you accept a shift working job you accept that there will be more sleep disturbance than you get with a 9 to 5.

All but the chap next door who delights in noisy work from early morning to gone 10 at night.

I'd tell them regardless of time, just to be polite. Especially if someone was near their bedroom window.

No 8 30 isn't that early even on a weekend.

No, wouldn't and I'd think it unnecessary if my neighbours told me.

I wouldn't but purely because my neighbours are constantly DIYing and never let us know when they're going to be drilling the walls for 8 hours straight or something else similarly noisy 🤦🏻‍♀️🤬

No I probably wouldn’t. If I happened to see them I might, otherwise no, it’s not that early for a Saturday.

Not a chance.

My neighbours on either side both create more noise than I ever have and while it doesn't bother me I am very aware of the fact that they are inconsiderate arseholes. They would get no consideration from me.

No I wouldn’t warn, it’s 0830….. also with scaffolders you often don’t get given notice or timing of arrival

We are child free, too many drinks, far too late on a Friday night/Saturday morning kind of people.

I wouldn't find 8.30am unreasonable unless they arrived at 7 and started clangy preparations to start at 8.30 which they tend to do. Then I'd be murderous

Nothing to lose if you do warn them anyway. Scaffolding poles have a sound that is uniquely brain grating at any time

We like our neighbours and get on well with them. They would probably know that we were having work done but I would maybe mention it. Not that anyone would mind, we all seem to be early risers and nobody would be still in bed at that time. Most people would be at work or off doing activities by then.

In awe of anyone who knows when their scaffolders are arriving.

Fb (which I don’t use) would be way more of a ‘demand’ for me, whereas I use WhatsApp groups a lot for professional/social things.

I keep the local residents’ one (it’s not just our street, it’s our entire area — I just checked, and there are 89 participants) muted and might glance at it every few days, so it’s no trouble. There are no ticks of any colour on any messages on ours, so I assume there’s the option to turn that off if you’re an admin?

It pretty much functions on exactly the same terms as the class parents’ Whatsapp for DS’s class, which is useful for homework queries, lost coats etc?

In theory, yes I'd let them know even if it was going to be at 3pm on a weekday. Knowledge is power, and knowing that there's going to be noise at time X allows them to reschedule or relocate anything that they're planning that requires quiet (I can think of loads of possible events of that kind).

That said, scaffolders are like cats when it comes to predictability. My (nice) neighbour gave me a disappointed and slightly PA "it would have been nice to know that your scaffolder was going to start at 7am this morning.." when we passed on the street, to which I could only respond, "yes it sure would".

On our street of Victorian terraced houses lots of us have had new / repaired roves recently. None of us told each other we were having scaffolding. Min arrived on a saturday morning, as did some others. When I mentioned it to the roofer on the Monday he said lots of scaffolding companies just turn up when theyre free then let the roofer know the scaffolding is up!

@MolkosTeenageAngst
it might not make any difference for you to know in advance, it would to others(shift works may choose to sleep at family/friends, myself I'd prefer to get up early & have a coffee, rather than be woken by scaffolders looking into my bedroom where I sleep naked, I'd take the dog out for a lovely long walk so he's less interested in the activities next door when we get back. Etc etc.

@Janieforever

I don't close blinds/curtains -I prefer the natural night/day light& fresh air.

i sleep naked with an expectation of privacy in my upstairs bedroom, not some bloke on scaffolding.

I also don't expect someone to have access to my upper windows for security.

still the nightmares are all theirs, I'm 55, overweight & sleep like a frustrated octopus!