AIBU to ask my new neighbours to stop drilling at 7.30pm on a Sat night?

[littlewaltham]

I live in a terraced house. A couple purchased the house next door 3 months ago and have been renovating the house ever since. Their families are pitching in and the noisy drilling and banging goes on over the weekend. I have just been in to ask them to stop driling and was met with 4 stony faces as if I had asked them to drill their hands to the floorboards (tempting). The neighbours have chosen not to move in until the renovations are complete!

I have a 4 year old DD who settles for sleep between 7pm and 7.30 :(

[HipHopOpotomus]

I've always understood anything but emergency drilling after about 6.30pm to be unreasonable. Evenings are for relaxing not drilling. YANBU

[rockinhippy]

^Well sorreeeee I mean how else am I supposed to celebrate an orgasm?

Actually, that's a rhetorical question^

that did make me laugh - thanks I needed that tonight - my noisy gits are still at it & just been told its going on until 4am

[GnomeDePlume]

skybluepearl yeah sure! Of course all children (even the teenage ones) are silent as mice.

The OP is being unreasonable to expect the world to organise itself around her daughter's sleep routine. She has now whined at the neighbours. She has now set a precadent that loud noise is to be stopped at 7.30. This will come back to bite. Her neighbours will be quite within the precedent set to demand that she stops any loud noise in her own household after 7.30. Once her daughter gets past her early bedtime she may find that 7.30 is no longer such a late time of night.

Do unto others as you would have done unto you (keeping in mind that what suits now might not suit in a couple of year's time).

Living in a neighbourhood means having neighbours. If you want silence then live in a field.

[bonkers20]

Oh why didn't my strike through work? Too much pink fizz. Night night.

[bonkers20]

Oh and of course, DS slept right through the tile cutting. I spent the duration muttering through gritted teeth "you'd better not wake my baby you frikkin' tile cutting maniac"

[bonkers20]

I would have done the same - infact I have done. It's not unreasonable to politely ask is it.

Two neighbours were doing some work for another neighbour (don't we sound cosy!) and I asked them how long they planned to go on for. One of them has a DD exactly the same age as my DS and I'm pretty sure he would not have wanted that noise on his party wall. They stopped right away and got on with some quieter work in the house. They didn't mind me asking at all.

Another time was just this week. DS had just gone down for his nap and someone was using a tile cutter nearly right below his window. I asked him how long it would be going on for and he (quite fairly) said he needed to get the work done and it would take another hour. I do get twitchy about noise anyway, and the Monday afternoon nap is the ONLY time in the week I get down time all to myself. I treasure it and will do what I can to have it.

Somehow it makes me feel better if I know I've asked. It might be that he could have taken his tile cutting round the back or something, or he might have told me he was finishing in 10 mins and I could have kept DS up a while, or he might have generously decided to have his lunch then.

www.housingadviceni.org/your-neighbourhood/noise-problems/building-work.html#wipLive-12461-2 is interesting. It says noidy DIY only until 1pm on a Saturday AND talk to your neighbours.

[worraliberty]

Have to disagree about the super loud kids!!

I think some give and take is in order here anyway. They are being helped out by family so perhaps they don't have much time in the day what with work and stuff.

To me, 9pm would be a compromise with a 4yr old on a saturday night but each to their own I suppose.

[skybluepearl]

UABR. There are about a million and one QUIET DIY jobs that can be done at 7.30pm. Stripping wall paper, moving out old carpets, tiling etc ...

They need to be more considerate seeing as they are the new neighbours and they are the ones making all the disturbance. They may have used up all their good will.

Gnome - you talk rubbish! I don't know many super loud kids..

[worraliberty]

Well sorreeeee I mean how else am I supposed to celebrate an orgasm?

Actually, that's a rhetorical question

[rockinhippy]

& while your at it can you stop singing , thumping your feet on the floor, playing guitar & stop your friends clapping & cheering too - lol

[worraliberty]

Sorry, I'll turn the music down. I can't hear it properly with you banging on the wall anyway

[rockinhippy]

oops sorry worraliberty

I'm finding it pretty hard to concentrate with the horrendous noise my own P taking neighbours are making

[worraliberty]

rockinhippy I think you've got the wrong poster. I didn't say it doesn't apply to DIY...I just posted a passage from my local council website

[acsec]

DP and I often wonder if our upstairs neighbours are rebuilding their whole flat. It's very rare that an evening/ weekend goes by without them sawing/ hammering/ drilling often until 2am!!! So I sympathise with OP - it's crap to have to endure that kind of noise, especially when you just want some peace and quiet.

[rockinhippy]

& glad to see your neighbours where reasonable & listened littlewaltham - hopefully it will carry on as such & will work out ok - I'm sure if it were the other way around they wouldn't like it either - reasonable people tend to think that way & agree in those circumstances no need for the notification, sadly not all neighbour are that reasonable - good luck

[littlewaltham]

DumSpiroSpero - she usually goes to sleep with noise and doesn't wake up. I think it was combo of noise and vibrations.

I will catch up with them tomorrow and ask how much more to go (if they are around if not the professionals may be back in).

[rockinhippy]

littlewaltham I'm afraid the main thing is that you have used up goodwill with your neighbours. Not a good result. Your 4 year old will get older and louder. Your neighbours may return like with like and will be demanding that you shut her up at 7.30

What a load of Bollocks!! - more like the other way around

[Claw3]

Regardless of the law, building regs, guidelines etc, etc. I think it would be really hostile to hand them a print out of guidlines or start quoting this at them.

You asked, they stopped, job done. Although you might want to try to agree something with them, if they intend to carry on working on the house for another 3 months!

[GnomeDePlume]

littlewaltham I'm afraid the main thing is that you have used up goodwill with your neighbours. Not a good result. Your 4 year old will get older and louder. Your neighbours may return like with like and will be demanding that you shut her up at 7.30!

[DumSpiroSpero]

Just out of interest, if your DD went to sleep, would she wake up if it started again. I know mine needs it reasonably quiet to go off (because she's a nosy little moo and leaps up wanting to know what every tiny noise it ), but once she's asleep she won't wake up unless there's a really monumental noise.

Was just wondering if it would work if you suggested they took a tea break at that time rather than knock it off entirely, although given the duration of the work/noise overall I can see why you're at the end of your rope.

[littlewaltham]

The building work is not just DIY its a mixture of professionals and DIY. Hey hoe the relationship with the new neighbours is not off to the best start. DH can hold a concrete face for months and is not bothered in the slightest.

Main thing is the neighbours have responded and stopped the drilling. I will wait to see what tomorrow brings.....

[rockinhippy]

Worraliberty sorry,but you are wrong - according to our Environmental Health Officer - It DOES apply to DIY & I know it did in London & elswhere too - the timing may very slightly,but the rules are there to protect people from the sort of stress mentioned by gillybean

do check your own local council OP as gillybean says there will be something to print off there

[gillybean2]

Look on your local council website for advice. I just checked the good neighbour guide on mine and it says...

DIY - Do not carry out noisy DIY before 9am or after 7pm.
Warn neighbours if you think work will be particularly noisy.

Your council may well have something similar that you can share with your neighbours.

[WibblyBibble]

YANBU. The people on here with little real idea about noise regulations are a bit : noise regulations don't only apply after 11pm! They just (generally, depends on local authority) become stricter then. You're entitled to time to rest in evenings and weekends- they can arrange for work to be done during the day like everyone else has to. People really need to be much more considerate about noise, given the known link between sleep disruption and stress/mental health issues. It's a serious health risk to be exposed to constant noise.

[worraliberty]

This is from my council website.....

You should carry out any noisy DIY or building work (including using builders and other trades people) during the following hours:
Monday to Friday (8am - 6pm)
Saturday (8am - 1pm)
Builders must not work on Sundays or bank holidays.

It is not an offence to carry out work outside these times, but one of our officers can serve a notice on you to make it an offence