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 :(

[lachesis]

'I'm surprised by the amount of people saying the OP should keep her DD up until after 9pm.

OP perhaps we're a dying breed of mothers who insist on proper bedtimes.'

Arf!

Kids fall asleep through anything when they're tired enough.

It's summer holidays. It's Saturday evening.

I'd honestly tell you we'd finish at 9 if you came round.

[evenlessnarkypuffin]

I thought YABU. Then I read that they've had work going on seven days a week for the past three months in a terraced house. I'm not surprised you're low on noise tolerance by now.

[scurryfunge]

Bed times can be maintained. I was never so inflexible though or had a child that could not deal with a bit of noise. I don't understand the "little Beyonce has to have complete silence and a blackout to sleep" brigade

[lachesis]

Yeah, I work, too.

'DD does not have to get up early tomorrow but is an early riser due to working routine so needs kip.'

She gets up early because you put her to bed at 7.

Hey, you asked, AIBU. Yes, I think you are. If you came round at 7PM on a Sat. night I'd tell you we'd stop at 9,

[careergirl]

my neighbours were doing the same thing renovating to move in. Unfortunately due to their own work commitments they could only work evenings and at weekends.
That included commencing putting in new central heating at 6am one Saturday morning!!
I gritted my teeth and kept quiet now have someone next door who I get on well with plus the house attached to mine looks much better than it did.
sometimes the pay off of letting them get on with it is worth it.

[Goodynuff]

Sorry OP, I was confused by the post "They are lovely couple but they are only in house 1 or 2 days a week."
I misunderstood.

[schroeder]

Ha my neighbours have been doing up their small terraced house since the day after the new year bank holiday. Do I win a prize?

If it's any comfort the noise level is a bit better now than when they started. Still bloody annoying though.

[littlewaltham]

Iachesis - I am going to have one of what your having

Bye thanks all for replies. Off to relax while I can before early morning construction cracks on tomorrow.

[evenlessnarkypuffin]

'She gets up early because you put her to bed at 7.'

Would you like to tell that to my 3 year old niece who wakes up at 4am regardless of when she's put to bed. If she's put to bed later than 8pm, she's still awake at 4, just in an awful mood for the day.

[lovecat]

YANBU and I can't believe all the posters who are saying you are! People telling you that their child can 'go til 9pm' is really not helpful, when your child has its own routine and it is being disturbed.

Ring your council and check with them - in our borough you are not allowed to do building work on a Sunday and it must stop after 5pm Monday-Saturday. When the arseholes builders our neighbour employed did this (7 days a week, noise til 8pm) when DD was tiny we found this out and told them that if they did not stop after the allowed times we would report them to the council. They shut up.

Good luck, this sort of thing sends you crazy, I know!

[lachesis]

Unless it's seriously loud bass, I have become impervious to all other forms of noise. Our landlord was doing major work in the flats for the past month. The workmen showed up at 7 and went till 6 - jack hammers, drills, hammering.

I don't hear it anymore and neither do the kids.

[worraliberty]

YABU, 7.30pm is too early to expect them to stop.

9pm would be a decent stopping point imo

[lachesis]

So what if she does, narky? The world doesn't stop rotating because of one's child and their routines.

You can check if it's excessive noise in your council or borough. In ours, it isn't.

[GnomeDePlume]

YABU as it is their own home. You are also risking starting off on the wrong foot with your neighbours. If you complain to them now they will complain to you when in a year's time your DD is screaming like a banshee in the back garden and they want some peace at 7.30.

My DH advises that you drop a card round saying 'sorry, I was stressed and the mumsnet jury says I was being unreasonable'. Dont let it fester.

If they were doing this as a business to renovate and sell on then YWNBU. There is a difference. When we have done property renovations for profit then office hours have applied.

[Claw3]

I think if you are going to do noisy DIY, especially for 3 months, you should be considerate of your neighbours, especially if they have young children. Did you tell them your dd is in bed at 7?

Personally i would have agreed times with my neighbours if i was planning on doing such lengthy work.

[pleasethanks]

Oh and here we go with the smug comments about the fact that if children are tired they will sleep through anyway. I think that 100% depends on the type of sleeper you have.

[Hatesponge]

YABU - 7.30 really is not late. When I bought my first house I never got home from work til later than that, so work on my house would always have to go on til 9pm or later. Same when I bought my current home with my then DP. If a neighbour had complained about noise after 9pm I would have understood, but you can't expect silence at 7.30 irrespective of your child's bedtime.

If your child is tired, they will sleep. Bear in mind once your neighbours move in properly, they will make a certain amount of noise anyway - they will probably have TV/music after 7.30 - or even people round for dinner, drinks etc. You can't expect silence that early in the evening - round here there are still lots of children (loudly) playing out in the street til 8pm or so in summer. Your child will honestly learn to sleep though it.

[microserf]

we reported a commercial building site next to our rented property for starting work at 7am Sunday morning just outside our window and noise control shut down all Sunday work.

I'd check with local noise control about the restrictions on weekends. however, I wouldn't report them, but once got all the facts, try to seize the opportunity to have a friendly chat about the work, the neighbourhood, etc.

[MagicFingerGoesPop]

What does the law say re DIY work with electricals?

[GnomeDePlume]

Magic what do you mean (I have an electrician on the sofa next to me)?

[izzywhizzyletsgetbusy]

This is from Westminster Council's website:

Householders working alone or with limited help often have far less time to carry out home improvements than a paid contractor and the team recognises this. Generally, it is acceptable for householders to undertake DIY work between the following hours:

Generally speaking 3-4 hours total duration, each day between

* Monday to Saturday : 8am-9pm
* Sundays and Bank holidays: 10am-4pm

However, the Noise Team will consider each case on its merits when considering how to tackle DIY noise complaints and will take account of factors such as the equipment used, and the overall duration of the job.

Larger DIY projects requiring more time to complete than allowed in this policy will need to be carried out during normal Building Site allowed hours:

* Monday to Friday: 8am - 6pm
* Saturday: 8am - 1pm
* Sundays and Bank Holidays ? No noisy works

It is also advisable to let your neighbours know when you are about to carry out noisy work.

Your own local authority may have different guidelines and you're best advised to check their website.

Personally, if I had to live next door to building noise all day and evening for 1 week, let alone 3 months, I'd be incandescent with rage to a point where I wouldn't be responsible for my actions.

[LolaRennt]

I think YABU its Sat night they could have loud music instead

[Claw3]

Apparently guidelines are at weekends noisy DIY should be 9am to 5pm weekends and bank holidays and 9am to 7pm weekdays.

[Claw3]

it obviously varies from Borough to Borough, just seen Izzy's post!

But i should imagine that all Boroughs advise you to be considerate of neighbours.

[Claw3]

Anyhow could you explain you have a young child and ask to agree times? before you really do get off on the wrong foot with the new neighbours.