WIBU to ask my upstairs neighbours not to do their laundry at 5am?

[IWillOnlyEatBeans]

Our bedroom is directly underneath their kitchen. I assume they use a delay function to get their washing machine to start at 5am - and it's noisy! I can't sleep through it.

Today it finished at 6.15am and DS woke up at 6.20 - so no opportuniy to go back to sleep afterwards. I can't wear ear plugs as need to be able to hear (teething) DS. The only other room we could sleep in is the lounge - but the curtains don't close (rented property, can't wait to leave!)

They are a couple in their mid-30s - no children or elderly relatives live with them (which I know from experience can often result in the need to do laundry at odd times!)
They work normal office hours and often work from home.
They do not hang their washing outside to dry, so they are not trying to get it on the line before work (which I could sympathise with).
They do not normally leave the house until after 8.30 - so there doesn't seem to be a great need to get laundry done at 5am.

I sound like a stalker - but they are just incredibly loud! I can hear the guy weeing!

So - WIBU to ask them to do their laundry at a different time? Or would I come accross as batty next door neighbour, best to be avoided at all costs? I don't mind going to bed early in preparation for DS's early starts, but find it a bit annoying if I have to go to bed at 9pm to ensure I get enough sleep before their washing machine starts at 5am!

Mumsnet jury - I await your verdict...

I would be very diplomatic about it as I hate confrontation but it sounds perfectly reasonable to ask them to do it later.

YANBU, I live in a house, not a flat, but I never put my washing machine on before 9 am

You would not be unreasonable.

Our neighbours contacted the landlord about us doing washing late at night without mentioning to us that it was a problem. That was being unreasonable.

I would NEVER use my washing machine before 8am or after 10pm out of respect for my neighbours (unless in the exceptional situation that my daughter had a sickness bug or something like that). I think you should mention it nicely to them and if they are reasonable people they'll stop doing it. Sometimes people don't reaslise how badly insulated most flats are and how much noise they're actually making.

Y might BU - is it possible that they're doing it so that their washing is done before the electricity switches on to peak usage?

We do this for exactly that reason, but our washing machine is very quiet (We sleep in the room above it and cannot hear it - and I'm a very light sleeper)

they probably try to safe money by using the cheaper night tariff. but you would not be unreasonable for asking them to run the mashine at different times.

Thanks

ProfCox I had not thought of that. I don't know their financial circumstances, apart from that they own a four bed flat in a lovely part of London and both work full time!

Yes, it'll be because of Economy 7, you get a cheaper rate for seven hours till 7am I think. Although interestingly, if you do take that tariff, you pay slightly more for your leccie at other times. we switched to another deal when we found out about that.

When I was first married we lived in a downstairs maisonette, and the elderly lady upstairs did this too, the spin cycle woke us up at 5.30am every time she put a wash on. When I asked her not to she said it was because of the economy rate. She also flushed her loo a lot in the early hours of the morning!

my neighbour has her washing machine on at 6 am some days and she had the cheek to complain to us about a dryer on at midnight , it wasnt a dryer it was a fan from a building over the road , I think you should say to your neighbours they may not realise how loud the machine is ,

Ok, if it is about cheap electricity, I'd rather they did it at 12am (or whenever the cheap rate starts) - as hopefully then I'd be more likely to sleep through it - or at least get back to sleep afterwards. I'll suggest it!

We'll only be living here for another couple of months anyway I think. I can't wait to live in a house!

YANBU

It's so hard living in a flat. Your idea sounds like a good one, as a compromise

I do this with my washing machine and the time delay so that it ends just when I get up in the morning to hang it out and the washing doesn't have that nasty damp smell from sitting in the machine all night, but I live in a house and our kitchen doesn't have a connecting wall with the neighbours so I can't see that it would disturb them, haven't had a complaint in the last 5 years anyway.

This all depends on how you approach them. There's a really strong chance that they have no idea at all that they are disturbing you and would happily do their washing at a different time if they knew.

So, I would tap on their door one evening, all smiles & friendliness, and say something like....."I don't want to be THAT type of neighbour, but we're having trouble sleeping when your washing machine goes on at 5am. Is there any chance at all that you could do it at a different time?" If they talk about economising with electricity etc, then sympathise etc etc.

I live upstairs from two 20-somethings, who are unbelievably noisy every weekend. But the few times I've chosen to talk to them about it I've been as nice as possible an they've been totally fine.

We're on economy 7 and have little choice but to do our washing in the early hours. Thankfully, our neighbours are both on economy 7 too.