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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

To ask neighbours to stop hammering at 7.30

19 replies

jinglebellmel · 05/12/2016 20:27

Neighbours are building an extension during evenings and weekends, we are semi detached. Today they were knocking down a wall between their house and the new extension which was pretty loud and vibrating all through our house. I went over at around 7.30 to ask if they'd be much much longer as I couldn't get ds to sleep with the noise.

They seemed a bit surprised that I was asking and got me wondering aibu? I think guidelines say you can do noisy work until 10pm but this was really noisy and connected to our party wall. What do you think?

OP posts:

Wolverbamptonwanderer · 05/12/2016 20:29

Well, they can carry on and it might be really hard for them to not use evenings to work. But it was nice and neighbourly of them to stop.

So really neither of you are BU- just a bit of negotiation and all sorted hopefully!

ChicRock · 05/12/2016 20:31

Council guidelines round here are 7am till 9pm.

After 8pm I'd be asking neighbours to give it a rest.

Artandco · 05/12/2016 20:31

7.30pm is a bit early. Noise is allowed until 11pm.
Can't you compromise and ask if they can aim to finish around 9pm?
Many people only just get home from work around 7pm so would never get anything done

DesolateWaist · 05/12/2016 20:31

Well if they are doing it on evenings and weekends then this will happen I guess. It wouldn't occur to a lot of people that 7.30 would be late.

Good of then to stop though.

Original poster

jinglebellmel · 05/12/2016 20:37

Okay so maybe was a bit unreasonable then! I'd just expected (hoped) they might save the really noisy work for day time, but maybe I just need to suck it up.

OP posts:

DailyCRAPMail · 05/12/2016 20:38

YANBU 7:30 is late for noise. It would irritate me. They are trying to save money by doing the work themselves which is fair enough but it's unfair of them to ale it your problem too. I've never heard of any council guidelines that would permit building noise until 9 at night. .

Clankboing · 05/12/2016 20:42

If it's any comfort that's probably the noisiest job that will happen, so once its done its done.

DailyCRAPMail · 05/12/2016 20:43

Jingle. I'd phone the council Environmental Health noise team and get some general advice bout this. I'm not sure all the advice on this thread is correct.

I'm suprised other posters would be ok with this and it makes me really glad I live in a detached house with lovely considerate neighbours.

Original poster

jinglebellmel · 05/12/2016 20:44

Thanks Daily, glad I'm not alone in finding these things irritating!

OP posts:

AnnieAnoniMouse · 05/12/2016 20:45

Why don't you go around and say that you understand they need to do stuff in the evenings & weekends, but you'd really appreciate it if anything that can be done, is done, earlier and in the weekends, but that in turn you'll understand if there are nights they need to get noisy things done.

I have a lot of sympathy. My neighbours renovated their kitchen & bathroom, on our party wall, evenings mostly...he's no craftsman & so it took them best part of a year 😫 By the end of it I was just about ready to pay a qualified tradesman to go and do it!

Unfortunately they've proven to be less understanding. I had a plumber/fitter come & do the bathroom. He knocked off early, before 7, and was here less than a fortnight. Bloody hell, the whinging! I'm so looking forward to the kitchen getting done. Not.😫

Wolverbamptonwanderer · 05/12/2016 20:46

Have you looked though daily? I've done building work under a number of councils and that's pretty standard (some are 10pm, Westminster is very strict and was, I think, 8pm. Most don't let work
Begin before 8am and some say no Sunday's) But evening work isn't prohibited

Patriciathestripper1 · 05/12/2016 20:50

I'd put up with Noise till 10 every night if it gets it finished quickly, rather than have them drag it out for weeks.

DailyCRAPMail · 05/12/2016 22:05

Wolverbamptonwanderer I used to be really familiar with noise regs but it was a loooong time ago and I'm sure a lot has changed..... . It used to be that special arrangements could be made for construction work to be carried out outside of normal working hours but I very much doubt that any council would have a general rule that construction work noise is ok up to 8 or 10 at night.
WESTMINSTER only allow normal working hours for construction work which is
Monday to Friday 8am to 6pm
Saturday 8am to 1pm
Sunday and bank holidays No working

These are what I thought were typical hours that construction work noise is allowed. (Although I seem to remember that 7:30 was often an ok start time)

In the OPs case the noise is coming from a DIY'er so it's different and would boil down to whether the noise is reasonable or not.

Original poster

jinglebellmel · 06/12/2016 09:22

Stripper it's been months already! Putting up with it till 10 pm really isn't an option with a toddler who needs to go to sleep. If they'd said they needed to keep going until 8/8.30 I'd have been fine with that I wasn't necessarily expecting them to stop as soon as I went over.
I just wouldn't even consider sledge hammering down a wall in the evenings, but appreciate I'm in the minority here so will try and grit my teeth and put up with it a bit longer tonight.

OP posts:

user1481016037 · 06/12/2016 09:28

Well it sounds a bit anti social . Seek advise from other neighbours affected. If your neighbourhood is in a residential area may be others will join in and it's safer to complain together.

IHateDailyMailJournos · 06/12/2016 09:29

Jingle. You might be the minority on here but that doesn't mean it's ok for your neighbours to make noise for months on end. Please contact your council and ask for advice.

Building noise at night time is definitely not ok.

KurriKurri · 06/12/2016 10:05

Oddly enough I was hammering (mending a chair) last night - looked at the clock and saw it was about 7.20 and decided to stop - for the reason that my neighbours (I live in a terrace) have two young children. I thought it was a matter of courtesy.

The children sometimes cry in the night and wake me up - but that's unavoidable - hammering isn't.

I don't think your request was unreasonable, - people should try to be considerate of their neighbours.

GinAndOnIt · 06/12/2016 10:13

Oh bugger, I honestly thought this thread was going to be about us! We had a chimney sweep come at 7.30am the other day to open up the fireplace and rip out the liner and I forgot to pre-warn the neighbours

Anyway, no, I don't think you were unreasonable to ask. They could maybe have said 'sorry, we have X coming to fit Y tomorrow so we just need to finish this bit which will be another hour...' but I see this has been going on months. It's hard when you want to get works finished, but it's even harder to live in the newly renovated home when all the neighbours hate you.

Original poster

jinglebellmel · 06/12/2016 10:27

Bit more mixed now which makes me feel less like I've been a knob :) Gin, I wouldn't mind 7.30 am ds has us up by then anyway sadly!

In their defence, although it's been going on for a while there have only been a few instances of really loud or evening/early morning noise. It isn't constant.

OP posts:

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