About these loud, unexpected gardeners?

[KirstenRaymonde]

Before I make an angry phone call to our property managers, please tell me if I’m being U because I don’t know.

We live in a rented house, we recently moved in. Various work hadn’t been done to the house that was meant to have been, and various repairs have had to be done over the last weeks, so it might be that my tolerance for drilling and machinery noises is very low right now. DP is also ill and we’re hosting tomorrow all day so I’m really worried I’ll get ill too and ruin the whole thing. So I might be overreacting.

8am this morning heard a knocking on the door, DP and I both asleep in bed. As DP was sick last night and neither of us went to bed until gone 2am, plus it’s Saturday! I checked my phone in case it was a friend or family with an emergency who would have called before coming round, nothing so I ignored it. Then they knocked again. Again I ignored it, I’m not expecting anyone and it’s 8 bloody AM.

Next thing I can hear our bins being moved around, and then the loud noise starts. We have several large bushes at the front and it’s an electric strimmer/pruner thing (sorry I’m not a gardener!) it’s really bloody loud! Really loud to us under our window and I imagine pissing off all our neighbours as well (who have put up with a lot of loud banging the last weeks whilst repairs have been going on, I sense they won’t like us). I looked out the window and they’ve got a big bag and clearing stuff. It’s still going now, an hour and a half later. I haven’t gone out to say anything to them because they will just have been told ‘here’s the job, go do it’ the details won’t be up to them. Plus I’m knackered and not dressed, I don’t want to deal with that on a Saturday morning!

No one called or emailed me to check if it would be alright for this work to be done now. If they had I would have said no - 8am is too early for loud work outside, especially at the weekend. Im gearing up to make an annoyed call to property management, but wanted to check I’m not being over sensitive in advance. Cheers.

Sorry, that was clearly far longer than necessary, I’m ranting

I think you are being a bit dramatic. The work needed to be done and now it is. They did attempt to tell you and you chose not to answer the door. 8 am is a little early but if they only ever started at 10 on the weekends they would miss lots of jobs. It will be finished soon and then you don't have to bother with it again.

Now we're more of a 24 hour society I think weekend lie ins are less of a thing, a lot of people work weekends so YABU.

You're being unreasonable.

It isn't their problem that your husband is unwell.

Surely I should have had a call or email in the week to notify us though? By 8am when they’re here and knocking on the door it’s too late and not prior notification. I’m not going to open the door undressed at 8am when I don’t know who it is.

8 at a weekend perfectly reasonable. Annoying for you if course. I'd have been irritated. But can't really officially complain.

Even if he wasn’t unwell I’d still think it too early for work this loud.

At the very least advance warning would have been nice! An email yesterday to say ‘there will be gardeners coming in the morning’ instead of them just turning up?

People deliver parcels at 8 on a Saturday, I've had my bins collected earlier than that on a Saturday. I'd definitely be irritated but accept it as a fact of life. Life is full of annoyances and irritations but you can't lodge a complaint about them all!

I wouldn’t be lodging a complaint about the gardeners, as I said they’re just doing what they were told which is why I haven’t gone out. I’m annoyed with the property management or landlords (landlords may have booked them directly I don’t know) for booking loud work early on a Saturday and not informing us.

Honestly 8am is not unreasonable!

Yabu

DP is a gardener/landscaper. You're right in saying the job has nothing to do with them, it'll be the contract between the gardening company and your housing managers. DP has to start at 8am, and unfortunately would have to carry out the work regardless of the residents' feelimgs about it. YWNBU to bring this up to the housing manager, but if it's anything like DP's schedule, it's worked out for the gardeners months in advance so there is probably very little you can realistically do.

I agree that 8am is early for loud noises on a weekend. Although I would say 9 is acceptable, so there's not much in it. Does your council have noise restrictions? I'd go by that, but from previous experience I don't think they're v useful. (I last checked it out when a new neighbourhood was regularly drilling into/sanding a shared wall at 11pm. The wall was my primary aged daughter, kept her up for about a week. Council was no good, neighbor couldn't care less. )

ReverseGiraffe thanks, I’m definitely not annoyed with the gardeners, just the lack of communication. It won’t have been booked months in advance, it’s just our garden being done so will have been booked for our house - it’s not the general road maintenance.

We’ve been putting things up in the house and have been strictly not doing any drilling ourselves before 9am or after 9am out of consideration for our neighbours, we’re in the middle of a terrace

After 9pm*

@Emma198 delivering a parcel or taking out a bin isn’t the same as nearly two hours of very loud machinery noises

In our area, gardeners are in such high demand they’re all booked months in advance, even for individual gardens!

Well you wanted to check if Mumsnet think you're being unreasonable, the majority here are saying you are, but you clearly still firmly believe you're not so I'm not sure why you asked. I'd put the complaint in to your property management if I were you.

Usually noise is allowed in the hours of daylight. While I appreciate that you have been up half the night with your DP, YABU. These guys have a job to do, they get told where to go and what time to be there and they tried to tell you that they had arrived. Get hold of yourself, for goodness sake! 8am is not that early!

You are and aren't being unreasonable. Unfortunately if the work needs doing then you are being unreasonable in that sense. They need to maintain the property. Yes it's a Saturday and yes it's earlier but I doubt those poor gardeners want to be out clearing a garden at 8am on a Saturday especially if your weather is like it is near me, but they have a job to do and probably don't have just yours to clear. However.... if you haven't been informed at all in that sense you aren't being unreasonable and I would be contacting the agent and letting them know that regardless of who owns the property If your living in it then you are entitled to 24 hours notice BEFORE they can access the property and you would like to be informed next time .