Neighbours dryer

[MaccaPacca81]

Hi all,

We live in a victorian terraced house and our neighbours have their new washer dryer in the bathroom which is upstairs. Our bedroom is the other side of that wall.

They were running it over night which was driving us mad as the vibration from machine was making the pictures on the party wall rattle and there's the constant low, stop-start hum of the dryer.

We spoke to them and they agreed to stop using it at 10pm and we contacted their landlord who we're still friendly with who agreed to send in a handyman to take a look. They ended up installing a rubber mat which has barely helped as the cabinet the dryer is housed in is attached to the party wall.

It's still driving us insane as although they stopped using it at night, they still run it all day. On Saturday, it was on from 10.30am to 8.30pm. Weve had to put foam padding on all the pictures hanging on the upstairs walls to stop the rattling.

We dread being at home now as theres nowhere in the house you cant hear the constant hum. We're actually considering selling up purely beacuse of the dryer.

Any ideas what else we can do beside move house?

Gosh they must be well off!!
Since paying electricity monthly I can see how much it costs to use one!
Can you place a radio next against that wall? Maybe having background noise yourself will distract you?
I would suggest calling round with a hammer but mn is very anti violence...

To be 100% honest, I think you really need to move if it's a possible solution.

I don't think this is ever going to get better, it will be a constant 'grit your teeth' situation for years and years. It's different to say, a family with noisy children, children grow up and hopefully life gets more peaceful. A noisy dryer attached to your shared wall will not go away or get less noisy.

DH and I are casually house hunting right now and although we live in an urban area with mostly terraced houses we are staying away from that as an option precisely because of situations like yours (sorry!)

You have my sympathies!

Not much you can do.

Structural noise which this is. Is almost impossible to get rid of in an existing house especially ones which

1)share joists or joists go into the same party wall - this will be the main one. If either of your joists go into this wall you need to sound proof the floor over the walls. Joist hangers etc.

2)solid walls

I sound proofed a room in my house and it’s great against airborne, but not good against structural noises like doors slamming/TVs on walls etc. I’ve probably reduced the airborne noise by 4 times(you’d have to have your ear to the wall to hear anything). But Structural noise by 50% and this was the top of the line system.
Air gap/ thick stud (not that kind) / genie clips/plasterboard/vinyl/plaster board. Total 200mm lost from the room.

Soundproofing! Or could the washer/dryer be moved elsewhere? I know they would have to plumb it in but tough, why should you suffer. Plus it will only be the same problem again for them and the landlord if you do move so it needs sorting out.
Good luck, this situation seems miserable.

You don't have to plumb in a dryer!

Are they really using it all day every day? How can that be?

It's a washer dryer.

Could you (nicely) invite them round whilst it's running so they can hear for themselves how loud it sounds in your home?

You don't want them to run it overnight, and you don't like it when they run it during the day either.

When, in your opinion, should they be allowed to do their laundry?

Running it overnight is a massive fire risk anyway so that was very reasonable!

This would drive me nutty as well OP. Why does it have to run for so long?? Are they running laundry for 15 families??

No I get it, it does sound like we're just moaning but it was never a problem before this new dryer went in and we've lived there for 8 years.

They have been good about the 10pm limit and understand that people need to do laundry. We just can't believe how loud it is and how much vibration it transmits.

We don't have a dryer so don't know how often they are typically used. We only do one to two loads of washing per week which goes on the line outside or a clothes horse next to a radiator so can't understand why its running every single day and for so long.

Surely this is just a standard downside of living in a terraced house vs detached?

We'd often do several loads of laundry on a saturday (not home early enough during the week), and drying takes ages for each load, so the fact that it was on all day on a saturday wouldn't surprise me, especially if they're not using it after 10pm.

Now I don't feel OP thinks her neighbors are being massively unreasonable, and that it's more of a what to do in a crappy situation ... but as others have said, there are limited technical solutions available

I run mine overnight when electricity is cheaper, perhaps they don't realise the noise issue (I'm detached)

I think YABU, they do need to do their washing & dry it somehow.

Presumably they run a couple of loads of washing back to back then do the same for the drying of it. If I had a washer/dryer it would take a good 6-8 hours to wash & dry the (on average) 2 loads of washing I do each day. IME the dryer part of w/d take longer than a standard dryer (I’ve not used one for close to a decade though so appreciate that might be somewhat better by now).

Okie please don't! Washing machines are a big fire hazard you should always be in the house and awake when it's on. Google the risks.

Are they tenants? If so, you could tell the landlord that the machine is still producing excessive noise and vibration in your property. Do you know if the washing machine belongs to the LL or the tenant?

Your neighbours are not being unreasonable to run a washing machine during the day, but I think it shouldn't be disturbing you to this extent. Noticeable vibration on the walls is not normal! It seems like an unusual setup they've got - if it's actually supported by a wall-mounted cabinet rather than being on the floor then that would explain the excessive vibration on the party wall.

Presumably they had a machine before. If it was in a different place, can't they put the new machine where the old one was? If it was in the same place, then I wonder if the new machine is outright faulty to be causing that much trouble.

Move house is the only solution. They have done what you have asked.

I live next door to some loud neighbours, i work night and often woken up by them playing music.

Maybe invest in some ear plugs lol

If they are using it during the day only and it's backing on to your bedroom, how is it annoying you? Are you staying in bed all day/do you work shifts and need to sleep during the day?

Because I don't really see how noise that's affecting a bedroom could be that bad during daytime hours.

You only do 1 to 2 loads per week?

The use of the word “we” implies there is more than one of you. Our (two of us) clothes take three loads and then there is bedding and towels etc. Add an extra two loads a week when son is home.

I know this is not the point of the thread but that amazed me.

It sounds like an absolute nightmare and frankly I think if they're reasonable people they should move it. Why aren't we just reasonable human beings these days, what's wrong with minimising the harm we cause to other people's lives. There must be somewhere else they can move their washer dryer to. Who on earth has it in the bathroom in the first place?!

Can you speak to them again about the noise? Invite them into your house so they can hear how bad it is? On another note, how much stuff have they got to dry?!!! Have they got 10 kids??