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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

Neighbours who work from home

283 replies

Confusednewmum1 · 19/02/2020 02:29

So we have moved to a house that requires total renovation, it has not been touched for over 50 years. We have spoken to the NDN about plans ie rip house apart and start again/extension ect. However every time we do work they complain about the noise as they work from home.

I get that this can be frustrating but at the moment we can’t give a schedule of work just due to the nature of old house. Example last week new front door on Friday to be fitted told 1 hour job no real noise ect. It then turned into needing a lintel, brickwork repair....... but this all spiralled in the moment.

My neighbours seem to think my builders should work around their calls ect. But I have really just advised there will be building work most days Mon-Friday 8:30-5 until at least the end of the year, it’s the only honest timeline. Council are happy as they have said noise not excessive ie generators or nematic drilling. But my neighbours have said this is not acceptable and there 2 1/2 year old naps during the day???

I also have a young child who happened to still be asleep this morning when they complained at 10am as door frame was going in and they where on a call.

AIBU to think that if they work from home then noise is their issue to mitigate not mine?

OP posts:

Itsonlywords · 19/02/2020 07:39

I can see why they are annoyed, it will be really distracting for them. Tough luck though really isn't it, as long as you've followed the guidelines for planning permission etc then they will have to deal with. I'm guessing working from home suits them and has saved them money on travelling etc, but that's tough.

ptumbi · 19/02/2020 07:42

Oh my DP did this on his house - warned the (alcoholic, brain-dead) NDN that his work would be on-going, 9am - 5pm, weekdays. He came round to complain about him mowing the lawn at 3pm on a saturday as it was outside the 'remit'!

But he himself had no problem with his own blaring TV, shouting GF, throwing things at 3 IN THE MORNING on weekdays. Twat

WhereShallWeMoveTo · 19/02/2020 07:43

I'm surprised at how unsympathetic most are to the neighbours POV.

I'm not unsympathetic. I'm very sympatethic actually. I'm just not sure how I am supposed to turn that sympathy into something that solves the neighbours problem and still gets the job done.

iem0128 · 19/02/2020 07:45

Well, what can you do? You need the renovation to complete so that you can live in comfort. Just ask the builders when the work can be finished and add a week and tell your neighbour about the timescale involved and that there is very little you can do, which is true! Noise is part of the renovation and everybody should understand that. Apologise profusely is the only thing you can do. Builders have to make a living too and I am sure they don't like the noise and dust.

WhereShallWeMoveTo · 19/02/2020 07:46

Maybe seeing if they can schedule the noisiest work for certain days where the neighbours can be elsewhere, for example. There's plenty that can be done.

Good luck with running that idea past your contractors. On a large project things need doing in a specific order. Nothing can move forward until certain things have been done and there is always something that arises that was unforseen, that can grind work to a halt until it's sorted.

Theroigne · 19/02/2020 07:46

I work from home and there is always building work going on around me. Yes it’s a pain but I wouldn’t dream of telling people not to do it! The only time I have ever complained about noise was when Ndn’s dog was barking non stop.

adaline · 19/02/2020 07:47

I'm just not sure how I am supposed to turn that sympathy into something that solves the neighbours problem and still gets the job done.

Nobody has said OP is supposed to solve all the problems but a change in attitude towards the neighbours situation could be a massive help.

In my opinion a good attitude makes all the difference in situations like this. Yes, the work needs doing and yes, it will be noisy but sympathy and an effort to minimise the impact as much as possible would go a long way towards improving neighbourly relations in the long term.

MintImperials · 19/02/2020 07:47

Buy them some noise cancelling headphones AND rent them some office space...
Just kidding. If they want fancy headphones then they can buy them, or dodge out to a cafe or the library occasionally to work etc. I WFH and our neighbours did a big remodel, for 6 months. The truth is the kind of noise that's really disturbing - heavy machinery, drilling, cutting wood or whatever isn't constant.
I was able to tell their schedule after a while as they tended to take lunch at certain times, and a few times the builders came over and knocked to warn me if they were going to do something that would affect me.

Blackbear19 · 19/02/2020 07:48

I think all you can do is give them notice of potentially noisy stuff. Some stuff will be fairly quiet but things like cement mixers are noisy.

Just a text when things are being carried out. Give them the chance to organise calls around you.

LolaSmiles · 19/02/2020 07:50

I'm very sympatethic actually. I'm just not sure how I am supposed to turn that sympathy into something that solves the neighbours problem and still gets the job done
Same here.The house needs renovating and not all jobs over the 10 months will be as loud as major structural work (think how many full houses go up in that time on new estates).
If you work from home you're signing up to residential area noise and that includes occasionally home renovation projects, DIY, gardening work, etc.
The OP has already discussed the plans and if the neighbor has an issue they need to find appropriate work spaces during the heavy work phase, though I suspect the reason they don't want to do that is because they're looking after a 2 year old as well during the day.

cortex10 · 19/02/2020 07:50

I've worked from home one or two days a week during our own house renovations over the past year and my noise cancelling headphones have been a godsend given the amount of noisy machinery involved. To the extent that if the builder needed to speak to me he often had to come right into my home office to catch my attention as I couldn't hear him calling me or even knocking the office door.

WhereShallWeMoveTo · 19/02/2020 07:51

Nobody has said OP is supposed to solve all the problems but a change in attitude towards the neighbours situation could be a massive help.

Again, (for the third time) I cannot see anything that suggests the OP has taken a 'tough titty' attitude and has shrugged the issue off without explanation or apology. I really can't.

She might have done, but there is nothing written by her here to suggest that was the case, so let's not suppose we know things when we don't.

PhilCornwall1 · 19/02/2020 07:53

Separate issue, I often wonder whether folks "working from home" or using home as a business premises are payingapprop rates and tax.

A large proportion of people who WFH won't be self employed, they will be an employee, which is my situation. It has no implications on my Council Tax, my property insurers aren't interested and there are certainly no clients visiting me.

My work laptop and phone is the only work equipment I have and that's insured by the company and not my problem. It's no different to an office based employee bringing their laptop home.

WhereShallWeMoveTo · 19/02/2020 07:53

I don't disagree in the slightest.

WhereShallWeMoveTo · 19/02/2020 07:54

But in practice, there will be very little the OP can do in terms of 'making efforts to minimise the noise.' Which brings us full circle.

Littlebean0506 · 19/02/2020 07:55

For about 7 years when I lived at home are new neighbours moved in and are started doing DIY on everything you could imagine, then changed their mind, took it all back up and started all over again usually between the hours of 7am-12.00/1.00am on the weekends and 4.00pm-12.00am on week days, I moved out 3 years ago and they are still diying. New neighbours moved in where we live now and started doing DIY, didn't bother me in the slightest during the day (on maternity leave) and our little girl just slept through it, however it did bother me when it carried on till gone 11.00pm against our adjoining wall keeping me awake. Point is they are being unreasonable as you are sticking to agreed working hours and they can't expect you to work around them.

Disfordarkchocolate · 19/02/2020 08:00

I work from home and if you stick to the hours you have planned they have no reason to complain even if it is annoying. I wouldn't be buying headphones either if I was you.

I live in an area where someone is obsessed with making garden noise. Strimming, leaf blowing, chainsaw etc. It goes on for hours. I have just had to get used to it. We also have a 'screamer' who doesn't know how to play without hurting my eardrums and 'shouty family'. It's life on an estate. I must admit the pile driving that went on last summer would have tipped me over the edge if I had lived near that but in reality, I would have just had to put up with that if it had been closer.

Explain and apologize and keep to reasonable hours. That's it.

Mouldiwarp1 · 19/02/2020 08:09

We had a large extension built a couple of years ago. I work part-time. Yes, it was very noisy at times, but equally a lot of the time it wasn’t. It really isn’t going to be constant noise for a year. For pp who suggested trying to work round neighbours’ holidays etc, it really doesn’t work like that - things have to be done in order and to delay particularly noisy work would likely delay all work, costing the Op a considerable amount of money.

AdoptAdaptImprove · 19/02/2020 08:11

Some people are making massive assumptions about what being a home worker is. I am fully employed by a public sector organisation, and have no choice - my role is home based, and I have to provide internet connectivity to the work network. I can’t up sticks and go to an office if I can’t work at home - there’s no room for me. I need network access, so a coffee shop is a no. I spend a lot of time on the phone to people outside the organisation as well as on conferences. The rest of the time I work on complex casework. This is all really hard to do if there’s building work, and I will be judged on my performance.

We are detached but very close to next door’s house, and a couple of years ago they had a three month building project going on, needing their scaffolding to be partly built on our land.

In the beginning I just went with it, but I had to agree some basic rules with my neighbours on day 2 - they couldn’t have the access to their first floor scaffolding set up right outside my office window (easy to sort as this bit was on my land!) and they needed not to have the radio blaring in the same area. This kept the disruption to me at a minimum but still allowed them to get on with the work exactly as they’d planned.

Would it be possible to agree something along these lines with your neighbours, to offer some help with the massive issues this will no doubt be creating for their ability to work effectively?

FamilyOfAliens · 19/02/2020 08:15

Nobody has said OP is supposed to solve all the problems but a change in attitude towards the neighbours situation could be a massive help.

Really? You think the neighbours’ complaints will stop if the OP apologises for the fact the noise will be going on for a year?

They’re annoyed about the noise, not about the fact that the OP isn’t showing enough empathy when warning them about the noise.

FlamingoAndJohn · 19/02/2020 08:17

It’s interesting to read the difference of responses to the ones on this thread.

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/3820845-to-hate-my-neighbours-and-their-million-pound-basement

SoupDragon · 19/02/2020 08:18

and would see it as a PA put up and shut up message

I would also see the headphones like that! It is a bad idea IMO. It also wouldn't solve anything.

This is the problem of life with neighbours. It can't have been a surprise that the house needed complete renovation. Obviously you don't want to piss them off as you will be living next to them for a long time so there may be some compromises you can come up with - find out when their child sleeps and see if the builders can tie this in with lunchtime or something.

SoupDragon · 19/02/2020 08:20

The neighbours on that basement thread didn't even bother to speak to the OP about the works.

Reginabambina · 19/02/2020 08:22

Surely you can limit the noisy stuff to a few hours a day?

adaline · 19/02/2020 08:25

Really? You think the neighbours’ complaints will stop if the OP apologises for the fact the noise will be going on for a year?

No, but it might soften the blow a bit.

I can't imagine anyone here would be happy if their new neighbours announced that the following year would be taken over with loud noises, drilling, bashing through walls and general building work. Building work happens and the odd month here and there is generally tolerable but a full year of it is a whole different kettle of fish.

I totally appreciate that there's nothing that can be done but gestures like buying earplugs or noise-cancelling headphones see pretty PA to me and won't really solve anything.

But the thread is going around in circles. Nobody's going to be happy with a full year of building works going on next door!

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