Neighbours who work from home

[Confusednewmum1]

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?

This is ridiculous. I understand their perspective. My walls are thin and I hear my neighbours every day and it can be frustrating. However You should expect it when living in such close proximity to other people. I used to live above a woman who worked night shifts and she used to tell me I couldn’t hoover until after 3pm when she woke up. Errr no. Your work arrangements do not dictate when I clean my house. you have given them the heads up and that’s all you can do. Maybe buy them a nice bottle when it’s done.

"I'm sorry, but you've chosen to conduct your business from a residential location. And residential locations are entitled to have work done to improve their homes between the hours of and . The council has said what we are doing is perfectly reasonable. If you really can't cope, invest in office space like everyone else."

I’ve been in a similar position to you and moved out so had six weeks of intense works being done by a single contractor. This was exactly to avoid upsetting the neighbours.

In a terrace, even someone just knocking in a nail can be very grating!!!

So you have a choice imo: do it properly and in one hit, or keep doing it piecemeal and wind up the neighbours.

It seems most people are assuming they are choosing to work from home. It's not always the case. My husband works for a large UK company and has done for over 10 years, this year they have closed his office. He was given the option to work at home or be made redundant. He would much rather go into an office but he can't. If he was made redundant we wouldn't be able to pay the bills on just my wage.

FFS tell them to get a commercial property to work in

Cos it's really that easy......

I'm an academic and i'm expected to work from home regularly - particularly if i'm writing or marking. It's reading week this week and i'm working from home all week . if i'm in work i'm disturbed by students, other staff etc. Why would I pay to work somewhere else?

I get that building work does happen - i have a neighbour who is always doing something but OP you need to show some empathy. People are entitled to work form their own home just as you are entitled to renovate. You need to reach a compromise.

I've just read some of your updates OP and I actually think you're being quite selfish.

But I can pretty much guarantee that there will be disruption at some point every week for a year.
This would really piss me off even if I didn't work from home!

I feel for both sides - on the one hand, you want to get the work done on your house. On the other, your neighbours have lives and are entitled to reasonable use of their property.

When my DS was small, the flat underneath was renovated (again). I had random drilling at all times of the day, I too worked from home while caring for him. He couldn't nap because of the noise, I couldn't work. It was like being driven mad. On one of the days, pissing down with rain so we couldn't even escape to the park, I took him to the nearest large hospital so we could walk up and down the corridors. I live in a massive, massive block of flats on a main road, so am used to a constant level of noise from neighbours, cars, sirens, drunks in the street from the pub opposite, and barely notice them, so it's not as if either of us were delicate flowers, but this was truly unbearable.

In cases like this, I think a compromise on both sides is the only way to get this sorted. You divvy up the day, so that there's four hours of unbearable noise and four hours of uninterrupted peace, where your workers can get on with something quieter. Bonus points if you schedule the quieter times for when their kid needs to have a nap.

I get that I am being selfish but it’s part of semi detached living is it not. The person the other side of me is a builder and cuts material in his workshop all day and they complain to him as well.

I am fully aware the renovations are a pain but I have added things to make their life better such as the noise traveling, I have already had the adjoining wall sound proofed. I did that first and new windows so I could contain what noise I could within the house. Even the best sound proofing though isn’t really sound proofing.........

The sound proofing was done as they complained that they could hear every word said in my hall, which was utterly embarrassing. I guess old lath and plast walls are like that.

All I want is some ideas to soften the relationship and maintain what we can. Unfortunately moving out is not an option as we can only finance work in stages.

Of course your building work is a nuisance to anyone who is at home during the day- those who work from home, shift workers, the retired, anyone on sick leave (short or long term), SAHPs, the unemployed... But that's life. Your NDN will simply have to suck it up. I've worked from home for years and have had loads of irritations, from building work, NDN's mother's yappy dog, the NDN who couldn't walk without stomping, through to the guy who spent one summer trying to learn the sax... I've never once complained.

Also, are they really working from home if their 2 year old is there?

Yes? For some people it's the only option. I did part-time work from home when DS was small, and fitted in emails and phonecalls around his naps and so on. It's amazing how many people do this. If I'd had to go into an office and pay for childcare for him, it wouldn't have worked financially at all.

YANBU at all, the renovations need to be done and you were kind enough to pre-warn them. Their choice to work from home, they could go anywhere to work if it bothers them that much or just buy ear plugs.

Yes, people work from home. But they are homes first and foremost. And people have a right to improve their homes when and where allowed if they want to. OP is trying to be reasonable. it also looks like she's footed all the costs of trying to cut down noise between the two homes before the works started ... noise works both ways, but I noted the neighbours put the burden on OP re hearing talking, etc.

They can get noise cancelling headphones, white noise machines, etc to help make their lives easier while the renovations are going on. OP is trying to just get them done as quickly as possible

I imagine that someday if they wanted to renovate, they wouldn't give two hoots about OP and OP's comfort, btw. See that all the time.

Noise cancelling headphones and white noise machines won't do anything to help with building noise.

And if they wanted to renovate in the future, I imagine that after this, they wouldn't give two hoots for the comfort of the OP.

You are planning on having loud building work all day Mon to Fri for a whole year? Your poor neighbours. I work nightshifts and would be forced to move if you were my neighbour or I would be very unsafe in my HCP job

Annie I would hope they wouldn't, given how they have been treated by the op. And I highly doubt they will be doing any loud works that takes a full year - most normal people don't.

The best you can do is let them know in advance of any very noisy work and it is up to them how they manage their work. Giving them some warning means they can juggle calls and arrange to go elsewhere if they need. You also say they have a garage that they usually work in but it is too cold at the moment? They can get a heater for it if it is quieter there. They have options but this is for them to work out.

I work from home, we have lots of building work going on on two properties. If there is noise when i need to call I just explain to the caller what’s happening, it’s not forever so I just get on with my work

They are being unreasonable

Building work happens ....most people are understanding about that but disruptions happening weekly for a year???That's pretty shit.
I genuinely couldn't do that to my neighbours.

So it's not even an actual detached house? Even worse! I pictured a typical suburban residential street. Why in God's (or in anyone else's) name would you choose an attached house and renovate for a year? Wtf? Who even does that? An actual house is one thing. But something that is attached or semi-detached is sheer lunacy. You could build an actual house in less time, and for less money! And if you only can afford to do it 'in stages' you can't afford to do it at all! You've made some truly silly financial decisions and are inconveniencing people who already live there, it gets worse the more you post. You've sank money in a worthless project that will cost you more than an actual real house, and you are inconveniencing people to boot. I've no advice except abandoning this foolish project but it's probably too late. Did you even get financial advice beforehand? Surely any advice would be to not embark on something that is a worthless money black hole. If you can't abandon it, try to get a loan or put out a call to more builders to do the job in 3 months - 6 months absolute tops. Otherwise you will never have a good neighbourly relationship after this, and not making enemies of your neighbours is crucial. Even more so, if your home is semi-attached and they have the ability to make your life miserable.

Why in God's (or in anyone else's) name would you choose an attached house and renovate for a year?

London. Or other large cities.

They will have to lump it I'm afraid. When do they expect you to do the work?
My neighbours renovated their house over 6 months and I was actually pleased because the state it was in before I'm sure it would have greatly reduced the value of my house.

So it's not even an actual detached house? Even worse! I pictured a typical suburban residential street.

What's not "typical suburban residential" about a semi detached house?

This is done everywhere in London. Just be grateful they aren't digging a basement...our neighbors did it, we did it. Ours took a year and cost 250k. It put 500k onto the value.