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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

About new neighbours doing DIY at night?

37 replies

RubixCubix · 30/07/2020 23:22

I live in a semi and our previous neighbour in the adjoining house moved out last week. So far nobody appears to have moved in as yet, but 3 evenings this past week, including tonight, somebody has been carrying out noisy DIY all evening. Tonight I got home at 8.45 and they were at it again, noise of power tools etc. That stopped around 10.30 but I can still hear hammering type noises going on now.

Please tell me IANBU to be annoyed about this Angry

OP posts:
Original poster
RubixCubix · 30/07/2020 23:50

Guess I must be the only person still awake because of noisy neighbours at this time of night then. It's good news though as I think this evening's DIY is over because they are now hoovering Hmm

OP posts:
islandislandisland · 30/07/2020 23:58

YANBU, very inconsiderate.

MeepleMe · 31/07/2020 00:06

Technically I think 'night hours' are 11pm to 7am, so noise at the time you describe wouldn't be considered unreasonable.
Gosh, when DH and I did up our last property, almost every evening we had to work on it, stopping maybe 8pm. And it still took far longer than we expected!
What time do you think they should stop by OP?

MeepleMe · 31/07/2020 00:09

Sorry just seen you say now i.e. when you posted. Definitely unreasonable of them. Go and have a word?

ittooshallpass · 31/07/2020 00:12

YANBU.

My neighbours had a cement mixer going in their garden at 10.50pm last week. It is so inconsiderate. I get it that people want to get their DIY work finished asap but I think 8.30 is the latest time anyone should be using power tools.

CrotchetyQuaver · 31/07/2020 00:14

you need to go round and talk to them and hopefully agree a time for any noisy work to finish.

Notcontent · 31/07/2020 00:29

@MeepleMe

Technically I think 'night hours' are 11pm to 7am, so noise at the time you describe wouldn't be considered unreasonable. Gosh, when DH and I did up our last property, almost every evening we had to work on it, stopping maybe 8pm. And it still took far longer than we expected! What time do you think they should stop by OP?
No, that’s not quite right. The 11 pm thing is a bit of a myth. It’s all about what is reasonable and doing DIY at 6 pm might be ok, but definitely not at 10 pm.
Itwasntme1 · 31/07/2020 00:32

My new neighbours behaved like this when they first moved in. I remember one night in particular being woken at 11pm by a power drill on the shared wall🙄.

Some people are selfish. They have continued to be oblivious to others and the noise has only improved since they had a baby.

Shizzlestix · 31/07/2020 00:32

I spoke to my neighbours who appeared to be laying laminate/hammering it in at 11pm. Bit late, extremely inconsiderate.

Original poster
RubixCubix · 31/07/2020 01:01

I'd say up until 9pm is reasonable for doing DIY. After that general household noise is understandable as noise does travel between adjoining houses. We are usually winding down at that time and mostly all in bed by 10.
But the first two nights (pattern seems to be Tuesdays and Thursdays) it was going on until around 11pm, including very loud banging that caused my cupboard doors to shake. Tonight it was gone midnight. Their car has just left. I've had to move my kids in together in the only bedroom on the non-joined side of the house. It's holidays so they can sleep in but I have to be up for work at 5am.

OP posts:
Original poster
RubixCubix · 31/07/2020 01:04

Oh and there's no way I'm going round to knock at their door at night on my own. Like I said no one has actually moved in yet, they just turn up to make noise do DIY some evenings.

OP posts:
Durgasarrow · 31/07/2020 03:49

I would say 9:00 p.m. is the absolute latest for power tools and hammering.

Desperadododo · 31/07/2020 03:58

My neighbours complained to me knocking at my door at 8pm first week I moved in when I was trying to hang a mirror. I made sure not to do DIY late again.... but when they woke me up every other night having loud sex scratching at our shares wall at 4am, and parked really badly daily over my drive, I then threw a lot of late night parties. They were hypocrite arseholes.

Try writing a well considered note and attaching a welcome gift or pop in to see if you can do anything, but mention the works are too late for you x

CodenameVillanelle · 31/07/2020 04:02

Write them a letter and stick it through the door

isabellerossignol · 31/07/2020 04:12

Just knock on the door and ask them nicely. Most people aren't arseholes and they maybe just haven't stopped to think about how much the noise travels. I grew up in a detached house and my first house of my own was terraced. I was completely unaware of how much noise can travel because it wasn't something I'd ever experienced. If they're not actually living in the house yet themselves they might just not have thought it through. They're not likely to drag you in and bury you under their newly laid floors. It's more likely they'd be embarrassed at having made a bad impression.

Aquamarine1029 · 31/07/2020 04:53

Personally, I would never do noisy DYI in a semi past 8pm because I would feel terrible that I'm ruining someone's evening or keeping children up. If it's an emergency, that gets a pass, but just regular repairs is very rude.

GnomeDePlume · 31/07/2020 06:20

Talk to them. They probably havent thought. I know my DH can get carried away sometimes and I have to remind him what the time is.

Original poster
RubixCubix · 31/07/2020 23:50

If anyone was interested in an update. I put a note through their door on my way to work this morning, explaining the noise is affecting us (although how anyone could be unaware of it is beyond me) and asking politely that it doesn't carry on so late at night.

Got home around 5.30pm and they have all windows upstairs wide open and some kind of power tool (sander?) going. Good, I hope maybe they have realised and are doing today's work earlier. Was a bit annoying that the same droning noise carried on for 4 hours straight until 9.30 but ok I thought.

But no, kids were asleep and I was just dropping of when it's started up again at five to fucking 11 at night!

OP posts:
jeff1965 · 01/08/2020 00:00

They sound utterly selfish! You'd think first time perhaps they didn't realise how loud it was from your side, but after the note any decent person would stop and apologise! Perhaps try and knock or bang on the wall if you don't feel comfortable going around.

romeolovedjulliet · 01/08/2020 00:02

i'd get advice from enviromental health at the council about this one as you have asked them to keep it down and they are being arseholes.

Quorafun · 01/08/2020 00:04

I work night shifts regularly, so I think that any diy, at any time, can be utterly selfish. just because its 11am on a Wednesday, doesn't mean that someone isn't trying to get some much needed sleep.
My issue with what you describe, is the lack of fair warning. If I am told that my neighbour will be doing some diy, I'm ok with it, as I can at least try and prepare for it. But if I'm on nights and they start bashing the walls in the middle of the day, its beyond rude, and utterly selfish.

newwnamme · 01/08/2020 00:10

Start a diary of disturbances. Record these on your phone. Look up the contact details for environmental health at your local council. They're probably on a reduced service, like everything else in the world, but in normal times they would eventually intervene in a situation like this. The diary and the recordings would help, as would the testimony of any other affected parties. Ultimately though, if you're not going to go round and speak to them then nothing is going to change. EH would expect you to have tried to reach a resolution informally.

romeolovedjulliet · 01/08/2020 00:28

@RubixCubix

If anyone was interested in an update. I put a note through their door on my way to work this morning, explaining the noise is affecting us (although how anyone could be unaware of it is beyond me) and asking politely that it doesn't carry on so late at night.

Got home around 5.30pm and they have all windows upstairs wide open and some kind of power tool (sander?) going. Good, I hope maybe they have realised and are doing today's work earlier. Was a bit annoying that the same droning noise carried on for 4 hours straight until 9.30 but ok I thought.

But no, kids were asleep and I was just dropping of when it's started up again at five to fucking 11 at night!

new op put a note through the door, neighbours are coming across as complete selfish idiots.
Original poster
RubixCubix · 01/08/2020 00:29

I have it all written down plus I took a photo of the note before I posted it. Then I've done some recordings tonight of whatever the noise was, in various rooms. DDs room was the worst so I'm guessing it was the room on the other side of hers where they were working tonight. Previously it was definitely coming from the downstairs. Maybe they thought upstairs the noise wouldn't carry as much Hmm
Anyway the reprise was relatively short thankfully, finishing just before midnight, and they have driven off.

OP posts:
Newbiehere123 · 01/08/2020 00:38

When I was a uni student I worked part time and my working hours were a bit weird to fit my studies. Anyway, I had a new wardrobe delivered and it was roughly 9pm where I decided to put it up as I had no other time due to working/studying. My housemate was helping me, there was no banging, no hard objects being used or power drills. Just a screw driver and opening cardboard boxes and holding the cupboard doors together. 20 minutes later my neighbours came knocking at my door saying if everything is ok due to the noise levels but also forgetting the fact that for the past year they were constantly doing major garden works 8am every sat and sun and also installing an annoying fountain which was on constantly. You are being a bit unreasonable. DIY works are temporary, try living next to Asbos and you will completely become a new person by being understanding to any crying newborn sound, diy and building works and car alarms or parties.