To not expect neighbour to use washing machine overnight

[BornInTheWrongCentury]

Just that really. Over the last couple of months our neighbours started using their washing machine/tumble dryer overnight, it was going on on at about midnight and stays on till around 3am.

My husband asked a them politely a few weeks ago when he saw them outside if they’d mind changing the time they have it on as it really disturbs us. We’re in a mid terraced house and they are the end of the terrace. Their kitchen is below our bedroom. The previous occupants took out a wall in their kitchen that separated the kitchen from their hallway so it’s open planned now so all sound from their house is amplified now anyway and noise seems to travel up the wall into our bedroom.

After my husband mentioned it to them they stopped for a couple of weeks but now the noise has started again as they are putting a wash on at about 10pm and it finishes at 1am.

It’s really upsetting me that I can’t go to bed and read/fall asleep in peace until at least 1am now.

If it’s relevant we own our house and their house is social housing. They are the end of the terrace so if I complain to the council or their housing association they will know it’s me. They are the kind of couple who seem ok as long as you’re on the right side of them but they are rather loud and look very intimidating and to be honest I don’t want to make things worse or get into an argument with them.

They are pretty good neighbours apart from this issue as in the only other noise we hear is their children (they have very screechy, door slamming children but I can cope with that during the day!) They don’t have parties or play thumping music - it’s just the issue with not being able to go to sleep when I want to. I don’t know if I’m just being over sensitive where I so tired.

What would you do?

YABU - just be grateful it’s nothing worse than a washing machine and try to ignore it/go to bed later when you know you’ll fall straight to sleep

YANBU - be brave and speak to them again asking them to not use after 11pm and complain to the council if they refuse?

We haven’t mentioned it though, we just put up with it.

Sorry op, but if you want and expect total silence at night you need to move to somewhere where you don’t have your bedroom over your neighbours kitchen.

The white noise of a washing machine (in the house next door and on the floor below you) is absolute bliss compared to the noise that some poor families have to suffer.

It’s part of living in a community, you have to put up with other people. My neighbours wake me at 7.05am every fucking morning with his stupidly loud motorbike. Sometimes lorries thundering past in the main road or burglar alarms wake me. It’s how life is when you live in a neig with others. We all try to be quiet, your neighbours have moved their washing to be a few hours earlier, I do think you’d be very unreasonable to ask them to wash even earlier still.

Maybe it’s time for you to look at buying somewhere more secluded, I’m sorry my answer isn’t what you want to hear, I know it isn’t.

YABU, it seriously cant be that bad, and I am sure its not every night

If they are HA they are not allowed to move walls etc. Since it’s also causing an issue you could dob them in and they’d likely have to reinstate it

@WWOTW

If they are HA they are not allowed to move walls etc. Since it’s also causing an issue you could dob them in and they’d likely have to reinstate it

they didnt remove the wall... it was done prior to them living there

Ask them if you buy a rubber mat for under the machine, would they fit it or let you fit it. Making sure the machine is on the level can also really help with vibration. Also, get a big rug for your bedroom and put heavy underlay under it. If you don't already have carpet consider it. These steps will help absorb the sound and vibration.

YABU. Your neighbors have a right to use their home. They stopped for 2wks during which time they probably found their electric key meter ran out after 9days instead of 14 or something. So they went back to doing it at night but changed the time to try to better accommodate you.

You can't expect others to change their lives or routines just to prevent you changing yours. I've had periods where I'm asleep at 3am until late morning, really didn't need my neighbor putting their washing machine on at 6am (sounds like an earthquake at 7am on spin) or letting their toddler run around in shoes on their laminate flooring, above me. But you know, it's just life. So I'd be awake from 6/7-8.30am (when they all left) then back to sleep and catch up on sleep on days off.

You have an easy solution. Swap your bedroom with your living room. Then you'll have an extra wall and corridor between the washing machine and yourself. You don't want to because you'd have built in wardrobes in the living room? Or the living room is nicer so you prefer it for daytime use? Tough. Your neighbors don't want a massive electric bill. Why do you think your wants trump theirs? All this talk of being considerate, you're the one being selfish.

The council won't care.
My neighbours are having loud parties on the reg and are stinking out other peoples homes with their weed habit.
I'd be very surprised is they would care about washing machine noise.

I really feel for you though. Not being able to relax because of noise is horrible.
I've found having a sleep app playing quietly next to me helps a lot. It drowns out a lot of their noise.

Yanbu This would annoy me too

This thread is the perfect illustration of why flats aren't as popular in this country as they are in other countries - the more walls and floors you share with other people, the more likely you are to get at least one neighbour who does what they want because they can. And then if you don't like it, you're accused of wanting perfect silence or being a princess. Or given silly advice about moving to the middle of nowhere.

How good it would be to live somewhere people can live together because there is a consensus about what is acceptable and when.

As for the idea that a neighbour's washing machine is soothing white noise! No, I can feel the vibration lying in bed. And not in a good way.

They stopped for 2wks during which time they probably found their electric key meter ran out after 9days instead of 14 or something. So they went back to doing it at night but changed the time to try to better accommodate you.

This doesn't make sense. Electricity night rate starts at 1/2am. So even if they were taking advantage of that before, they aren't now if they have changed to 11pm.

It's probably more to do with their schedule than the cost.

I have storage heating and the cheapest rate is overnight, otherwise it is massively more expensive to use the washing machine during the day.

Perhaps your neighbours is the same? My washing machine only ever goes on after midnight as that is the cheaper rate. For context, my kitchen is right under my bedroom and I never hear the machine.

I am not sure on your comment about them being HA? Does that make a difference if you don't own your house?

Could you potentially move your bedroom to another room in the house?

It would annoy me but I dont think there's much you can do really... this is a reality of terraced housing. And a washing machine is nit so loud it constitutes a police issue. We live on a terrace and we can hear TV thru the walls but the only time I've ever complained is when one lot of neighbours were playing music top volume at like 1am... that is unreasonable... but stuff like the washing machine, the shower and normal volume of telly are just normal life things that unfortunately can be annoying if you are mid terrace...
I lived on one terrace once where you could hear people talking at normal volume clear as day!
Theres nit much you can do except remind them every now and then.... unless you want some kind of massive falling out

YANBU at all. I live in a ground floor Flat and for some reason my upstairs neighbours decided to run their washing machine around 11:30 one night and I could hear it reverberating from their kitchen into my bedroom and the kitchen is at the other side of the flat. Baring in mind I'd just come off a 15 hour shift and was up again at 5am to start another 15 hour day I was not amused. They're not working so no reason at all to start doing washing at that time of night. My washing machine doesn't go on past 7pm. Don't get me wrong they're not bad neighbours and I hardly hear them unless they have company cos they talk loud, are watching a film cos they laugh loud, not good if I'm watching a horror cos her laugh is like a demented clowns and it scares the shit out of me sometimes or making their breakfast or tea cos I can hear the blender. They must live on soup and smoothies 7 days a week. Then again they probably think I'm a weirdo because they can hear me talking to myself. I'm talking to my Cat but no one sees him cos he's always inside

I feel for you. Count you move into another room if possible? Electricity is really expensive during the day time. I think people who use big electric appliances in the night just want to cut their bill a bit.

*could

You can’t dictate when people do their laundry in their own homes unfortunately. It is normal household noise, it’s not like they’re blasting out loud rave music. How do you know that one of them doesn’t work awkward shifts?

They have clearly made an effort to accommodate you already. You’re bordering on being a nuisance yourself

It's possible to hear the washing machine spinning if it's overloaded and also if there are other issues with it otherwise newer appliances are pretty quiet.

It would drive me mad, I'm very noise sensitive. Invest in ear plugs this isn't worth falling out with your neighbours.

I am not sure on your comment about them being HA? Does that make a difference if you don't own your house?

Haven't you noticed the explanations about this throughout the thread?

I wonder if there's some sort of baffle they could surround their machines with (at your expense obvs)? We had a tenant who played music which would vibrate into our sitting room making it really hard to relax in there (things vibrating off shelves etc), but he was happy to put thick wads of foam under and behind his speakers which more or less solved the problem.

Omg I’m going to say it one last time I don’t have anything against anyone who lives in social housing! I genuinely don’t think I’m better just because I have a mortgage. I didn’t mean it that way at all!

The houses are 1970’s ex council houses, they are literally identical. The lady who bought ours from the council many years ago decided to move on and we bought it from her. Most houses in the road are now owned. Next door has always been social housing.

If I was renting I would contact my landlord or social housing organisation to ask how we could resolve the matter in a way that’s fair for both of us. I don’t want to upset my neighbours or stop them living their lives, I’d just like a peaceful nights sleep & I’m not sure I have the right to contact their social housing organisation as I don’t rent one of their properties.
To complain to the council would of course be the last resort anyway. I will speak to the neighbours again at some point and hope I don’t get my head bitten off like I have by a few posters on here.

I’m going to leave it there but thank you all those who have replied, for all the links and suggestions and especially to those who have stuck up for me against some of the horrible comments - I wish I had neighbours like you! xx

OP, my friend had a similar issue with the noise coming from the flat above. They contacted the council and I think they had to record decibels or something to show how loud it is.