AIBU to go into CF neighbours bedroom

[Gardenwoe]

Am I going mad or is my neighbour a CF?

Background: We live in a terraced house, and our bedroom is on the ground floor (recently converted/redone) and a patch of wet appeared near the skirting board on the wall. Couldn’t work out where it’s coming from as we know there are no pipes there, wondered if it might be coming through from next door as they have a disused shower room against that wall. Always got on Ok with neighbours (we have been here for 18 years, they have even longer) so asked if he could take a look his side. There’s so much junk there we couldn’t even get close to where the possible water leak could be coming from, so left it at that and realized we would have to investigate from our side.

So we asked our builder to pop in and take a look at some point. He’s also a close family friend, so when he turned up yesterday just as we were leaving for work, we let him in and left him to it. We knew he was going to have to take the skirting of and make some noise knocking out some of the bricks to try and see if the damp course had been breached.

Our front door was open so the builder could go in and out to his van parked on the drive immediately outside. Cheeky neighbour hears the banging, arrives at the front door, rings the Ring doorbell. No answer. Peers through the open door. Checks up the stairs (townhouse) Then wanders into to hallway…opens bedroom door where builder is working , goes into bedroom and demands to know why he’s making all this noise! (11am btw, not unsociable hours) Builder explained what he was doing, neighbour moaned obviously unhappy and left.

DH went round this morning to ask what he was playing at, entering into our house/bedroom uninvited. On not getting an answer when he knocked on the door he should have turned around and waited for us to get home or rang us. His answer was that we should have let him know we were going to be making noise. (Builder was finished in under an hour)

AIBU in thinking the next time I see his front or back door open I should go round and go into his bedroom?

@Bargebill19
They went in his house first to discuss the issue. I am ok with you disagreeing with me so please let me disagree with you. I don't need bullet points, thanks.

How fucking rude.

Our neighbour walked into our back garden and that was bad enough.

Absolute CF that took his chance for a nose. I would be furious.

@Whatabouttery

You seem very invested *@Bargebill19* Name changed OP?

No no name change and I wouldn’t no how to do it. Invested nope. Just absolutely shocked at how many think this is ok. The basic lack of manners is appalling. I’m just answering those who have tagged me. - like you have. It’s a discussion forum, I didn’t know there was a limit on being able to post. Perhaps you could show me where that is in the rules? Would be so helpful.

I must admit that I have been known to have a look in people’s houses when they have builders in.

@Tistheseason17 I was pointing out the evidence some have clearly chosen not to read and underlying my point regarding he did not need to walk into the op home or bedroom.

Ok, ok, calm down!

Just seems unusual to be SO irate in someone else's behalf.

Amusing more than anything.

Anyway, I'm sure you have other posters to berate

[quote Bargebill19]@CovidCorvid

You wouldn’t need part wall agreement for this. If you think that, then you would also need party wall agreement to put up shelving etc.[/quote]
Not true. Putting up shelves is diy not building work…..knocking holes in a wall is building work and requires a party wall agreement.

Copied from federation of master builders;

Do I need a party wall agreement?

A party wall agreement is needed if you plan on carrying out any building work near or on a party wall. You must tell your neighbours, provide them with a Party Wall Notice and come up with a Party Wall Agreement in writing. If you use a builder or an architect then they should be able to advise you on this, although they will not serve the notice for you.

The following works require you to obtain a Party Wall Agreement:

Any work to shared walls (party walls) between semi-detached and terraced houses.

Unbelievable. So rude and obviously just being nosey.

@Cissyandflora

I must admit that I have been known to have a look in people’s houses when they have builders in.

Yes, I always have a nosy through the open door - though to be fair I wouldn't wander in.

Turns out my neighbours have terrible taste in tiles and they've done something really weird with wood panelling half way up their walls in the hallway.

Maybe OP is embarrassed about their bedroom wallpaper?

Mind you if they were hacking bits off a party wall without informing me I probably WOULD go find someone to see what the hell was going on.

@amission phew glad I’m not alone in this.
I have been known to take this further and go in for a proper look around but this is only when the property is between owners and it’s just the workmen in. Bloody love that.

[quote Cissyandflora]@amission phew glad I’m not alone in this.
I have been known to take this further and go in for a proper look around but this is only when the property is between owners and it’s just the workmen in. Bloody love that.[/quote]
Steady on! I wouldn't go that far!!

They aren’t knocking a whole through the wall. They were removing two bricks. No different that putting in an electric socket. No party wall agreement.

But op you went in their house first to investigate. So the neighbour probably didn’t see the harm in investigating what was going on in yours.

@Bargebill19

They aren’t knocking a whole through the wall. They were removing two bricks. No different that putting in an electric socket. No party wall agreement.

@amission ha recently I was having a nose at a neighbour’s because I saw builders go in. In my defence I thought that it must be an empty house. Anyway I knocked at the door hoping I’d be able to look down the hallway at least but to my surprise the owner answered. Long story short they’ve said I can come for tea in August when the work is done. I’ve never seen them before in my life but they said they understood my curiosity.

@Comeondoit

but to enter your bedroom!

Shock horror!!

A bedroom!

Where there was already a non resident present!!

So I doubt they had the sex toys out on the bed did they?

They might have done. They could have been filming a porno, builder comes in, big hammer or some such. OP might have been having a steamy affair with the builder up against the wall.

You know you’re being deliberately goady, of course it’s never acceptable to walk into someone else’s house and demand what’s going on. My neighbour has been doing work of banging and drilling on an adjoining wall but I wouldn’t go round there unless it caused damage to mine and even then I wouldn’t just open the door and go in. It’s basic human decency.

@Cissyandflora

But op you went in their house first to investigate. So the neighbour probably didn’t see the harm in investigating what was going on in yours.

Exactly. It's a stretch to go on about the issue being that it's a bedroom - it's not a bungalow! Unlikely they wanted to look at your bedroom, OP! Just wanted to see where the noise was coming from

I bet if a post went up along lines of, "there's a really loud banging noise coming from my neighbours wall right up against my shower and I'm worried it could cause a leak, what should I do?" The responses would all be - go round and investigate.

The weird world of MN!

Sorry, but I think you were being unreasonable OP, not the neighbour.

The issue is that it’s a party wall, not about whether the neighbour was nosey.

As it’s a terrace house, you should have advised him that you’d engaged a builder to knock holes in the wall diving your properties. What if the neighbour has something delicate/pipe work, wiring etc. attached to the wall that your builder was hitting with a hammer.

@Bargebill19

They aren’t knocking a whole through the wall. They were removing two bricks. No different that putting in an electric socket. No party wall agreement.

As far as I can see the party wall act doesn’t say how much work you need to be doing…..any work on a party wall, so yes knocking a hole, needs an agreement. I totally agree most people don’t bother (I certainly haven’t) but then it’s hard to complain about your neighbours actions if you haven’t followed the rules. 🤷‍♀️ Maybe the neighbour was genuinely worried about what was happening because nobody had informed him of the plans? How was he to know if the hole was going to be big, come all the way through?

@Flowers500

I didn’t realise it was a rule that you couldn’t speak to your neighbours’ builder about a shared issue that he’s working on? Genuinely— not saying to be shirty, but I wouldn’t consider that to be off or innapropriate in any huge way. If that’s the crux of the offence I think it’s minor and something where we would have to agree to disagree

Honestly that's not the crux - the crux is entering my house uninvited! But as a side - I also think it's not his business what my builder is doing

We did work on our party wall once….iirc dh was hammering tiles off. Neighbour came round in a panic as he had no idea what we were doing, he said the noise was horrendous and a tile on his side cracked!

He was fine once we chatted, dh managed to get the rest of the tiles off a bit more gently. But if dh hadn’t heard him knocking I wouldn’t have got upset if he’d let himself in.

But as a side - I also think it's not his business what my builder is doing

It is if it’s a party wall.

I bet if a post went up along lines of, "there's a really loud banging noise coming from my neighbours wall right up against my shower and I'm worried it could cause a leak, what should I do?" The responses would all be - go round and investigate.

It would be go round and investigate with the owner and the owners consent, not just let yourself into someone else’s house and trespass!