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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To ask the new neighbour how long he's planning on smashing the place up?

29 replies

IKnowAPlace · 27/08/2022 11:24

Mid terrace, house has been empty for nine months so I know I'm just used to the quiet.

He got the keys on Tuesday, came to say hello and that the house needs a lot of work. He said he'd be back and forth and probably wouldn't move in until the new year.

Since then he's been there for full days (including since 7am this morning) and it's essentially constant banging. My two bedrooms are next to his two so I didn't expect too much renovation noise but it's not stopped. I work from home so more aware of it, admittedly.

This morning has been the worst as I was up all night with the dog.

What would you do? Ignore and hope it passes quickly or ask what the plans are next week?

OP posts:
BerthaBetty · 27/08/2022 11:28

Suck it up, it won't last forever. And if you ask what his plans are you'll just come across as nosey or awkward.

JackieDaws · 27/08/2022 11:28

Ignore it. You can't renovate a house without making a noise.

And its not his problem if you were up all night.

londonlass71 · 27/08/2022 11:29

My understanding is they can work Mon to Sat but from 8am (if I remember rightly) not on Sunday. Check your council website.

Once you ahve the correct info then approach him kindly and communicate. That's all you can do.

Are there neighbours on the other side of him? If so maybe have a word with them as well.

Leafy3 · 27/08/2022 11:29

I think its reasonable to ask him to keep noisy renovations between working hours.

At least refrain from them before 9am and after 7pm so that you are able to rest in the evenings without constant noise.

It would also be reasonable to ask him to let you know when he's planning any especially noisy work.

the80sweregreat · 27/08/2022 11:33

As long as he sticks to the rules regarding noise that are on all council websites, there isn't much you can do , sadly. My late inlaws had this for years with their neighbours, but the council couldn't do anything as they stuck to the guidance.
Wfh has its disadvantages and this is one.
With many builders buying up older ' doer uppers ' etc this will only get worse over time too as I've never seen as many around here as I have lately being made to look lovely. It's all disruption though.

NWQM · 27/08/2022 11:39

Is there any particular compromise that would help? Do you have a particular time when quiet would be helpful to your work. If so then I think its work approaching your new neighbour. He has at least been round to acknowdge so opened up the dialogue. The issue is how much compromise you want as ultimately it will involve some noise

CaptainBarbosa · 27/08/2022 11:48

I think for ease, your best solution is to just ride this out for a few more weeks.

He's obviously gutting the house that won't last for months. Once it's gutted the banging will stop and you'll start to just have drilling and fitting noises that should be less and after that it's decoration which is minimal noise.

If he's going to move in in January it's about 12 ish weeks but only half of that will be the gutting and building noise.

I wouldn't start a possible argument with the next door neighbour before he's even moved in. You don't want that for the long term surely?

Blowthemandown · 27/08/2022 12:00

@IKnowAPlace have a chat with him and say you understand he needs to renovate and it will be noisy but could he try not to do noisy stuff before 8/after 5 or something? Later at weekends? I’m sure you can work something out but if you say nothing he won’t know there’s an issue. Obviously say you know it won’t be forever and you’re not trying to stop him!

Original poster
IKnowAPlace · 27/08/2022 12:01

CaptainBarbosa · 27/08/2022 11:48

I think for ease, your best solution is to just ride this out for a few more weeks.

He's obviously gutting the house that won't last for months. Once it's gutted the banging will stop and you'll start to just have drilling and fitting noises that should be less and after that it's decoration which is minimal noise.

If he's going to move in in January it's about 12 ish weeks but only half of that will be the gutting and building noise.

I wouldn't start a possible argument with the next door neighbour before he's even moved in. You don't want that for the long term surely?

Yeah, I think this is best! He seems to be doing it himself so can't imagine he'll be here every day if he's also working. Although not great for evenings and weekends!

I've got a holiday coming up in September so will have a break then and can possibly spend a bit of time at my boyfriend's to work.

I loved living beside my previous old lady neighbour!

OP posts:
CaptainBarbosa · 27/08/2022 12:08

IKnowAPlace · 27/08/2022 12:01

Yeah, I think this is best! He seems to be doing it himself so can't imagine he'll be here every day if he's also working. Although not great for evenings and weekends!

I've got a holiday coming up in September so will have a break then and can possibly spend a bit of time at my boyfriend's to work.

I loved living beside my previous old lady neighbour!

Show quote history

Ah yes, if he's working he will have no option really than the weekends or evenings, so you may find for the next couple of weeks it's quiet in the day and then noisy on weekends evenings, but it should settle. You also have a holiday in September, you could return to find he's on the last stretch of building maybe even decorating.

Hey you never know he could actually turn out to be a very considerate, quiet nice neighbour. I'd give him a chance, he's obviously approached you and explained his plan, probably in the hope to assure you he's not going to be banging away and building for the next year!

Original poster
IKnowAPlace · 27/08/2022 12:13

My neighbour on the other side is absolutely delighted that he's "handy"!

OP posts:
Maymaymay · 27/08/2022 12:14

He only got the keys on Tuesday! We bought a renovation and had someone banging at our door at 5 o'clock after 3 days, no-one wants to be making a racket but that's the reality of doing up a house. It won't last forever he's probably just enthusiastic as it's only been 4 days.

YorkshireTeaCup · 27/08/2022 12:14

We are in the middle of a loft conversion and 1st floor renovation - the start was REALLY noisy, but once a lot of the ripping out was done, actually the noise to the neighbours hasn't been half as bad. So you might find that it settles down a bit once they move on from the really dirty work. Having said that, i don't think there's any harm in asking - we put a note through all our neighbours doors telling them when the work was going to start and due to end plus our phone numbers to ring at any point and would have been happy to chat about working around anyone had they asked.

SolasAnla · 27/08/2022 12:15

londonlass71 · 27/08/2022 11:29

My understanding is they can work Mon to Sat but from 8am (if I remember rightly) not on Sunday. Check your council website.

Once you ahve the correct info then approach him kindly and communicate. That's all you can do.

Are there neighbours on the other side of him? If so maybe have a word with them as well.

Hes is DIYing so that wont work.

IKnowAPlace the very best thing you can do is to buy the best noise cancelling technology that you can afford.
And ask him to give you notice if he is cutting or kangoing walls and floors so you can schedule to be away or at least not making calls.

If it is any consolation if he is handy and works in the trades you have a very local handyman who may come in useful in the long term🤷🏼‍♀️

Saucery · 27/08/2022 12:19

We had this for 18 months over lockdown and it was horrendous. Apart from 1 or 2 mildly pisstakey things the builders did, we smiled, gritted our teeth and waited for it to be over. We get along pleasantly with our neighbours now and I’m glad I didn’t hit the roof over the out of hours noise, dust and disruption. I just harboured daydreams about selling up to a really inconsiderate arse of a builder who would promise to maximise the disruption Grin

Augend23 · 27/08/2022 12:21

Do you have any option to go into an office? If you asked him to let you know in advance for particularly noisy days you could get out the house?

thereisonlyoneofme · 27/08/2022 12:22

I could have written this ! New neighbours, house not been touched for years, everything being gutted. Unfortunately I am home all day so Im making plans to either try and find a holiday cottage or something for a couple of weeks (though its going to take longer ) or take myself off every day for most of the day.
My last neighbours were quiet as mice too

balalake · 27/08/2022 12:25

If there are going to be items of furniture, other builders etc bringing things to the house, you might want to be considerate and ensure there is space for them to park.

If it's an unoccupied house, you might want to know when they are coming so they are legit and not thieves.

So you have good reasons to ask about the work.

Springblossom2022 · 27/08/2022 12:28

I'd find that really annoying and would struggle to deal with the constant noise so I really feel for you OP. Ultimately though, it was nice of him to pop round and say hello (most new neighbours don't seem to do that these days!) and pre warn you that a lot of work will need to be done. You can't buy good neighbours and I wouldn't want to make things frosty so early on. I'd probably just say a cheery hello next time I see him and ask how the work is coming along. He's more likely to tell you a time frame if you get chatting and he tells you what work he's doing. He'll be well aware of the noise so if he's nice enough he'll probably apologise for it during the chat

Saucery · 27/08/2022 12:37

It’s fine to ask “How’s it going?” if someone is doing major works on their house, imo. They can then tell you as much or as little as they want. If I’d stormed over saying “WHEN WILL THIS INFERNAL RACKET BE OVER????” they would have told me nothing.
“Gosh, bet you wish you’d been in for Christmas……how’s it going?” got us on a much nicer footing and an invitation to look around when it was finished, which was fascinating, because it showed how lovely our own house could look if we got a move on and did something at it.

Electriq · 27/08/2022 12:42

There's nothing wrong with setting some boundaries, if he is starting work 7am on a Saturday morning that in not on and you should establish some 'ground rules'

Him saying he won't be moving in until the new year was him telling you how long he plans on doing work in the house, until the new year!

RandomMess · 27/08/2022 12:44

I would ask to be aware it's very noisy and to start later at the weekends - 7am is unreasonable!! I would speak to him and say you understand he wants to crack on but it's also the weekend and Bank Holiday so if he could be super considerate and keep the noise between the hours of 9am-8pm??

Original poster
IKnowAPlace · 27/08/2022 15:30

I'll see what he does next week - I'm sure he'll be back at work during the week.

The only rooms with walls joining my house are the two upstairs bedrooms so I'm hoping the noisy work in there is fairly minimal. Downstairs, there's an alleyway between us.

He seems to have stopped at around lunchtime today so can relax this afternoon!

OP posts:
Original poster
IKnowAPlace · 11/09/2022 15:06

Update: noise has felt almost constant. I have no idea what's causing it as it's been weeks and he told another neighbour that the only big jobs are the kitchen and bathroom (no shared walls with my house).

So far I've:

  • been woken at 7/7.30 each Saturday
  • had one Sunday of quiet, today he's been sanding something since about 9am and I'm ready to scream
  • had to handle insane drilling sounds while delivering two important work presentations

I'm miserable but know he needs to do the work. It's just so relentless 😓

OP posts:
Saucery · 11/09/2022 17:08

I really feel for you. Like I said upthread, we had it for nearly 2 years. I still flinch a bit inside if a work van pulls up next door!
But it will be over one day, hang on in there. It’s really weird how sound travels through attached houses sometimes, even if they aren’t working directly on the other side of the wall.