Elderly neighbour v house renovation

[shazwee]

I've inherited a house which had tons of damage, needed new roof, re wire, concrete base new ceilings etc..basically almost has to rebuild, semi detached dormer bungalow. House has been empty for many years. Some things have been done since March, new roof etc..elderly single lady next door is not coping well with the noise of the workmen. It's been difficult as I don't have a massive pot of money to put it right so relying on family and friends etc trying to keep noise to minimum at weekends ( although this is really only the time hubby and I can spare to do bits) I have sent flowers to neighbour, kept her informed etc..gave her some doors etc she wanted , basically I have tried to be as accommodating as possible. Yesterday the plasterer was in and she came round complaining its was a holiday and didn't want to noise ( she is round every time a trade is there complaining about noise) I dont know what else I can do. There is possibility months more of noise to come, plumbers, patio to be laid, new kitchen the list is endless...Yesterday she asked us to tell her everytime noise is going to be made...impossible for us as we're not always there and cannot ask workmen to do so...what can I do, I don't want to fall out but I can't see a way forward..she has had silence from the house for years. I didn't think a plasterer would make any noise 🤔 please help MN friends x

At present I am the neighbour from hell! Actually I hope I'm not, but I have been getting work done for the last year. I know it is annoying but sometimes I've found it hard because it's so difficult to get trades exactly when you want them. If I have found someone to do work I just say 'yes please!'. I think perhaps this elderly lady is used to noiseless neighbours, I would apologise and try to get the work done ASAP. At least that way she can look forward to ordinary household noises.

@PatAndMat

However
you can legally work all day, every day. After Midnight might result in a call from the council but even then they’d have to check the noise level.
That is the reality of your legal situation.
Posters saying you can’t work late, all week or on Bank holidays are wrong.

Perhaps you might want to look into what you're talking about before throwing "legal" and "legally" around so much.

Someone is definitely wrong but you're mistaken about who that is.

As someone said above before the plastering is done there will be a looootttt of drilling to put plasterboard in (we had a room done last year and spent the time apologising to very accommodating neighbours. As for the bank holidays don't matter to older people , um, people, my mum, aunt and uncle love bank holidays- they always make sure to do something a bit different that day, like a nice dinner in or something, because they say 'the rest of the country is enjoying it so we need to do something that will be enjoyable!!' Also tv is better that day!!

If she's 'elderly' what does it matter if it's a Bank Holiday or any other Monday?

@ChardonnaysBeastlyCat

Ageist? How?

But - unless the op wants to live there or use as a holiday home or rent the property out - a better bet is to sell it

No
This info is correct. I’m an architect and this is the information we have advised our clients which councils have advised us.

The southeast
Hertfordshire
London ( hours vary slightly and depends on what diy )
Various councils around the Southwest and up to Manchester.
This is for diy, renovation and small works.
Certain works building regs ( demolition mainly ) or planning is different.

I know exactly what I am talking about after over 35 years working in the industry…..Thankyou

Well first of all, plasterers generally use electric drills to mix the actual plaster! They also, by law, have to have Smooth FM on very loud and sing along to every power ballad badly 😂

You sound like my neighbour. Other people on the street are having work done so Sat afternoon and Sunday is blissful apart from the odd lawnmower. Then my neighbour started up. Major renovations using family and friends - the noise starts at 5pm and goes on til 10pm, and all day Saturday. Last Sunday I was woken at 8am with a bang so loud, the wall behind my bed was vibrating from the noise.

That was the last straw, The neighbours had informed me about the work and promised they would stick to council noisy work hours - 8-6 M-F, 8-1 Sat, no Sunday or Bank holidays. Then proceeded to do the exact opposite. I tried to put up with it but it's non stop noise. After they finish drilling around 10pm, the music gets louder and they're clearly partying.

It's just awful. I contacted them Sunday when I was awoken so rudely, and said enough, next time you work outside permitted hours I'm calling the council. And I did because they didn't stop. Other neighbours have also had enough and now they're getting a barrage of complaints. They are entitled to get work done but I am entitled to a peaceful life and they must stick to the council hours.

Rotten way to move into a peaceful street where everyone cooperates as a lovely little community, and wreck it with your selfishness.

By assuming that someone who’s older might not work, might not bother with weekend, therefore should just put up and shut up about antisocial noise at those times.

Those of you saying that bank holidays are irrelevant as she's elderly, do you think the poor woman might have thought "well at least I'll get one day of quiet as it's BH"?!
OP you SHOULD NOT have let any work go ahead yesterday. You've contradicted yourself by saying it's friends and family doing the work and they work full time but then claim to not do any work after 6pm / not on Sat after 1pm and not at all on Sundays. Why the hell did you let the plasterer go in yesterday?
I lived next to a major renovation project and it was bloody awful. We accepted it as we had no choice, but I had no qualms whatsoever telling the builders to bugger off on the quite a few occasions when they tried to start before 8 / work on Sunday / work on a BH. They were chancing their arm that we'd just take it but they were very much mistaken.

The work will still need doing whoever owns it. The new owners could end up being slower or less considerate...

The work needs doing regardless so why should OP sell it? She can do what she wants within reason.

Erm, yeah but my reply isn’t about that.

It’s just what I would do if I was in their position. Realistically, most people who inherit a property sell on, pay any inheritance costs/taxes etc.

But - unless the op wants to live there or use as a holiday home or rent the property out - a better bet is to sell it

Sorry, I'm confused. It would need renovating before you could do any of those things, wouldn't it? If it needs months' worth of work, there's not much you can do except get in with it as considerately and efficiently as you can, surely? Or am I missing something?

When your retired….. everyday is a bank holiday 🙂

Oh, cross-posted - I see what you mean.

The fact remains, though, that the OP is not at fault for the quantity of work that needs to be done. She can't do anything about that. All she can reasonably do is communicate respectfully and stay within sociable hours. Everything else is hard on the neighbour but unavoidable.

Friends and family can diy anytime ( sat , sun, bank holidays ) I think you will find that certain working hours only refer to paid contractors/ builders .

Renovate a wreck just to sell it, oh yes everyone does that. Well no they don’t actually

Well, um, lots of people do...? But what I meant was that for the house ever to be used it will have to be renovated. Unless the neighbour wants it to stand empty forever/fall down/burn down, the work is non-negotiable.

It's a free world, OP can do that if she wants.

I don't understand why most posters want to stick the boot in.

9-10 weeks is nothing for building works. I've had both sides of me doing building works for months as well as the house at the bottom of the garden remodelling the house all the time.

As long as the trades stick to the rules regarding hours, which the OP has confirmed they do apart from a couple of occasions, they are being reasonable. If you don't want any building work near you then you need to live in a remote part of the world. The OP has also said it doesn't happen every day or even every week as they fit in the works when they can.

The neighbour really can't complain about work being done on a Friday afternoon. She's been lucky to have an unoccupied house for all these years, she can't expect it forever.

Most people who inherit a property that needs refurbishment do the work and sell it completely updated. It makes more money that way. Either way the work’s going to be done by somebody.