To think that if you have noisy unnecessary building works done, you lose the right to object to noise made by your neighbours?

[CrispieCake]

Inspired by another thread. AIBU to think that if you subject your neighbours to months of disruption and misery in their own homes so that you can have a bigger kitchen or loft conversion (and particularly if you move elsewhere so you're not disturbed), then it's open season on you as far as noise is concerned from then on? You lose your right to object to your neighbours' babies crying, kids screaming, pool parties, garden raves, essentially any lawful use of their property from then onwards. And if you try to complain to them, they're fully justified in laughing incredulously, shutting the door in your face and inviting 20 5 year olds round to go wild in the paddling pool.

I know I'm not BU on this but interested to know what others think.

Sadly, as it turns out, neither can the racket from Arabella's violin-playing.

But providing that it's not at 6am or some other unreasonable hour then there's nothing to complain about.

Yes, that's the line I'd take too. Though having recently sat through a school concert, personally I'd say it's capable of constituting cruel and unusual punishment in certain cases.

If someone disturbed my family's peace for months on end, then moved back in and came round and asked me to keep my kids' noise down, then yeah I'd be a bit petty.

But what about your other neighbours? They've been subjected to the renovation noise, and now you as well!

Don't worry, the violin practice would be limited to rooms on one side of the house only.

Maybe they felt they had free rein to make noise because your household made noise previously, so they figured it was their turn?
Perhaps your house was the instigator of noise in this wild little tit for tat game you seem to have embroiled yourself in?

Our new next door neighbour did a total new build next door whilst they were 400 miles away. This was during the quiet of COVID - building noise, builders (who they were related to) constantly swearing loudly, littering and pissing and shitting against the fence.

Whilst I'm not petty enough to be especially noisy myself, I did eye roll when the new neighbour said she didn't like my son doing football practice kicking into a net in our back garden - an almost noiseless exercise. I was somewhat delighted when he asked for a basketball hoop - those balls can be noisy!

I think you've had a hard time here OP. You sound fed up that you've put up with endless renovation noise (which is torturous) and then they have the audacity to complain about children's noise. I too would be livid and feel like being petty YANBU.

@Workisntworking . YABU, because people NEED to improve their properties, you know. It's like cars - everyone else's is getting bigger so yours needs to, too. So it was, like, so necessary and it's petty of you not to have been delighted for them. In fact, YOU should have taken them wine in recognition of the stress they were going through being out of their home. And of course they want to enjoy their new, upgraded home in peace and quiet after spending all that money...

I admit taking a hammer and chisel to my fireplace at 6:15 am was wrong, but it was necessary, the growing up screaming fostered child next door is also ok, annoying, but ok. The summer screaming kids, with adjacent more loudly screaming mother is also ok. Likewise summer mowers and strimmers.

My occasionally barking dog is not ok, but neither is all the other occasionally barking dogs; only the 3 dogs that bark occasionally with one that attacks any random dog is really not ok.

And shouting louder and louder with your DD's latest shag in your inflatable hot tub every night is really not ok.

And now you know, and look really sad.

I kind of get where OP is coming from.

our neighbours had a screaming bratty kid and every weekend morning we could hear her screaming the house down from ours. I would never dream of saying anything to them about it, it’s life and we get it.

however my boyfriend was playing bass guitar one weekend lunchtime in the summer with the window open and they came over and asked us if he could stop whilst they showed someone round their house.

i feel like if you’re going to subject your neighbours to months or years of screaming children, screaming adults telling screaming children off and so on then you’re not really in a position to ask other to keep quiet for you.

we play instruments, have people round in the garden as do our neighbours - we all inflict noise on each other. I wouldn’t dream of telling them to keep their noise down if I’ve been noisy myself .

Look, I get it. Noisy building work is annoying but doing home improvements is completely normal!!

Sometimes it's just to make things nicer and sometimes it's a necessity. Both are okay

Never been more grateful to live in a detached house.

You sound quite nuts OP.

Sometimes it's just to make things nicer and sometimes it's a necessity. Both are ok

So can we apply this to other causes of noise as well? Playing classical music loudly in the garden makes life nicer for me, because I enjoy it, so that's fine presumably? And getting a hot tub on the same principle.

We're allowed to make as much noise as we like if it makes life nicer for us.

It's not really the same though is it?

You can listen to classical music quietly or using headphones or,if you insist on it being loud, keeping it up reasonable times.

Can you explain how building work can be done quietly? And what is the criteria for acceptable work? Seeing as though you feel that people shouldn't be allowed to do anything to improve their property because it will create noise.

You can do those things quietly with neighbours in mind. You can't build an extension quietly.

You sound twisted and bitter.

Yes building works are annoying. But it's part of life. They're finished now. Move on.

I wouldn’t care either OP, particularly not to a poster that called me a cunt because of it. It’s a debate about noise and they’ve decided that’s appropriate 🤷‍♀️

Well the previous poster called her a cunt and a prick and you’ve called her a twat, all over a thread about reasonableness regarding noise, so it’s debatable who’s the badly behaved one here.

If I didn't know better OP, I'd say you were jealous.

'Unnecessary building work'? Your neighbours are having their house built up and out because a) they can and b) they feel the work will give them a nicer home. Who are you to say it's unnecessary?

Make a racket if it makes you feel better - I'm guessing they'll be enjoying their lovely new kitchen too much to care! 🤷‍♀️

Building work is noisy OP. What do you expect them to do? Genuinely...

I'm not really sure where you're going with this thread - you sound petty and vindictive and a nightmare of a neighbour. Would much rather live next door to someone getting noisy work done for months (and have done) than live next to someone spiteful and passive aggressive.

This! With bells on... 👏👏

Not as much as you want, but playing classical music in the garden is unlikely to get you into trouble unless you do it at night and a hot tub won’t get you into trouble at all.

It can be pretty unsociable and may be the next step in a war of attrition you’ll come to regret, though.

I have to admit that I felt grumpy over Christmas as our neighbors went away, but the building work continued- it literally only paused on Christmas Day. The contractor sometimes works at the weekend as well as the neighbors go to their holiday home regularly.

We have a cordial relationship, no complaints from any of us, but if they ever did complain about reasonable noise, I may point out that we’ve tolerated the drilling and hammering even on Boxing Day and Sundays!

But your neighbours aren't going out of their way to be deliberately noisy; they're having an extension built and 'noise' is an unfortunate consequence of that. You must understand that, surely?

Did you guys not have a party wall agreement drawn up? Have they not fixed the plaster that fell down?!

Typical MN responses of “oh you must be jealous” are laughable

It is perfectly ok to be pissed off at living beside a building site for months on end without feeling jealous

And the neighbours who have complained about noise after causing noise themselves are CFs who I would be telling that they should have put some sound proofing in when doing their building work if they don’t like noise