New neighbours complaining about our toilet

[Amanda98]

We’ve got a new build where one side of our house completely backs on to a neighbours garden - that’s the back wall/boundary of their garden essentially.

Downstairs, we have a toilet with a window which is on the side of the house where that wall is, and has a small window which opens at the top. Their garden is slightly lowered so it isn’t within reaching distance. It’s a fairly odd design but we’ve lived here for years with no issues.

The neighbours have recently changed. In one of the early weeks in April when it was warm, they put a note through the door which asked we keep the window closed when it’s sunny because of the smell. We don’t really open it much anyway so thought nothing of it.

We’ve since had a further note through this week asking it stays closed on Saturday because they are hosting a BBQ for a family members birthday. We also have family over on Saturday and the downstairs loo is the one they’d naturally use.

Are the neighbours being CF? They surely can’t expect us to introduce a rule where we only crap upstairs whenever they say so!

I’m not sure that’s true, actually. The OP does say they themselves live in a new build, but she also says they’ve lived there for years, so presumably not brand new. I don’t think she specifies how old either house is, only that the neighbours whose garden their window opens onto have changed recently, and that there was no apparent issue with the previous ones.

I agree it would be a weird design decision to actually design a new house where someone opening a window in their house was technically trespassing onto their neighbours’ property… It sounds more like a dodgy extension to me.

I always thought downstairs loos were for pees! I'd be mortified at the thought of my neighbours complaining of the smell wafting from my downstairs loo!! 😱

Could there be an issue with the drainage as surely this isn't normal?

Could there be a problem with a drain or something. Ask to smell it if they complain again.

Agree to disagree on that one :)

I would be the grown up and walk over and knock on the door and have an adult conversation. You shouldn't have to close the window. They should have lioked at the garden area before purchasing.

People saying downstairs are for wees only, where do you think people who live in bungalows or ground floor flats go then?

I doubt they made the complaint lightly. You need to investigate, whether it’s a plumbing problem or a human behaviour issue.

Close the window for a couple of weeks & experience what wafts out of the room.

If they also can hear from their garden seating area, get a white noise machine or a Bluetooth speaker playing light jazz for the bathroom.

Cheeky gits ignore them!

The smellier your poo the better it is for you. It means that your gut is flushing (no pun intended) out all of the toxins correctly.

That is utter utter horseshit. Provide one - just one - source for this please.

Anyone who’s had a colonoscopy will tell you it doesn’t particularly smell, and believe me you are totally empty after that. Like a squeaky clean colon.

Just drop a not back sorry toilet is for this purpose and it’s our house and if we want poo in it then that’s our choice. Window get opens if necessary!

Classy.

Frankly if my family’s excrement was creating a situation for people who are merely trying to sit on their patio, I’d be embarrassed, and do something to solve the problem.

Keep the windows shut and buy an air purifying unit for the room.

Everyone shits so why do they have to not use their own toilet. It’s not classy but it’s life.

They can use it, but keep the windows shut.

They can use it, but keep the windows shut.

If my bathroom stank of poo I’d want to open the window to let the smell out. In fresh air it would dissipate quickly. Rather than stink the house out! Obviously OP needs to be confident it’s a short lasting issue and she doesn’t have a drain problem. But no way would I prioritise the scent of the neighbours garden over my house….especially if I suspected the neighbours were being over the top drama llamas.

Wow, what an attitude.

Why? People have bbqs they smell but neighbours don’t think about others. It’s best to let the smell out than keep it inside there house trumps neighbours garden.

It’s not an attitude at all. If you live close to other people you have to accept that you will hear them and potentially smell them. I can’t believe that the OP or her family have exceptionally stinky shits. Which suggests to me the neighbours are being very unreasonable. The previous neighbours didn’t complain of any smell 🤷‍♀️.

Like I said as long as it’s not a drain problem any smell will be fleeting and minor.

i can smell my neighbours cooking due to a pipe from their kitchen coming out their side wall into my garden. As a vegetarian I find that objectionable. But I don’t say anything because I accept if someone lives right by me it’s a fact of life.

Frankly the neighbours should fuck off to the other end of the garden if they are that put off by toilet odours.

I mean, yes, it smells - unless they are shitting out lavendar out their ass, then then neighbours are being completely fucking cunty in dictating to the OP how and when she can use her own toilet.

I wouldnt pander to them - high time the OP told them to fuck right off.

So unbelievably aggressive.
I’m really glad I don’t live anywhere in your vicinity.
Your neighbours probably wish they didn’t.

The layout sounds poor.

In this situation, I would probably shut the window and leave a diffuser/box of matches/vipoo in that toilet for guests and issue instructions to DH and the DC's not to poo in that toilet during the BBQ.

I imagine it is likely to be the sounds followed by (fleeting) smell. That would be quite grim for the neighbours.

Any chance you can relocate the window/fit an extractor/permanently designated that toilet as a wee only one?

(Having said that, the wees may also be noisy if the neighbours are sitting very close with an open window and a healthy male prostate....)

Thanks.

So I'm guessing if you were the OP, that you would pander to your neighbours bonkers demands?

Somehow, I think not.

My very reliable source is my nursing colleague who bravely fought bowel cancer for 5 years. She taught us everything about poop and how to make it normal to talk about it. Unfortunately she lost her battle last year. Hope that is a good enough source for you.

Wow, No personal dignity and zero consideration for others.

Civilized people don’t impose their elimination sounds and smells on others. OP’s family needs to shut the window.