Am I unreasonable to be upset by my neighbour's outside toilet noise?

[RockinRobyn98]

I’m wondering if I’m being unreasonable about this because it’s starting to make me feel really uncomfortable in my own home it been a happening for years but last couple weeks got so much worse.

My neighbour has an outside toilet in his garden which is very close to our house as we both had passageway yards he also has a toilet upstairs in his house which I’ll mention again later.
He seems to use the outside toilet constantly throughout the day, sometimes literally every hour. The problem is that the toilet door is often left open while he’s using it, so we can hear everything.

He will be in there from as early as 6:30/7am making very loud noises, burping, farting, spitting/coughing etc anll throughout the day we once counted 27 times in a day of him making what I can only guess is belching noises? It’s like a very loud and deep “OI” we are guessing it’s a type of belch but who knows you hear him doing it all day and he seems to spend a lot of time out there with the door open to 💩 . It’s particularly bad first thing in the morning and has woke me up all this week I’ve had off work.

I’m finding the noise really unpleasant and sometimes they make me feel physically sick especially now I’m pregnant. I know he is obviously entitled to use his own toilet, but surely leaving the door open and making very loud bodily noises when it’s right next to neighbouring houses isn’t particularly considerate? I sat in the bath last night relaxing to his farts.. he does have a toilet upstairs and once in a conversation with him he mentioned how he sleeps in the living room as he can’t make it up the stairs (he’s late 60s) but I’ve often seen his upstairs lights come on so don’t believe this to be fully true.

It’s getting to the point where I dread hearing him go out there because I know what’s coming!
Would this bother you or am I being unreasonable? And is there anything I can actually do about it if it continues?

where do you live?? This sounds very unusual for the uk

I live in a town in Norfolk.

Does he know how much you can hear?

Classy

Who’s knows but I assume so it’s terraced houses and it’s probably 4/5 foot from his toilet door to my back door. Paper thin walls we can hear his television most days.

I'd just tell him to shut the door as you can hear everything. He might not realise.

It sounds unpleasant but if he’s using the toilet every hour and struggles with stairs then he’s not going to want to haul himself to the upstairs bathroom every time - he might be able to use the stairs at some times and not at others when he’s e.g. in more pain. I think the best option is to swallow the awkwardness and just ask if he could close the door because you can hear him and that’s a bit embarrassing for both sides.

How you've not shouted to shut the door as soon as you heard too much, I don't know. Don't sit there listening!

Have you time travelled?

The last time I used an outside loo was about 40 years ago 😬

I know you live in Norfolk but surely indoor plumbing has reached the provinces ? 😂

If he is struggling with stairs, and maybe his bladder or bowels, using the outside loo is the best option for him.
Unpleasant for you as it sounds, I think the only thing you could do is mention to him that when he leaves the toilet door open, he doesn't have much privacy; perhaps it would be better for both of you if he shuts it when using it.

Until I read where you live, I honestly wondered if you were my elderly dad's neighbour!
My dad has to use his outdoor toilet as he can't get upstairs to the bathroom due to his mobility and his medications increase his wind - I get you, it sounds bloody disgusting and I really hate it when my dad burps but he has bad acid reflux.
Unfortunately he tends to fart loudly when he needs the toilet too - I used to think he was doing it on purpose but as I've got older and am on certain medications, I too have become a Arse Musician (although I do TRY to do it in private as it's actually really embarrassing but I know that there are times where my neighbours have heard and it's genuinely not deliberate and I do get really embarrassed about it and have tried allsorts to prevent it).

Jokes aside though, your neighbour probably has no idea how much you can hear or how it makes you feel.
Does he live alone? If so, he may well not realise just how loud and grim his noises are.
If not, could you have a quiet word with whoever he lives with or his carer if you don't want to go directly to him.

I do feel for you, as it's not nice to hear, especially when it's all of the time.

"Arse Musician", 😆

We had outside toilets in the 60s. We did have an upstairs bathroom too but weren't allowed to go upstairs during the day as it wore out the carpet and dragged mud indoors.
It was always very spidery.
We also had Izal medicated toilet paper.
But this is 2026 for fuck's sake. Tell him to shut the door and shut up!

I'd just go out there and loudly say Please shut the door, it's disgusting having to listen to you having a shit every day.

Put a note in the letterbox to say "please close your toilet door when using your toilet, we can hear everything and its really spoiling the enjoyment of my home"

It sounds like he has urinary and bowel issues to be going every hour. I assume he is single? Is there a light in the toilet? If not, maybe that is why he leaves the door open? Its sounds grim OP.

I'd be tempted to record the noise and play it back very loudly to him when he isn't sitting on the toilet (I wouldn't but would want to!)
Do you ever speak to him? If so I'd ask him to close the door.

If using one, it must comply with strict building regulations, environmental health rules, and local council planning standards. You could try reporting it to the councils Environmental Health or Building Control? They may find something wrong with it that means it has to be changed.

This sounds pretty grim but he’s entitled to use his toilet.

New toilets do. Building controls aren’t retrospective though, so if the toilet was built when the house was, and it’s an older house, then there’s absolutely nothing anyone can do about him using his toilet to do toilet things - even if the neighbour has to listen to it.

Thankyou for all your mixed responses but he lives alone I can also mention he is a awkward neighbour he has my phone number for emergency’s and used to ring me to turn off my bathroom light because it would shine through his window and he couldn’t sleep! But yet he does this every day 🤔 we do talk but just the usual hello good morning ect.. I don’t know how I would approach the conversation about his toileting issues. I have a 9 year old who also gets so annoyed because the belching is so loud I wish I could upload a recording it’s more like he is shouting “oiiiiiiii” over 20 times a day.

Yes single gentleman late 60s.

He has lived in his house over 50 years, His girlfriend used to live in our house many years ago he had told me he must know how thin the walls are…

Oh dear get off your high horse! No one is laughing about farts because we are not children - it’s more asking how I have to listen to someone having a shit every single day and spitting,gagging and belching am I being unreasonable for not wanting to hear it especially while pregnant it’s making me feel quite sick.

Shout out - please shut the door.

will he be better in the colder weather, it is gross

I remember my lovely dgps having an outside loo but that was in the 70s/80s