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?

Speak to him or get someone else to.

Oh so you already have his number?

Text.

'Hi Fred, just wanted to mention something, apologies its a bit delicate - when you use the outdoor loo the sound echoes round the back of the houses, just thought i should let you know in case you wanted to try a bit of soundproofing. Cheers!'

Done.

I agree with the poster above that I have never in my life heard women make these kinds of noises, its only ever men who seem incapable of figuring out ways to dampen the sounds of bowel movements and burps etc....

Message him, or drop a note through his door if he doesn't use a mobile, saying something like "Bert, there's no polite way to say this, but could you please keep the door closed when you use your downstairs toilet. The sound of all your bodily functions is a little off putting and it would be better for your privacy, thanks".

If he can't safely get up stairs that is fair enough but would you mind closing the loo door sounds a reasonable ask

Echoing pp’s suggestions, I’d refer back to his former request to you, either in a note or text, if you don’t want to ask face to face, and say ‘Hi X. Remember when you let us know that our bathroom light was annoying you? Well I have a similar favour to ask of you…could you please shut your downstairs toilet door when in use? This will increase your privacy, and save any potential embarrassment,, as I’m sure you’ll understand. All the best, Robyn’
If this doesn’t improve things, it means he’s got a hide like a rhino and you’ll have to put it more bluntly!

No posting history.
Unbelievable story
About defaecation
Saturday night

Wise up guys!

I’m sorry what? I havnt posted before because this is my Friday time using mumsnet. I’ve seen it on Facebook asking for advice so thought I’d try? It’s not an unbelievable story at all because it’s happening how is my neighbour using outdoor toilet unbelievable?… but if you think people have that much time on their hands to make stuff like this up for what?:. Entertainment?.. bless you x

Shutting the door isn’t going to make a great deal of difference

Don’t see what’s unbelievable about it. There are a lot of houses near me still with outside toilets. Ex colliery ones. I can definitely believe it

I think his noisiness is probably due to health conditions and medications.
I am also wondering if he has no light in the outside toilet and if so I’d be tempted to buy him a battery light.
He might not want to be trapped in the loo with the stench and echo of farts etc though.
You need to tell him - Fred you really need to shut the door when you’re in the loo. It’s really unpleasant to hear. Maybe your meds need adjusting.

There are houses in the street next to me (built in the late 1950s) with outdoor toilets. Its not that crazy

Get your 9 year old to shout, 'he's in the toilet again making horrible noises'.

Our house had an outside toilet (70s) but no inside toilet, there was just a bath and basin upstairs. Having to go on a dark winter's night was no fun and the high level cistern would freeze so you would have to climb up to put hot water in it, those were the days.

Oh I know. We have a fella of about 30 who is constantly clearing his throat as he exits the house. It’s not a cough it’s more like “aaack aaack aaaaaaaack” like trying to cough up a fish bone. This has been going on for years. Why hasn’t he seen a doctor!

What’s the difference between an outside toilet and a WC extension? I know I missed the point of the thread.

Omg arse musician. Superb!

He's late sixties, so not that old at all. People are still working in their sixties.

Even if he does have a medical condition which causes bladder and bowel issues, he could make sure that the toilet door is closed. It sounds performative to me.

Arse musician 🤣
but OP’s guy is a belcher and a farter -
he’s a one man band !!

I have to admit, I'm laughing alot at your descriptions 😆 especially the OIIIIIII haha.

It's vile and gross though and you shouldn't have to hear it, you do need to risk an awkward interaction I'm afraid and say shut the door we can hear every bowel movement.

I didn’t know outside lavatories were still a thing. I thought they were from the 50s and prior.

I'm genuinely surprised about how aghast people are about the existence of outside loos. Especially as OP has clearly said this is a second toilet. Plenty of houses still have them. My relatives have only very recently knocked through to theirs and changed access from inside the house.

No advice other than to ask him bluntly to shut the door.

My own dad seems to have an inability to close the toilet door, and it's getting worse with age. I'm guessing the guy has no idea anyone can hear him as he's home alone, or it doesn't bother him.

Just shout “can you shut the door please!”

Well, now you know they are still a thing.

FIL has one. House was built in the 1930's and they do have a proper bathroom upstairs, but the outside toilet is still in use everyday.

An outside toilet only has one entrance via the garden - you can't access it from the house.

Like this pic :