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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to think a drum kit is a bit unfair?

24 replies

MrsBick · 09/10/2008 16:47

My niehgbour has just got a drum kit. a huge one.
we live in a semi, have an 11mth old and i'm 5 months pregnant.
we can hear it on the far side of the house.
DH went round to talk to him and offered to sound proof the room it is in for them.

the neighbour says he hasn't got permission to sound proof the room, his kids are musical,, he likes playing the drums and it's his legal right to play it til 11pm!

is this right? what about our rights for a bit of peace adn quiet?

his kids are musical- i hear them always playing the guitar, piano etc and never complain. the drums just seem a bit much tho.

any idea where we stand legally to get them to a) get rid of it or b) sound proof the room?

OP posts:
elsiepiddock · 09/10/2008 16:56

Er - you don't need permission to sound proof, but I think you'd have to do it on your side to be fair.

If it's a real nuisance you could try your local environmental services and see what they advise.

CarGirl · 09/10/2008 16:59

Could you ask him to use dampners on them - don't know what they are called but you but them on to soften the volume.

I bought dd an electric for exactly this reason, no I don't think it is fair on neighbours to have to listen to it.

RhinestoneCowghoul · 09/10/2008 16:59

Is your neighbour a tenant? This could be what he means about not having permission for soundproofing.

The 11pm thing may be a local authority noise nuisance guideline, but I would have thought in terms of good neighbourliness it would be more pleasant to stop noisy stuff by 9 - 10 ish. For example, DH does a lot of woodwork in the garage, but saves noisy jobs for daylight hours as we have young family and so does next door.

Original poster
MrsBick · 09/10/2008 17:01

thanks elsie, we don't mind sound proofing our wall.
but the room the kit is in is quite small and could be really easily 'self contained'.

if we do it our side it 25ft of wall to sound proof.

just to clarify- it's not that he's been denied permission, he hasn't even asked.

i would have thought if you were going to invest in a drum kit, knowing the walls are thin, you would either proof it first or perhaps get an electric set you could put headphones on with.

arggh.

OP posts:
Kathyis6incheshigh · 09/10/2008 17:02

I must say it sounds like you've got an inconsiderate twat for a neighbour.
DH has a drumkit from when he played in a band back in his student days. It lives permanently in the cupboard under the stairs because our house is a semi so we don't think it's fair on the neighbours to play it. Ever, because a drumkit is really loud. We are keeping it in case we ever move into a detached house with extensive grounds. Otherwise it's really not fair.
The idea it is his right to play it till 11 - I have a strong suspicion that is bollocks and he made it up.

RhinestoneCowghoul · 09/10/2008 17:02

In that case it sounds like he's being pretty inconsiderate...

ScaryHalloweenSquonkRAAR · 09/10/2008 17:03

You should take advice from your local authority's environmental health team. It is unreasonable that you should have to listen to his drumming - musical family or not.

Dp has several drum kits, he has his acoustic ones which are very loud and he only plays them when he is fairly sure that he won't disturb anyone. He also has an electronic drum kit, which comes with earphones (perhaps your neighbour should trade his in for a set like this...)

Your neighbour is being twatty! I can't believe your dh volunteered to soundproof his fecking room and he was so rude about it!

You do have the right to peace and quiet in your own home.

Original poster
MrsBick · 09/10/2008 17:03

cargirl- dampners are a good idea. DH said his mate used to put pillows in the bottom of his base?

cowgirl- we are both tenants to teh same person.

i don't really want to get into neighbour wars but just not sure what rights we have or what the other options are.

OP posts:
Original poster
MrsBick · 09/10/2008 17:06

that sounds like a good option- getting some advice from the environmental health.

other than that, we get on with them very well. they are a noisy family, kids in garden , chainsaws occasionally etc and we don't mind that.

this is something different tho.

gonna tell my DH all your suggestions when he gets home. he told me to MN it in case we were overreacting!

OP posts:
happystory · 09/10/2008 17:07

Ds has a drumkit. We negotiated with the neighbours at either side when would be acceptable.Evenings are no-no.

Summer is worse when people might be in the garden, have windows open.

Ds watches for the neighbour's car going out then has a session! We felt we had to seek a hapy medium for the sake of harmonious relationships.

CarGirl · 09/10/2008 17:10

If you are both tenants check your agreement, I'm sure it will state about reasonable noise and not disturbing neighbours. I'm afraid an acoustic drumkit is not reasonable noise!!!!

I would approach your landlord and ask if they could help sort it out by insisting that the room is soundproofed or whatever.

Kathyis6incheshigh · 09/10/2008 17:11

MrsBick - have a google, there are lots of local council websites with advice on noise and some of them have pages of advice on how to cut down drum noise.
If you printed something out from a council it would show you are willing to negotiate but also demonstrate that you do have some legal rights here.
It counts as causing a nuisance if it would interfere with a reasonable person's ability to enjoy their property or something like that.

everlong · 09/10/2008 17:11

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Mum2OliverJames · 09/10/2008 17:13

if you want tp pay the money to get it sound proofed but they wont let you do that, ask them if they would mind you buying their son a silent drum set they may een appreciate it too and put some money towards.

i dont know what the difference in price would be though because i have never soundproofed a room

Mum2OliverJames · 09/10/2008 17:16

oops just realised there are no sellers of those on that site, just do a search for silent drums, might pick one up cheap on ebay?

dustystar · 09/10/2008 17:17

All he needs to get is a set of silencer pads. TBH he should be using them when he is practicing anyway as he will damage his hearing if he keeps playing full volume. My ds plays drums and his teacher is both asession musician and plays in a band. He only ever plays without silencers when he is playing live. They aren't expensive and don't alter the sound quality of the drums only the level of noise made.

dustystar · 09/10/2008 17:18

Something like this

CarGirl · 09/10/2008 17:25

My dd always wears ear plugs when practising on accoustic drums at school for that very reason of protecting her hearing, and when on electric has them on very quiet.

Have you dug out your tenancy agreement yet and reread it.

LazyLinePainterJane · 09/10/2008 17:32

It's fucking rude to put drums in a semi. DH is a drummer but until we have somewhere that they are not going to disturb anyone, like a large garage that we can soundproof, he has bought an electronic set.

They sound very selfish and I suspect you are unlikely to get anywhere

mumof2teenboys · 09/10/2008 20:03

We are going though something similiar but from the other side iyswim. My son has a drum kit and someone has complained to the local council about it. He only ever plays it after 10ish in the morning and never after 7 in the evening. Never plays it for longer than 30mins or so.
According to the leaflet i got from the council, all of this is reasonable and the only other thing we could do is to buy practice pads, which cover the drumskins and deaden some of the noise.
the leaflet also says not to play after 7 in the evening, so i don't know where your neighbour gets 11pm from!

shivermetimbers · 09/10/2008 20:10

DD has drum kit but is only allowed to play at certain times of day,also the bass is dampened with a pillow and you can get special drumstick which look like painbrushes. Instruments do need to be practiced but noisy ones should be played with consideration.

JuneBugJen · 09/10/2008 20:11

What a c**t.
Poor you.

twoluvlykids · 09/10/2008 20:12

my ds's drum kit is in the conservatory, so he may as well be playing it outside, as it's so loud.

however,it's a detached house,& there's a neighbour with a drum kit down the road, none of the other neighbours have said anthing yet, apart from one, saying he could listen to ds all day as he's good (his words).

But he never plays it after 7pm, as i think that'd be unfair.

twoluvlykids · 09/10/2008 20:12

your neighbour is out of order and sounds really unpleasant.

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