Please or to access all these features

Add post

Watch this thread

Save thread

Start a new thread

Flip thread

Hide thread

My feed

Active Unanswered threads

Getting started FAQ's

Unanswered threads Acronyms Talk guidelines

Hide shortcut buttons

Talk

AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Flip

1 2

Original poster

to get annoyed with my neighbours washing machine

29 replies

pattacat · 11/04/2010 16:17

I know this sounds trivial but it is a really noisy one - louder in our house than our own one is - and it is on at least 4 - 5 times every day. It has been spinning as early as 6am and as late as 1:30 pm and it wakes us all up! DD who is 10 is a light sleeper and is shattered as she can't get a good nights sleep.

What makes it worse is when they put it on the line it looks like there s virtually nothing in each load - 3 pairs of baby pyjamas 1st load this am and that was it! Then followed 2 hours later by a pair of jeans and 2 t shirts. Am I just intolerant or is this unreasonable?

OP posts:

Igglybuff · 11/04/2010 16:18

YANBU

I think it's really antisocial!

mnistooaddictive · 11/04/2010 16:19

YANBU - I would politely mention it. If they are reasonable they may be horrified at you hearing it. A comment along the lines of "wow you seem to do more loads of washing than me, we seem to hear your machine at all times of day."

ameliameerkat · 11/04/2010 16:47

Even with a big family - 5 washes a day?!? I would definitely mention something, especially as they seem to be washing nothing per wash! Unless they have a particularly small (but loud) washing machine, something weird is going on..... I think you need to 'happen' to be in the garden when they're pegging out washing (which can't take them long so you'll have to be quick!) and have a word!

4andnotout · 11/04/2010 16:52

I have to do between 3-4 washes a day otherwise I would be snowed under, so my washing machine is on overnight and during the day, it does seem a little unreasonable though if she is only washing a couple of items at a time.

freshandclean · 11/04/2010 17:07

Apols if this is totally irrelevant, but where we live electricity is v. expensive, and we have recently received notification that we are all moving to "time of use" pricing - it is almost 3x the price during "business hours." For us, (especially using cloth nappies, etc.) that is a lot of money, and we have had to move using our washing machine/dishwasher/etc., to late at night or early morning (but have no neighbors for miles). Just a thought that maybe this is the case where you live and if they have a lot of laundry or whatever, they are doing it for cost savings? Guess that wouldn't apply if they're not even washing full loads...

Regardless, I'm sure it would be disruptive for close neighbors and YANBU to ask them for some consideration.

jessierabbit · 11/04/2010 17:18

hello long time watcher first time poster

Nothing worse than noisy neighbours so Ithink you're well within your rights to push a passive aggressive note through the door along the lines of 'hi, I'm sure you didn't realise but your washing machine is really noisy on our side of the wall. just wondered if possible whether you'd be able to avoid having it on between 9pm and 7am?' kiss kiss.

Shouldn't be able to moan about that!

DebiNewberry · 11/04/2010 17:32

We had a no washing machine going on between 8pm - 8am deal with our neighbours. Worked fine. They just asked us.

venusonarockbun · 11/04/2010 17:45

4 to 5 times a day is unreasonable. Nobody needs to do this many washes a day (even with a large family). That is just ridiculous.

Bucharest · 11/04/2010 17:48

YANBU and I feel your pain. Our upstairs neighbours are the same. The Dad is an insomniac and often "cleans up" at 2/3 and 4am. He gets home from work (he's a butcher) at about 9.30 and obviously has his supper and then gets to work chucking his bloodstained overalls in the washer about midnight.

The washer being situated right above my head.

JaneS · 11/04/2010 18:44

I live in a flat and wouldn't even think of putting a wash on after 9pm (our neighbours don't have small children, and actually, I've felt guilty when it's on at 9).

Just a thought - are you sure it's the washing machine all the time? If so, that is absurd, but they probably think the place is much better soundproofed than it is.

MrsDimples · 11/04/2010 19:07

YANBU

if its any consolation, our washing machine got incredibly loud, just before it died . . . I suspect it only has a few weeks life in it

LordVolAuVent · 11/04/2010 20:44

YANBU but I wouldn't put a letter through. We've had letters complaining about baby noise and it's really irritating, you just wish they'd speak to you face to face. If you just have a casual, friendly word, stressing that you realise you're sure they had no idea that you were being disturbed by it, you know the issue is sorted and everyone undertands there's no bad feeling.

As an aside, maybe the v small washes are those annoying cold wool cycle only items? I've got a couple of those that I stupidly didn't check the labels on before buying so have to do a wash of 3 for them.

Missus84 · 11/04/2010 20:49

I'm in a flat, and think having a washing machine on before 7am or after 10pm is not on. I'd ask them to restrict use to day time hours.

runnybottom · 11/04/2010 21:29

You know if you do though, they might post one here "my neighbour is complaining about my washing machine" and everyone will be all, how dare thy, thats so unreasonable, what a fuckin liberty they have complaining...etc etc"

I think yanbu though.

ameliameerkat · 11/04/2010 22:23

I also live in a flat, and also never put my washing machine on at anti-social hours - it just wouldn't be fair on my neighbour downstairs!

LadyBiscuit · 11/04/2010 22:28

I used to have a flatmate who set the washing machine (it has a timer) so it would finish by the time she got up to go to work (around 6.30am). When I told her it wasn't on, she said she'd forgotten that I wasn't deaf as her former flatmate had been! Sod the neighbours then

elvislives · 11/04/2010 22:37

The man next door, who seems to live alone, has his machine going really early and really late most nights (after 11pm and before 6am). We have Economy 7 so I assume that's why. I do wonder why he needs to do it so often.

I do think that if you know you are going to use it at antisocial hours you should ensure you have a machine with a quiet spin. And/or if you know your machine is really noisy don't have it on a party wall and don't use it at night.

If we were going to be here permanently I'd go and speak to him but we're only in temporary rented so it's not worth making a fuss.

strawberrykate · 11/04/2010 22:45

I feel bad about my machine. In our block everyone is on economy seven (with storage heaters tanks, radio switchs it would be expensive to change). It means I put the machine on to start at midnight. Everyone does it though. I've put old carpet underneath in but the walls still shake a bit!

Missus84 · 12/04/2010 10:55

We're on economy 7 too, but still don't have it on at night - none of the neighbours do either. There are families with small children below and above us so I think it would be pretty anti-social even though cheaper.

FourEyesGood · 12/04/2010 13:54

YANBU. We live in a terrace and our neighbour complained about our washing machine a couple of years ago - we knew it was loud but didn't realise the sounds and vibrations were carrying so much. It turned out it was partly because of the floorboards continuing all the way across our kitchen, towards her house. We turned the machine 45 degrees (it was on a corner), put some rubber matting underneath to reduce the vibrations and promised that we wouldn't do any washloads after midday. We all thought this was fair and everything's been fine since.

ray81 · 12/04/2010 15:16

YANBU, I think you should talk to them though as they may not realise. I am an early riser and would often hoover quite early, one day they just made a comment about it waking them and i was mortified as i realy didnt realise. I now make sure i dont hoover til after 9 on a sat and 10 on a sun unless i hear them get up.

plimsolls · 12/04/2010 18:33

YANBU, we live in a flat and I only use it at normal times (e.g. about 10am to 5pm).

However, if my washing machine wasn't so horrendously noisy, I probably wouldn't have realised that all washing machines probably disturb niehgbours so I would have needed to be told, ifyswim. If you mention it causually and nicely I'm sure they won't mind.

skidoodly · 12/04/2010 18:54

Yanbu about the times although frequency and size of loads not your business (annoying though they are)

go and chat to them, bet they don't even realise how the noise carries.

Leaving notes is likely to piss them off

sorryidab · 28/01/2017 08:41

YANBU!!! I hate to say this, but this frustration is coming from somewhere else, i mean, if you really look at it, no one is holding you there hostage, and although your place may have been all that you could do at that time, think the same for your neighbors, YOU chose to live there NO MATTER how you look at it... 0% COMPLAINING because you made this happen...and just for further, note, I realize this a) is coming 7 years later and b) i have been on both ends of this spectrum so I do understand the annoyance which is why I changed it.

DJKKSlider · 28/01/2017 08:46

Zombie alert. ...

How the hell did you even come to a thread that's over 6 years old FFS?

Were you googling 'neighbours washing machine'?

MUMSNET DELETE OLD THREADS!

Flip

1 2