Bloody Builders' Noise

[Purp]

Had to pick a semi polite word there. Would just like to get off my chest that as dd is currently in middle of afternoon nap the builders two doors up are driving me mad. She has woken up twice but has been a real trooper about going back to sleep but when some idiot starts banging his spade onto the concrete (it sound like that anyway) over and over again it is like torture. This has been going on for some weeks. And I can't put dd in the front bedroom because they've got a skip out there which produces some marvellously loud noises off. I don't know how rude you are allowed to go on this website but I wish I could express myself more strongly! Roll on the day we get double glazing! Perhaps I should put those big old fashioned earphones on her?

Oh Purp, I do sympathise! My dd is a very light sleeper, and EVERY night, half an hour after she has gone to bed, the teenage twerp in the adjacent cottage revs up his scooter (sounds like a very loud sewing machine to me!) for ages - this in turn sets their dog off, which in turn wakes dd. We've tried the softly softly approach, but nothing seems to have sunk in. Trouble is, this family have lived in the lane for generations, and we're newcomers (10 yrs), so any criticisms go down like a lead balloon!

Yeah, I know what you mean. My ds was incredible - the dog would start up barking right beside him when he was small, and he wouldn't stir. My dd is the complete opposite. We have to creep round when she's asleep - she can here a pin drop at 20 paces...nightmare

Leese, here I am sometimes cursing the fact that we live in the middle of a town on a normal street because it seems everyone stops just outside our house to rev up their engine or jump start another car or just leave their engine ticking over for hours or tries to park but is really crap at it so it takes hours and there you are in no doubt a lovely country lane with similar problems! Oh yeah, or my personal worst enemy the SKATEBOARDER. I hate them!

Oh Purp I hope you don't live on our street! I have builders in at the minute and they've been here for 3 weeks now. They were working just outside dd's bedroom and when I went to put her down for a nap they would start drilling holes in the outside wall or banging and shouting - luckily she sleeps right through it, bless her! But I do sympathise with my neighbours, especially on days like today when I'm sure a lot of them would have liked to have sat outside in their gardens, but did not want to have to look at semi-clad builders (fat middle-aged ones, not your Diet Coke man!) mixing concrete and cutting bricks.

So if any of my neighbours log on here, I do apologise!

I must get this off my chest - I HAVE THE WORST BUILDERS NOISE IN THE WORLD !!!!!!

I live just behind Hyde Park (very nice, you might think). Noisy enough, although being at the top of a big old georgian terrace helps reduce traffic noise. A year ago the buildings at the back of our terrace were demolished and they are STILL building a terrace of mews houses. DS's bedroom looks over this, and his big old window lets in every sound: cement mixers, lorries delivering, pneumatic drills, and worst of all the men cutting the steel rods they put in between each layer of a house (oh, I know all about house building now!). THEN, a month after DS was born, the hotel next door was completely gutted, 5 stories of bricks, rubble, old wood etc hurtling down into the driveway, smashing down walls, breaking up concrete lift shafts.... and guess what: ds room is on the party wall.....!

My poor boy has only ever had his daytime sleeps in a moses basket in our en suite bathroom on the floor, because this is the only quiet place in the house. At the age of 6 mnths he is spilling out of the basket, and I often go in to find him legs akimbo. What to do? Both projects are due to finish at the end of the year, although I think I'll go mad by then. Not to mention my newly washed car getting covered in builders dust 2 days later, my front steps deep in dust and grime, builders stealing my parking space, blocking the driveway with cement lorries...... What's the point of going on, really, I expect I'm just ranting now:#. Still, at least I got it off my chest.

Does anyone think I could get some kind of compensation for my living hell?

Find out who the contractors are and who is employing them, so if they are building Barratt's houses for instance you should contact Barratts. If you have no joy with them, have a word with your local MP and council to see if they can do anything. You should be entitled to some compensation for noise pollution, etc

Manna, until I read your message quite carefully I was wondering if your noisy builders belonged to Mr Peter Gabriel. Imagine being his neighbour...isn't it funny how these contractors always redouble their efforts when the sun is shining and your windows are open. I hope things improve for you soon.

Ladies, could I just put in a little word for the builders, as my husband is one (much more the diet coke man than the fat middle aged one). I'm sure if they could do their job quietly they would (hard to hammer nails and cut steel without making noise). I bet most of them have kids themselves, which is why they are out working hard. Sorry to sound so defensive, but I have seen people, particularly in wealthy areas (sorry manna), verbally abuse my husband (as if he were a lower form of being) for parking in a spot that he paid £16 a day for the right to park in, and making noise in the middle of the day in a flat that he had been hired to work in at a rate barely high enough to pay the mortgage. Next time you hear a builder making lots of noise, try offering him a cup of tea....it might get him to stop making noise long enough to drink it and who knows maybe he'll carry your buggy/shopping/tv inside your house for you....

ks, are we talking building or otherwise? It depends on the size of the job and where it's located....we're still talking building here....

Manna I feel humble in my suffering compared to you! DS sleeping in a moses basket in the bathroom, how resourceful! Good luck with your nerves my dear

sofiaames it was interesting to hear the other side of the story - you are right, it is easy to forget that these guys are human and are just doing their job. I just wish they would do it somewhere else

I think it is the long term noise pollution which is the killer, if it was a few weeks and then they went away it would be ok but we moved nearly a year ago and various people have been having big stuff done since then. It just goes on and on and on and it is good to know other people are having to get their babies to try and sleep through it all too. Oh for peace.

ks, from one mother to another I'm sure he could fit you in and maybe even work around your children's naps. Where in london? Why don't you email me direct. [email protected]