Neighbour complained about dryer

[alisonelli]

I have just had a text from my next door neighbour saying my tumble dryer is too loud and its "having a significant adverse impact on their quality of life".
For context, we live in detached houses, its on carpet in the utility room, I'd say there is at least 6ft gap between the houses, with cavity wall and a fence. I don't run it early in the morning or late at night. I'd say it runs between 10 and 3 if that. Its an eco one, so it does go on for about 3 hours, but uses little electricity. I have 2 kids, who play lots of sports and I have clothes I need to get dry.
What do I do?

"That's odd Richard, our dryer has broken down for weeks now so it must be something else you're hearing"

My old neighbours tumble dryer drove me mad - it was in a cupboard outside the front doors of our semi-detached and it wasn't the volume but the low frequency hum/vibration that made my ears pop and head 'slide'. Thank God she moved and took it with her.

I would ask him to come and have a chat / cup of tea and try and reach some common ground. I know from your description it sounds crazy but there may be something about the ground that's causing the vibrations to travel and it may be very real. He's going to be irritable, that sort of thing drives people mad. I don't for a minute think it's your fault and the time of day is ideal, but I suppose if it's on many days, going on for 3 hours and there is a very real audible / vibration disturbance, then it will be a problem. It could be interupting his own activities or even just relaxing in his own home, in fact relaxing is impossible when there are vibrations travelling through a building.

I'd try and get him to see your point of view, say it's very hard to see how it's disturbing him, and reasons why, but at the same time you imagine he is telling the truth. So lets meet and discuss. Maybe you could arrange a day when you put it on and go over to his and see what the problem is.

The council will measure decibel levels for him but if it's more about vibration he'd have to get a private company to come out and measure it. If they agree with him then he will have evidence to take it further. Better to try and sort this out. After all if it were the other way around you'd hope the neighbour tried to help wouldn't you.

well if it's real then OP is intruding inside the neighbour's home with her sound and vibrations. That's a blight on his life.

How many times a day you use your dryer? For one thing It is not good for the environment, but who gives a fuck nowadays? Anyway, I think if your neighbour has reached to you asking for your help with the noise issue, maybe it will be polite to check if you are indeed causing misery to somebody else. I hope people commenting to ignore the neighbour never get on the other side of the coin. Being sensitive to noise it is not a fun thing, or something one deserves.

Mine is always on. I have a disabled child who is incontinent so things always need washing and drying, it is constant.

If my neighbour complained about any noise, I wouldn't be able to change anything so unless they were offering to wash and dry soiled clothes/bedding etc then I would simply ignore.

By chance does the plumbing for the houses/estate run underneath in that location?

if so, is it made from cement or terracotta pipe work?
As a really long shot, they may vibrate noise which has travelled from a nearby building/renovation site and it’s not your dryer at all…

Many years ago I had an underneath neighbour who complained because I did not go to bed until after 12pm and she "could not settle" until she knew I was in bed. It was not loud music/parties or similar but normal domestic noises like boiling the kettle, flushing the loo or running the shower. The housing co-op ruled her complaints invalid . I told her that I was often woken at 8 am by her hoovering when I was on a late 1-9 shift. I attempted to negotiate for her to put off this job til after 10 am and I would try to be very quiet in the evening. Every time she hoovered at 8 am I banged about late evening just before bed. If she was quiet then I was quiet. She eventually learned.

It could be vibrating something that’s loose or broken and needs fixing. Our heating pipes were vibrating part of a wall where the plasterboard screws were loose and stopping the noise was a simple fix.

I’d ask to go and listen from his side of the fence. Neighbours disputes can often be alleviated by showing the neighbour you’re willing to listen.

I agree with all those above who have said you need to pop round and listen to the noise from your neighbor's house. This will allow you to (a) confirm that it is indeed your appliance making the noise and (b) determine how severe it is.

When we live in close proximity to others we need to find ways to live together amicably. You may discover that the noise is louder than you thought, or you may think that your neighbor has no cause to complain. Whatever you discover, you should calmly try to reach a solution, which may involve compromise on both sides.

Going into battle with your neighbor can be disastrous as things can escalate and get out of control. A dispute "on record" could also devalue both your properties.

Note that the council will ask your neighbor to keep a noise diary prior to them taking action against you. I would suggest that you keep a similar diary of when you use your machine, just in case this ends up in court.

Smug? He's playing games, trying to get one over on you. He's enjoying having you run around after him. It'll be something else next. You've already had confirmation from other neighbours that they're a pair of weirdos and always have been, you know it's not you. Trust your gut, you're not feeling uncomfortable for no reason. I bet he never could hear anything, just wanted something to intimidate you with, in addition to the staring and letting you know he's watching you. Don't give yourself a mould problem or a higher electricity bill running a dehumidifier pandering to this creepy shithead. Just open your window. You're doing nothing wrong so no need to inconvenience yourself, if someone is going to be inconvenienced it'll have to be him. Live your life for you, not for twats who want to make it hell. And don't give any more access for the solar panels. That's probably how he discovered you had a dryer in the first place, snooping in your windows.

I personally would be passing Victor Meldrew's number to my hubby and deleting it off my phone ASAP.
Let hubby deal with his batshit antics.
And I would be leaving the window open. You have not committed any crime. Life can get loud. It's tough.
Your neighbour sounds like a smug, contrary git.

😠

Jeez there are kids starving in Africa and they're bothered about a freaking tumbe dryer?! Are they 100% sure it's your dryer? As suggested previously, ask to go and listen for yourself and take it from there. I doubt there is an issue and if they're petty enough to take it further then let them because i doubt it'll get taken seriously!

If a person has noise sensitivity they cannot expect the world to adjust for them.

It’s a tumble dryer, a normal household appliance, not a pneumatic drill.

I don't think I'd ignore the text. I might acknowledge the issue, say sorry there's nothing I can do about that, but I'll only run the drier in the day. I might look into ways to alleviate it but I wouldn't share that with them.

if you can afford it, buy a condenser dryer and keep the windows closed. You just need to empty the water after you use it. Problem solved.

I posted about this issue a couple years ago. I live in a ground floor flat and the couple above me had their tumble dryer on from 7am till 8 sometimes 10 , 11 at night. And the washing machine 3,4, 5 times a day 7 days a week. And they didn’t have kids!! This went on for 3 years till they left. I honestly thought I was going mad it destroyed my mental health. Their landlord did nothing, the council weren’t interested. I own my flat and considered moving but decided against it . I got ear plugs which helped a bit but not much. I could hear the washing machine when I was in the garden but not the tumble dryer so my point is I think it’s unlikely your neighbour can hear yours but as others have said maybe ask if you can go into their house when your tumble dryer is on to hear what they can hear. My case was extreme I can only think one of them had OCD or were doing washing for someone else or were drying Weed in the dryer 😳. Anyway I now have a lovely couple with 2 kids who don’t have a tumble dryer and only use the washing machine twice a day. I can’t explain how much better my life is now 😌

It is a condenser dryer. The utility room is pretty small, so it does condensate

Agree , it’s the constant low vibration that is like torture 😫

I Can’t even hear my rumble dryer on when I’m upstairs in our house and our house is pretty open plan. His hearing must be bloody amazing.

personally now that he is happy with less noise I’d be opening the windows again and tell him you’ve done nothing different. You are allowed to live, noise is all part of having neighbours.

Ask to go round and have a listen when your tumble dryer is on.

OP seriously open the window. It doesn't sound like anything you do will be good enough for him so why even bother.

You shouldn't close the window as you'll get condensation then mould. It's a pain to get rid of mould. I speak from experience. I'd go back to opening the window again. If he complains, explain that you're getting condensation so need it open for ventilation.

OP already did that.
He was smug and ( surprise, surprise !) said he couldn’t hear anything. OP had shut her UR window.

I thought it was the vibration that was bothering him?! Closing the window wouldn't make any difference to that.

He’s definately at it ! I’d say he’s been complaining for his own entertainment. That would also explain why he seemed smug.