Noise From Neighbour's Pool Pump

[Cretaceous]

We have seen a house we like. However, its garden backs onto another garden. At the bottom of this garden is a shed housing a noisy pump for the pool, and a fan that vents onto "our" garden. It is a heated pool - I went round to the neighbour to ask what it was. I'm not sure whether it's for swimming or fish!

Are pool pumps always so noisy? You can hear it from at least 60ft away. It puts me right off the house. Would a fence cut out the noise?

In Oz there are very specific rules about pool pumps at night: off at 10.00. on at 7.00a.m. I'm guessing that the fewer pools in the UK mean this problem is not specifically regulated. You may have to go on general noise.

Yes, they are noisy.

No, a fence does not cut off the noise, hence the Oz rules.

I hope this is helpful.

It would put me right off too - and I will warn you now - DO NOT buy it if it has immediately struck you as a problem. It may be a small thing but if you've noticed it on a visit it will only annoy you more and more if you have to live with it!

What I would definitely do is tell the vendor that you've pretty much ruled out the house because of the pool pump noise and the fan venting into your garden. You can't do anything until you actually own the house, but if they were to get feedback that it were prejudicing their sale, they might try and tackle it with the neighbour.

We had a flat with a fan outside one window. Didn't notice until we moved in. It drove me batty, I HATED it, and it wasn't even very loud.

Thank you so much for your thoughts. The house is a good price, and the sale has fallen through a couple of times. I wonder if that is why.

The estate agent expressed surprise when we "came across" the pump, but surely others have heard it? (I did wonder that he didn't take us down the garden, until we suggested it, as the long garden is a main selling point!)