noise from neighbours - help - just signed for an extension

[myheartisinusa]

I posted this before and got some advice. Finally plucked up courage to ask neighbours what noise was and tell them we could hear it reverberate in every room upstairs and downstairs - apart from hall and landing which arent on the party wall.

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/property/2350534-Extend-a-semi-but-have-slightly-noisy-neighbours.

Neighbours seemed ok - said they thought they know what it was and the husband said thanks for telling us and he didnt like it either.

I thought this would be the start of something and they might put the fan heater on a noise dampening mat.

This was about 1.5 weeks ago. Nearly every day/night, even in this spring weather, we hear the fan heater off and on at brief points of the day and an hour or so in the night and it stops at around midnight.

I find this late. Especially as we can hear it in every single room. The difference in noise when the fan heater goes off is quite significant.

As i mentioned the noise, i felt fairly ok that it given what the husband said, something might happen. So, we sign an order for an extension.

I can still hear it and it grates worst bewteen 11-12 midnight when im trying to sleep.

I feel like we are going to waste 40k as i will hate living in this house.

I am scared to talk to them again as i dont want this to escalate and turn into tit for tat as we have young children but they usually dont scream all through the night and they dont get up til 7.30 am ish.

I like them as neighbours, they are great: no noisy dinner parties, no loud radio/telly, pleasant to our children and are fine with the noise the kids make during day (im always asking the kids to play quietly) etc and dont want it to turn nasty.

We dont have the budget to get a detached house that DH and i agree on and Dh says the noise isnt that bad. So cant just move to a detached.

If we cancel the building we'll be liable for a few thousand up to the costs of the architect work/plans i think although i cant find that bit of the contract or mentioned anywhere.

How would you feel if your neighbours asked you again about a noise?

How would you like your neighbours to ask you to change the way you use an item?

What the hell do i do?

[JacobWrestling]

Have you tried using white noise in your bedroom to help you to sleep?

[TheUnwillingNarcheska]

Do you think it would help if you asked them to hear it from your side? Ask them to put it on, then come over to yours and listen. Then see if sticking a mat under it helps at all.

My sister had a beautiful 1930's semi and the way it was built meant the flooring ran from the far wall of the neighbours house all the way through to my sisters meaning they shared a floor and then it was divided by a wall in the middle to make two houses IYSWIM.

My sister realised she could hear scrabbling under the flooring at night under her bed, when she called in pest control they had to do stuff in the neighbour's house because it was a straight run under the floorboards for the rats/mice.

Hence why insulating the walls wouldn't help. I am not sure if your house is the same, and whether the builders could cut the floor to remove your flooring from theirs? Worth asking?

I live in a newish build and they lay sheet flooring over the entire floor and then put the walls up, so it is the same, but I am detached so don't share a floor.

[DownWithThisTypeOfThing]

myheartisinusa
Its hard to explain without actually having one of you here so you can see if i'm over sensitive ...

I do feel for you but I think the post you linked to says 4 times in 4 months? Most of which will have been winter. And your husband isn't that bothered? That leads me to think you are over sensitive, but that's not necessarily something you can help. But it doesn't mean your neighbours are doing anything wrong either. Ultimately it's not their fault if you're sensitive but can't afford a detached house.

[grumbleina]

re insulation - see my suggestion about the boards. I haven't done it and I'm theorising but I'd imagine the noise is coming along floorboards. So if you figure out which boards it's coming along and insert breaks it should stop it.

[honeyandfizz]

I commented on your last op (different user name) but basically we have a lot of TV noise through our walls which drives me nuts! I am very noise intolerant and have used ear plugs for years at night as I can hear a pin drop. If it were me and I had already approached the neighbours with no improvement then I wouldn't approach them again. As others have said your extension noise will cause much more disturbance so it's hypocritical really.

We are also saving for an extension next year but are going to try and soundproof the walls before we spend any money on plans etc. If there isn't an improvement I'll have to decide whether I want to spend that amount of money. Dh isn't the least bit bothered about the noise, the couple next door are in their 70s and slightly hard of hearing so I don't want to approach them (plus we make a lot of noise on our side). Like you though a detached house in our area is about 50-100k more than our semi and probably no bigger (we have a lovely 1930s semi). We may decide to stay but not extend but keep saving then move, I don't know some days I don't hear them & other days I hear their TV booming out over my own TV which I hate. I feel like they are intruding into my house. Only you can decide if you can live with it, the reality is it may not get any better.

[wowfudge]

I am coming to the conclusion that you are particularly sensitive to noise as I've just re-read your original thread and it's happened on a few occasions since December. It isn't constant, isn't always at the same time or of the same duration. By all means see if they will put the heater on a mat, but I think you have to try not to fixate on it and do, please, try earplugs.

It can be difficult when a noise irritates you - when it stops you find yourself waiting for it to start again and getting all wound up instead of enjoying the peace!