Loft conversion - how bad is the noise for a neighbour?

[oneskinnydiva]

We are having a loft conversion next week and the scaffolding went up today. My neighbours are in their 80s and weve done everything we can to try and reassure them and keep them informed of whats happening at each stage. They were a bit apprehensive at first as they dont really understand how a loft conversion works but they were happy for us to do it and said theyd rather us do that than have us move. However, I think the amount of scaffolding thats gone up has scared them as theyre now saying they wish they hadnt agreed to it and that the noise we will be horrific. They also said they thought the whole thing would be finished in 4 weeks not 8-10. So they've obviously misunderstood somewhere along the lines. Ive said that I think the noise will be at its worst for the first 4weeks and after that should be fairly contained. Is that right? I have the project manager coming tomorrow but they tend to tell you what you want to hear so Id be grateful for anyone that has been a neighbour to these type of works to share their experiences. I know theres not much I can do about it now but Im feeling dreadful about causing too much upset to them and hoping I can reassure them -and myself 😬 - that it wont be as bad as they think. Thanks everyone.

My neighbour had one last summer - we're not joined so I wasn't affected by vibration but as we're only separated by a narrow alleyway, there was quite a bit of falling debris and mess as well as builders overlooking over garden. The speed was astonishing. Dormer was constructed within a couple of days- what took the time was all the finishing off work inside. All in, it wasn't as bad as I anticipated.

Also, in the nicest possible way, your neighbours probably couldn't have done anything to stop yours, assuming you are doing it under permitted development?

Thanks for your reply. No, they couldnt have actually stopped it but we think alot of them and didnt want to cause them any distress. So we tried to involve them from the beginning so that theyd hopefully feel ok about it. Now though I think that maybe we gave them too much information and its had the opposite effect to what we intended. Im just hoping that in a couple of weeks they can say it wasnt as bad as they thought.

All you can do now is swallow their grumbles and lay it on very thick about how grateful you are, what wonderful understanding neighbours they are etc - regular installments of chocolates, flowers etc and be super careful to keep communication channels open, to clean up any mess each evening and address any concerns. Which I'm sure you will, as you are obviously concerned about them.

I've been next-door to a lot of building work from our neighbours over the years (big family - started off with a small house). We're a terrace so we could definitely hear but the noise wasn't that bad if we were downstairs.

The most important thing you can do is be strict about ensuring work is within socially acceptable hours. We weren't too bothered until it started happening at 7am on a Sunday morning (our first wedding anniversary - we had bed-based plans!).

Of course, if they're retired it might be worse as they're in the house during the week more - lots of chocolates and reassure them about the hours of work.

You can help by ensuring your contractors manage a responsible building site e.g. not playing the radio at mega volume outside, no working at antisocial hours etc