neighbour using angular chain saw in the garden every day during lockdown

[aneighbourfromhell]

The "lovely" neighbour has decided to delight us with the use of an angular chain saw every single day for the entire afternoon between 12pm to around 7 pm. It makes simply impossible to use the garden as the noise is deafening and goes on for hours. Also quite stressful to work from home and the child doesn't want to play in the garden anymore.
We are not in good terms because he is a bully.
I have contacted the council and they have asked to record the incidents for 2 weeks, which I am happy to do. I am not planning to move for a while so I don't care if this goes on records.
My question is: is it worth writing a note to the neighbour to explain to him I am going to complain to the council if he carries on like this in the slim hope he will stop making so much noise every day?
Or shall I just carry on with the council complain?

What on earth is he cutting for seven hours a day? (and for that matter, what is an "angular" chain saw? That's a new one on me.)

I'd probably write a note to the neighbour, if you are not on speaking terms with him.

I'd carry on with the council complaint for now.

Are you friendly with other neighbours who are likely to be equally pissed off with this dickhead?

Sorry it's an angular saw also known as angle grinder, the noise is deafening. Not sure what he is doing, possibly cutting some stones/tiles given the noise, but he is into the habit of endless (and never ended judging the state of this property) DIY works. I am on friendly terms with most of the neighbours but I wouldn't want to suggest to them to complain to the council too because they might be reluctant to put themselves forward.

You could have a chat with him to find out what he is doing - there must be a limit to how many tiles he has to cut. If he has nearly finished he could be done before you make the complaint.

You might be able to get him to agree to do his noisy work between certain times of day.

If he is a bully or threatening in any way then I wouldn’t approach him first. Would the council say it was you that reported him (I don’t have any experience of anything like this). If not then it could have been any of the neighbours that reported him and sending a letter first would be telling him it’s you.

To be fair to him it sounds like he is being pretty considerate limiting work to the afternoon rather than all day as would likely be the case if he got a contractor in.

I would suggest it is unlikely he is cutting solidly for 7 hours a day and more likely he is cutting each tile as he has a template for each in turn. You could offer to help template out the whole lot so all the cutting could be done in one session, or offer to cover hiring a much quieter and faster (but expensive) tile cutting unit.

Last lot of tiles I did were taking forever with an angle grinder, eventually we got a chap in to cut them all to template. It took him half a day with the right kit and about £200. Time however was the driving factor and it’s sounds like your neighbour doesn’t have that problem, it also meant having to take the risk of making templates for the whole lot at once.

You're damned either way on this one. If you threaten him that you'll go to the council then he'll know it's you, and if you call them in before you've tried just speaking to him, he will grumble at that and frankly so will they.

How about asking if he can confirm working times and give you an hour's break in an agreed timeslot, say 4-5pm, and reassure your child that they can play out then? Or take them out in the morning and stay with them so they are less scared of there being a sudden noise. For us, my child needs certainty so we'd need to talk to the neighbour and agree a timetable that can be explained to the child. Be aware if he's just starting at 12 because he's sleeping in, then you making noise in the morning might just get him starting work earlier so it really is worth having that discussion (sorry!).

I am inclined to think he must have a big job on with tiles and/or decking, but it really can't go on forever. It's an awful noise though, and you have my sympathy.

I think that's massively inconsiderate and bullish of your neighbour to be blighting the use of your garden during this already stressful time. Midday to 7pm isn't acceptable, in my view and if the Council have asked you to keep records, it's clear they don't think it 'reasonable' either, despite it being during daylight hours.

Sadly, some people have NO consideration for others, and your neighbour sounds like one of them.