Neighbours complaining about building work

[Notcontent]

I am finally having some renovations done to my house after waiting for many years to get it done. I bought the house (small terrace) in a very poor state of repair and at the time that was all I could afford. I am not very good at dealing with any sort of conflict so one of the things I dreaded was having any of my neighbours complaining about the work. And actually they have mostly been very understanding. But there is one neighbour who has been very hostile and it makes me feel terrible. She has complained about other things in the past (e.g. apparently my cat annoys her dog...). I am sure my building work is an inconvenience but it had to be done (house was becoming almost uninhabitable). Is this just par of the course?

It depends entirely on what aspect of the work she is complaining about.

What time of day is the work happening, are workers blocking driveways etc?

Or is she just moaning because she’s a moaner?

Building work is never very pleasant for neighbours to put up with but it depends upon the circumstances. Yours sounds like something essential to maintain the building rather than a vanity project. All you can do is make sure your builders do not make too much noise or mess which affects her life. Blocking driveways, shouting or playing radios all day is not acceptable.

How long is the building work going on for?

What in particular is she complaining about? Is it going on longer than expected? Is it noisy until late in the night or early in the morning? Is it obstructing her home in some way?

Without knowing what she’s unhappy about it’s impossible to say if she’s being unreasonable or not

Anyone who complains about a cat annoying a dog is clearly a moany twat. As long as you're sticking to the rules, she'll have to put up with it.

The work is taking a few months (new roof, new windows, etc). The builders are sticking to the usual rules on working hours, not playing radio, not blocking driveways. But there is obviously some noise and dust, even though they are doing their best. I have complete sympathy but these Victorian terraces require lots of work if left unmaintained for decades and most of my neighbours save done this at some point.

Needless to say, I am never doing this again!!!

I always preempt things bu bringing flowers around and apologising in advance - noise and disturbance is inevitable. However there is a point when the neighbour gets fed up then anything and everything becomes a big deal. But that is the nature of building work. Your neighbour at some point may have to do her own.
A you can do is apologise for the time it's taking .

Our neighbour complained and it was one day of building work that was outside, everything thing else was inside and relatively quiet (plastering and painting).

I was really annoyed with them for complaining as a) they knew we needed the work doing and we gave them the heads up and b) they spend their weekend building stuff in their garden (log stores, decking etc) and c) they have two yappy dogs.

Then I just decided to brush it off, you can't control how another person reacts. It's not unreasonable to have building work done. I suspect that the pandemic and work from home make makes it feel more oppressive if it's been going on for a while. The house on the other otherwise was turned into flats and they were working on/off for about a year, required access to my garden etc. and I let it slide as the downside of living in a terrace.

Just keep saying to her that you are very sorry but it is essential work and all the guidelines are being followed. Be a broken record. There is little she can do about it.

She is BVU. These are essential works and you are abiding by all the rules. As a pp said, play the 'broken record' and remind her of this every time she complains.

Ignore her. She sounds like the type to moan about anything and everything.