MegaSack DRAW - This year's winner is user - rgwb
We will be in touch
We live in a semi-detached. The attached property has just been sold and the new neighbours are now renovating.
This morning, me and mrs S were woken by a the sound of the adjoining bedroom wall being stripped followed by a
fanfare of power tools. It was 07:35. Personally, I think 07:35 on a BH weekend is at least 2 hours into the lousy bastard zone on the social scale. It concerns me that this indicates that a civil/polite/friendly relationship with the new lot is moonshine.
Am I being unreasonable in thinking this?
Leave them alone to get it done. Sooner it's finished, the sooner they won't be making any DIY noise at all.
Or....Move to a detached house
Not unreasonable.
When we did our house up we generally popped around to the neighbours (we live in a terrace) to explain we'd be making some noise over the day. Never start before 9am and finish drilling by 5pm. Was the nice thing to do.
Now, do you go round and ask them nicely not to be cockhats without coming across as a bell end yourself? That's a difficult one. I'd probably leave it and see if it becomes a regular thing.
It's a long weekend they've just moved in and will be wanting to crack on with their new house before going back to work.
I generally consider 9am as an acceptable start time and probably no later than 8pm of an evening for noisy activities at a weekend.
Rich.
Bank Holiday weekend surely means more likely to be DIY than less likely
It's a BH weekend. They were probably thinking you'd be off enjoying yourself. I'd just be hoping that a couple of long days would see the bulk of the work done.
Take a chill pill, or move to a detached out in the wilds.
I'll be cranking my chainsaw around that time in the morning. 😀
Just had ours done. 🙂
Builder turned up at 8am every weekday, some weekends and made unbelievably loud noises 'till about 5.
For four months.
I lasted about three months before I started to crack.
Still can't be in the same room as the hoover.
Our neighbours have been on a lot of holidays.
Sorry.
😀
Damn right it's inconsiderate. It's the bloody weekend. To be honest I think 7:30am is too early to be making a racket any day of the week. You wouldn't crank up the tunes at that time. Same rules apply.
9am cutoff 9pm IMHO for any drilling/hoovering/loud music action.
It's a bank holiday? Why are banks so important that they need their own holidays?
Accepted times for trades are 8 to 6 monday to friday, 8 to 1 on Saturday. Nothing to stop DIY at any time but a polite word would be acceptable IMO.
The fact that they didn't warn you or ask if it would be ok tends to suggest that they are going to press ahead no matter what and don't give a shit what they impact on anyone else is.
A friendly word initiated by you will at least allow you to gauge them a bit more. If you make a bit of a joke of it, but let them know that 7-35am is a bit 'enthusiastic', and they say fine (as the vast majority of people would), then you've broken the ice. If they tell you to do one, then at least you know for certain they are arseholes. The fact it is a bank holiday weekend might mean that they are going all-out to get a lot done in 72 hours, so might mitigate it a bit.
Not checking with you first is out of order in my opinion.
I'd be pee'd off if they hadn't come around just to check/let you know.
Personally, I'd go round with some beers, introduce yourself compliment them on their enthusiasm, ask if that's going to be same again tomorrow.
Or use it as an excuse to have a killer party tonight. See how keen they are when their walls have been throbbing till 6AM.
Go round and offer to be of assistance.. maybe take a welcoming gift.?
If they seem like nice folk ask what their plans are and if you feel it's necessary to negotiate with them then do so
Life is waaay too short FFS
Are they living there? If not, have a word to find out if they'll be starting at that time every day, if not introduce yourself & ask in passing.
7.35 am on a Saturday morning is pretty inconsiderate. specially if they've just moved in. Did they not approach you at any stage to inform you they would be doing works? If not, they strike me as inconsiderate people; it's just simple courtesy to think of such things.
As you're probably going to have to live next to them for some time, I'd suggest just having a friendly word; it is entirely possible they may not have tohught that the noise would travel. Mid you, it doesnt take a genius to work out that it might be an issue.
I think the accepted time for weekday loud noise for works is 8 am. We had council contractors in next door doing works with a pneumatic drill. Started the first day at around 7.30ish. Next door to myneighbour with the constantly crying baby. You only piss off a post-natal sleep deprived woman expert n property law, suffering from cbin fever, once. 😯
Flaming turd through the letterbox, should get you off to a good start 🙂
I think I'll leave it.
They're quite obviously ignorant. I've heard conversation through the walls and it's clear they are
as thick as pig shit with a default speaking volume of 65dB.
The husband looks like he'd just punch me out rather than have a discussion.
Here we go again.
Leave it, and stop worrying about whether you have the tv or hifi on too loud...
They're quite obviously ignorant. I've heard conversation through the walls and it's clear they are
as thick as pig shit with a default speaking volume of 65dB.
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Does 65dB make the walls come alive?
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Er 65 db is the level of normal conversation.
How loud is too loud? - Decibel level What we hear
10 dB Normal breathing
20 dB Rustling leaves, mosquito
30 dB Whisper
40 dB Stream, refrigerator humming
50-60 dB Quiet office
[b]50-65 dB Normal conversation[/b]
60-65 dB Laughter
70 dB Vacuum cleaner, hair dryer
75 dB Dishwasher
78 dB Washing machine
80 dB Garbage disposal, city traffic noise
That said, 7:35 on a Saturday is too early for noisy work unless you know your neighbours are not home.
Have you been round to say hello yet? If not they may think that you are a bit rude, deaf or just indifferent.
lol @ scotroutes
OP is being unreasonable. Half the day is lost if you wait around until 9am to start work.
The husband looks like he'd just punch me out rather than have a discussion.
nice.. I'm glad I don't live next door to a nitpicking, unsociable xenophobic ballbag
Anything before 10 on a weekend is punishable by death
[i]I'd be pee'd off if they hadn't come around just to check/let you know.[/i]
How early does it need to be before it is unacceptable to knock and ask whether it is too early to start to make some noise? 😉
lol @ scotroutesOP is being unreasonable. Half the day is lost if you wait around until 9am to start work.
Bollocks.
What happened to the (apparently) lost art of not being a selfish prick?
All the neighbours had to do was knock on the door and say "we are having a big push to get our renovation done this weekend, we might be starting at about half seven, if that is OK with you". If someone did that with me I'd be far more disposed to put up with it.
It seems that the prevailing attitude nowadays is "it's my house, I will do whatever the hell like whenever I like and to hell with everyone else".
Not neighbourly.
So youve just bought a new house and have 3 days off for a bank holiday, of course youre going to start work early and get stuff doing, the neighbour , you could go for a walk, ride drive etc, call round and introduce yourself and welcome them to their new house.
or just rant on a bike forum.
I think its maybe a little bit early, but understandable and I wouldn't be kicking up a fuss about it. Life is too short, especially if you are going to have to live next to them!
Ear plugs?
Let us all hope they dont have an evoque parked outside when finished.
7.35 is 2 hours after it gets light. Sounds ok to me.
Just finished chainsawing some logs just as it got dark.
Noise should be within hours of daylight, and peace and quiet when dark.
Noise should be within hours of daylight, and peace and quiet when dark.
I guess you live in the south.
So, did they start yet? Is it an 8am watershed on Sundays maybe, or did you go round in the night and steal their tools?
When we were renovating our house we used to start about half 7 and work through til about 11pm ish. The neighbour seemed fine with this because the end result was only 2 months of a building site as opposed to 12 months. In return he lets his grandkids play in my garden and look in the pond and try out my weights whenever the garage door is open 🙄
They are going to be your neighbours, so I'd have a bit of restraint as you have to live next to them.
They could turn out to be good friends, but kick off the relationship with a petty row now & you'll never find out.
Take them a cake & some beers round & say hello.
I'd start pricing up acoustic plasterboard just in case though. 😉
Facebook and pointing out theres an illegal rave at the squat next door?
Hopefully should provide a modicum of entertainment
New neighbours started renovating a couple of weeks ago. Nice young couple, who had the decency to come round and introduce themselves and let us know that there was going to be some noise and they would need access via our back garden. Not a problem as it's in the deeds but I did ask then to give us a knock to let us know so we could get the dogs in the house.
A couple of weeks later when the main work started, unannounced, I heard a commotion in the back garden and went out to find a scaffolder, white faced in the back garden pinned against the fence by three very 'defensive' dogs. He knocked after that 😉
Other than that they appear to have removed and rebuilt every internal wall and the noise has been huge but have restricted it to 0800-2000 Monday to Saturday, which I think is entirely reasonable. As has been pointed out above, the sooner the work is completed, the sooner peace is restored!
Edit: in answer to the OP - 0735 is a bit early but ok on a Saturday IMO, if they do it tomorrow I wouldn't be happy!
Am I the only one to be impressed that yunki has deduced that the OP is a xenophobe from his question?
Anyway, fwiw, the OP is being a tad unreasonable if it's wound him up enough to rant about it on here. That said, I'm sure most people would be initially slightly grumpy if woken up earlier than they were planning on any day.
Some people seem to have forgotten two things that are obviously of no concern to them.
Respect & manners.
You're being a bit harsh on the OP, he was only asking a question.
Some people seem to have forgotten two things that are obviously of no concern to them.
Respect & manners.
Ahhhhhh. A voice of reason.
08:40 this morning.
They've still not knocked on and said anything.
I've lived here for 21 years and am not using power tools early in the morning.
They should make the move. I'm not being petty about it. I'm just researching
their character and attitude.
To date, I'm disappointed.
[i]Ahhhhhh. A voice of reason.[/i]
That's me all over. Seems to be a rare attribute on this site.
If I was the noisy neighbour I'd be knocking on the OP's door & saying 'Hi, wev'e just moved in & are stuck for time to get this job sorted so we WILL be making a bit of a racket over the next few days. Me & the Mrs both work shifts & Bank Holidays don't count. Sorry for any inconvenience & we'll be as quick as possible'
But that's just me. 😆
Those that think this is acceptable , what time do you consider unacceptable ? Or do you think that literally any time is OK . I'm totally in agreement with the OP , some sort of contact and dialogue should have been initiated by the new neighbour but to just crack on and do it is downright rude IMO .
OP when ypure done with the rightepus indignation go and talk to them unless of course youre just enjoying the opportunity to whinge. which it sounds like. None of us have to spend the next 10-20 years living next door to them - you do.
What you need to do is wire up a couple of mains smoke alarms that are set to go off constantly then go away on holiday without leaving any contact details. Another STWer can tell you how bad that is.
Thestabiliser. Righteous indignation?
Not really.
I'd just like to know when I'm going to be woken up.
Then I'd know what time to go to bed.
I'm flexible if the communication is sound.