noisy DIY

[Steve]

This could be a interesting topic for all you DIYers' out there.. I live in a detached house converted into three flats. I`m in the middle part of the building with someone above me and someone below. I've been renovating my flat for roughly 5 yrs on and off with the bulk of the work being done in the evenings and weekends as I have an office job during the day. Most of the time the work doesn't involve a great deal of noise or disruption and I tend to leave the big jobs to the weekend. The guy below me has been renovating also for a similar amount of time but has mainly had tradesmen in to do the work. The people above me aren't doing any work but are pretty laid back and aren't bothered about me working on the flat. All has been pretty good until recently when I have started renovating a room directly above a bedroom of the guy who lives below me. He tends to get up early 6-7am whereas I typically don't. As such we've clashed recently with him complaining about me banging around at about 10pm. I try and get the noisy jobs done before 10pm or leave it to the weekend if its going to be really noisy (such as major drilling or hammering). Unfortunately in this case I was trying to get a bit of plumbing work done under the floorboards and he was trying to get to bed early. He is well aware I'm doing the work and up until recently he's only complained a couple of times when I really was taking the p*ss (on both occasions I actually thought he wasn't in !). I wondered what similar peoples experiences are and if there are any specific laws around to state when you can and can't work and at what level. The only law I`ve found is the 'Noise Act 1996' which talks about penalties for night time noise between 11pm and 7am. Everything else seems to be subjective based upon actual noise level and circumstances. As such I can't really gauge what noise I am entitled to make and when. My only argument at the moment is that I can spend a couple intensive months getting the noisy jobs done or spend a couple of years doing 1 hr a night until its finished. I tend to also weigh in that I don't complain about his TV being too loud or them stomping around on their wooden floor. Bit of give and take I say ... Anyone else had this problem or come across the law on this one ?!

Steve

[Lobster]

Personally I think 10pm is way too late for noisy DIY, especially if it's going on over a long period; I'm not surprised the guy's complained. I'd have thought 7-8pm was a more realistic cutoff time.

One strategy I've usually adopted, to minimise whinging neighbours, wherever I've been living/working and been doing diy work over a long period, is to decide on a suitable end time to noisy work and then stick to it. That way, if you're knocking seven bells out of a wall at

7.15pm, the neighbours will be hopefully be thinking, 'ah well at least it will be stopping in 15 minutes', as opposed to 'Oh God, how much longer will the bugger be going on for tonight?'

Your guy doesn't sound unreasonable to me if he doesn't complain until

10pm - why don't you have a chat and come to a mutually agreed time at which you promise to down tools? And when you're finished, bung him a few bottles of wine in the interests of good neighbour relations (and so he doesn't throw a hissy fit when your next project starts!)

David

[Set Square]

Invoking any sort of law should surely be very much the last resort - if you're hoping to continue any sort of peaceful co-existence.

Is your neighbour out during the daytime? If you want to do something

*really* noisy, couldn't you take a day's holiday from work, and do it when he's out?

[Steve Walker]

I would find it very hard to sleep if you were plumbing directly above my bed, and my sympathies tend to be with him.

[BigWallop]

It is really down to being a good neighbour on this type of thing, unless you deliberately make noise right through the night while you know others are trying to sleep.

If you've researched a bit of this already, then you'll have found that you are entitled to make noise up to a certain Decibel level in opposing properties up until a certain time at night, but even this isn't really fair on a neighbour that you know is an early bedder in some cases.

The best way around this is to talk with the neighbour about the noisy jobs. Tell him the job you're doing and ask if it would be possible to make some noise up to a specific time, then stop to allow them some decent sleep time. Telling people what's happening mostly brings out their good side, and it is surprising how you'll find them understanding what you're doing and allow some leeway to you to complete the work quickly.

I take it by your wording that you don't want to fall out over this, and you know that good neighbour are a god send when you need them most? So, speak to them. Tell them what you're doing and when you intend to do it. Arrange a time between you when the noise has to stop. Once this is done, then stick to the agreement made.

Your neighbours have lives to, so you really need to make sure they are not suffering hardship because of you.

[ben]

5 Years of DIY? blimey I could have built the house in that time.

And banging or drilling at 10pm I'd be banging on your sodden door.

[PC Paul]

Seconded - explain what you're doing and agree a time to stop. Maybe he could tell you when he's going to be out/away for a night so you know to plan a long session?

At least he's not as bad as a bloke I saw leaning out of his window mid Sunday afternoon shouting at somebody mowing their lawn that "I'm on bloody night shifts I need my sleep".

I know it's hard on nights but you really can't expect silence at 2pm on a weekend!....

[PC Paul]

Oh yeah - and how about getting up at 0630 and getting an hour or two in before work?

[Broadback]

Just hope that he does not complain to the Council noise abatement people, they will put strict limits on times and days. Follow the advice given and negotiate with the chap. It is better for you and him.

[Andrew Gabriel]

If I'm going to do anything very noisy, I always check with the neighbours first. I also make it clear that if any noise is bothering them, they should let me know immediately. Consequently, I've never had any complaint, even when channeling into the party wall brickwork and sinking 8 socket back boxes. I get on with my neighbours very well. I don't do any noisy work after around 8pm, unless I know they are out.

You are looking at this from the wrong angle, and heading for a neighbour dispute. It's _your_ problem that you are not there to do the work at more reasonable time, not your neighbour's. You might try to mitigate this by getting on better with your neighbour, and ask him when it would be convenient for you to do some noisy work. He might then let you know when he's going on holiday, so you can make noise later into the night, and offer to keep an eye on his place for him. Don't start by quoting the law at him -- start by thinking of what's reasonable from his point of view.

[Christian McArdle]

I wouldn't dream of making noise at 22:00. I don't even live in a flat, but a Victorian terrace with solid brick party walls. I would be wary of doing it in a detached house, unless it was particularly remote from nearby houses.

I keep anything noisy between about 9:30 and 19:00 on weekdays. On the weekend, particularly Sunday, I'd start later, and maybe consider going on to 20:00 on Saturday.

It is clear that this person goes to sleep before ten, so I would consider utterly unreasonable to do any work in that room from the time that the person says he retires to his room.

Christian.

[Grunff]

I think you're crazy, and I pity your neighbours.

[bigcat]

Me neither, normally. But I did once have to secure a property in the small hours, you cant just leave it doorless all night. But you can at least use screws not nails, and get it done quickly.

Just goes to show it all depends.

NT

[Dave Plowman (News)]

That's anti-social too. 0800-1900 would be fair hours to make a noise.

[PC Paul]

The OP said the neighbour went to work at 0700...

Unless there are other neighbours who would be disturbed by *this* time period, obviously.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

Most people do have other neighbours. ;-)

[Doctor Evil]

While floorboards are up fill them with rigid Rockwool batts. This reduces noise between flats. If you do ity now it will reduce noise while work is ongoing and good at any time after too.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

Don't waste your money. The reduction in noise transmission will be tiny and frequency dependant. It will make little difference to DIY noises.

[Doctor Evil]

To the OP, the noise reduction is quite good so ignore this idiot.

[bigcat]

nice to see he has a sense of humour

NT