"Steve" wrote in message
...
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

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.