Boothy Posted August 7, 2009 Share Posted August 7, 2009 If I live in a private house in a private road with a private driveway leading to my garage and work on my Landrover in my garage, can neighbor/s complain about noise etc, especially if running an engine, revving it perhaps but not stupidly, but at resonable times i.e, after say 10.30am and before 8.00pm ????? Its not happened but I just wondered does anybody know what is acceptable, information previous to a complaint if one occurs could be a handy tool, you know an answer on the spot, somebody on here will definitly of had a d^^k for a neighbor. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rtbarton Posted August 7, 2009 Share Posted August 7, 2009 I try to pre-empt that situation by being friendly with my neighbours, they're less likely to complain to the Council if they know you and you're not likely to wrap a spanner round their head. I've had one complaint (justified) when I was testing a home-made glass crusher. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boothy Posted August 7, 2009 Author Share Posted August 7, 2009 I actually am quite friendly with most ofthe neighbors but its all nice open plan and deathly quiet round here, there are a lot of retired professional people, ex bank managers and insurance brokers, you know the type I mean, the golfersetc, and I sometimes get that feeling that I must be annoying them somewhat because nobody as such fiddles except me, I dread tuning my Megaquirted V8 because I always have that feeling someone is about to complain but don't really know what my standing are, I may be way within my rights to pursue my hobby, I just don't know. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carl hurst Posted August 7, 2009 Share Posted August 7, 2009 Chris, I had all this some while back before i had a unit and i had one t**t of a neigbour who took a dislike to my hobby, they complained to council and becouse this they had to investigate, now you have been to my house, and my garage is not exactly small and they didnt like this either but i had to prove i wasnt running a bussines from home whitch took some doing as he asked why 3 lathes and 2 bridgeports etc etc but after showing some pictures on web and clips in mags he could see why and all was fine and not had no bother since, i dont make noise to late or start to early or have moters all over the street and not mutch to answer to, as said, be freindly let them know what you do they might be more understanding with you, Oh, and dont let the family dog chase after some cat into the wrong house, that will start to upset folk, Carl. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
welshdragon Posted August 7, 2009 Share Posted August 7, 2009 Your lucky you've got good neighbours......our one set of neighbours have tried very hard to complain to the Noise department when I rebuilt my 90 from chassis up (mainly angle grinder between 9am and 5pm on one day only). The Environmental Noise chap came out the day after and was very very good Cos the noise was during'normal' working hours there was nothing they could do to stop me from using the grinder The neighbours were asked to keep a diary of the 'noise' for 14 days. They never returned it to the EHO!! I cut our old chassis up into " transferable bits" 3 days after the complaint:D .... If in any doubt speak to neighbours to find out if the noise offends. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TonkaIIa Posted August 7, 2009 Share Posted August 7, 2009 I'm lucky were i live, all the neighbours are really good with me working on the series at present. I think they are all waiting to see what will come out of the garage. Some of the neighbours work shifts, so I just keep an eye out who's on what shift and then make sure I don't do any grinding/banging until it's safe. Being friendly with neighbours help, just a case telling them what your doing and showing them sometimes helps. But you could put one of these up at the bottom of the road advising you neighbours..... Cheers Gary Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve_d Posted August 7, 2009 Share Posted August 7, 2009 The times you quote and the noise levels you are making will not cause a problem with the council but as others have said you could have a 'Sensitive' neighbour. The most important thing is to engage your neighbours in your enthusiasm for what you are doing. What may seem to them and unnecessary amount of noise will be viewed in a different light if they know how much it means to you. Keeping the garage doors closed could actually have a negative effect as they cannot see what is going on and what progress you are making. I have worked on cars and built kitcars for many years and there are people who live on my estate who regularly wander in and have a natter. It also helps if they know they can get a bulb changed or a wiper blade fitted without having to take it to a dealer. Steve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sotal Posted August 8, 2009 Share Posted August 8, 2009 I always stick to sensible times, never had a problem at this house but at my last house I did get one neighbour come and tell me he was going to smack my head in if I didn't stop with my peice of ####. That was at 3pm on a Saturday afternoon - I was adjusting the fuel pump on the series diesel engine so kept running it. The bloke was a mechanic and said he had to listen to cars all week - so didn't want to listen to them on his time off, I climbed down off the bumper with the large set of stillsons I was using and told him to #### off, as it was a reasonable time - he hesitated for a second then walked back home mumbling - the last adjustment I did seemed to do the trick so about 1 minute later I had finished the job (about 15 mins in total) He seemed to be a bit of an ####hole, at the time my house had already sold and I moved house a week later - so I wasn't too fussed about offending him! At my new house I do try my best to keep all the neighbours happy - as it's a nice little cul-de-sac and everyone is friendly Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrRob Posted August 8, 2009 Share Posted August 8, 2009 I also live in a quiet cul de sac with retired neighbours but never had any major problems. Like others, engage the neighbours in your hobby and they soon come round! Had to do some angle grinding when I first moved in so pre-warned it wouldn't last long..one of them seemed niffed but now wants to come out laning with me Also have a member of the Ramblers Assocn so we have some interesting discussions on BOATs and TROs etc. Have "educated" him that it's only a minority that spoil it for the majority of law abiding, lane friendly bunch that we are! It also helps that I'm a Chartered Biologist so he sees me as environmentally friendly!! Must take him out laning one day but he might not want to be seen by his RA colleagues in a 4x4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hobson Posted August 8, 2009 Share Posted August 8, 2009 I agree with everyone about keeping friendly with the neighbours, that really is the most important part, but as far as the 'legal' side of it... i had some really annoying neighbours a couple of years ago who just loved playing rave music at high volume at all different hours, day AND night, so if you are causing a disturbance time of day is irrelevant, as people are entitled to peace and quiet any time of the day (human rights act) however, after contact and liasing with the local council, i found that realistically they can't do that much in a rented council property, what they generally do is this: 1. contact the offending person and give them a verbal warning 2. give you 'diary sheets' to fill a description of time, noise level, how it made you feel (really) 3. give them another warning, with threat of a noise abatement order (which in legal terms is a watered down version of an injuction, carries NO weight) 4. warn them again, and give them the abatement order, done through the court, they don't have to be there but you do. Also to get this the council HAVE to come out and witness the noise. 5. if they really are taking the p***s they might get a summons to go to court and they get an injunction, this will be a set agreement between them and the court to behave themselves, it rarely works and carries no power of arrest (so the police can't do anything even when they break it) 6. in a council property, they COULD get evicted. i'm not exactly sure about private property but i imagine it's roughly the same, though if they got solicitors in to do things it might speed things up and would probably cost you some money. bear in mind the police are never happy when called out to noise related stuff as they know it's upto the local council to deal with through the courts, and unless it's a huge out of hand party with people fighting and causing a huge disturbance, they won't and legally can't do anything. also, all of the above mentioned took place over about 18 months, and they eventually kicked them out for non payment of rent, so you can see the time scales for getting this done. i think your best option is to be friendly with the neighbours, after all, going round before you do something and making them aware of what you're doing, or even asking if they're ok with a bit of noise for however long you'll be doing it will be far better and more appreciated than just doing it then saying sorry. IMHO hope all that helps Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aragorn Posted August 8, 2009 Share Posted August 8, 2009 I think legally it depends what your doing when you say "causing a distrubance". Ignoring any night time activities which i think everyone would agree would be classed as a nuiscance. Theres a big difference between using a grinder or welder in your garage, and playing music too loudly. I suspect that if the noise your making (ie grinding/sawing/digging up the road/building a house etc) is acceptable for that particular activity, then there wouldnt be much anyone could do about it, as long as its within reasonable times of day. You dont see construction workers digging up the roads being handed abatement orders because they've been going at the road with a jack hammer for 5 hours.... Playing music however doesnt have to be done at a level where half the street can hear it, and thats the point at which i'd think can become a legal complaint. Your chosing to play the music at 11, rather than 9 where it cant be heard outside. Even still i suspect you'd be hard pushed to get anything done if it was during "daytime" hours, unless it was really waaay OTT. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gsr341 Posted August 8, 2009 Share Posted August 8, 2009 im lucky live on an old farm so have an old cattle shed to work on , and my neigbour is currently doing up a series1 so will prob make more noise than me Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hobson Posted August 8, 2009 Share Posted August 8, 2009 Well that was my fun experience with noise nuisance, obviously in the professional world then yes it'd be practically impossible to get anything done because you couldn't dig up a road or chainsaw down an unsafe tree in silence as it's not possible, so in that sense then of course there would be no grounds to complain. however in a domestic sense, well people are entitled to peace and quiet at home, but again, times, noise levels, duration and frequency would all be relevant, but as said, it also depends on the type of noise, i mean you can't grind something or hammer without noise, but you don't have to have music overly loud, so i totally agree with that point. i think realistically you'd have to be really taking the micky for most reasonable people to complain, and even then it could probably be sorted ammicably, you'd have to really go overboard for the police, solicitors or courts to get involved. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ste clark Posted August 8, 2009 Share Posted August 8, 2009 balls to them!! my neighbours complained when i had 5 landies on the drive.. some scrap with no wheels and 2 on the road..taxed mot and insured of course!! and my work van.. and the fact that i used to do last minute repairs/ modifications on the front of a sunday morning before play days at 7am!! the council bloke never even came up the drive as it looked like a gypos house!! dont get jehovas or people selling stuff at the door either!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carl hurst Posted August 8, 2009 Share Posted August 8, 2009 When i had complaints it was said that i was running a car repair shop but the car was mine and never moved much as it was 'under construction' and the only other cars where freinds and family visiting but i was still watched for a while, 2 official complaints where made by same neigbour but the council guy was ok as he new what was going on from first complaint but still had to follow it up but i gave him my soliciters name and address to send any more complaints to as i thought it was becoming a invasion of my own privacy, there will allways be somone to complain about somthing,dont take mick and no real case to answer, Carl. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rtbarton Posted August 8, 2009 Share Posted August 8, 2009 The thing about putting a notice up is that you're admittimg making a lot of noise. Like saying "Beware of the Dangerous Dog" - you're admitting having a dangerous dog. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
missingsid Posted August 9, 2009 Share Posted August 9, 2009 I live in an open estate with a mixed bag of owners. Opposite I have a Grammar School Teacher, next door a Blue Collar worker who is great and down the road an A***hole who has made some money youngish and extended his house to three times it was and thinks he is King of the Estate. I do feel guilty on a Sunday and try to keep the noise short, in general I apply the view of, what would I expect from neighbours (not the afternoon Aussie type) and how would I feel if I lived next door. I agree about the council, I think they are more interested if they think you might be running a business. As for visitors I keep getting Pikies wanting to buy my LRs. Odd thing is I have a neighbour who had a V8 90 but never acknowledged me when I was working on my Hybred V8, I tried to knock on his door but he never would stop when passing? I have also seen a Challenge Tray Back 90 on a beaver tail on my estate a couple of times but again no hello. Who said Land Rover owners are friendly? Marc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveRK Posted August 9, 2009 Share Posted August 9, 2009 It might be worth considering an additional silencer system that you can connect up to the exhaust outlet? You will find that even fitting a baffle on the end of the exhaust can dramatically reduce noise levels. Adding some insulation boards to the inside of the garage might help dampen sound levels - its often frequency of noise as much as the volume that carries distance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lara Posted August 10, 2009 Share Posted August 10, 2009 I had an attempted break in at my workshop about 5 years ago, They tried to smash the alarms off of the walls with sledge hammers but missed one of the workshop ones and the one on my house, This caused the Alarm to go into "sabotage mode" this means that the alarm at central control goes off and the police get instant notification, and then only the police attending can switch it off (for personal safety reasons they must attend and physically check the house and workshop) Police came almost instantly (impressive at 3 in the morning) Funny thing was though is that while I was making the coffee and the police were walking round checking, a neighbor (nearest is over 200m away) came to complain about the noise that was keeping her awake, not, was everything ok? I and the Police were gob smacked Neighbors Lara Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lara Posted August 10, 2009 Share Posted August 10, 2009 It might be worth considering an additional silencer system that you can connect up to the exhaust outlet?You will find that even fitting a baffle on the end of the exhaust can dramatically reduce noise levels. Adding some insulation boards to the inside of the garage might help dampen sound levels - its often frequency of noise as much as the volume that carries distance. How about this for the ultimate nasty neighbor Silencer Lara Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leeds Posted August 10, 2009 Share Posted August 10, 2009 Neighbours can be good or PITAs. I gut houses, often terrace houses, which is noisy work taking down chimney breasts, chasing out for new wiring, knocking plaster off walls etc. Always have a few words with the neighbours and say that the noisy work will be confined to 8.30am to 5 pm. Working outside these hours tends to be quiet work. I think the main thing is to be reasonable but it could be annoying for the nightshift worker who has just got off to sleep when I start up with a demolition hammer! Never had that problem yet. Most people are reasonable if approached beforehand. If not the councils environmental health officers will assess the case and take a pragmatic approach Brendan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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