DIY noise

Noise from neighbours can annoy, cause stress and generally affect the quality of life in a residential area. The best way forward is to avoid causing a problem in the first place. This guidance note tries to assist you in dealing effectively with DIY noise.

Most people have jobs which need doing around the home, especially if they have just moved in or are redecorating. We have to accept that many people have jobs during the day and need to do this DIY in the evenings and at weekends. However, this does not give them permission to annoy neighbours at all hours of the day and night. We all have to be reasonable to live together.

Reasonable times for work

We suggest that people need a rest from noise at the weekend and in the evening. It is especially important if young children are involved, we seek to provide peace and quiet in the evenings.

We recommend that the noisier activities are restricted to the following hours:

  • Saturday 9am to 5pm
  • Sunday 10am to 2pm
  • Weekdays 9am-7pm

Disturbance from DIY building and decorating can be minimised by keeping noisy activities to reasonable hours and by thinking about what type of activity you are doing. We would define “noisy activities” as:

  • Hammering
  • Drilling
  • Use of power tools

Please not that this list is not exhaustive and any DIY activity may have the potential to be a nuisance

Party Walls and Floors

Work on the party wall or floor between properties can give surprising levels of noise. Work such as wallpaper stripping or wall preparation can sound very loud next door. Work on the floor, such as plumbing, rewiring and (especially) sanding, can be very loud downstairs.

The Radio

It seems most people want the radio on when they are doing DIY- it eases the burden!. Please keep the volume down, especially in the evenings.

Choice and maintenance of Equipment

Try not to use old machinery that cannot cope with the job. It makes far more noise, and the job will often take much longer, than if you boought or hired the correct equipment that was well maintained. Sometimes more powerful equipment will actually help solve the noise problem.

Hand Tools

Try to think of the effects of using items like hammers, and restrict their use to reasonable hours.

Power Tools

Normal hand-held power tools (drills, saws, sanders, etc) can cause a lot of noise.

Plant

People can now hire more “professional” tools and plant such as pneumatic hammers, cement mixers, large power saws and planers, compressors, generators, etc. These should only be used during the reasonable hours as they can be very noisy.

Page last updated on 25 November 2011