DIY Noise

This page sets out advice to avoid upsetting neighbours when carrying out DIY.

We also provide guidance on general nuisance and specific noise nuisance.

Your Responsibilities

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 tasks, which need doing around the home, especially if they have just moved in, or are redecorating. We have to accept that many people have to work 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:

N.B. - this is for guidance only and each case must be considered on a case specific basis and on it's individual merits.

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:

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 loudly next door. Work on the floor, such as plumbing, rewiring and (especially) sanding, can be very loud downstairs.

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.

Maintenance of equipment

There is nothing worse than someone using an old piece of machinery that cannot cope with the job. It makes far more noise, and the job will often take much longer, than if you had the correctly maintained equipment.

Sometimes the more powerful equipment will actually help solve the noise problem.

Hand tools

Use of hammers, saws etc should be restricted 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. Use of this powerful type of equipment needs greater consideration, as it is identical to that used by professional builders and can be very noisy.

Commercial building and construction works

Hours of work

Our normally suggested hours of work are:

N.B. - the above only applies to noise generating activities that give rise to offence.