Noise from neighbours can annoy, cause stress and generally affect the quality of life. 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 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.   

Disturbance from DIY 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:   

1. Hand Tools: use of hammers, saws etc should be restricted to reasonable times 
2. Power Tools: normal hand held power tools (drills, saws, sanders, etc) can cause a lot of noise
3. Party Walls and Floors: work on the party wall or floor between properties can give surprising levels of noise.
4. Work such as wallpaper stripping or wall preparation can sound very loudly next door. Work on the floor, such as plumbing, rewiring and sanding can be very loud downstairs   
5. Reasonable Times for DIY   

We suggest that people need a rest from noise in the evening and at weekends. It is especially important if young people are involved.  

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

1. Weekdays: 9am to 7pm
2. Saturdays: 9am to 5pm
3. Sundays: 10am to 2pm

*Please note these times are not legal limits, but are suggested as a sensible approach. It can be very helpful to talk to your neighbours first.  

Have you got the right equipment?   

Sometimes the more powerful equipment will actually help solve the noise problem and do the job faster.  

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.  

The Radio   

It seems that most people want the radio or stereo on when they are doing DIY – it probably eases the burden! Please keep the volume down, especially in the evenings