We own a townhome, and the renters in the unit adjacent to ours have started some sort of project that involves drilling into the wall. It started the night of Super Bowl Sunday, when they drilled from 9 pm until midnight, at which point my significant other went over there and told them it sounded like they were drilling into our bedroom. They have continued this project since then, drilling intermittently, always in the evenings, always after 7 pm.
My question is this: what is a reasonable time that I should expect them to stop drilling by each evening? Our bedtime is usually about 9 because we get up early, and I don’t want to be unreasonable with these people, but they are really wearing on our patience. Oh, and did I mention that they are home all day and could drill at any time when we are not at home?
I think it is OK to ask them to stop at 8:00. Explain your schedule and that having them drill at night is interrupting your schedule. If they are reasonable they will comply. If that doesn’t work, talk to the apartment manager or owner. They might not even know the drilling is going on and it might be against their lease.
Make sure you don’t keep quiet about it until you snap at them. It’s always better to try and keep things civil. If you explain to them how it’s impacting you, chances are they’ll listen and you will reach a compromise (always remember to exaggerate how early you have to be up in the morning).
If you don’t say anything until you’re really steamed you’ll put them offside and it’ll invariably make things worse. Remember, people like to imagine they have privacy so they are unlikely to realise how loud it is for you. And if you wait 3 hrs before saying anything they could think “how loud can it be if they’ve put up with it for 3 hours”.
Sounds like they are starting drilling when they get home from work at the end of the day. If so, you might be able to get them to agree to drill only between 7pm and 8pm. If you know it’s only during this window you can either go out during this time or put up with it know that it won’t last.
If things get really bad, speak to your local council. Invariably there will be laws about the hours during which you can do construction work and how long you can make noise at night. Of course if you go this path you’ll make an enemy so I’d only use it as a last resort.
Good suggestions, all. The owner of that particular unit lives in California (we’re in Texas) and I don’t know him, but I have found basic contact info for him online and have considered writing him. Talking reasonably to these people, while it sounds good, really is not much of an option. We have tried that on other issues before and they are basically just really rude and inconsiderate on many levels.
I’m not a lawyer, so I don’t know if this would apply. But you might want to look into your city’s municipal code; it should stipulate hours that construction can occur. No idea if that helps…
It’s just lag bolts into the celing joists and wall posts they are setting in place for the grow room. Just tell them you will need a steady supply of fresh green buds on your door step every Friday night and that ought to fix relations.
