Gran kept up by nightmare neighbour’s noisy late-night DIY projects

One gran has found herself in an awkward situation after revealing her newish neighbours always do their DIY projects in the evening, but as of late, have begun drilling and hammering at 10.30pm at night.

The woman went on to say she stopped her husband from complaining as she didn’t want to cause a fuss, explaining that her two grandchildren, a nine-month-old and six-year-old, who often stay over, can also be noisy at times.

Taking to the online forum Gransnet, she wrote: “AIBU (Am I being unreasonable) — our newish neighbours, [who] moved in six months ago, always do their DIY [projects] in the evenings, so drilling and hammering usually [between] 7 to 8pm. Last night however they began drilling at 10.30pm. We had literally just fallen asleep when the drilling began on the other side of our bedroom wall, followed by hammering. My husband was all for getting dressed and going round to complain but I managed to talk him out of it.

The gran continued: “I appreciate as newish householders they will have jobs like that to do but 10.30pm at night? I hate confrontation and our grandchildren often stay over — the nine-month-old last weekend was crying in the early hours and the six-year-old has ADHD/ASD so stays for respite for his parents as they live in a flat with neighbours that complain. We try our best to keep him quiet but he does jump up and down a lot. This makes me worried to complain. Any advice?”

A number of people chimed in with their own thoughts on the matter, with the majority of people saying she wasn’t being unreasonable.

“It sounds awful!” one user wrote, advising if it does happen again it may be worth complaining, however, the user cautioned it does leave her open for a counter complaint if her grandchildren are noisy.

“Maybe they’re not aware of how loud it is?” they wrote. “You could drop it into the conversation the next time that they seem to have a lot to do as you could hear them working hard, that kind of thing. If it was a once off, then I wouldn’t complain, but if it happens regularly then maybe you should complain. It does leave you open to a counter complaint if your dgc [darling grand children] are noisy though.”

Another commented: “10.30 pm [is] unreasonable. If it happens again you could politely invite one of them [on] your side of the wall while the other one drills/hammers. They may not have realised how much it would disturb you.”

While a third suggested inviting them round for a cup of tea, explaining: “That way you’ll get to know what they’re up to indoors and can talk about your energetic grandchild. An exchange of information might help towards resolution? Hopefully, once they’re sorted and settled the drilling/DIY will abate.”