Reasonable use of garage?

[Jonleeper]

dingg said:

Jonleeper said:

Because I hate threads where the op dissappear and I have an interesting update!

Note that I am not turning in the garage and am still trying to get a shed I the garage.

Apparently the power was installed by a professional with the agreement of the previous owner of the house. Son8t is fully legal within the terms of the lease. Thus there can be no complaint about the power. It is now just a disturbance issue. Now if he'd come to speak to me I'd not take this any further, but as he's been an arse I'm considering writing back to his solicitors stating that the power is legal and thus can he get an environmental impact statement done to prove unreasonable noise and vibration. If he can be an arse so can I.

Two aholes = a pair of s

your neighbour went about things the wrong way , but you're equally going about things the wrong way.

put yourself in his position for a minute and think what the way forward should be

+ just because the electricity was fitted with permission and by a qualified electrician doesn't mean to say that it legal

The lease doesn't say that electricity cannot be fitted just that any alteration requires the written consent of the owner. If that was granted then the new owner cannot take that consent away, can they? Surely they have to either accept the state as it is when they purchase or sort it out before they complete?

Oh and I haven't written anything yet, I'm only considering it.

[surveyor]

Jonleeper said:

dingg said:

Jonleeper said:

Because I hate threads where the op dissappear and I have an interesting update!

Note that I am not turning in the garage and am still trying to get a shed I the garage.

Apparently the power was installed by a professional with the agreement of the previous owner of the house. Son8t is fully legal within the terms of the lease. Thus there can be no complaint about the power. It is now just a disturbance issue. Now if he'd come to speak to me I'd not take this any further, but as he's been an arse I'm considering writing back to his solicitors stating that the power is legal and thus can he get an environmental impact statement done to prove unreasonable noise and vibration. If he can be an arse so can I.

Two aholes = a pair of s

your neighbour went about things the wrong way , but you're equally going about things the wrong way.

put yourself in his position for a minute and think what the way forward should be

+ just because the electricity was fitted with permission and by a qualified electrician doesn't mean to say that it legal

The lease doesn't say that electricity cannot be fitted just that any alteration requires the written consent of the owner. If that was granted then the new owner cannot take that consent away, can they? Surely they have to either accept the state as it is when they purchase or sort it out before they complete?

Oh and I haven't written anything yet, I'm only considering it.

Have you seen the lease? Bet it says consent in writing. Has he go it in writing?

[Vaud]

I'm not a lawyer, but there may also be terms in the sale / covenant that prohibit it.

[Johnniem]

Crusoe said:

May come down to if it is causing a statutory nuisance. Check the local council website in your area and the environmental health group would probably be happy to discuss it with you, especially if it saves them coming out with measurement gear to deal with the complaints. I would suspect it would cause a nuisance to the man in the house so they would probably serve you with an abatement order if you were to continue. Switch to hand tools, hand carving is more interesting anyway

http://www.cieh.org/policy/environmental-protectio...

Statutory nuisance would only really kick in if the noise was caused by a lawful activity, say a workshop which had a legal right to be used as such, started making excessive noise, then the noise abatement people would be applying statutory nuisance notices. The lease clauses,, stated above (unless they are erroneous), seem quite clearly to require the lessee to not use the garage for anything other than parking a car (or perhaps storage) and as such the upstairs neighbour is really requiring you to cease and desist.

Falling out with your neighbour can be a financial nightmare and this guy appears to be in the right OP. Also, from a purely human perspective, why would you want to continue making the noise/vibration if you understand that this chap is on shift work and you are causing him lack of sleep? That seems like the end of it if you ask me, (which you have by posting here). If you did this in a shed at the bottom of your garden, the vibration wouldn't be an issue and perhaps the noise would be limited but in this instance you are using what is deemed to be heavy machinery in a confined space in a 60's building (basically paper walls and floors!). He's right. Stop doing it and be a good neoghbour. Perhaps even apologise and take him a bottle of vino.

JM

[Digby]

Perhaps the neighbour thought that anyone who was willing to do such work with no consideration for others, simply wouldn't be approachable; hence he went the legal route?

[Johnniem]

Retroman said:

I wonder if your neighbour would prefer it if you had a Subaru Impreza Or Harley Davidson with a large bore after market exhaust entering & exiting the garage during the night.

That wouldn't be breaching any of the lease agreements at least.

That is completely right. And the neighbour would never have been able to get a lawyer to write such a letter as to do so would have been ridiculous. This, however, is not ridiculous as the terms of the lease have been breached.

[R8Steve]

Johnniem said:

Perhaps even apologise and take him a bottle of vino. JM

Maybe had he came round to talk sensibly about it that would be an option. After getting a solicitor to send a letter like that...na!

[spats]

Digby said:

Perhaps the neighbour thought that anyone who was willing to do such work with no consideration for others, simply wouldn't be approachable; hence he went the legal route?

Really? You really think that?
You're the neighbour aren't you? Shouldn't you be sleeping for your next shift?

If you asked people on the street as to what they would expect to happen inside a garage, I bet a top answer would be hobby work. The OP is doing a hobby, not operating a chop shop at all hours! Grab some perspective.

[anonymous-user]

spats said:

Digby said:

Perhaps the neighbour thought that anyone who was willing to do such work with no consideration for others, simply wouldn't be approachable; hence he went the legal route?

Really? You really think that?
You're the neighbour aren't you? Shouldn't you be sleeping for your next shift?

If you asked people on the street as to what they would expect to happen inside a garage, I bet a top answer would be hobby work. The OP is doing a hobby, not operating a chop shop at all hours! Grab some perspective.

I reckon most people would say keeping a car and other stuff in. I would bet the installation of a hobby lathe Luke be way down the list.

I would also bet that you wouldn't put up with the situation if you were the flat dweller, if you were honest.

[hidetheelephants]

There's potential for the OP to out-arse the neighbour, but he'd have to try quite hard; moving to a shed would be a sensible move if possible, although if the neighbour had not been an arse a compromise involving the OP only using machinery when the neighbour is at work would seem both sensible and possible. That could still happen if the neighbour has an attack of common sense and the two of them communicate like adults.

[POORCARDEALER]

Bloke is an absolute tit, he should have popped round for a chat, invited him up to listen to noise etc etc.

[bobtail4x4]

POORCARDEALER said:

Bloke is an absolute tit, he should have popped round for a chat, invited him up to listen to noise etc etc.

so they both sit there saying "I cant hear any noise"??

[Digby]

spats said:

Digby said:

Perhaps the neighbour thought that anyone who was willing to do such work with no consideration for others, simply wouldn't be approachable; hence he went the legal route?

Really? You really think that?
You're the neighbour aren't you? Shouldn't you be sleeping for your next shift?

If you asked people on the street as to what they would expect to happen inside a garage, I bet a top answer would be hobby work. The OP is doing a hobby, not operating a chop shop at all hours! Grab some perspective.

Hobby work as a top answer? You really think that?!

You have a noisy hobby in your garage, don't you? Shouldn't you be waking someone up?

Generally, the kinds of people who let a dog bark all day, don't really care when you ask them to keep it quiet. That was my way of thinking. I'm betting you would have put up with such a 'hobby' noise for a few days, sized up the guy and then decided if you should approach or simply go another route.

[98elise]

spats said:

Digby said:

Perhaps the neighbour thought that anyone who was willing to do such work with no consideration for others, simply wouldn't be approachable; hence he went the legal route?

Really? You really think that?
You're the neighbour aren't you? Shouldn't you be sleeping for your next shift?

If you asked people on the street as to what they would expect to happen inside a garage, I bet a top answer would be hobby work. The OP is doing a hobby, not operating a chop shop at all hours! Grab some perspective.

It doesn't matter if its a hobby. Drumming is a hobby, so is shooting.

The problem is the OP is doing something that causes a lot of noise and vibration under someone elses house. I wouldn't be happy if it was me.

[jbsportstech]

mgtony said:

"I have deliberately kept the turning to reasonable hours, I've always stopped before 2100hrs and I don't turn every evening. I don't play music whilst I turn and several of the neighbours stop and chat as they walk past. I have never had and single complaint"

I wouldn't call running a lathe most evenings up to 9pm reasonable. Especially directly underneath someone else's living accommodation.

Look at it from another angle, if they were flats and you were doing that under his bedroom there would be no argument.

The other issue is he may own his house and you just rent so it doesn't seem reasonable for someone who may well not be a long term neighbour to be running that type of machinery under his house/ bedroom.

Maybe been nice if he had spoken to you rather than go to solicitors but that's life. You could mentioning that he bought a coach house and so had to expect that people may use garages for storing cars and doing diy. Is there times /days he would be agreeable to. Most tenancies could hold you in breach as there are normally clauses stating must not cause nuisance to neighbours etc.

I would say your on dodgy ground and need to stop and try and agree an amicable way forward with your neighbour.

[jbsportstech]

98elise said:

It doesn't matter if its a hobby. Drumming is a hobby, so is shooting.

The problem is the OP is doing something that causes a lot of noise and vibration under someone elses house. I wouldn't be happy if it was me.

The only thing that gets me is the neighbour bought a coach house and most people do diy in their garages not embroidery so they should go expected the garages may generate some noise during reasonable hours. As someone has pointed out they pulled out of a house purchase when they realised the garage was in the very situation. Some due diligence is needed by the complaint.

My house i rent out is attached to another and we have garages below our bedrooms. Whilst my previous neighbour a chippy he would load his van up at all hours and his garage was next too/below my daughters bedroom and attached and you could feel here him in the garage. I never complained when I lived there as I just thought that's life. The more annoying thing was he would cut wood on his drive next to me car and cover it in sawdust.

He eventually fell out the most of the neighbours and now bought a bungalow in a street of old retired people and is doing his usual timber cutting all day and night I bet they love him.

Edited by jbsportstech on Saturday 28th November 09:13

[surveyor]

jbsportstech said:

98elise said:

It doesn't matter if its a hobby. Drumming is a hobby, so is shooting.

The problem is the OP is doing something that causes a lot of noise and vibration under someone elses house. I wouldn't be happy if it was me.

The only thing that gets me is the neighbour bought a coach house and most people do diy in their garages not embroidery so they should go expected the garages may generate some noise during reasonable hours. As someone has pointed out they pulled out of a house purchase when they realised the garage was in the very situation. Some due diligence is needed by the complaint.

My house i rent out is attached to another and we have garages below our bedrooms. Whilst my previous neighbour a chippy he would load his van up at all hours and his garage was next too/below my daughters bedroom and attached and you could feel here him in the garage. I never complained when I lived there as I just thought that's life. The more annoying thing was he would cut wood on his drive next to me car and cover it in sawdust.

He eventually fell out the most of the neighbours and now bought a bungalow in a street of old retired people and is doing his usual timber cutting all day and night I bet they love him.

Edited by jbsportstech on Saturday 28th November 09:13

Not so much diy in coach house garages with no power...

[sjg]

spats said:

If you asked people on the street as to what they would expect to happen inside a garage, I bet a top answer would be hobby work. The OP is doing a hobby, not operating a chop shop at all hours! Grab some perspective.

No. Storing old crap first, under-the-radar conversion into a study/playroom second, storing car/motorbikes third. Doing a "hobby" with noisy industrial equipment way way further down the list.

I use my garage as a workshop, it's not attached to any neighbor's property and don't usually run anything powered after 7pm. Running a lathe under someone's flat at 9pm is taking the piss.

Unless the garden is long and the shed would be a good distance from the neighbours then don't go down that route either. Find a unit, barn, whatever to rent a long way from anyone that cares and have noisy evenings as much as you like.

[suveyor_101]

surveyor said:

Not so much diy in coach house garages with no power...

What's to stop people running power in?

Still might keep a car or bikes in it. Clue is in the term garage it's not a potting shed.

Seen drums kits in garages as well. Does annoy me when people don't think and buy a house with garage below it and then moan if anyone makes some noise in it. Reason I won't live in a flat, did once found it noisey and didn't like having communal areas so gues what never bought or rented one again.

[spikeyhead]

As a bloke with a large lathe in his own garage, I agree with the neighbor