<p>The house next door is going to be torn down and a new home is going to be built there, starting some time in the next couple of months. Our municipal code has restrictions on noise and hours when construction work is allowed, but not all good behavior can be regulated. I’m wondering if the forumites here have any practical tips to offer on how to live somewhat peacefully with the process. We keep telling ourselves that the important bit of luck will be our future neighbors, who we are hoping will be at the very least relatively quiet (and at the very best will be happy to loan some eggs ). </p>
<p>Suggestions? I know that it is worthwhile to keep the workers happy (offers of cold/hot drinks depending on the season, not to mention a good place to bestow extra home-baked cookies.</p>
<p>Our neighbors just had major work done on their house and the laborers were camped there for 2 months (think The Money Pit). We did not interact with them or take them cookies. Basically we just ignored each other. We got used to the noise, and watching the progress was rather interesting.</p>
<p>In my experience of living in the middle of a construction site for 6 months (a short plat with 5 homes where we were the first buyers), contractors rarely work past 3-4 in the afternoon, so your evenings, fingers crossed, should be peaceful. They like to watch their kids’ baseball games and do some fishing, too. But… This means they start early, around 6 am. The noisiest part will be the demolition and framing/foundation work. After that, the work will move inside the house, and the noise will be significantly reduced. </p>
<p>Cookies and treats and cold beverages on a hot day are good ideas. Also, many contractors like to bring their dogs with them, so if that is the case, get some dog treats.</p>
<p>Good luck! It will be only a minor pain, but it is so much better to live next to a castle than next to a dump. :)</p>
<p>There has been a massive amount of construction on my block so this has been an almost constant issue for me for the past 15 years. I can think of several suggestions but they are mostly based on my negative experiences. I sincerely hope your project is all about free drinks and cookies but that’s not how it’s worked out here. </p>
<p>My first tip would be to establish who will be the foreman on the job and then to direct any and all comments to him/her. You might want to have a conversation right at the beginning and tell this person that the code restrictions are very important to you and other neighbors and that while you support the project and wish them well, you’ll be getting in touch with him/her, the homeowner and the building department if there are violations. I would also mention that parking on your property or in your driveway is illegal, even for unloading. I have learned that most contractors ignore neighbor complaints unless they know there will be consequences. You might want to program the phone number of your local building department into your phone. When I’ve been told “Oh we’re just parking here today” or “We really want to finish so we’re working on Saturday/until 10 pm” I just tell that that I had hoped that speaking to them would take care of it but am happy to call the city if that will be more effective.</p>
<p>Again, sorry if my rage is showing through. The very thought gives me post traumatic stress.</p>
<p>Good luck!
The rental house next door, ( the owners lived up the street till their divorce), was extensively remodeled to incorporate the owners mobility needs. His ex wife still lives in their house, which I think is kinda odd, i wouldn’t want to drive by my ex everyday. But he is a good neighbor. He also hired a very good team of workers that were super considerate. However, it was just one man doing the work about half the time and it took over a year. ( but having observed his work, I now have a great resource whenever H will let me hire him)</p>
<p>We also share a driveway ( adjoining property has an easement to use part of ours), so they were extra careful to get pieces of metal, nails etc after every day.
Drinks and snacks are appreciated especially when there isn’t an owner on site.</p>
<p>I hope the rebuild fits in with your neighborhood. Our neighbor was moderately successful in having his remodel blend in with the other craftsman cottages, but a few rebuilds stick out very badly, and since they have little to no landscaping, they are hard to avoid.</p>
<p>It was very noisy, and overlapped with our behind neighbors building an addition.
I admit that when we had work done last year, I was even a little disappointed it was so speedy, cause I wanted some payback!</p>
<p>You might ask to keep updated on their schedule. Often they have other jobs going on at same time, and if you know when they are going to be off site you can schedule yard work or a garden party.
;)</p>
<p>Our neighbors remodeled their home…a $650,000 budget (originally)…so it might as well have been all new. </p>
<p>They went through 3 contractors (seems to be the norm as the neighbors across the street are 4 contractors in with their $1million budget smashed)…You will have noise. My favorite? Our city has Saturday construction from 9 to 4. If you are painting, I don’t care…do it at 3 in the morning…I’m good) But at 6 a.m. I heard jackhammering. I waited…until 9…to call them and tell them this wasn’t good. (We had the cell.) Guess what? I disturbed him in shul. Weeks of illegal 6 a.m. start times (which during the work week isn’t good, but not terrible) and I DISTURBED HIM IN SHUL!!!</p>
<p>Rats and varmits…they will come. And when our neighbors were in the last four month stretch they didn’t have the big bin disposal…so we had even MORE rats. Get a pest control contract now, especially if you’re in the hills or in a wooded area. Baby rats are cute…mom and pop…nol so much.</p>
<p>THEY should be keeping their workers happy, not you. A please and thank you are all you need to do. Wait until (as the construction guys did yesterday to a neighbor across) they unload the new kitchen…in your yard and scream (at a 92 year old lady) when her auto sprinklers turn on. Or they park in your driveway…for just a minute which was for 4 hours the day before Thanksgiving when I was trying to load and unload groceries (parking five houses down the street…Or they sandblast the house and crud up your windows…and change the side yard color of the house…(that’s ok, because only the gardeners see that).</p>
<p>I would work from the assumption that the contractor would like repeat work in your neighborhood, which requires that he get along with the neighbors. When they start work, I would introduce myself to the general contractor and ask nicely for a cell phone number “in case there’s a problem during the hours you’re not here.” (I had a water main break during a remodel years ago; this is actually a reason you want your neighbors to have your contractor’s number!)</p>
<p>I would check with the town/city that the correct permits are in place, familiarize myself with the noise requirements, and then wait and see if any violations occur. If they do–that’s when you use the GC’s phone number.</p>
<p>I’m with Puzzled - we’ve had tons of tear downs and new homes on our blocks, including six of the eight cardinal directions from our house. Our biggest issues were noise and dust (and sometimes constructions trucks). They’re not supposed to do outdoor power tools outside designated hours, and they’re supposed to water down dust from stone cutting. I would speak to them once, then call the village (police department if outside village hall hours) if the problem reoccurred. A big issue was different subcontractors. I agree that they only abide by the rules if they get called on it; otherwise will do whatever they can get away with. One of our problems was a construction truck idling in the next door driveway for half an hour before they could start work - right next to one of our windows. I went out and <spoke> to the driver.</spoke></p>
<p>And I thought the people who built the house on our north side were plenty noisy (with their barking Bichon Frises and late night basketball) until the new neighbors moved in (with their yelping beagles and late night front porch parties).</p>
<p>The advice to speak to the site manager is a good one. Get his cell number. Tell him what your expectations are. Prior to this, speak to the individual/individuals in your town who are responsible for noise issues, parking issues, etc. Keep their names and numbers handy. Find out exactly what the by-laws state and what type of enforcement is available.</p>
<p>We have been through this more than once. It’s a PITA, there’s no way around it. There is maximum 3 hour street parking here, at all times. Anything more than that, and you need a permit, construction workers included. The biggest issue we had was them blocking our driveway. There seemed to be no common sense among the workers on one particular project in our neighborhood. I asked them to move once. When they didn’t, I called the town office and they sent someone out that afternoon. That seemed to solve the problem, that is, until the next round of workers arrived. They come in waves, depending what work it is they do. So, yes, lather, rinse, and repeat.</p>
<p>Another problem we had was workers dry-cutting stone, a big no no in our town. Another instance of ‘educating’ the contractor and then, yes, calling the town when they chose not to comply. When we did our big reno, I made sure to speak to the contractor about this type of issue and he assured me that they would minimize any problem for the neighbors. He kept his word. My neighbors let me know on almost a weekly basis how great these guys were and two of them ended up hiring him for projects at their homes. A good contractor is worth is weight in gold. It’s why the good ones are always booked a couple of years in advance for big projects and why they never have to advertise. </p>
<p>As for giving the workers food and drinks? Nope. That isn’t your job. If anyone, it would be whomever hired them. Don’t make the mistake of thinking that those workers will somehow change their habits just because a neighbor baked them cookies. Be prepared for some aggravation. It’s almost inevitable, unless your neighbor happened to hire my contractor! ;)</p>
<p>Contractors in our neck of the woods are generally well behaved. They are supposed to use erosion control devices like silt fences or hale bales to make sure no mud from their property ends up on yours. There are of course noise ordinances. I’d complain if they don’t follow them for sure. If someone parked in my driveway, I’d have them towed away if they didn’t move right away. Make sure everyone knows where the property lines are if you don’t have fences.</p>
<p>OUr neigbors bought the house next door, tore it down to the studs and then took forever to finish it. And did not maintain the swimming pool–so it was a haven for mosquitoes. They really are nice people, just not particularly thoughtful. When they started the next round of reno (because a 4 bedroom house was not enough for a couple with one child), we set ground rules early…very early as the construction supplies were delivered in front of our house about 6:15 am. I waited until 7am (toddler in the house) and called. I explained, nicely, that I was done with construction, they needed to manage this on their property. Construction workers need to park in front of their house, I needed constant access to my driveway/garage, I would not live in a construction zone again. Honestly, it was the best thing I did. I was nice, but firm. Since they didn’t live in the house when it was being rebuilt, they really didn’t have any idea…and they reined in the workers/trash/music/parking etc.</p>
<p>If I had it to do over, I’d go introduce myself the first day, get phone numbers “in case of emergancy” and call the first time there was an issue. I think the more tolerant we were of the situation, the more the construction crew pushed the line.</p>
<p>I’d mark the property line with spray paint or maybe even put up a barrier with stakes and barricade tape, just so there is no confusion about where they can drive their trucks or put things.</p>
<p>If you have trees that hang over the property line, I’d check with the owner and GC to see if the ground under the canopy can be roped off. If the heavy equipment tears up the ground under the canopy it can kill the tree, only that doesn’t show up for a year or two.</p>
<p>We had a construction situation across the street from our home. The biggest annoyance was the blasting of music all the time. Drove me nuts. I asked nicely for them to turn it down, but they wouldn’t, so my husband had to go over and be menacing.</p>
<p>One needs to be firm and willing to back it up.</p>
<p>Great, everyone, we can start freaking out now. (smiley with mouth smiling but eyes look panicked). Keep the horror stories coming, please. </p>
<p>The general contractor is actually a neighbor down the block. So he has additional skin in the game, but the cell phone number he gave us a few years ago was disconnected without forwarding info which means a bit more legwork to go talk to him. Getting the site manager’s phone number makes a lot of sense. The new housing is being built on spec, so it is in the owner’s best interests to keep us in a moderately good mood. He’s told us that he’ll be putting up tarps along the landscaping on the property line to keep down dust, and is planning on erecting 6’ vinyl fencing down the property line to replace the current chicken wire. Not what we’d choose, but we’re not paying for it. </p>
<p>Noise/construction rules around here are that they can’t start construction until 7 AM weekdays. I’m sure that means they’ll get here earlier, but we are early risers so that’s not a conflict. I am concerned about traffic and delivery trucks. The street is a dead end, and with cars parked on both sides there’s only room for one vehicle to get through. If there’s heavy delivery traffic that could bottle up the entire street. The parking enforcement folks hereabouts are generally very eager to generate revenue, so that should get sorted quickly. </p>
<p>Good points about trees. A few overhanging trees are oaks, which are protected hereabouts with big fines if they’re damaged. We’ve pointed those out to the owner, and will do so again to the crew boss. It’s in no one’s interest for those to be damaged. </p>
<p>
</p>
<p>This is just excellent. Please, please, please tell me it was during Yom Kippur and that he hadn’t silenced his phone. :D</p>
<p>Really, just taking a reasonable, but firm stance from the beginning can solve most of the problems before they occur. I’d watch the parking and the trees…and get a working phone number. Check to be sure everyone agrees where the property line is, unless it is currently clearly marked (had that problem in another house).</p>
<p>Some good advice here but some of this is local. Slithey and I live in the same general area. What happens often is that the contractors do one or two decent jobs…get sued…go bankrupt…and start over again. </p>
<p>Be polite (we were for the first 11 months), be firm and then know that there will be issues.</p>
<p>The house across the street has been under construction for 3 (THREE) years. My friend backs up to the house. She has called the police on numerous occasions. The music…the hours…and the equipment tossed over their fence. And the 92 year old lady hasn’t had peace since she was 89…</p>
<p>Slithey: nope they did work on Yom Kippur. My husband the WASP got how inappropriate this was.</p>
<p>And our kitchen contractor, he of the 12 to 14 weeks (14 months) WAS a friend. Our kids were friends. Notice the past tense. While we didn’t sue him (lots of rock solid reasons) we did report him to the State Contractor Licensing Board. We should have sued.</p>
<p>…and yes, he is back in business with a different name…(s)</p>
<p>What am I missing here? Why would YOU talk to the construction folks. Why wouldn’t you talk to the people who OWN the property and are hiring the worker?</p>
<p>When our house was being built, there was a small problem. Our new neighbors called US, the owners, and WE talked to our contractors. To be honest, I would have been mighty annoyed if my neighbors had decided to deal with this issue themselves. That was MY job, not theirs.</p>
<p>I would expect that the construction folks would adhere to any town rules you have. If there are issues, contact the owners first before you contact the “authorities”. And let the owners deal with their contractors.</p>
<p>AHHH, Thumper and Zooser you are correct: the owners should be taking responsibility (hence my call to the owners at shul), but they don’t. Contractors should adhere to rules but they have many bosses…the city/the owners and they are trying to survive…Most don’t care if the neighbors care or not.</p>
<p>When we were having the outside of our home painted last summer our neighbor’s kids were in the pool all day/every day. The kids had one noise level: screaming. We said nothing…they will grow and hopefully shut up. </p>
<p>I did give out a lot of tylenol for headaches to the painters.</p>
). </p>