I just need a bit of empathy and support. I have been unable to work for 90% of the past year, due to being extremely clinically vulnerable and having to shield. This is because of severe asthma which I am usually in hospital with at least once or twice a year. I also endometriosis which was diagnosed a year and a half ago.
I am exhausted all of the time. What with being off work for most of the past year, I usually sleep 9pm-9am and then have to have a nap for two hours at about 2pm each day.
But recently, someone bought the house attached to ours (semi-detached) which had been empty since we moved in two years ago. They started building work on Monday. They are knocking all of the walls down, ripping up all the carpets, building an extension...a complete renovation. The man knocked on on Monday and said it was an curtesy call and gave me his number in case I had any issues.
The past three days they have started banging and drilling at 8am and work consistently all day until around 5pm. I am so tired and it has only been three days. I can’t get away from the noise. I’ve been out for a walk each day, but I come home to this. And my endo pain is bad at the moment and I just need rest and sleep. What would someone do if they had a baby they were trying to get to sleep whilst all of this drilling and banging was going on? There are about 8 workmen there all day.
I already feel very angry and frustrated. I know it’s not there fault and they have every right to buy a house and renovate the whole thing. But it is major work that I assume will take months and months. They are completely gutting it. And I don’t know how I am going to be able to look after myself and get peace whilst I’m home alone all day.
Any advice or ideas would be much appreciated. I checked the law this morning and apparently builders are allowed to work 8am-6pm Monday-Friday and 8am-1pm on Saturdays. I already feel like screaming. Help!
Lots of love to you all,
Hayley
Written by
EndoEffect
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10 Replies
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Is there any chance you could tell your neighbour that you need rest, and negotiate for the workers to have a quiet lunch break at the same scheduled time each day? Maybe you could schedule a power nap for the time they are in break if you know what time it will be each day?
Don't be afraid to act as your self advocate. It's ok to ask - it won't hurt their feelings, asking doesn't inconvenience them, and you might get quiet time for a power nap. Go for it!
It is awful when this happens. Can you go stay, even a few days, with a relative.
I got cross with my next door ages ago, they were renovating and had a plumber on a Sunday, even had the gaul to put a post that he was working on a Sunday, they were finished quite quickly that day.
The only cloud is if there are many they should be finished quicker, not much help when exhaustion hits. Be careful of dust, it can drift.
Hi , is there any chance you can talk to them and tell them you have chronic pain and need some sleep. Maybe they can stop for two hours in the afternoon for you to rest. I’m sorry you are going through this. My daughter has the same health issues as you and I know how difficult it is. Take care
I understand your frustration - yet another thing beyond your control that's controlling your day. The anxiety surely is adding to the endo pains too.
There are some good suggestions above, & as Moon said, more workers means a faster finish.
If you don't have the option of staying with a relative, perhaps you could look at investing in a pair of noise cancelling headphones - depending on how much you're able to spend, I believe you can get ones with quite good sound quality for playing audio - maybe have a peaceful soundtrack playing, an easy-going audio book, some chill out jazz or even consistent white noise?
I hope some of that helps. Hope you get some quiet one way or another xx
This is a really hard situation to be in I understand your frustration. I think asking for a quite lunch or afternoon break as others have suggested is a great idea. You could also ask for a rough schedule of the work so you’ll know what and when the noisiest bits are being done on certain days/weeks. Obv this will change a bit but helpful to know I’m sure.
Other thought is noise cancelling headphones or ear plugs they can work a dream.
I'm really sorry to hear that you're going through this! I had something similar a while back and really good noise cancelling headphones were a godsend. I also found that talking to the neighbour to understand when the noise would happen (so we could negotiate time when I would plan to be out for the worst of it), helped them to understand there needed to be give and take. Good luck!
So sorry to hear you are going through this. I would also agree with the others asking if there's a possibility of a quiet lunch break, explaining you have chronic pain and in desperate need of rest. I would also definitely purchase some ear plugs. I use 3M foam ones (yellow) that I order from ebay and I find them the best for me. It doesn't cancel all noise, but I find they really do help. I know someone else who has fairly recently got noise cancelling headphones and she says they are amazing and life transforming. That may well be worth looking into. I hope things calm down next door sooner rather than later, and I hope you feel better soon too. X
Hi. Totally understand how you feel, I have had the same following first laparoscopy and really not feeling well. Our house inside was physically vibrating with all their drilling.
I got a nice card and requested in writing if they could stop at least on the Sunday. They did, even if they were not too impressed..... The above suggestions are also good. x
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