How To: Keep Your Neighbors Sane During Renovations

I'm currently a neighbor trying to stay sane through the dust, noise, and toxic fumes coming from next door. Having recently finished renovating a house of my own, I also know how it feels to be the one causing the headaches. But unless you plan on moving out for the duration, there's not much of an alternative than to just make the best of it.

Here are a few tips to make sure your neighbors are still neighborly when you throw your housewarming party.

Let your neighbors know well in advance of your planned renovation. Face it, there's no need to start off on the wrong foot with the people you may live adjacent to for years to come. Inform them of the scope of your project, the expected time frame, and contact information in case they run into a problem and need to reach you or your contractor.

Get a feel for your neighbor's schedule and take that into consideration when setting a work schedule with your contractor. Remember that some people work at night, work at home, or have small children, so try to put yourself in your neighbor's shoes. Tell your neighbors about the hours you've set with your contractor, that way if the rules aren't followed - especially if you're not living in the home during the renovation - your neighbors can inform you. If you decide to have work done during evening hours, only do so after your neighbors have given you the go-ahead. And the closer the proximity to your neighbors, say an apartment building or rowhome for example, the more considerate you should be.

Bring a peace offering. This is great to do before construction even begins, but it also might be a nice touch after any particularly arduous part of the project is complete - especially if you know it was an inconvenience to your neighbor. A basket of baked goods or bottle of wine can go a long way.

Be clear with your contractor of any restrictions, but remember that regardless of their actions, it is the homeowners ultimate responsibility to rectify the situation. If workers get paint scrapings all over your neighbor's property, at least offer to sweep up the mess at the end of the day. Realize that while you might come home to find your home and area clean of debris, chances are, workers aren't going to clean up your neighbor's property.

If you live in an area with street parking, be mindful of where the extra work vehicles or dumpsters are going to be parked. Nobody wants to look out their front window and see a dumpster blocking their view.

Check-in with your neighbors throughout the process. This will allow you to make amends if need be, before they have months to stew over something you weren't even aware occurred. It will also give you a chance to keep them updated on how things are progressing and if you are on track with the project's timeline.

After the renovation is finished, invite them over to dinner or for a party. This will give you an opportunity to show them the finished project as well as toast them for their patience.

Of course every so often, regardless of how considerate you've been, there's going to be the case of a difficult neighbor that you can never please. As long as you know you made a reasonable effort, you might just have to accept the relationship for what it is. But it never hurts to extend the olive branch again when you have the opportunity.

And a word of cautionary advice to those neighbors that are ready to complain at the drop of a hat. You never know when the shoe might be on the other foot, and you're the one asking everyone to be cooperative. If you made it hell for your neighbors, they'll likely repay the favor.

I know many readers have gone through this process, so feel free to weigh in or add your own suggestions.

(Image: Kimberly Watson)

Comments (11)

def. agree with this list. back in october, we had our bathroom tiles glazed in our new apartment. the smell was so bad, the downstairs neighbor threatened to call the fire department. he felt he had to put his cat outside because of it, and we felt awful. he started asking a lot of questions. he was ranting and raving in the hallway, and other tenants had come out to see what all the ruckus was.

i offered to let him come see the unit, so he knew we weren't doing anything illegal, or without a permit. i am not a cat person, but nevertheless, i offered to bring his cat to my other apartment, to "free" it from the smell. while he declined, i realized, had we warned him and our other neighbors, the whole thing could've been avoided.

this is great advice as we are planning and kitchen/bathroom reno next year and live in a building with three other units.

thank you!

I lived in a house where the neighbor decided to install a pool adjacent to our shared fence, so part of the block fence needed to come down for some reason or another and then built up again. So they needed access to the yard. I had no idea this was going on, so next thing I know, a stranger is in the backyard and my dog is asking him to play fetch. :S I politely asked her if she can let us know when they'll need to be in our yard, so I can keep the dogs inside and I won't be startled at a strange guy walking around out back. She informed me, snottily, that since we're renters, she'll just inform the property owner of the schedule. What?

Needless to say, things were very strained from then on. Yeah, a little consideration does go a long way.

Oh man, my upstairs neighbor/landlord redid his entire apartment when he got married. The workshop for sawing etc was in the basement, directly under my apt. Buzzsaws below and hammers above. It was a total nightmare and it lasted 3 months. I wanted to shoot myself. At least the rent was low.

It is especially important to make sure neighbors are informed if electrical service will be interrupted.

Our upstairs neighbor was doing a bathroom renovation and the build up of water and debris came crashing down into our aparment. We saw it coming and had JUST moved our computer out of the way, some of the debris actually fell on us.

The neighbor just laughed it off.

2 the neighbors......Flan before the reno....then a party after.

Am i the only one bothered by the picture of the tin ceiling being torn down and no effort being made to salvage the material?

I may come from this from a perspective different from that of many readers - my contractor clients will often tell me about nightmare homeowners (either the customer or the neighbor) who can't be pleased no matter what you do.

The stereotype of the nightmare contractor is that they are completely unconcerned with the dust and noise, and certainly there are some of those. But the vast majority of construction contractors stay in business by pleasing customers and you can't do that by ignoring reasonable requests about mess and noise.

There also seems to be a subset of homeowner who is under the impression either that construction can be done cheaply and quickly with minimal noise and mess, or that somehow, once a building goes up they can expect that there will never be a significant renovation.

My point here is that the contractor may need to be protected from your neighbors as much as your neighbors need to be protected from the contractor. When the neighbor objects to the sound of a tablesaw at 2 pm on a weekday, or when a tiny amount of plaster dust is tracked into the hallway, it might be something the neighbor just needs to accept.

The bottom line is creating standards for everyone to respect - working hours when everyone understands it will be noisy; a good-sized cleanup space where the contractor can keep debris from going where it shouldn't; a realistic line item in your budget for preventing mess and cleaning it up; and verification of an insurance policy for when things get truly out of hand.

HeritageWoodworks - Unfortunately, the tin ceiling had to come down because of significant water damage from the bathroom located above the kitchen. We also found some serious rodent nests during the process. Furthermore, the tin ceiling was saved and donated to an non-profit architectural salvage organization.

My upstairs neighbor bought the place just over 7 months ago and has been remodeling for all 7 months. She never mentioned it to anyone. I work from home so it is absolute hell on me. She does work herself on the place evenings and weekends (including pounding at 8:30 on sunday mornings) and refuses to get rugs and padding so in addition to the sharp sound of anything and everything hitting the floors, there is the lack of privacy since rugs and padding absorb sound. Workers clomping around in workboots on bare hardwood floors, as well as her own high-heels at 6:30 a.m. I've asked in e-mails for an estimated time when this will end and she does not respond. I am in hell. btw -- she is an architect and is undoutedly very well aware of what the noise issues are but just doesn't care.