Neighbours noisy water pump

[Gaye]

I am being driven slowly batty by the water pump my neighbours (semi detached house) have installed in their loft; it vibrates down our party wall causing a low-level humming in two of our bedrooms and the living room every time they open the hot water tap, flush their upstairs toilet, run the shower or bath.
At first I thought they'd installed air conditioning it is such a nuisance, whining noise but I have established it is the water pump. They put it in the loft when they remodelled their bathroom, getting rid of the airing cupboard to gain more space, so the pump and water cylinder went into the roof.
I've asked them to do something about it but they say it doesn't bother them and their plumber says it's the quietest pump he's every installed; neither response particularly helps us. They've whacked a bit of polystyrene under the pump to try and absorb the noise but it doesn't help.
I can't believe there isn't anything they can do to prevent the vibrations but I'm at loss as to know what that is or how to make them do it. Any ideas? I've been advised by someone to contact the council's environmental health officers but that seems a bit drastic and really would be my last choice of action.

 

[superdupergasman]

Try something softer that the poly....maybe a firm foam and how about asking to move pump away from the wall??

 

[ChrisR]

There are things which can be done, such as putting the pump on a heavy weight like a couple of paving slabs then sound insulator under that, and changing part of the pipework from copper (if that's used) to plastic, which doesn't transmit noise as much.

Perhaps you'll have to find a plumber who has good experience of stopping noise, and ask your neighbour if your plumber could go in, at your cost.
Your n's plumber wouldn't want to admit he'd done anything wrong so I doubt he'd help.

You could also arm yourself with info from the big well known manufacturers, which are Stuart Turner, Salamander, and a few others like Aqualisa. Depends how friendly your n is!

 

[bengasman]

Invite your neighbours to come in late at night when surroundings are quiet and ask them if they would like to hear that noise in their house.
They had a shoddy plumber in, it is their problem.
If neighbours are not reasonable, registered letter with 2 weeks notice, and on to council, environmental health etc. Contact building control as well, chances are that cowboys have breached lots or rules.
After this you can also go through the courts, they get disputes like this all the time. Just make sure that every thing you do is by letter, first of all phone calls tend to get brushed off by staff that is hired to do just that and secondly you can never prove what is said

 

[doitall]

As fitting a pump is notifiable I agree with last post.

Now I have an old pump I removed that works perfectly, under similar conditions it would be place on a board as close the their bedroom as possible, and turned on/off with a timer every 10mins throughout the night

 

[bengasman]

As fitting a pump is notifiable I agree with last post.

did not know that, i never fit shower pumps. thought it was only certifiable though as it is not in special location

 

[doitall]

You can self cert if you have the papers

 

[namsag]

Why would the pump come on when the toilet is flushed...
Are you sure its not water hammer from faulty ball valve in storage tank in loft vibrating through the pipework

 

[doitall]

Why would the pump come on when the toilet is flushed...
Are you sure its not water hammer from faulty ball valve in storage tank in loft vibrating through the pipework

probably got it on whole house and not separated the WC, bad move

 

[Agile]

Some people live in totally quiet environments!

Others listen to the radio, TV etc and that masks other sounds.

Trouble is that the quiet ones can get fixated on the noise and specially turn off anything that makes any noise at all so that they can hear their neighbour's noise better.

I recently heard an argument between two neighbours. One listened to music which the other said was too loud and bothered them. The other had a badly managed baby which screamed at all hours of the day.

Tony

 

[bengasman]

I recently heard an argument between two neighbours. One listened to music which the other said was too loud and bothered them. The other had a badly managed baby which screamed at all hours of the day.

Tony

Funny you mentioned that.
I used to have screaming kid next door, and I solved the noise problem the same way. My stereo won every time hands down. So did my drumkit

 

[doitall]

I have a full size organ and can switch the preset on to play the same rhythm for as long as you like and as loud as you like

 

[bengasman]

I have a full size organ and can switch the preset on to play the same rhythm for as long as you like and as loud as you like

But can it make mistakes?
Some people like the same rhythm, as proven when driving around certain areas of London.
For me, there are very few things so annoying as a practising musician who is trying to play something far beyond his means.
If you play yourself you can probably imagine what happens when you try a brandnew exercise combining 2 different hemiolas into a poly. You want to do it right so you restart as soon as it goes wrong.
And doing it right can take a looooooooooong time

 

[doitall]

No once you have entered the preset into the memory it will play for as long as you like.

Takes a lot of practice to get it right before you save it.

I save the rhythm, then play the fiddly bits over it

 

[Softus]

The other had a badly managed baby which screamed at all hours of the day.

Tsk. Those badly managed babies eh!

I bet it dribbled too. What on earth is a good citizen supposed to do.