Noise from neighbours water pump

Liam McPoyle

Hi.

My wife and I live in a duplex (owner occupied) and the apartment over / adjacent ours has an extremely loud and noisy water pump and pipe work.

This wouldn't be a major issue if it was just during the day but at least one of the tenants seems to get up for work early so it starts going on and off from about 5 am and seems to continue til we leave the house at 7:20. Their ensuite is adjacent our bedroom.

It doesn't bother me as I sleep like a log however it is driving my wife around the bend.

She suffers with insomnia anyway so I'm sure those of you that do know what that's like, never mind trying to get back to sleep when there is what sounds like a car revving up over your head. Over the last few months the sound of water going through the pipes seems to be louder too.

What recourse do we have?

We do have a contact number for the owner.

Obviously we don't want to go down the route of having to get courts involved and we sure as hell don't want the expense of having to soundproof our bedroom so does anyone have any suggestions?

What obligations are on the LL re noise from the fixtures and fittings?

Thanks.

STN.

Sam Kade

Contact the owner first and see what their reaction is.

davo10

I'm not sure what the courts would do for you as the decibel level may be well below the acceptable level and pressure pumps are common features when there are more than 2 showers in a property (legally you can only have 2 electric showers).

There is a noise reducing casing you can get for a pressure pump, ask the LL/tenants if they will get one of these or better still, buy it yourself they are pretty cheap.

This may be more an issue with the quality of the soundproofing/structure of dividing walls rather than the pump, they are entitled to have the pump and to use the shower. Was the pump there when you bought your property? These pumps are usually fitted during construction/plumbing of properties.

Lurching

I feel your pain. I was previously a tenant in an apartment, with the booster pump for the upper floors within the walls of our flat. It used to drive me mad and was part of the reason for us leaving.

system_538781

The water pump in my apartment used to wake me and keep me awake when I first moved in. But now I don't even notice it. Maybe it's just a new noise that she will adjust to over time.

SB_Part2

I don't think the courts will do anything for you. Could your wife wear ear plugs?

Marcusm

Generally the headlease excludes making any noise audible outside your unit - the OMC would be required to enforce such a covenant at your request.

Some pumps are noisy, others are simply poorly installed. I recently bought a house where the pump was right by the main bathroom with only a stud partition. When it ran, it could be heard in much of the house. Plumber came in, reinstalled the pump properly and put in some insulating board. Now it can barely be heard through the stud wall.

seamus

There are thing that can be done - if the pipework or the pump are loose, you can add damping material to stop it vibrating or otherwise making a lot of noise.

But clearly it doesn't bother your neighbour - maybe have a chat to him and just mention that it's coming through really loud into your duplex. Even offer to pay the hourly cost for a plumber to look at it?

They're not really obligated to do anything about it for your benefit. If it was a loud TV or even walking around on high heels a court could compel them to keep it down. But since using the water is a core part of day-to-day living and they need to do it before going to work, a court is not going to ban anyone from using their water until 7am. I'm not even sure a court legally could do that.

Should you have to? No. But your neighbour has no reason to call a plumber; there's nothing wrong with their system. For the sake of throwing €200 at a plumber, the problem goes away without any friction with your neighbours. If they're decent neighbours they'll pay for the plumber.

SarahMollie

I gulped slightly when i saw the OP, but thankfully I don't think we're your neighbour.

I recently bought into a similar type of development and the water pressure in the showers was not great to say the least, so I paid to have a pump fitted retrospectively (development is about 15 years old).

It is more noisy than even I'd like, and initially it highlighted an issue with the toilet in the ensure (dripping and refilling too slowly, so the pump kept kicking in intermittently) so we replaced the cistern.

We now plug it out at night because its not like we've no water without it, and its fine for flushing toilets etc, but put it back on in the morning before showers etc -but there wouldnt be showers before 7.30 which I think is reasonable.

I'd be interested in knowing if there is something I can do to drown out the noise of the unit? I have so say, I don't think I'd be too happy if my neighbors tried to tell me I couldnt have my pump though!

mahoganygas

How severe is your wife's insomnia? Is the pump keeping her awake or is the insomnia keeping her awake, compounded by the noise of the pump?
You said yourself that it doesn't keep you awake. Any idea of decibel level?

I don't think anything could be achieved by going through the courts. Do you want them to re-plumb their home? Do you suspect there is a problem with their pump or has it always made noise?

I sympathize with you OP. I have a very loud pump and can hear the pump of my neighbours above and to the side. But there's nothing my neighbours can do about that. It's not really their fault. That's how our homes were built. I can either put up with it or find a new home.

Best of luck with it.

mad m

SarahMollie wrote: »

I'd be interested in knowing if there is something I can do to drown out the noise of the unit?

Some have put carpet or thick rubber under it to bring noise down to a hum.

SarahMollie

mad m wrote: »

Some have put carpet or thick rubber under it to bring noise down to a hum.

The hotpress where its installed is carpeted, but I've still got a few scraps of the carpet lying around, so maybe I could try wedge an extra bit underneath.

Graham

SarahMollie wrote: »

The hotpress where its installed is carpeted, but I've still got a few scraps of the carpet lying around, so maybe I could try wedge an extra bit underneath.

Have a read through some of the threads in the plumbing and/or DIY forums. There's a few suggestions for reducing the noise. Placing the pump on a couple of floor tiles with silicon sealer sandwiched between the tiles and the floor appears to be a particularly common suggestion.

Kraft.l

Foam earplugs work wonders for myself these might help with the noise reduction

Wanderer78

Kraft.l wrote:

Foam earplugs work wonders for myself these might help with the noise reduction

Hate sleeping with those damn things

JustAThought

I had to hang up a phonecall because of the noise from an overhead plane - went out to see if it was a chopper as it was going on so long - turned out it was MY gas boiler clicking on Maybe it just needs a service!?

pancake12

So has anyone tried the silicon sealer sandwiched between the tiles? How did it go? We have the same problem with the noisy water pump.

runawaybishop

Pumps are noisy and get worse as they age. You cannot block out the sound, it travels along the plumbing. A rubber mat etc will make a very small difference to the direct noise but will not stop it travelling. The only real solution is to take out the noisy pump and replace it with a very expensive quieter model, or move it outside the habitable area.

pancake12

Thank you. thats bad news. They should really start building those water towers in Ireland.... This water pump method is no good

mvt

Yeah but its good for the developers though- much cheaper for them to install pumps instead of a water tower.

Sure why would the building regulations ever think about the folk that are actually going to have to live in these places :rolleyes: