Commercial Neighbour's Sawdust Extractor

[LukeGSP]

Hi all

We have a new neighbour moving in to the warehouse backing on to ours. The Landlord (who is my landlord also) wants to site a massive sawdust extractor system on the back corner of our warehouse. Apparently it can't be fitted to their warehouse for numerous reasons, such as wall materials, power supply, and visibility. On our outside corner it will be tucked away out of sight.

Am I being unreasonable to feel put out by this and do I have grounds to object? We picked this warehouse as it's very rural and quiet, so it's frustrating enough to have a kitchen building company move next to us, but the fact that their extraction has to go on one of our walls (externally) seems unfair. The landlord said there will be a hum in our warehouse but as our office is one the other side it shouldn't be a problem. But we have guys picking and packing in our warehouse who are free to talk, listen to music, or just enjoy the quiet and I don't feel like this should be taken away.

I'm not sure if I'm overreacintg. For context the extractor is about 6m long with 4 massive bags that collect the sawdust. They sent us a video of one at their other unit and it seemed loud to me.

I plan to visit the one they have at their other site and try a decibel reading. Is there a decibel threshold for this kind of thing before it becomes too much?

Thanks.

 

[KM-Tiger]

Sounds like they want to take the easiest and cheapest route by attaching it to your building. If it is physically attached there will be noise which you will never get rid of as it will travel through the structure of your building.

If it was me I would object.

 

[MikeJ]

If it needs to be on your warehouse because of the power supply, does that mean you'll be paying for the power for it?

 

[WaveJumper]

Yes object its unreasonable, you may need to go to the wording of your lease (and maybe even seek a bit of legal advice to get you're objection across) pretty sure somewhere in the wording will be a clause that entitles you to "quite enjoyment:

As an example from Google:
Yes, there is a concept in leases called "quiet enjoyment". It's an implied obligation on the landlord to ensure the tenant can use the property without unreasonable interference. While not always explicitly stated, it's a standard term in most leases. This means the landlord can't disrupt the tenant's peaceful use of the property

 

[fisicx]

And the stonking great lorries arriving weekly to replace the container.

 

[WaveJumper]

And the stonking great lorries arriving weekly to replace the container.

And that, It just came back to me, I was down at my local tyre fitters last week and literally across the road something was making hell of a whining & rattling noise when I asked what the hell that was Mark explained its coming from the furniture maker ....... so be warned

 

[HFE Signs]

I'd like to understand a bit more about the excuse of power supply, I know extractors come in single phase and 3 phase, if their circuit can't accommodate it, then it could be pushing you up to your limits which you may need in the future. I think it is unreasonable to ask you to suffer the noise too, cutting wood is noisy and that noise will travel down the extraction, the noise won't just be the fan in the extraction, it will be a portion of the cutting equipment too.

I would say you're not happy about the demand on your electrical supply as you may need it for yourselves in the future, nor are you happy with the proposal of added noise, and this is before you think about any particles in the air.

 

[cockypea]

Totally get why that’d grate – rural quiet’s hard to come by. Even a “hum” can wear thin over hours. Checking the other site’s noise level’s smart. Have you looked at your lease to see if external kit on your wall’s even allowed?

 

[RandyMarsh]

There used to be a shop fitting firm with a dust extractor opposite my bus stop. It was very noisy and caused annoyance for the people living near by. It didn't just hum, it rattled.

 

[MikeJ]

OP hasn't been back since making that post over a week ago.

 

[paulears]

I think the issue would be the noise the machinery MAKING the dust to be collected generates. saws can be crazily loud.

 

[LukeGSP]

Sounds like they want to take the easiest and cheapest route by attaching it to your building. If it is physically attached there will be noise which you will never get rid of as it will travel through the structure of your building.

If it was me I would object.

I don't think so, but I'll check, thank you for your reply.

 

[LukeGSP]

Sounds like they want to take the easiest and cheapest route by attaching it to your building. If it is physically attached there will be noise which you will never get rid of as it will travel through the structure of your building.

If it was me I would object.

That's what I thought too, they do always go for the cheapest and easiest. Thank you it helps to hear some other opinions.

 

[LukeGSP]

Yes object its unreasonable, you may need to go to the wording of your lease (and maybe even seek a bit of legal advice to get you're objection across) pretty sure somewhere in the wording will be a clause that entitles you to "quite enjoyment:

As an example from Google:
Yes, there is a concept in leases called "quiet enjoyment". It's an implied obligation on the landlord to ensure the tenant can use the property without unreasonable interference. While not always explicitly stated, it's a standard term in most leases. This means the landlord can't disrupt the tenant's peaceful use of the property

I checked and we do have this in the lease thank you, it's good to be armed with the right terminology.

 

[LukeGSP]

And the stonking great lorries arriving weekly to replace the container.

Yeah we are gutted in general. There is literally no ambient noise currently so it's a going to be a change wherever they put it!

 

[LukeGSP]

I'd like to understand a bit more about the excuse of power supply, I know extractors come in single phase and 3 phase, if their circuit can't accommodate it, then it could be pushing you up to your limits which you may need in the future. I think it is unreasonable to ask you to suffer the noise too, cutting wood is noisy and that noise will travel down the extraction, the noise won't just be the fan in the extraction, it will be a portion of the cutting equipment too.

I would say you're not happy about the demand on your electrical supply as you may need it for yourselves in the future, nor are you happy with the proposal of added noise, and this is before you think about any particles in the air.

Thank you, they're all helpful points, added to my list!

 

[LukeGSP]

Totally get why that’d grate – rural quiet’s hard to come by. Even a “hum” can wear thin over hours. Checking the other site’s noise level’s smart. Have you looked at your lease to see if external kit on your wall’s even allowed?

I will check, thank you. Ah it's so peaceful at the moment, we are worried

 

[LukeGSP]

OP hasn't been back since making that post over a week ago.

Sorry I thought I would get email notifications when someone replied but didn't, my bad.

 

[LukeGSP]

I think the issue would be the noise the machinery MAKING the dust to be collected generates. saws can be crazily loud.

We are really worried about this

 

[WaveJumper]

Good luck and keep us all posted on how you get on, also very useful for anyone else who is faced with similar issue in the future.

 

[LukeGSP]

Thank you everyone. I actually spoke to the landlord again saying how concerned I was and using some of the information above. He visited one of their other sites and realised how loud it could get. He has agreed to move the extractor to the front of their warehouse (we are back to back) so that should help.

So a good result and we managed not to fall out with our landlord. Still not sure what the impact will be in general having these guys next to us.

Thanks everyone for the help I really appreciate it.

 

[cockypea]

Glad you pushed back early and kept it civil – moving it to their front sounds like a solid win. I’d still keep an ear out once it’s running, just so any new issues get caught quick.