Gardener Noise - Am I Being Unreasonable? (grass, Fruit Trees, Rose Bushes)

[PJSaturn]

OP, I agree with those who say you are, indeed, being unreasonable. The workers starting at 9 a.m. sounds quite reasonable. If they started at 6 when you were still in bed, I could see that as being a problem. Annoying, yes, but are they really right under YOUR window for the entire 4 hours they are working? Perhaps you are exaggerating about there being too much noise for you to even talk on the phone for 4 hours straight. I doubt the sound is so loud when they are working on the other side of the building. I'm also wondering whether you have an inside room you can use to make your phone calls - your kitchen, perhaps? Maybe it would be at least a little quieter there.

I credit the landlord for keeping the place in pristine condition.

[ABQConvict]

Originally Posted by Momotaro

Sorry but you are being unreasonable. The gardeners seem to be there when most people are at work/school. The owners have a right to keep the property kept. I wish when I was renting my owners cared that much.

Right, just like I have the right to play drums from midnight to 2am in my own house and let my dog bark all night in my backyard.

When I was a kid they had these things called rakes and push mowers. Gardeners were not as fat and lazy back then, either.

[Bulldogdad]

Originally Posted by ABQConvict

Right, just like I have the right to play drums from midnight to 2am in my own house and let my dog bark all night in my backyard.

When I was a kid they had these things called rakes and push mowers. Gardeners were not as fat and lazy back then, either.

What a bunch of BS. You obviously have no clue as to what your posting about.

[susancruzs]

Wow, a little edgy I'd say. I live in a small town but quite a few lawn companies operate in the area. They work hard and do a great job!

The lawn services I've seen (my next door neighbors has one) are big guys but hardly fat and lazy, what a silly generalization!

[foxywench]

ABQ your annalogy is flawed, these landscapers are NOT working at unreasonable hours, they are working after most normal people are up and have gone to school/work and done before noral people come home...

im sure if noise was THAT much of a problem mothers with babies and folks working nights would have already put up a big fuss...

its not the landscapers OR building owners fault the oP works from home during the day, and i think its quite unreasonable of the OP to complain to the managment because their attempts to keep a well kept tidy lot during normal reaosnable daytime hours are upsetting their work from home set up.

theres plenty of things the op can do to dim the noise...and since i cant see any of these guys being directly outside the ops window for an hour straight each , i think the op is just being a little sound sensitive...

i know its tough to sit with your windows open while the lawnower goes by ect...so close your windos, get heavy curtains to act as additional soundproofing or move to an inside room during the time they are working...

now if this was before 9am or after 8pm, THEN i could see it being a real issue of noise pollution...
but right now its not, its simply a case of the op being inconvenienced.

[harry chickpea]

Do you have the proper licenses and permits to operate a business from your apartment? Does your apartment lease even allow a home business? Most don't.

I won't say that you are unreasonable, but I will say that you don't have a case, and any apartment manager is just going to put a note in their books that you are a PITA renter and any infraction that you make of the rules could end in a termination of your lease.

[Butterfly4u]

Dunbar42.
Congrats on working from home.
Tens of thousands of people work from home in the USA now,
you are truly wise.
If I were you, I would take advantage of the 4 hours on Tuesday and Friday
in the morning and consider those hours your "take care of home" hours instead
of complaining about it.
Go food shopping on Tuesday mornings, call everyone at 2pm, when the gardeners
have left.
Take Friday mornings to runn errands and get your laundry done.
How lucky you really are, and you can start work at 2pm on those days.
That is one big advantage of working from home.
If you really can't take that time for yourself and start at 2pm,
you can always try to configure your job where you correspond by email
during those hours or IM on the computer.
OR....you could spend all the time and money trying to find
a quiet apartment somewhere where they could care less about
the appearance of the place.......

[beachmel]

Originally Posted by Dunbar42

I rent an apartment in California and work from a home office. I'm starting to get more an more annoyed by the gardeners. To start, they come twice a week (Tuesday and Friday) when one day seems like it would be more than sufficient (and cheaper). Starting at 9am these days the lawn mower guy comes by. Then 45-60 minutes later the weed wacker guy, the edge trimmer, and finally the guy with the leaf blower. So basically twice a week there's a 4 hour window where I have to worry about these guys making a lot of noise outside my window while I'm on the phone. I can handle a 30-45 minute window once a week but 8 hours seems excessive. I'm thinking about writing a complaint letter to the property manager, am I being unreasonable?

Yep, I'm with the crowd that says, "You are being unreasonable". Since you seem to have the landscapers' schedules down pat, it would behoove you to work around their schedule. You are not dealing with 4 solid hours of disturbances. You are dealing with periodic disturbances in a 4 hour period. What exactly do you think you are buying with your rent money? ... the right to tell the landscaping crew exactly when they are allowed to do landscaping outside of your apartment?

I'm with those who say to plan your phone calls accordingly or make your calls further away from the window. As far as the time you do NOT have to be on the phone, put on your ipod or put in some earplugs. I'm with the poster who said, to go ahead and complain..because I guarantee you that you will be getting a note put into your file. Clearly, the management of your place of dwelling, takes the maintainence seriously and you are a very fortunate tenant. Management and the landscapers are doing their jobs as well, and clearly, they feel that their jobs are extremely important. How is it that you feel as if your job is more important than theirs?

[Uconn97]

Exactly what beachmel said above....

[beachmel]

Originally Posted by Uconn97

Exactly what beachmel said above....

It just blows my mind, the things that some people will complain about. Oh NO, the landscapers are spending entirely too much time keeping the yard looking pristine!! I suppose that's okay, but could they use equipment that doesn't make any noise? Perhaps lay some astroturf so that they don't have to mow and edge?