I have left a note in letterboxes before the event to let them know when the renovations will start and are likely to finish, seemed to help.
Exactly right. We had renos last year for about 5 months.
Big trucks / bobcats / thumpers / skip bins / HIAB trucks, concrete trucks, concrete pumpers, material all over the verge.
All of these create a lot of noise, parking congestion, high pitched reverse beeping, vibrations, men sometimes yelling and swearing at a loud level, their stereos going full bore, loud pneumatic tools etc etc etc.
It all needs to managed - you can't plug your ipod in and ignore it all.
I simply wrote a polite letter to the nearest 7 neighbours up and down the street, advising them of the duration, the times, the likely inconvenience to them all, asking for their understanding during the period....and literally apologised upfront for the disturbance to their amenity.
When they are formally advised, they feel respected, they feel like they count, and you also provide them with an opportunity to plan their day / weekend around your activity, having had that prior notice.
Without that courteous notice, they blissfully go ahead and organise something that requires peace and quiet, and you inadvertently trash it for them.
As I said, the laws are there only to form an absolute cut off limit for those who do not know how, or refuse to be, courteous.
If all the above activity can be done without a peep from anyone, you know you are doing something horribly wrong with your communication skills if all you have is one tiny sander / grinder operated indoors and you are getting angry complaints !!!
