Noisy Neighbours

chrisxr2

Record the sound of a dripping tap on a tape or cd and just leave it on repeat at full volumwewhile you are out of the house. This will annoy them more than any music or mowing etc, as they will not now whether it is you causing it, or if your house is just shoddily repaired. It should also send them to the loo about an extra ten times a day.

Poppy9

I really don't think it would have any effect on these antisocial odd bods. They are such a strange pair. There was murder in the street earlier. The oddbods builders had moved load of bricks outside the drive way of the neighbour on the other side blocking her car in. After giving them 30 mins to move or she was calling the police they moved it. The oddbods also sent a deputation from the council around to this neighbours house because they had put a shed in their back garden and thought they should have planning permission. The council nearly fell about laughing when they saw just a normal garden shed in a huge garden. The oddbod complained it was an eyesore - this is from the couple who have an ugly dormer ext on the roof of their house

sunflower_2

neighbours eh?

one if mine complained cos my bin kept blowing over when it was windy !!!

i asked her if she wanted me to bring it in the house ...

beachbeth

I could go on for pages about the bad neighbours we have had. The ones we have at the moment are great and I hope they never move!!!

We have a detached bungalow next to us and in it lived a 50-60 year old man and his mum (it was weird cos people thought they were a married couple!). He was the most awful, nasty man you could ever wish to meet and his mum wasn't much better. The sort who wouldn't p*** on you if you were on fire!

It wasn't just us, the whole neighbourhood hated him and we were overjoyed a couple of years ago when his bungalow went up for sale.

One sunny afternoon, a couple of weeks before he was due to move, I was sunbathing quietly in the garden. The guinepigs were in their run enjoying the grass and I had the radio on low listening to a talk station (no music). He must have seen what I was doing and I heard him drag a cement mixer out of his garage and he then started it up empty apart from some stones or bricks. You can imagine the noise. I put up with it for about 45 minutes giving him the benefit of the doubt (perhaps he was doing some diy). Then I realised he must be doing it on purpose. I refused to be driven out of my garden, couldn't leave the guineapigs on their own in case of passing cats (it was too hot to put them back in their cage) so I went inside and got my daughters cd player. I then played loud music for the next couple of hours (more to drown his noise out than to annoy him). Eventually, about 3 hours later he switched his mixer off. I kept the music going though because I was fuming.

We then later had a visit from a lady from the council saying he was complaining about our loud music in the garden! He had told them he put the mixer on because of my loud music! I told her I had been lying quietly in the garden (I was even able to tell her the programme on the radio I was listening to) until he started up his cement mixer and that it was all his own fault. It was so petty because he was about to move house anyway! The council woman was very nice and we didn't hear from them again probably because they knew was a b*****d he was!

I could rant and rant on about the different things this petty, inhuman man did but I would go on for pages!!!! I just pity whoever he lives next to now!

one-non-blonde

The people who live upstairs from me are so awful I could go on for ages about their arrogance and pettiness. A constant issue is parking as we share a large drive with enough room for at least 7 cars. They point blank refuse to voluntarily park one behind the other (too inconvenient to co-ordinate their comings and goings presumably) and as most of the drive is 2 cars wide they park side by side at the bottom. As I'm on my own they think I should confine myself to one space closest to my back door thus leaving them all the rest. The further back I park, the further forward he parks, literally with his bumper to my bumper. I'm extremely shy and don't have the nerve to assert myself so have only gone so far as to regularly park far enough back to leave one space for a visitor (not that I have very many and if I do they generally park in the street as it's a pretty tight entrance). If I go any further back than that he parks in front of me, defeating the purpose of trying to leave room. Once last week when I came home I had to park at the bottom, intending to move later, as the slaters (we're getting a new roof at the mo... that's a WHOLE OTHER STORY!) had their van and trailer in the drive. When he got home he parked in front of me even though the other side was completely empty. I went outside for something and he happened to be at his door so I apologised (simpering girlie that I am) and explained why I'd parked where I had and that I had meant to move. I was gob-smacked when he said something like "I just assumed you were trying to assert your authority". Too gob-smacked to point out that I've every bl**dy right to park where I d*mnwell want but don't as I'm too courteous (or cowardly!). I've thought about asking my solicitor to send them a letter asking that they always leave me a full 50% of the space but am reluctant to go down that route just yet as it's a bit petty when I don't usually need that much room. They go in complete strops if I don't agree to anything and everything they want to do and consider their view as fact, not opinion. Being by myself I often find their behaviour quite threatening and usually go out of my way to avoid them, eg. not going outside when they're there (too scared even to do the gardening or hang up washing for fear of confrontation). I would NEVER buy a place with shared amenities ever again.

Anyway, the topic was noise and one of the major problems I have is the fact that they have wooden floors and he ALWAYS wears his shoes in the house. It's unbelievably loud. I presume when the house was split into two that there was no additional sound-proofing put in as it happened so long ago. Also, unless they stripped the floors recently I don't think I can force them into doing anything about it. I'm very, very grateful that they're not otherwise normally deliberately noisy (unless I accidentally !!!!!! them off in some way and the stereo goes on full volume/high bass for 6 hours on a Sunday afternoon) but the sounds that do travel are things like objects being dropped (makes me jump out my skin!), drawers being pulled in and out (always very late at night or very early in the morning) and the clumping foosteps. They asked me if they could put veluxes in the new roof so they could convert the attic but I said no for a variety of reasons but primarily because all I could think about was that more rooms means that more people could live there and be walking around above me with their shoes on!

He's on the other side of the world right now though so I've got peace and quiet for a couple of weeks - hurrah!

beachbeth

I really feel for you One-non-blonde. This sort of person usually thrives on confrontation and so the problem would get worse if you complained or caused trouble. I bet it would be different if you were a strapping 6 foot 8 high bloke with huge biceps! I hate people like this. They just seem out to provoke!

Poppy9

I think you should check your lease - or ask your solicitor to do so. There are often conditions in shared accommodation that wooden floorboards are not allowed due to noise problem. Also ask what the position is if they convert the loft. You may have said no but what happens if they go ahead anyway? An extra floor on the property (which is what a loft is) will affect your property. Also ring planning at your local council to see if they need planning permission.

jockettuk

my boyfriend bought a house from a elderly woman who didnt have a car and the next door neighbours have 4 cars to there house and used to having everything there own way.. boy did they get a shock .. my boyfriend turned his front garden into a driveway and therefore stopped them parking in front of his house.. they did start parking over the drop side untill someone hit one of the cars not one of us mind you lol but i did warn them that i would have no hesitation in ramming there car if i had to get out with a sick child and then sue them for the damage.. They have a very noisy sound system that vibrates the whole house.. boyfriend got one as well so his goes on just as loud.. boyfriend works shifts and tried to be considerate the mother next door gets up early for work therefore goes to bed early and when they started the noise at the weekends he played them at there own game.. nothing was ever said to each other but things next door have gone quiet .. tit for tat so they say, the old lady just took it but not us... mind you it all does my head in when i visit lol

jockettuk

oh forgot to say that when i was younger and lived in a flat the woman up stairs from me had a huge stereo and was forever letting other people use her flat the noise was horrendous.. one day i came home from work and found the police outside.. somebody had climbed up to her window smashed it open and threw the stereo on the street lol

plasma258

I have a ground floor 1 bedroom ex council flat and the woman upstairs has a baby, its bedroom is above mine and when it cries it wakes me up! Also the Druggie unemployed guy next to me has had a gurl for about 6 months now, and boy is she a screamer! when they argue she screams and when the shag she really screams. This all mainly happens at 2-3 am, and i have to get up for work at 4am a lot of the time.

I dont think these peolple have any self respect or respect for others, if the want people to hear them shag and argue they may aswell go do it in the middle of sainsburys!

Does anyone know of a reasonable cheap way to soundproof??