Neighbour Issues...

[Deleted User]

Just want to get some general opinions here on a situation my OH and I currently find ourselves in.

We have recently moved into a new property, we've been to see it a few times before exchanging contracts and were happy with the price, the size and the location. Although we have now found a problem.... the neighbours.

The property is semi detached so we share a party wall with the family next door. We thought this was ok until the house was empty and we could hear normal conversations and a dog barking through the shared wall. To add insult to injury, the teenager living there will blast loud music from one of the downstairs rooms whenever the parents go out (i've seen them leave and him then proceed to turn the music up so we can hear it through our wall), this has happened twice in the last week. I'm hating the fact that it is the Easter holiday soon and he will no doubt be off so will have more opportunities to blast his offensive music towards our house. They also have a dog which they let out into the back garden (i'm perfectly fine with that), but if anyone goes into our garden or the neighbours on the other side, it will bark relentlessly until it's called away. I don't have an issue with dogs but when you're trying to garden and this thing is yapping away at you through the shared hedge nonstop, it does get a little tiring.

We've looked at soundproofing the downstairs but it's just so expensive and the reviews are mixed with how effective it will be if you just do certain areas. I'm not sure how we should tackle the situation. I could live with the noise on the odd occasion but it seems to be constant. Has anyone else had a situation like this? If so how have you managed it?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

gazzak_2

The best all round solution is tea and cake. Talk to the neighbours over a cuppa and discuss the issues. If you can hear conversations then you're going to hear music, and teenagers naturally like it loud, don't take it personally.

If they're not affecting your sleep then you're in a better position than most with neighbour issues. In our case our "bl**dy horrible" neighbours had teens wth a drumkit and a dog that barked non stop if they were out, sometimes up to 2am. It affected us and our kids and resulted in me at their doorstep several times ready to kill them. Yet we got through it and got more used to them over time. Don't let it get to that!

spadoosh

Theres not a lot you can do.

If its noise to the excess and something that wouldnt be deemed 'normal' noise, you can raise a complaint. The reality is probably it will be normal noise and your complaint wont go far.

You can try speaking to the neighbours, youll need good diplomacy skills as it can go either way, theyll either take umbridge at what you say and you can expect the noise to be more regular and louder or they listen to what you say and will look to mitigate it.

My advice is to not listen for the sounds. When i go to london, im aware of sirens. My friend who lives there doesnt notice as he isnt listening for them. My friend comes to my house and is freaked out by next doors neighbours bird cheeping, im oblivious to it as i dont listen for it.

If my OH stays up late she complains about hearing next doors tv when she turns ours down. I dont hear it because i dont turn our tv down.

Doozergirl

You have to make friends.

Making friends with the dog should stop it barking at you when you're in the garden, at least. We have dogs, as does next door and yes they all bark but they're always fine with people they know.

As for the son, hopefully they are nice people and they would be upset to know what he gets up to. They can't be too bad if they don't let him do it when they're home.

We have a teenage son and we have told our neighbours specifically to either knock on and tell him off or call us if he plays his music too loudly. If we're not there then we simply don't know.

The principles of tea and cake always apply.

rach_k

There's not much you can do, it's just the price you pay for living attached to somebody else's house. Our neighbours on one side are hideously noisy but the neighbours on the other side probably see us as horrendous as we have two kids and they're a younger, quieter couple.

The good news is that you will probably adapt to it, to a certain extent. For the first year we lived here, the noise from next door used to keep me awake until 4am most nights and I remember sobbing about it (sleep deprived!). Now, unless they're being particularly bad I don't really hear it... or perhaps I've just upped my own noise to cover theirs. Investing in some decent speakers certainly helps me cope with it, although if you want to go with a softly softly approach that might not be the best start (I tried that first, it didn't work for me but don't rule it out).

Put on some old people music to cover the teen's noise - he might get the hint I find Hip Hop by Dead Prez particularly cathartic when next door need a reminder of how the noise carries!

[Deleted User]

Thanks everyone for the responses.

I think getting to know them will be the best option we can then broach the subject and go from there. Like you all say, it could just be us adjusting to a different environment to one we are used to.

I must confess to being a little shocked by how the teenager acts when the parents aren't home, i think like you say Doozergirl, if they were told they may be upset to hear what he gets up to when they're away. The music is definitely one thing but the suspicious smell of something he's smoking at the bottom of the garden is definitely another concern!

Thanks all, you've been a big help!

Doozergirl

Oh deary me!!

Aylesbury_Duck

Jayjay04 wrote: »

I must confess to being a little shocked by how the teenager acts when the parents aren't home, i think like you say Doozergirl, if they were told they may be upset to hear what he gets up to when they're away. The music is definitely one thing but the suspicious smell of something he's smoking at the bottom of the garden is definitely another concern!

Sounds like you have some leverage there...perhaps you have an ally who shares your motivation to, ahem, keep things quiet?

moneyistooshorttomention

Jayjay04 wrote: »

Thanks everyone for the responses.

I think getting to know them will be the best option we can then broach the subject and go from there. Like you all say, it could just be us adjusting to a different environment to one we are used to.

I must confess to being a little shocked by how the teenager acts when the parents aren't home, i think like you say Doozergirl, if they were told they may be upset to hear what he gets up to when they're away. The music is definitely one thing but the suspicious smell of something he's smoking at the bottom of the garden is definitely another concern!

Thanks all, you've been a big help!

:rotfl:at the thought of the parents maybe being completely oblivious of what he's smoking.

Mind you - what can I say? - it became clear I'm not able to pick up the smell of that being smoked myself. I found that fact out years back when stewarding music concerts and other stewards were walking round sniffing suspiciously and swearing they smelt it (ie in order to catch the culprits and stop them doing so). I couldnt smell a thing...:o

iammumtoone

They don't sound like bad neighbours to me.

They sound like parents who don't know what their teenager is getting up to whilst they are out (they will not be the only parents with this issue!).

If all is quiet and well when the parents are in there is nothing to worry about, teenager will probably grow out of it and in the meantime once you make friends with them it will get better. Maybe they got on with the old neighbour and a similar arrangement as doozergirl, now that neighbour has gone teenager is trying it on to see what they can get away with.

A barking dog in the garden is not a bad thing it will alert you to unwanted visitors, it barks at you at the moment as it doesn't know you, make friends with it, it will get used to you and not make a fuss when you go out.

After a few months after trying to make friends and you still get the same problem you may have an issue but it is far too early to tell and calling out bad neighbours.

Debbie_Savard

I'd get everything totally spic and span and aim to sell in 12 months, if anyone asks you can always say you bought it as a 'doeruper'.

YEars ago I was in a mid-terrace and very quickly you start to lie awake at night just waiting for the racket to start, sure they are doing it just to be bar stewards