Noisy Neighbour

butterfly25

Hi,

Please move if this is in the wrong place. I have a noisy neighbour and wondering if anyone had a similar experience and what they did.

Basically my neighbour's son has a TV in his room which is against our party wall, so the noise comes through distorted and scary (shooting video games don't help) in to my room and the kid seems to have a very erratic sleeping schedule - the noise goes on way into the early morning when he doesn't have school - like now.

Then with this heat they have their windows open so I can also hear the kid shouting at his game. Have tried sleeping in the spare room round the back but the neighbour herself - the kid's mum - has her TV on really loud too and the sounds also travel over especially with open windows. So I can't sleep in my own house.

Environmental Health from my council doesn't think there is any nuisance. The officer even said the noise is and can be audible from my property and affect my sleep but still not be nuisance.
We are in the process of mediation, as in my neighbour has 'agreed' to it but has kept delaying actually speaking with the mediators using various reasons.
We are not on good terms at all and I would not feel safe speaking to my neighbour myself, hence getting the council involved to start with. All I'd like is for my neighbour to move their front TV away from the wall and be a little mindful of noise at night when the windows are open, like any civilian would!

I feel really trapped now as it seems like no one can help. So I'm hoping there are people here who have been there done that and can offer some empathy/advice? Has anyone tried complaining about the council/Environmental Health, contacting landlords (I own, they rent), taking legal action or anything else that worked?

Moving is on the cards but it's not something that can be rushed.

Any advice would be really appreciated. Thanks!

Aylesbury_Duck

I think you're doing all you can. If mediation doesn't solve the problem, moving elsewhere will your ultimate solution.

elsien

Earplugs? Not ideal in the long run but would give you respite while you're waiting for mediation to happen.

missile

Noise cancelling head phones?

poppellerant

I had noisy neighbours once, so I don't envy you and really do feel for you. I understand how nervous they can make you feel, because you are so stressed about the noise - which for me was at 5am sometimes.

I found going to sleep with in-ear headphones helped me tremendously. Watch something on TV or on your laptop and you will likely find that your neighbours' noises should be mostly drowned out. If you fall asleep with them, they could even serve as earplugs!

Record everything in a diary, either on paper or on your computer. Do not hesitate about notifying the relevant authorities, especially when children are involved. They can't help with problems they don't know about.

stator

Accoustic insulation will reduce the noise. What sort of wall separates your houses? Is it a block cavity wall, victorian brick wall, older?

Spender£

You could try sound proofing the wall, my dad did this when i was a toddler to avoid to much noise for the old lady next door. I have heard you can get sound proofing paint but i'm not 100% on that.

I had a neighbor with a kid who was a terror he used to kick footballs at our place every day, he set fire to our garden shed and his own, he also used to steal from the back gardens, the best solution in the end was waiting for him to get older and grow out of it which he did seem to.

bris

Environmental health can come and put sound machines in that record the noise levels over a time period if you complain loud enough.


If the noise doesn't reach their criteria for a nuisance then you will have to soundproof the wall.

PasturesNew

Get a can of Liquid 455 (numbers used here as the word would be turned into !!!!) and spray it out the window very very quickly.... hopefully it'll stink and they'll at least close their window.

Objective: Not get seen/caught.

butterfly25

poppellerant wrote: »

I had noisy neighbours once, so I don't envy you and really do feel for you. I understand how nervous they can make you feel, because you are so stressed about the noise - which for me was at 5am sometimes.

I found going to sleep with in-ear headphones helped me tremendously. Watch something on TV or on your laptop and you will likely find that your neighbours' noises should be mostly drowned out. If you fall asleep with them, they could even serve as earplugs!

Record everything in a diary, either on paper or on your computer. Do not hesitate about notifying the relevant authorities, especially when children are involved. They can't help with problems they don't know about.

5am! I'd be surprised but my neighbour went on to 10am once! It was a Saturday so I ended up cancelling my plans because too tired to drive. IMO anything in the AM hours is taking the mick really.
Just wondering - which authorities are you thinking here? I've tried the council but it seems children these days have free reign.

stator wrote: »

Accoustic insulation will reduce the noise. What sort of wall separates your houses? Is it a block cavity wall, victorian brick wall, older?

Silly question but how do I find out what wall we have? It's an end terrace house.

bris wrote: »

Environmental health can come and put sound machines in that record the noise levels over a time period if you complain loud enough.
If the noise doesn't reach their criteria for a nuisance then you will have to soundproof the wall.

They did that but apparently wasn't enough of a nuisance even though it was keeping me awake. The officer kept saying wasn't loud enough but there are websites that say time of day and other things should also be taken into account. It just looks like they're trying to get rid of a case and ignoring a problem.

butterfly25

Spender£ wrote: »

You could try sound proofing the wall, my dad did this when i was a toddler to avoid to much noise for the old lady next door. I have heard you can get sound proofing paint but i'm not 100% on that.

I had a neighbor with a kid who was a terror he used to kick footballs at our place every day, he set fire to our garden shed and his own, he also used to steal from the back gardens, the best solution in the end was waiting for him to get older and grow out of it which he did seem to.

Your dad sounds very responsible! Do you know how he sound proofed the wall?
I've heard about sound proof wallpapers but apparently they work best done on the side the noise is coming from