Noisy Neighbours - need advice on taking action / recording evidence

Jimmy_Boy

22 years. No issues until these neighbours moved in.

Norman_Castle

Are other neighbours affected by the noise or behaviour?

Jimmy_Boy

Norman_Castle said:

Are other neighbours affected by the noise or behaviour?

Yes.
The neighbours on the other side of the road are getting pretty hacked off with the noise they make outside. For example last Friday they where having another party at the back, and my neighbour decided he was going to move his bike @ 1:45am. This involved him starting it up and redlining it to about 10k RPM. This woke them up - I was already awake from the music playing.

One neighbour I know down the road is getting annoyed with the amount of traffic coming and going up the street (its a dead end street, so if you come up, you go back down). There is a lot of people coming to buy weed from him, and some of them drive like idiots.

The a-joining street to the back of me overlooks my property and theres. I was curious if they hear the noise coming from the back garden. I decided to go and knock on there door and asked if they could hear the noise. They both said yes, one of them being particularly pi**ed off with them saying they have kept her awake / woke her up on numerous occasions.

So other neighbours are annoyed by the noise outside, I have to deal with that plus the noise they make inside.

You would think by there actions (parties, dealing weed etc...) they would be in there 20's but there in there mid 60's!!

Norman_Castle

Ask the neighbours if they will speak to the council in a joint complaint. They can remain anonymous.

If you know he is dealing contact the police on 101 to see if they are interested.

mimi1234

I can only sympathise with you as we have rotten noisy neighbours too.  

I've looked into sound proofing but the houses were badly built so it would be the wall, the ceiling and the floor for each room which would cost a lot, so I'll be giving that a miss.  Did your sound proofing work at all OP?  Did you do just the walls or everything?

The Council are not of much use.  A lot of people get fobbed off with the "it's household noise".  I got told that for drilling and DIY after midnight and constant door slamming.  A colleague of mine was told to close all his windows if he thought his neighbours were playing music too loudly in their garden in the evenings.

I've been trying for a while to cajole Mum into moving but she is not having any of it.  Before anyone jumps down my throat as they did in a previous thread of mine, I am NOT forcing her to move nor am I trying to swindle her house.  If she agreed to move,  I would buy a house and she could live with me, any money from this house sale would be hers.  Mum's really struggling as her arthritis is very bad now and the fact she is getting little to no sleep with the idiots next door banging and slamming all day and night is not a good mix.  I would move out in a heartbeat but I cook/clean/do finances/appointment runs for Mum and she really needs that extra support so I am stuck between a rock and a hard place.  Sigh.

Good luck OP.

Benzine

I am in a similar position in a terraced back to back house. I can appreciate the desire to get some kind of resolution/justice/revenge but I think you'd just be prolonging a stressful situation. Any official complaints about your neighbours would have to be disclosed when you sell (if you're asked and I think it's standard in the solicitors paperwork now), and will make it harder to sell. 

We're very stressed in our situation and are currently selling and I think you should do the same. 

curtis122

I live in a detached house but on an estate so for what its worth I may aswell be attached as I have 9 properties close to me with 4 of those very close to me basically only a single drive or fence seperating us. Jimmy_Boy I know exactly what you mean by it dicating areas of your life as one of my neighbours they go to bed with their kids at around midnight from around 11 they are getting ready for bed so you hear the kids shouting, screaming and then at midnight when they are putting them to bed they are messing about and making a lot of nosie obviously even worse in warmer months due to windows being open, this either wakes us up or keeps us awake so we on many occasions try to go to bed as late as possible even though we are tired. There are times when I won't go in my garden or certain rooms as certain neighbours are out and you can't relax due to the noise even when its not excessive it can still be disruptive and I should not not have to wear ear plugs round my home as some people suggest.

I too have become very sensitive and alert to sounds to the point if I hear what I think is a child being outside or one of my neighbours just talking loud my stomach tightens because I am then waiting for possible ongoing noise. At times I have thought I have heard the neighbours when in fact it has been a background noise on the TV thats how sensitive its become. Its reached the point now where I hate the fact I sit in my garden and can hear people in their houses, doors closing, washing up being done,  lunch being made, talking and thats not even exessive noise but it now really irritates me. 

I can't wait to move and we are saving hard to hopefully move to a quieter more neighbour 'less' property. 



 

Monkey_B

curtis122 said:

my stomach tightens because I am then waiting for possible ongoing noise

I know exactly what you mean. For us it would be the noise of the neighbour's front door as he came home around 10:30 pm, usually when we'd just gone to bed. 9 times out of 10 this would be quickly followed by four or five hours of house music. We moved three years ago to a blissfully quiet house, but on the very odd occasion I hear that familiar bass drum sound from a passing car I still get the same feeling, thankfully only fleetingly!
You'll get there!

curtis122

4 to 5 hours of music after 10.30pm(!!!) and I thought I had it bad thats terrible. Another problem I have is even when its quiet I'm still 'waiting' or 'on alert' for some noise so it even ruins any quiet time to try and enjoy.

It won't be for at least 3/4 years till I move having worked out all the finances, we could move earlier but we want this to be not only the right move to the right house but hopefully our last move. We just try and focus on this when I feel stressed or anxious about any noise I just look ahead and know it will change.

Jimmy_Boy

curtis122 said:

I too have become very sensitive and alert to sounds to the point if I hear what I think is a child being outside or one of my neighbours just talking loud my stomach tightens because I am then waiting for possible ongoing noise. At times I have thought I have heard the neighbours when in fact it has been a background noise on the TV thats how sensitive its become. Its reached the point now where I hate the fact I sit in my garden and can hear people in their houses, doors closing, washing up being done,  lunch being made, talking and thats not even exessive noise but it now really irritates me. 

This.

This describes exactly what im like. My mind simply cannot switch off and rest, im always subconsciously waiting for the next 'boom' sound (footsteps, door bangs, dropping stuff etc...), I find things that shouldnt bother me do, because ive been putting up with this for 6 or more years now.

I know in my heart of hearts that im fighting a loosing battle and the only real solution is to move, but it's not an easy pill to swallow as ive invested quite a lot in my property. It has a serious affect on your mental health which no one appears to fully appreciate (not even close friends), I think it's only something you can empathise with when youve lived through it yourself.

I am a field based engineer and see many people in the day. Recently I visited a retired doctor and we got chatting. He said that he could sense something was not right with me and once I described my situation it made some sense to him, and he advised that I consider visiting a psychiatrist as he could see how negatively this was affecting my day-to-day life, and stressed that I really need to consider getting out of the situation as he predicted I was an 'ideal case' for a mental breakdown. This hit home quite hard (sometimes you just need someone to tell you what you really already know, but keep trying to bury), and I am now looking at trying to move and rebuild / restart my life

To everyone else having issues, I hope you get them sorted.

The one tip I would give to anybody reading this who is in a similar situation is this - if you cannot amicably sort the issue to your satisfaction, try to prioritise moving property - dont put yourself through the mental stress, anxiety and potential financial stress of trying to 'fix' the issue. If like me you considered this as 'not an option', try and make it an option otherwise it can potentially have long lasting mental health issues which are just not worth it.

Ive gone the whole soundproofing route (walls and ceiling), and while it reduces the noise, it does NOT eliminate it, and if (like me) you've got to the point where you are SO sensitive (due the amount of time you have endured it) you will still hear (and be bothered by) the 'boom' sounds. These are my personal experiences.