Summer noise

Nothing more embarrassing than an old person thinking they are displaying their individuality and freedom of spirit by playing loud music, because 'I like it', and capering around outside. Apparently Esther Rantzen is much given to running around naked in her back garden and trying to persuade neighbours and friends to join her.
Now there's a horrible thing!
I dislike intensely the sound of my neighbour's voice, affected, high pitched and penetrating, also incessant, but unfortunately there is no law against it.

We could hear the thump, thump, thump yesterday as a neighbour's young son kicked a football against a wall for what seemed like hours.
DH said 'what's that noise?' and I said 'it's the same noise that we used to hear when DS was a little boy ...'

Have you never just wanted to sit in the sun and listen to your favourite music - I have, but I have too much consideration for my neighbours to do so.

It is nothing to do with age - it was bad manners to do so when I was 15 and is still bad manners now.

BiblioQueen, I totally agree with you.
Noise pollution is a serious crime and those who commit it have no thought or consideration for anyone else but themselves and their own enjoyment ( or in some cases a deliberate act to upset or annoy their neighbours). If someone who enjoys loud music then use earphones! If someone has a party next door or up the road have the courtesy to warn their neighbour if it's possible, so they are prepared for it.
Any noise that can be heard from someone's house is too loud. (Sorry, but this is going to be a long thread)
I suffered a stroke because of all the stress I suffered from a vicious evil neighbour and her son and daughter who moved into a rented property next to us. The day they moved in, the woman was playing Julio Englaise very very loudly. ( I happen to like this singer, but not when the walls are bouncing!!) It went on for at least three hours and I was hoping she would turn it down, but eventually I had to go and ask her. I knocked and said, in a friendly manner, " I love your choice of music, but could you maybe turn it down a little? She flung her arms up in the air and said "I do not understand" I knew she could speak English very well (she is from South America, married to a British guy)., but was acting ignorant. I tried to explain clearer that the walls weren't very thick and that the music was very loud, she shut the door on me and that was the start of 2 years of hell! As well as very loud music not only from her but also from her 24 year old daughter and her 22 year old son. The base was pounding through our walls. They would also run up and down the stairs like a herd on elephants. When she was away, her son and daughter would play the weirdest loud satanic music, turn the vacuum off and on for 5 mins at a time for up to an hour. There were grinding noises, everything, you name it. I didn't knock as often as I could have and just suffered it for most of the time. I didn't feel that my OH was being very supportive even though he knocked himself a couple of times without any conviction, but they did turn the noise down for him, but it would soon start again. This was every day, none of them worked except the husband who seemed to work away a lot, but didn't even look at you when he was home. He was very unapproachable, like it was she who ruled the roost!
I went to the Dr as I was keep feeling dizzy, my blood pressure was 200/100! One day it got too much and I knocked next door to give them a piece of my mind. I told her I was going to go to the council even though we owned our house. ( I have to say I didn't once involve the police, but wished I had) I was so stressed out about it all after confronting her. Luckily we were going away for three weeks that night to our apartment, but I suffered a stroke on the flight while landing, I couldn't fly home for a month, ( when I got home I had rehabilitation for 18 months and thankfully after about 3 year I was starting to get back to some normality) but when I was allowed to fly home, there was a letter waiting for me from the council (she had went when we were away) the letter said she accused me of being racist, calling her racist names and not understanding her culture!! I was dumbfounded! I never once brought up anything about her ethnicity, culture or anything close to being racist! The council suggested we have mediation! I said No Way. I called the noise abatement officers in and explained everything that had happened and that they had clearly pulled the race card and expected me to just accept a mediation, which I wasn't. They gave me some charts to record every incident that happened which I did as the noise started up again. The noise abatement team came out again and looked at what I had recorded and went straight next door. They were told that their Landlord would be informed and they could be evicted etc. Not long after that the had a party and the music was pounding the walls but I was still recovering so went to bed with ear plugs in. We hadn't been in bed long when there was flashing lights outside and it was a police car. Someone had rang them. I could hear voices outside so went to peep out the curtains, it was the woman next door shouting something to a policeman while pointing to our house! She obviously thought we had rang them! We put the house up for sale after that and sold it within 6 months. We did tell the prospective buyers that we didn't get on with the neighbour, but it didn't deter them!! I know this is an extreme account of noisy neighbours, but it shows how things can escalate. Luckily the authorities are quick to nip this in the bud and not let culprits get away with it. So next time you turn up the volume, think of other people not just yourself! Now when I hear loud music outdoors I get palpitations and have to put earplugs in. We are detached now but our neighbours now are so considerate they wouldn't dream of playing loud music in or even outside. That's what a good neighbour should be like!

SeaWatcher, the council (Environmental Health) will take action against persistently noisy neighbours if the noise can be heard inside your home with windows and doors closed. The more neighbours who contact EH to complain, the better.

Mojomax so sorry to hear your story. Pity yoy waited so long. I hope you are feeling better.

Has no one heard of wireless headphones?? I have my music as loud as I want, mainly blues.....but none else hears ??

I sympathize, mine play a radio out into the garden when no one is there so not only music but annoying talk and adverts. I have a hearing problem but can still here it loud. They also have two noisy children and there friends and a trampoline that goes squeak squeak all day long. But hey! They've gone on holiday this week and ....the weather is not as sunny as its been,oh well at least it's peaceful.

After reading all these posts I think we need stricter laws on noise pollution. It isn’t enough to rely on having considerate neighbours. Perhaps approach MPs, especially if the climate is changing and this could be a problem every summer.( says she optimistically).

Surely you could use an iPod ?I think it's really bad mannered to inflict your music on anybody who may just want a quiet couple of hours in their own garden .I am not an old fuddy duddy and really love loud music but realize other people may not like the Beatles Adele ext

mojomax
I went through similar in my previous home.
Mine was a single man in his fifities whose music taste swung between eighties rave, gangster rap, Frank Sinatra, Cher and Rick Astley. He knew the general rules because at 9am the music started and at 11pm sharp the music ceased.
He also like to hang out of his bedroom window until the early hours talking loudly, spitting and telling children there was chocolate and sweets in his home. "I bet you like chocolate don't you, does mummy let you have much".
The police said there "isn't much we can do really".

He regularly boasted that the noise regulations did not apply to him because the music helped with his mental health and he could get away with anything - headphones an option here I think and the landlord actually purchased some for him, wireless so he could walk around indoors. He would not use them.

Enviromental Health started action after he ignored many warnings from his landlord.
They supplied me with the tools to prove a case.

After a year of keeping written records and using recording equipment from my home a case was proven and a warning issued.
The warning was ignored.

Then, still using the recording equipment and also using the 24hr on call EH officers to witness it the battle continued. There has to be two occasions where the EH officers are present to hear the noise . You ring them and they dash to your home.

You would be surprised at how difficult this is because the on call officer may be elsewhere when you ring. Plus this man was on contstant vigil from his bedroom and noted any unfamiliar car in our quiet cul de sac and turned the volume down.

Eventually his equipmentwas seized. In an early morning raid with police escort alongside the EH.
Ask anyone's advice and this is where the story would end.
Equipment seized , there you go problem solved.

However;
By lunchtime that same day he had new equipment and was off again with the music. I still had the recording equipment so could prove the noise, however the process of the EH officers witnessing it started all over again.

In the end he was prosecuted successfully by the Environmental Health.
Then taken to court by the landlord and evicted.

This action takes a long long time and has many lasting effects upon your ability to sell your home.
It also took all my strength and affected my health no end.

I don’t have a problem with children playing in the garden provided it’s not too early or goes on too late, even if they shriek!.
I don’t mind BBQ or wood burners either As it’s one of the smells of summer, and I would hate to see either of these our door cooking things banned!
Don’t mind lawn mowers not too keen on noisy chainsaws
I don’t mind people laughing and chatting and occasional summer parties ( again provided that it’s not every night and prefer not a work night?)
Altogether I prefer to hear people enjoying their summer and the outdoor spaces. I count myself lucky that I have access to an out door space and feel sorry for the families stuck in high rise flats in big cities without a garden?

Our neighbour has recently started boarding dogs, these are only small terraced houses and the yapping is constant! Of course they are going to bark, they are in a garden that's strange to them but why leave them out there barking for so long? It's the small breeds that sound more annoying to me, it's the high pitch I think. It's bad enough from indoors but when I want to sit in the garden I find my temper rising and end up back indoors before I end up screaming obscenities!

Teenage children in the house behind us were alone all last summer, while their parents were at work. The noise was horrendous, as all their friends joined them. Blaring 'music', which sounded like someone banging a metal drum and shouting loudly. Laughing and screaming. Complaints to the parents had no result. Their next-door neighbour, who does shift work, including nights, ended up in a minor fracas with the father, and the police were involved. Thankfully, they were given a noise abatement order, which DID solve the problem, and they eventually moved away. Our quiet, friendly neighbourhood has returned to its peaceful state once more, thank heavens.

I have always been a considerate person who would help anyone. I hate confrontation and vexation, I wouldn't consider myself to be a killjoy but there should be a law against those who are constantly causing noise without due consideration of others. I hope all those who suffer from noise find peace in their lives.
We only have one life but there will always be someone who makes it a misery because they have nothing in their own life to make it worthwhile!

I am sick of my neighbours, they have a yard for their children, in this yard, there are only toys, a bouncy castle and compressor, a trampoline next to our fence, a set of goal posts, a basket ball net, a climbing frame also next to our fence and an adult sized paddling pool. They don't talk they scream, shout and try and outdo each other in the noise levels, plus the childman of the house also likes his music on so that he can hear it when he is in Australia. We have no peace, the kids can be out there from early morning to late at night, we have to sit in our garden wearing ear pods. They are selfish and thoughtless. Mine were not allowed out until 9am or 10am on Sunday and were in by 7 or 8pm the absolute latest. I stopped them from screaming and they got the look if they shouted. No one cares anymore.

Have you never just wanted to sit in the sun and listen to your favourite music
No, we never do that
I sit in the shade and read
DH lies in the shade and falls asleep

gmelon that must have been terrible, I hope you have some peaceful neighbours now.

We used to have a dog living behind us that barked all day long - yes - all day every day. They used to put it out in the garden when they went to work. The only time it stopped was when another neighbour took it in her house.
Complaints from neighbours to Environmental Health were logged then lost. Eventually they moved - we can still hear it in the far distance, annoying others.

Fflaurie Couldn’t work out if you were in the U.K.? or not because you mentioned yard instead of garden but if you are in the U.K. try contacting environmental health re noise nuisance

Jalima1108 Yes, thank you . I moved to yet another cul de sac and I wouldn't even know that I have neighbours.
I think they all rush out and cut their lawns when I am out because I never hear so much as a lawn mower.

Jalima1108
A dog barking is one of the most annoying sounds, I feel for you. If you can still hear it in the distance it will be a reminder that you could well do without.

I can't comprehend why people think it's acceptable to play music in the garden so loudly that it can be heard all around the neighbourhood. The height of selfishness.Musical taste is a very personal thing.Wether it's drum and base or opera not everyone will share your love of it.My DDs immediate neighbours for the last 2 summers has blasted out a commercial radio station from speakers on their summer house immediately behind her fence.So not only music but adverts every 10 minutes.Until a few weeks ago when I was babysitting and could stand it no longer.Politely called over the fence and told them I was looking after the little one whilst DD was trying to sleep before a night shift,and that the elderly man next door was very ill.Both true.I expected some abuse but they were genuinely surprised and immediately turned it down.So far it's not been so loud again.They had obviously never considered how intrusive it was.Amazing.At least they took it on board.

We can ignore it now, gmelon, block it out as it is across the valley, whereas before it was just behind us.

Mojomax, I'm so relieved for you that you have found peace after your appalling time. I really feel for you, and for the other people here who have suffered. I think that judging from all these stories noise pollution (and the associated selfishness) is one of the major curses of modern life. By the way, we have successfully soundproofed our home against the rap/ drum and bass fans next door by DIY extra thickness on the party walls (fibreglass blocks and plasterboard, DH did it, bless him, to stop me going insane) - it works brilliantly, and luckily we are end of terrace so only one side of the house to worry about. (Of course soundproofing the garden stretches even DH's decent enough DIY skills!) The stress that relentless noise inflicts is enormous..and the dread and horror of it never really goes away, even once the noise stops, as people have said. I have huge sympathy for those of you with awful neighbours and hope you all manage to stay sane somehow...it almost makes you wish for rain. When our neighbours were particularly bad I used to feel physically sick if I saw a big picture of a shining sun in the weather forecast.That's how bad it can get, and how sad is that. Take note, paddyann and your ilk.

BiblioQueen
Where did your husband buy the fiberglass blocks?
He sounds very handy at jobs most would perhaps not try.