Scooby Snacks 23

Having a bit of a problem.

I live in a 5 year old semi with my wife and 2-yr old son and our previous neighbour (mid 40's divorcee) was as quiet as a mouse. You simply could not hear her when she was in - telly was always down low and appreciating the age of our son, she never slammed her front door or cupboard doors etc.

In early December, a young couple moved in (circa mid 20's). They both came round to introduce themselves and seemed like nice people, but they are becoming exceptionally noisy. At first, I let it go as I knew they were taking carpets up and redecorating (empty room = more noise), but then they started slamming the front door at all times of the day and night (the girl is a nurse so works shifts). Being right above my sons bedroom, it keeps waking him up and he gets upset with the noise. I had a gentle word and they apologised and it stopped for a few weeks. However, the problem has come back however, and the door is getting slammed even harder than it was before I had a word! They have also removed the carpet from their stairs (presumably because it's gonna get replaced) and they seem to run up and down it all bloody evening . Again, it's either waking my son up, or stopping him from going to sleep. It's also starting to upset my wife, who's not afraid to whack the walls or shout at them to be quiet, and she's demanding that I go and confront them about it.

I don't mind having a gentle word again, but I don't want it to become confrontational. The guy has asked if I fancy a beer one evening, so might it be a good idea to take him up on it and then drop it into conversation?

Any advice welcome (no Astraboy revenge tactics required thank you )

Scoobydid

I'd deffo take him up on the beer and drop it into the conversation. Maybe start the conversation, they don't build houses like they used to......
Play it that your wife is a bit upset and giving you grief, can he be a mate and be a bit more careful. You could offer him a coffee or a short at yours after, so he can hear is wife crashing around above

Good luck

Smiler

Go for that beer.

RichWalk

make sure he pays for the beer

Stiff

Noisy Neighbour - noisy neighbour

Flaps

iTrader: (1)

Similar situation here too. Moved in to a new build just under two years ago. Got on with the neighbours great. They split up, he stayed and moved another woman in. God she is loud! Worst example was one Sunday, my parents/grand parents had been over and literally thirty minutes later you could hear everything. They were in the living room (joined to ours) and it was obvious they were still very keen on each other and also obvious she knows his name, if you know what I mean I can't imagine how embarrased i'd have been if it would have taken place thirty minutes earlier!
We don't talk anymore, but if it happens again we may have to start (just to find out how he's making her react that way! ).

supertouring

This thread is useless without a few good quality recordings of the goings on

Just the put the problem into perspective, obviously.

delcbr

same here had a quiet guy living in the floor beneath in an a aprtment he was very quiet he moves his bird in and shes 30 right and has an overly high pitched girly voice and when big brother comes on the tv has to be louder wtf!!! actually the main bit that pi**es me right off is the fact that i come home from work on the back shift i want to relax and their washing machine is on at 11pm but they come home from their work at 6 whats that all about!!!!! just very inconsiderate how would you tackle that as in lotsd of cases it makes them worse!!

SideShowBob

You can get some really good soundproofing board (not sure what its calledin the trade), it works brillaintly on party walls, and im sure they could apply it to a ceiling as well.
You dont even know its there to look at it, and is made up of various compounds that result in zero noise from the neighbours, and allows you to have your telly up loud.

The difference is amazing, might cost a bit but would increase the value of your house (slightly) and remove a major irritant.

Edit: Ours was already done when we bought, but found this site that refer to ceilings as well: UK Soundproofing Specialists : Soundproofing Insulation : Acoustic Control

Scooby Snacks 23

Thanks for the link SideShowBob - will peruse that over the weekend certainly

I'm gonna take him on the beer and and discuss it with him first. Thanks for all comments.

SS23.

Varboy

yep, get soundproofing and have a chat to the neighbour, if you are nice about it, then it's hard for them to be horrible back, just start off by saying that you know that they are not trying to be a nuisance but...

otherwise the slightest noise is going to drive you mad, it's so easy to get obsessive about these things.

a case in point, there's a lad a few doors down the road who owns a sewing machine with wheels (i think they call it a moped) anyway he is obsessed with motoring up the road at top speed, I think he is trying to break the 0-10mph in 10 seconds or something.

I honestly sit there sometimes waiting for the noise so that Ican whinge about how loud it is and ask why he has to motor down the street when there are small kids about etc

everytime I seem him ride past in the 40 seconds it takes to pass my window I am praying for him to fall off

David Lock

After the beer take him back to yours and tell him this old chestnut - he might see the funny side............

Following a night out with a few friends, a man brought them back to show off his new flat. After the grand tour, the visitors were rather perplexed by the large gong taking pride of place in the lounge. "What's that big brass gong for?" one of the guests asked. "Why, that's my Speaking Clock" the man replied. "How does it work?" "I'll show you", the man said, giving the gong an ear-shattering blow with an unpadded hammer. Suddenly, a voice from the other side of the wall screamed, "For f*ck's sake, you w*nker, it's twenty to two in the f*cking morning!!"

Scooby Snacks 23

I haven't managed to speak to them as they were away at the weekend but it all came to a head at 5.30 this morning - I was in the kitchen making a cup of tea and the bloke (obviously on his way to work) slammed the door which woke my wife and my son up. By the time I reached the front door my son was almost screaming so I called him back and said we need to speak to about the noise (he could clearly hear my son crying) so he apologised, said he was late for his train, and promised to pop over later.

The wife is fuming and has now said that if things don't start improving, we're gonna sell up!!

F*cking inconsiderate people - can't stand them

SwissTony

iTrader: (19)

david

Apparition

Sounds like it has already become confrontational. If your wife has been banging on the walls etc.
He's probably asked you out for the beer so he can ask you to turn YOUR noise down ! Probably explains the louder door banging too.
Just how it looks from here.
Yve

GrahamG

Well hopefully he pops over tonight and you can sort everything out!

If not.. get the boys round!

Hope you sort it out. Sounds like a pain.

jasey

Yep - that's how it sounds here too.

If all else fails you could try the "Jasey plays michael jackson all night on full blast because his neighbour wouldn't stop their ******* dog barking at midnight" trick.

It worked for me - but relations with the neighbour were never the same

dreamer_girl

Go for the beer and approach it friendly, if you can.

But bear in mind that if you can hear them, they can hear you. Is your 2 year old quiet as a mouse, or does he cry and have hte occasional tantrum. I'm sure he does, as it's natural, but I had the misfortune of living underneath a couple who had a baby (I lived in the flat til it was about 18 months old) and it reduced me to tears frequently. 7.30am til about 10pm it just wailed/cried/gurgled/etc.

I'm just saying that it's a 2-way street, and perhaps they are upset about noise from yours, which is why they are slamming the door more?

Scooby Snacks 23

Like all 2yr olds, he has the occasional tantrum, but during daylight hours! He's always in bed asleep by 8.30pm and then you won't hear a peep from him until 7am ish (unless he's had a nightmare and he calls for me, but that's rare (and their bedroom backs on to ours, not his).

SWRTWannabe

Michael Jackson? Now that was a bit harsh

marky1

It sounds a bit over the top, I mean someone slamming a door is hardly a big deal? Maybe you should consider moving to an isolated house? When you live in apartment blocks, semi detached houses, you have to be willing to put up with some noise.

Curse of the Rushing Gimp

I'm thinking on the samelines. Maybe their pee'd off at your end for hearing your son wailing all the time. One door slam in the day is hardly Neighbours from hell. Your house is obviously not adequatly sound proofed or your light sleepers. Best move house and live in a soundproofed cell. pAthetic

weslad

i suppose its hard to tell by way of this thread how much of a problem it is , if they are slamming the door at night knowing that it will wake the baby up then they are txxts , obviously they cant be expected to walk around on cotton wool during the day but if its slamming at night then its a bit different , can you tell if they are actually slamming the doors hard or could it be the walls are just **** poor thin , i guess the fact that your missus has already started the banging on the wall back may have made things worse , you need to go for the beer , as for the washing machine at night well , im pretty sure that after 11 o clock they arn,t allowed to do things that make sufficient noise ie.. hoovering , playing music , washing machine if it causing a disturbance................if it continues to be a problem then you may be better moving , its not worth coming home stressed out 24/7 ................

pslewis

Share a Beer and it will sort itself out - no point being confrontational ...... hopefully you will reach the point where if you hear a sound you could shout, "Shut up you noisy buggers!!" ... it will be taken as friendly banter but noted

Bateman

Make loads of noise yourself. Your son will soon get used to it and fall asleep. He probably wont be able to sleep iif its to quiet from now on. If it was me I would start the DOOR SLAMMING NOW !! GET THE RADIO ON ! TURN IT UP !

dreamer_girl

Coping with neighbours noise is really hard - like I said, my upstairs neighbours drove me to tears. Literally. Luckily I've moved (although one of our neighbours now has just sold their house, so crossing my fingers noisey people don't move in !).

I'm sure your kid is no noisier than any others, but perhaps noises that you dont' even think about (because they aren't noisey/offensive to you) are causing problems next door?

Even the baby upstairs gurgling, or the parents playing with it ended up being unbearable, simply because it was 14 hours a day every day, and I worked from home so couldn't escape it. I'm sure you little one isn't that bad, but you know what I mean

Good luck resolving it - if they are causing you this many problems with noise, it ends up becoming your whole focus and really getting you down

Drunken Bungle Whore

Have to say I've had a wide variety of noisy neighbours - and it really does take over your life a bit. Have the beer with the guy - he's clearly trying to keep things amicable - and it may give him the chance to let you know if you're also being noisey. I once lived next door to a family who had a 2 year old who suffered night terrors - that nearly drove me completely insane. My bedroom didn't back onto the childs - but when he had a bad night they bought him into their room - which did back on to mine.....

It's also a bit harsh to say...

We're only just in the fortunate position to be able to afford a detached house - they don't come cheap. Most people would move to a detached house if they could afford to - they don't generally opt to live like battery hens out of choice.

Go for the beer, keep it friendly - and be open to any noise problems he may raise with you.

Good luck

Scooby Snacks 23

UPDATE

Had a very quick drink with him last night, told him the issue and he couldn't have been more apologetic. Said he didn't realise they were noisy (even went as far as saying they never hear anything from us!).

Anyway, didn't hear a peep out of them last night and the door couldn't have been closed quieter this morning

Here's hoping.....

Freelance Badger

Hopefully it might be sorted. If not, I know where to get the best ever ear plugs the world has ever seen. They really do work......