NDN complained about ball bouncing

Aaargh. Bloody basketball! I work nights and get home around 7.30 am. Arsehole over the road has built himself a basketball court. The kids aren't allowed to use it. Every frigging day at 10 am he's out there. Bounce fucking bounce! And he's shit at it as well.

But I've invested in decent earplugs now so I can sleep.

But he's still an arsehole

Some people at the back of me have a hoop. It's not the bouncing that irritates me but the metallic clatter as the ball hits the hoop. Fortunately the novelty seems to have worn off, as I've hardly heard it recently.

If you consider the sound of bouncing basket balls not irritating then perhaps you should install the hoop right up by your house. As far away from any neighbours.

Does the sound echo? Repetitive noises such as a basketball bouncing off concrete would drive me bananas. If your neighbour is usually tolerant of reasonable noise but came today and was visibly upset, I would assume it is genuinely bothering her and it probably took a lot for her to come and tell you and I would move the hoop.

Whisky2014 That's exactly the situation we have. The constant thudding of a ball, but there's a park two minutes away.

But at least she knows that you will be accommodating now. Just encourage your DS to play in short bursts of 15 minutes, then your NDN very likely won't mind too much. She also knows that she can complain if it's too loud and you won't ignore her.

The idea of moving the basketball hoop to the other end of the garden, as far away from the NDN's house as possible, is a good one, I think.

l'm afraid l'm with your neighbour on this one. l live on (what is usually) a lovely quiet estate. Kids next door, three boys, who are lovely. l don't mind hearing them playing in their garden at all, occasionally their ball comes over the adjoining fence which results in them coming to fetch it (they ask very politely), then "can we come in and see the rabbits, please?" which l don't mind at all.
However. The family next door to them have two older boys who seem football daft, they're always in sporty gear with football tops. And one of them will occasionally spend literally hours outside their house, (next door but one to me, so quite close) on the main road thoruhg the estate, kicking and bouncing a football. Playing football l don't mind. lt's the constant thudding of the football that feels like nails on a blackboard to me.
Fortunately, it's not all the time, and also, they have their house up for sale now. l'm secretly delighted.

I can imagine the noise is pretty irritating but frankly I think provided your son is only using it during reasonable times of the day it's something that's just part and parcel of having neighbours. I suppose it depends how keen you are to stay on good terms with the neighbour but I'd let my DS keep using the hoop.

Doesn't the ball smack loudly on the backboard of the hoop?

Balls bouncing really are incredibly irritating. Neighbours kids over the road incessantly kicking balls against the wall. It gives me the rage but I haven't complained, don't know how I could. What I don't understand is, there's a park literally 1 minute walk from their house..why not take the ball there?!

OMG I'd become quite murderous if someone was constantly bouncing a basketball nearby. They are not like a normal ball and make quite a racket. It's like water torture.

It is an annoying noise. Our kids have a hoop and we have moved it onto our lawn where they enjoy it. It was on the driveway for a while and my ndn did not complaint but then her two teenage boys and her dh had loud motorbikes for years so small scale in comparison.

You are nbu at all in fact you are a bit too soft here. Your ds has a perfect right to enjoy his present on his birthday and you sound understanding people.

What is not unreasonable and what I put up with for ages was my former ndn's teenage son kicking his ball at the metal garage door for hours on end. I couldn't even put my kids to bed. In the end dh went out and told him none too politely.

I would see this as normal neighbourhood noise, and this thread has far too many people who lack grips...

I’m pretty certain the Spanish Inquisition used the sound is a bouncing ball in their endeavours.

It is really loud and very very irritating, sorry!!!

It would drive me mad too, but short bursts would be ok. It's just irritating repetitive noise like dogs barking all the time or a squeaky trampoline !!

There's a kid walks past my house about 5.30 every evening bouncing a ball... I only hear it for a total of about 30 seconds but even that is irritating!

I honestly don’t understand how things like this bother people. Can’t you just put the telly on, or play some music so you can’t hear it?
This is one of the joys of growing up in terrace house in a London council estate, there is so much constant noise, that things like kids making noises by playing don’t bother you.
Honestly, I can’t believe how miserable people are.

I think this sounds like reasonable noise and the neighbour should really get a grip.

If you are on good terms with the neighbour, perhaps go and explain - new hoop, novelty etc. Explain your plans to move the hoop, but this will require some weeks to get it sorted. In the interim your son will limit use to 30mins at time, ?3 times a day and never before/after certain times. Apologise for the noise, but also state it is a reasonable activity for a teen, and whilst you are trying to accommodate it in order to be good neighbours, there is no law against this and you are being more than generous to make this allowances to her.

And for the bouncing, there is a lot of bouncing pre and post shot - it is annoying, but hey that is life in the suburbs, if you want tranquility, best be buying somewhere further from neighbours in the country somwhere.

I think it's completely reasonable to bounce a ball in your own garden. It's annoying yes, but so is someone complaining about something like this. The complaining that seems to be deemed reasonable drives me nuts.

We lived somewhere where the neighbours DS used to repeatedly kick the ball against our shared fence as he used the fence panel as a goal. Over...and over....and over endlessly. It used to set my teeth on edge but I would never have dreamt of saying anything. He was entitled to play in his own garden.
You sound like a considerate neighbour planning to move the hoop and restrict his play but it’s a shame he isn’t allowed to play when he likes.

People like that need to live in a cabin in the woods

It's the repetitive noise - it doesn't matter what it is, it's like a constant drip, driving you mad.

@Broombroomshaketheroom I do know how basketball works but I still don’t understand when he would be dribbling when he has a hoop (way more fun) unless they have a huge terrace or something (in which case I can see the fun but just standing there any bouncing it is a bit boring surely).

Argh! This would drive me bonkers too. Doing it for short bursts of 10-15 mins is no better to be honest. I'd be on tenterhooks all the time not knowing when next you'd be disturbed. Why not just do it for one fixed hour during the day?

Better idea to put it at the bottom of the garden though.