I need advice - noisy neighbours ruining our lives

[Sonoisysonoisy]

Just don’t know what do. They bought the house 6 months ago and actually warned us how noisy they’d be. We went to say hi and the woman said we’d hate them as neighbours because “we are so noisy, the kids and the dog and my husband loves loud music”.

Its the woman that makes the most noise. Constant screaming, whether at her kids or down the phone. She’s on the phone ALL day. She clean ALL day with what sounds like a mop, smashing the walls & skirting boards. The whole family get up at 5 am everyday, the 3 kids to chase the yapping dog round the house and her to start cleaning.

They slam doors all day so our house vibrates. They never leave the house. The kid leave it to go to school and that’s it. Even at weekends they sit in the house making noise. We never get a break from them.

Its making me and my DH ill, right now I’m trying to enjoy my day off and she’s smDhing the house up with her mop whilst simultaneously screaming down the phone.

We can’t afford to move. I was worried about reporting to council etc for when we can sell but now I don’t know if I care enough to worry about that as this family is relentless and I just want them to stop.

I spoke to her a few months ago and it did quieten down a bit but now it’s all back to normal. Living in a terrace is horrendous ☹️

@Horseymummy17 - if you have issues with students ask your council to sort it out with the university. Maybe the university has a policy?

What annoyed me so much with the vast amount of student housing in our city is that the people living, working and paying for the city are disregarded.

My friend complained about students in her street and one council employee chuckled.

Hi sweety. I know. I’ve had over 15 years of hassle due to students. The council brought in restrictions to prevent too many properties being sold and then rented to them. And of course many student let’s aren’t rented out by the university Like the poor lady I replied to … it’s a lottery as to whether neighbours .. student or not .. are decent.

This 3 currently next to me. Still making noise but I’ll be talking to a police officer tomorrow to determine the next step. I’ve rang the university and left a message with someone who I told will deal with the issue.

Just like everyone affected like this I am sick to the back teeth. Us residents proper are second thoughts. It’s all about pandering to those that are transient.

Can you put on music or radio to drown them out with sounds you'd rather hear? Too bad if they can hear them if that are that loud.

Mopping at 5am? Can I have some of that energy please?

I’d highly recommend Sony headphones (WH 1000-XM3). Saved my sanity during the lockdowns with noisy family in the flat below, obv we were all in all the time! I know it’s not a long term solution but you could put them on when you get woken up early in order to sleep more.

I feel your pain OP, years ago lived in council flat where neighbour drank himself into a stupor every night, fell asleep with TV on full volume, paper thin walls, had a toddler and had to be at nursery/work every morning, I just sat and cried most nights

If the walls are so thin that you can hear a steam mope and them mopping, then no doubt they can clearly hear you walking around/coughing/watching tv/washing machine/other normal behaviour too. It's not really their fault the walls are so thin, it's the build quality.

If the noise bothers you (and it would me) then you need to look at installing sound proofing to block out the normal family noise that they make. The stuff you are talking about (mopping/talking on the phone/shutting doors etc) is just normal noise. It's not as though they're throwing big parties or playing music full blast into the night.

That sounds so stressful!
I once had a noisy neighbour and I'd asked him to keep it down on numerous occasions but he never did so I just made myself twice as loud and he eventually got the picture and shut up!
Every night, after 10pm, he would plug a microphone into a speaker and sing at the top of his lungs (he was horrendous) and this started the day we moved in.
We lived upstairs from him so I bought big speakers, turned up the bass, put them facing down against the floor and played some very very loud dubstep and other high bass music 😊
He didn't do it again 😁

mrsm I don’t really consider getting up at 5 a.m every single day including weekends to clean and to have the kids race around the house is normal behaviour!!

They never leave the house except to go to school and weekends are just the kids and them making a racket. I don’t agree door slamming is normal either, I shut my doors I don’t slam them.

Op. Would you consider making a racket when they go to bed ?

I would play my music loud as hell but the woman on the other side of me has a 2 year old. She’d be round like a shot as she’s already complained about the neighbour on HER other side !!!
I have to make sure she’s out before I hit the dance floor !

Three things. Could you put some click and lock wooden panelling on the shared side. You could even put some kind of insulating material behind it. There's probably products on the market.
Also. do you share a chimney? Sometimes that can transmit sounds, but you can get Chimney pillows to block off the chimneys you are not using.. ( keeps out the drafts too. We used to hear pigeon's cooing away on the roof until we heard about this idea.

Are your windows letting any noise in? ( can you use that draft proofing foam? if so)
As others have said. Noise cancelling headphones.

Also. When they start making noise at 5.00 am. or before 8 am. Can you record them. Turn the volume right up and play it back through the walls! That would soon shut them up I think as they would be more embarrassed by actually hearing their conversations. It might shock them out of it. And also theywould know that you have the recordings to prove how noisy they are.

Could you put some click and lock wooden panelling on the shared side. You could even put some kind of insulating material behind it. There's probably products on the market

Sadly this won’t do much. We insulated in a previous house. Spent a fortune to do it but it had no effect. Sound travels through joists not just walls.

You have my sympathy op. We had to move, we really couldn’t afford to and are now mortgaged to the hilt at a time when we would have almost cleared our previous mortgage but it made me so ill. My MH has never recovered.

I hope you can get away from it sooner rather than later.

Sounds an awful way to live OP, we have had noisy neighbours in the past and it does really get you down. So you have tried speaking to them, that doesn’t seem to have worked. Are there neighbours the other side of them? If so, have a chat with them. Record the noise and report to the council. The only drawback is then you would have to declare a dispute if you decide to sell. Our last two homes have been detached, so noisy neighbours are no longer a problem, I know I couldn’t go back to having adjoining neighbours now. Good luck OP, I hope things improve and you get some better quality sleep.

Agree with the door slamming, my lot next door don’t seem to know what a door handle is!

We live in a semi and our neighbours are noisy. They knocked an interior wall down plastered all the walls and put in laminate floors which meant downstairs we could hear conversation word for word. I spoke to them, nicely, now they just blank me said it didn’t bother them.. we are very quiet so mmmm!! It ended up making me feel unwell so I contacted a local soundproofing company. They put a soundproof wall in living room. Lost 15 cm but it’s brilliant. Can’t hear a thing. We can still hear them in the dining room but they don’t use that end as much . It cost £2000 but it’s money well spent

This would be my worst nightmare. I really feel for you. I’d have to move.

I have lived in detached houses all my life. When I downsized and had to move to a semi I found the noise from next door unbearable. I do have autism though and any unexpected noise is just really stressful for me, and I don’t want to live my life wearing headphones etc. It’s really miserable living next to noisy people.

Your neighbour is a low life with no respect for you or other people. It's easy to be quiet and respectful but foolish to be brash and ignorant. You are in a very difficult situation and the authorities are unlikely to help you. Moving sadly is the best option here or they could bring you down, mentally, physically and financially. Just remember you are the good and they are the ignorant!

Just thought I’d come back to this thread with an update.

After enduring more misery we decided to fight back. Every time they slammed their door we slammed ours twice, every time they started smashing up their walls we started smashing ours. You get the idea.

This resulted in me and the neighbour agreeing a sort of truce and things have been a lot better! So the revenge tactic though risky, worked.

good news op!

Go to Home Depot and buy a radio ‘DeWalt’. Find a radio station that is annoying . Then you crank that radio up . Enjoy what’s going to happen :)

I'd speak to her again and be really frank about how this is impacting you and you wish you could move but can't. May as well be honest and hopefully she has some empathy, what have you got to lose? You have my sympathy, not being able to e joy your home is really detrimental to your mental health

You have noisy neighbours.
You want peace and quiet.
MN solution.
You make even more noise.
Wonderful.

Oh my god this sounds awful! 😂 but well done.

<stops searching for terraces on Rightmove>

@Riapia read the OP update. It worked 🤷‍♀️.

I’m afraid revenge does work, for those questioning it … it’s not really “revenge,” you’re basically showing them how loud it is to you.

call it : a lesson in empathy.

it worked for me, as well, and I was very surprised.

so glad for you, OP- there is nothing worse than not getting enough sleep.

.