Neighbours from hell or normal noise?

[lonelyonee]

Long one to try not to drip feed...
So me and partner have recently moved into a house. Upgrade from our apartment where we had to walk up three flights of stairs with no lift/other access.
For context I'm 32 weeks pregnant with our first & moving into a house was important and very much needed. & we are renting.
So first couple of days there has been A LOT of banging from our adjoining neighbour (semi detached house) in the evenings.
Partner has gone round and spoken to the lady to which she has said oh the children are having a party I'll try to get them to calm down a little.
Only problem is it had not calmed down at all. 2 days later (today) I arrive home from work and all I've heard is banging. It's honestly like they are moving furniture or kicking balls up the wall. I can hear it over the tv.
Now I know children make noise but this is excessive noise IMO. I can't hear them shouting or talking or anything, just the banging.
Now my question is aibu or not to escalate this to some kind of complaint? & if so what's the best way to go about this?
Clearly talking to them isn't working as we've now told them on three separate occasions (2 on the same night).
(I really need to be napping as soon as I'm home from work as I'm exhausted and struggling to sleep at night due to baby moving & needing the loo so much).
Ty in advance!

Is it possibly coming from a study used as a kids bedroom or something? Perhaps their kids bedrooms adjoin onto your living room?
You could try a different tactic. Invite them round for a house warming celebration (you could invite neighbors on other side too if you want to make it less awkward). This has several advantages:
You can get a better idea of what they’re like as people which may be useful in future
You can see whether they mention the noise and what’s the reason and float some mutually agreeable suggestions
You can get their sympathy by being so nice and very pregnant
Etc
On short, try to get them on your side, rather than just being the annoying , whiny neighbor.

Even if the noise doesn’t improve, the noise may be less annoying coming from a family you kind of don’t mind, and are even friendly with.

If they are banging late at night you have a point but unfortunately banging after 8am and before 10pm is fine whatever the reason. Be thankful you can’t hear them shouting/screaming at one another or hear loud banging music all night.

Since it’s only been a couple of days, I’d hope it calms down really. There isn’t much that can be done from a legal standpoint so if it’s a daily occurrence your only real option is to move out.

We do not have the luxury of being able to afford a detached house, we are trying to save whilst paying rent and obviously having a baby which means less money due to maternity pay.
We're doing the best we can with what we have at the moment and we're probably paying more than we should for this house but no more stairs to struggle up every day.
I've previously lived in a terraced house and an apartment with paper thin walls so I know what living noise is and this is OTT IMO.
I've actually recorded it to ask friends if I'm overreacting also, currently waiting on a response.

Reading with interest for a friend who has neighbours with kids who go to bed at 11 and drill at 9.30pm on the shared wall, have dog barking all day, scream and shout at each other to a worrying degree and are unpleasant if challenged

No they should not be making this level noise. It is inconsiderate and rude. Good neighbours remind their children to keep noise down.
I don’t get these comments about when you have your baby they’ll know all about it... of course some newborns cry a lot but many don’t at all. I don’t know why going on about babies crying to a woman who is 32 weeks pregnant is thought to be a good idea!
You always get at least one person on a thread like this say this is why I bought a detached house 🙄. At least we got it in early this time.
As to what you can do. Report to landlord / council but ultimately expect to move sooner rather than later.

@polkadotpj oh dear! Yeah I think it's all very well and good saying put up with it etc... but I'm sure if it was your house you'd be looking for some sort of solution too.

I know it's early days living here but honestly that's almost worse as they aren't even trying to be considerate. We've managed to move in fairly quickly and quietly & arranged decorating/work to be done during the day when everyone's at work/school.
I can only imagine what it's like in that house if I can hear what I can hear from next door.

I doubt it’s banging on walls, children don’t tend to do that that much. Could it be the sound from hardwood flooring?

@MeanMrMustardSeed thank you for seeing it from my POV. I don't think I'm being too entitled asking for a little bit of a reduction in the noise considering it's the level it is.
I wish I could record the sound and attach it for you to listen to, maybe then everyone would understand my frustration.
& yep I'm sat here practically in tears, exhausted and unable to relax in any sense of the word after working a full day on my feet. (But it's okay because my baby will scream and annoy them in a couple of months!) < sarcasm in case it wasn't clear.

I agree it's rude since we've popped round already and told them it's really loud and asked nicely to see if they can bang around less.
Oh and it's the living room all the noise is taking place in (I think).

Unfortunately again as I said we don't have the luxury of being able to pick up and move around willy nilly. We're contracted to stay here 12 months at least, and we won't be able to save enough for a deposit to buy in that time due to maternity pay.

Sorry you are going through this. I had upstairs neighbours that used to party at all hours of the morning. My mum has a large garden, and the neighbours 3 children run wild in the garden all summer. High pitched screaming, spraying water over the fence, using a leaf blower on each other and even urinating through her fence panels when one was loose!

When we had issues with the upstairs neighbours, I went to the council. They gave me a noise diary form, but essentially just to record date, time noise started, time it stopped, type of noise etc. Also, if you I could actually hear music, could you name any of the tracks or hear a conversation! They advised us that if the noise remained excessive, they had sound equipment which they could put into our home to monitor the decibels.

I dont know how you'd go with this being done during the daytime, but certainly call your council or check their website for a start.

@Reginabambina yes, further up I mentioned I think it's laminate flooring and a whole lot of stomping and jumping and god knows what else. Although it does sound like a ball being kicked up and bounced off the shared wall at intervals also!

@Elouera oh god urinating through the fence panels? Wow. I've heard it all now!
To put into context if I record it using my phone whilst sitting on the settee which is against the far wall you can hear EVERYTHING clear as day even over the ambience noise (if you know what I mean).
Thank you, I'll give the council a ring and see what they say. If it's happening every single day then wouldn't that be classed as anti social or something? Even if it's not during night hours? I'm sure if we played music up against the wall from 5pm-9pm they'd have something to say about it.

Regardless of the length of the lease you should be able to get out of it given the circumstances. Honestly I'd look into it because it's not going to get any better. Sound travels horribly in some semis (mine included) and even my two small children walking carefully up the stairs sounds like a herd of elephants! Unless they're walking around on tiptoe it sounds horrendous. Next door have the same problem. We all grew up in houses like these so we're used to it and have an understanding that we'll all try our best to tiptoe around as much as possible so it just about works. If your neighbour had no idea of the consequences of how they live in terms of the noise it creates, or worse they just don't care, then you are a bit buggared I think. Honestly try to get out of the lease now. I know it's a pain to say the least but you'll be so much happier for it!

Sound's just like my neighbours! They have laminate flooring throughout the house and I can feel them banging three rooms away.
They bang and scream anytime up until midnight most nights as the parents don't believe in bedtimes.

Music at excessive volumes is a different matter entirely and would constitute a nuisance but generally speaking children playing - even banging games - is classed as living noise and most councils would not consider it to be anti-social behaviour particularly as it stops by 9pm.

If you think the neighbours will be reasonable about it, then you could talk to them about it and explain how badly the sound is carrying.

@Hoik my partner has already been round three times (twice in the same night, within an hour of the first time) and they were quieter for all of 5 minutes then it went straight back to the ridiculous banging.
He even said I don't expect to not hear anything it's just that it's so loud we can't even hear the tv so could you try to stop the massive bangs at least.
I'm sat here now listening to it and they are definitely banging into the wall as well, obviously you can distinguish between sounds and some of the bangs have been so loud they've made me jump.
@LipstickTaserrr sorry to hear of you neighbour woes also, midnight is a joke and honestly I think at that point I'd be such a zombie from no sleep I'd end up acting irrationally which I obviously really do not want to do!

I'd go knock every time then, they'll soon get sick of you doing it.

They could have an indoor, over-the-door basketball hoop. I know one of my kids plays with that a lot and it makes a lot of annoying banging noises.

Have you considered inviting one of the parents in to listen to the noise from your side? It's quite possible they don't realise how far it's carrying, and at the moment they think you're complaining needlessly.

Or try record it and take it round to show them.

Trust me it's not worth it iv got a newborn and a two year old they both together make so much noise. When I was pregnant I went off on a hormonal rant at my neighbour about her slamming doors and playing her music loud as I was exhausted and kept me up lol but just ended up in a row and it made me feel like a chav having a argument outside my house lol. So now I just ignore it my daughter gives her a run for her money with all her singing screaming and thudding around. I mean I do tell her to calm down and I am conscious of it but children don't understand volumes lol. Least you havnt got a bitch living next door that's all I can say

OP I feel your pain sorry you’re having to put up with this. I also have neighbours that let their children bang and crash around and scream at each other (I think it’s how they have conversations 🙄) they’re upstairs neighbours and it’s horrendous I’m on edge waiting for the next bang 😔 she also likes to do her washing in the middle of the night which sounds deafening because it’s at night I never thought I could find a washing machine so effing annoying...I hope it stops soon for you so you can get the rest you need I think all noisy neighbours should be shipped off somewhere to live next to each other the considerate (inserts sweary insults here)

Neighbour noise is awful.
I have noise from neighbours too. I notice you said they have laminate floors. My neighbours have laminate flooring. I think it is the worst thing ever invented. It leads to so much animosity between neighbours, there are even places which ban the use of it.
I can hear furniture being moved around and the male ranting at the wife as often as he is in the house.

They get up extremely early some days i.e 4 a m and they seem to be shifting furniture a lot. When they use power tools, lately a sander the building vibrates.
I wish builders would make houses really sound proof and if not the occupants need to be a whole lot quieter

I feel awful for you op! Dh and I lived in a lovely terraced cottage so peaceful and quaint until neighbours from hell moved in and turned the entire street into their party lounge and ashtray! The screaming teens and constant barking literally drove me to a breakdown and self harming, all we could do was move away leaving our lovely first home, thankfully we’re in a friendly polite neighbourhood now with minimal barking and no screaming.
It may not be what you want to hear but you only shot at sanity and escaping the stress may be to see if you can get out of your new lease due to the neighbours and it being quite a new tenancy and find somewhere else. One flight if stairs as a compromise maybe to avoid the noise? I hope you get it sorted!! :/