Neighbour hates our hot tub

[Sleepregressionqueen]

We only bought our hot tub yesterday and set it up, kids been in it this morning from 8:45. Neighbour was round within 30 minutes she thinks it’s an absolute joke it’s too noisy she can barely hear herself think apparently. She is so much younger than us but miserable as hell!

she is quite nosey and is always on the street when any drama is going on with any of the neighbours so I kind of expected it.

of course I wouldn’t put the bubbles on at night (as much as I’d like to) so have told the kids only in the day.

we will probably only use it a few times a week.

Aibu what do I do?

MN hates hot tubs so you’ll be told to get rid of it ;)

Just use it in the way of a considerate neighbour, sociable times, don’t get too loud etc etc. Same as you would for anything you have in the garden really.

It’s not a kids toy , if they are being loud to be heard over the bubbles yabu

I'm afraid I'm with your neighbour on this one. Unless you live in the middle of nowhere hot tubs are a bad idea. They're noisy and very antisocial.
I would love a hot tub, but I live in a semi detached house, so that's a no.

Unless it is up against a joint fence just suggest she gets some headphones..

Your garden, your choice.

They are pretty noisy though. The constant hum, the bubbles...the loud talking because you can't hear over the bubbles, the children squealing. Music....all goes hand in hand.

I don't have one, but have hired one a few times - just get on with it, but be considerate with regards timings. Ie not early morning or late at night. Outside of that, she has no right to tell you what to do in your own garden.

There's not really anything she can do as you're not breaking any laws. I could see how it's annoying though if it makes a lot of noise. If it's only the bubbles that make noise then I would limit how much the kids are allowed them on to a reasonable amount.

The hot tub isn’t for your kids and they shouldn’t be playing in it.

Is it as far away from your neighbours as possible?

Compromise? Talk to her about whether there are particular times of day she's finding it intrusive and then agree to avoid those times or cut back the amount of time you're in it.

Yabu I have a hot tub and they are ridiculously noisy it’s about being considerate to those around you while you use it. We ended up putting ours in a sound proofed summer house but I would never have allowed my noisy kids to use the noisy hot tub before about 11am it’s just rude

They're really noisy. And that's too early

I think 8.45 was a bit early! They are very noisy and if the hot tub is close to the boundary it is going to be intrusive. I think if you only use it a few days a week for short periods of time I.e. an hour, and then off that would be a fair compromise.

If OP bought it for her kids, then it's for her kids, surely?!

Hot tubs are hated on here 🙈

YANBU in that you can do what you like in your garden, but I do think you need to be considerate to your neighbours too. Hot tubs are noisy and quite intrusive unless you have a huge garden or no close neighbours.

I have a sprinkler for my plants. Should my DGC not be allowed to play in the sprinkler?

1. You are entitled to buy a hot tub and run it in your garden.

1. Your kids are entitled to play in your back garden. You can choose whatever you allow your children to play in/with.

When playing with water, kids tend to make a lot of noise so maybe only let them do this within sociable hours.

That is all.

Could you afford a sound proof shed type thing? I am sorry your fun is being spoiled. I love a hot tub.

My neighbours pond makes an annoying noise all day and night. Nobody would tell her she's unreasonable to have a pond. Putting up with noise from neighbours is part and parcel of living near other people. She needs to get over it, or move to a detached house in the middle of nowhere.

I'm going to go against the grain here and say YANBU. Would it have made a difference if the kids had been out in the garden having fun at that time whether in hot tub or not? We have many neighbours around here with hot tubs and often hear children having fun in them. It's part of living so close to each other, so you either put up with noise from people's gardens or move to the middle of nowhere..... 🤷‍♀️

As long as you are not using it late into the evening and try to be considerate around the times you use it I don't think it's unreasonable.

I think its unreasonable that people live in a populated area and expect utter silence in their gardens in the middle of the day. They need to live somewhere more isolated if they don't like noise.

Maybe the neighbour could build a sound proofed shed for herself to sit in.

Ahh I probably shouldn’t have posted on here then lol!

Hot tub isn’t on her side it’s on the other end and we have a high fence.

I just knew she was going to get wound up by it! Can’t even breathe without her saying something.

MN tend to hate hot tubs. V tacky apparently. I sincerely hope you don’t have a tiki bar too 😂

I don’t think kids splashing about in a hot tub make any more noise than kids splashing about in paddling pools which we did every day in the summer in the 70s/80s. We lived in a semi detached house. Can’t remember neighbours ever complaining about noise. I think we might have been more tolerant of neighbours back then.

As others have said just be responsible and don’t use it late at night with music etc. Be considerate. That does not mean stopping using the hot tub.

Is she complaining about the noise of the tub itself or your kids making noise in it?

The first one, well, they are noisy machines humming away.

Second one, you need to make sure your kids aren't being ridiculously loud and screechy as that's not acceptable, hot tub or no.

I also think 8.45 was a little early, not everyone works 9-5 and if she has a day off and was hoping for a long lie, I can understand her frustration.

Your comments about her behaviour and attitude are "whatsboutery" doesn't matter how she's behaved before, she's approached you with this particular issue and you have to look at this separately from any other issues you have with her.

Carry on as you are. As long as you don’t allow your children to scream or screech you’re fine. It’s just children enjoying their garden in the summer holidays, which they have a right to do. If your neighbour doesn’t want to hear normal noise from others, she needs to live somewhere more isolated.

No different to them splashing about in a paddling pool imo, which sounds like your neighbour would also complain about.

All you can do is be considerate, keep the sessions short and not too early/late and carry on its your garden