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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Next door neighbour and normal volume of household noise?? (Sorry, a bit of a saga!)

127 replies

ImJustMadAboutSaffron · 23/10/2022 22:13

New neighbour, 50 year old divorcee moved in about a month ago. There's a thread on here about an incident where I had my TV on at 11.15 pm not realising how late it was and she came round to knock on the door and say it was too loud, so I turned it down, and all seemed OK after I'd apologised. We live in mid terrace houses and both our houses have a dividing wall on both sides and my TV is on the wall. All fair enough.

The following morning I saw her and she said that her daughter thought she'd been a bit OTT but as far as I was concerned and her too, it seemed to be resolved. She then involved me in a lot of chat, asking me if I swear because she does, asking if I own or rent the property (I own outright, she rents it privately, I know the landlord) and asking about my relationship status all whilst telling me how she's a private person and keeps herself to herself but went on to tell me about her exes, her bitches of sisters and her parents who are dead and said she didn't care a fig about her mother and didn't want another man again. All TMI for me and certainly for someone who claims to be a private person. This was the third time I'd met her, the first two being a brief encounter on the doorstep when I was leaving for work the day after she moved in and the second when I dropped a welcome card and flowers round.

Since then I've been overly conscious about the TV and have had it on too low, in fact, and been a bit paranoid if I'm honest and have strained to hear it. I work full time, leaving the house about 7 am and often I don't get home until 8 or 9 because of late sessions at work, visits related to my small business after work and the gym or social stuff. I will run the vacuum over the downstairs at that time when I get back, but not for long. (I have 6 cats). I usually load up the washing machine at night (not every day, obviously) and switch it on about 6am because I have the Economy 7 tariff. I put the TV on but keep it below 24 volume.

This afternoon I was doing some tidying outside the front of the house and she walked up with some shopping. I'd thought she was in, as her car was outside, but she said she liked to walk to the local Sainsbury's, and she started chatting. I asked her if she'd settled in and she told me about how she was putting her own stamp on the place, and she liked the house to be perfect, cleaning every morning and every evening and she liked girly bling and glitz and pink glittery stuff around.

For conversation I said I was catching up on housework because I'd been out a lot in the evenings recently, and she told me how she likes to be on her own at home and quiet, and doesn't drink or smoke (I don't smoke either, and very occasionally drink) and she is a very quiet person, doesn't have her TV on loud, only puts the washing machine on after 10am because you never know who is having a lie-in on the street, is considerate when she does her vacuuming, is quiet as a mouse shutting her door and the car door and likes to be on her own and quiet.

She told me (again ...) she doesn't want a man in the house, in her kitchen, bed, bathroom or at her table ... for conversation I said that many of my friends are happy single too, and then she told me it's "bloody lonely".

Went on to tell me how she doesn't do the neighbour thing but then told me how she gave a birthday card with money in it to the 2 year old girl across the road, a family I don't know well since they moved in over lockdown. More revelations about swearing and how she was brought up in a swearing family, that made me cringe.

I'm not noisy, I don't slam doors or make noise in the house nor have people round for loud social events but I do have things to do around the house and I consider what I do normal. I've no intention of changing my routines either (I can't, not related to work) and I'm not planning my household or social schedule to fit in with the woman next door.

I appreciate this is a long tirade, but do you think she is passively aggressively (or however you say it) trying to set out how people should behave around her? Apart from the loud TV that one evening, I've done simply normal things around the house. Now I am watching TV on a sound level of 15 that I can hear and that is to me normal. I have no idea how she can hear my washing machine that is next to the wall that divides with the bloke next door, not her.

There just feels something off about this. Or I am massively overthinking. What do you think?

OP posts:
Ludo19 · 24/10/2022 14:14

I'd love you as a neighbour.....the 6 cats sold it to me 😁

ImJustMadAboutSaffron · 24/10/2022 14:52

Ludo19 · 24/10/2022 14:14

I'd love you as a neighbour.....the 6 cats sold it to me 😁

Ha ha! They are very good, they don't make a nuisance of themselves, they all have their own space at home and have each other for company during the day. They get lots of attention, food, grooming and cuddles never mind what some posters said, derailing the thread to say I am selfish for having them! They're the best things ever.

OP posts:
EarringsandLipstick · 24/10/2022 14:54

I'll re-home all my cats and take everything to a laundry instead.

This sounds ridiculously petulant - posters are just giving you ideas & opinions.

I don't think you are inconsiderate or noisy, but you definitely are an over-thinker. I remember thinking as much from your last thread.

Carry on doing what you are doing, and if her conversation is getting irritating, just move on pleasantly.

Ludo19 · 24/10/2022 14:56

@ImJustMadAboutSaffron who said you were selfish?? I'd be hated because I have 8 cats and like you I leave the TV on low for them! My cats can be noisy where they have their zoomies 😁

ImJustMadAboutSaffron · 24/10/2022 15:29

EarringsandLipstick · 24/10/2022 14:54

I'll re-home all my cats and take everything to a laundry instead.

This sounds ridiculously petulant - posters are just giving you ideas & opinions.

I don't think you are inconsiderate or noisy, but you definitely are an over-thinker. I remember thinking as much from your last thread.

Carry on doing what you are doing, and if her conversation is getting irritating, just move on pleasantly.

It was a joke, not really being petulant.

OP posts:
EarringsandLipstick · 24/10/2022 16:34

It was a joke, not really being petulant.

Oh I know you weren't serious! But it did sound a bit foot-stampy to posters just offering an opinion

ImJustMadAboutSaffron · 24/10/2022 22:32

She's now texted me asking if I want her window cleaner to do my house. I made the mistake of giving her my number after she complained about the TV...

OP posts:
WrongWayApricot · 25/10/2022 00:29

I know I sound like the teeny tiny of TVs but my normal evening volume is 3, daytime can be 4 or 5 😂 I think they must all be made very differently. Agree with pp about subtitles, especially during dramas or films, why is the volume so up and down for those things?

Anyway, my neighbours often decide that Sunday 10pm is a great time to hoover. It's not. Find another time for hoovering that isn't at night time. I don't think it should be the neighbours problem that you keep a busy schedule outside of your home. One day you might have to do step aerobics with the hoover instead of the gym.

The washing machine thing doesn't bother us, we're all on economy 7 and the kitchens are joined or however you say it, my kitchen is next to their kitchen. So doesn't really wake anyone up I think. If the neighbour whose wall it is doesn't care then don't worry about it.

MadelineUsher · 25/10/2022 01:41

ImJustMadAboutSaffron · 24/10/2022 22:32

She's now texted me asking if I want her window cleaner to do my house. I made the mistake of giving her my number after she complained about the TV...

Oh, dear... She's doing it by text as well as in person.

In your OP, you said "There just feels something off about this." That would be because there is.

Ignore all the side-issues, about what is a good volume to watch your tv on which people leep banging on about, her behaviour is off or odd. The oversharing, the lack of boundaries around telling you TMI/unnecessary details about how she is, the lack of self-awareness in her self-reporting, and the attempts to control and direct your behaviour. It's off.

You need to stop trying to regulate yourself around her and her demands. Obviously don't be a noise polluter, but it sounds as if you are generally a considerate person, and you have "lucked" into having someone who is not at all reasonable as a hopefully temporary next-door-neighbour.

Twillow · 25/10/2022 02:46

Sounds to me like she's 50% batshit and 50% socially awkward and lonely. Avoid and don't change anything you're doing, nothing sounds amiss there.

anotheronenow · 25/10/2022 03:05

Mmmm I voted YANBU but having read all your posts now, I'm thinking mmm, maybe YAB-alittlebit-U. First, I feel sorry for you out of the house 7am to 9pm - you obviously work very hard and you deserve of course to relax at home with your cats, as you want to. You vacuum every single day at 9pm though, and you run the washer at 6am. You say you can't hear his washer next door so it's ok for you to do it, but, fair play you're not really home very often to hear his, are you? Does it save a massive amount of electricity cost at 6am? How many washes a week? I'd try and not do the 6ams too often. Also I totally second the robot vac and the swiffer! But don't run the robot round at 6am will you? I write this as someone who also works hard, long hours, but is also noise sensitive. I try to be considerate. So, I'd also connect headphones to the telly - great for picking up dialogue too! But only if I was watching it later on in the evenings -- not really the weekends. Hey do the cats poo in her garden? That's going to be a thing? No sympathy for anyone who doesn't love cats!!!! She also sounds like she is lonely and an over-sharer. You've obviously got your own life sorted and you don't want to end up being her confidante, so I'd try and hurry off next time she wants to chat, like be nice, be kind, and then have an important phone call to make so you're not with her for more than a few minutes - for your future relationship it's better not to let her get into the venting habit with you. Good luck!!!

Fraaahnces · 25/10/2022 05:26

Do you know what strikes me most about her conversations with you?
”I, I, I, I, I…. me, me, me, me, me…”
Sure, she asks you questions about yourself, but they are questions about you that might reflect upon her or affect her. She is a self-absorbed PITA.
Now she thinks your house isn’t shiny enough??? Tell her “No thanks. No point until Summertime. Waste of money and resources. Thanks anyway.”
That’ll boil her peepee.

LicoricePizza · 25/10/2022 05:54

She’s prob only trying to be helpful re w/cleaner don’t think it’s a dig! She does sound a bit obsessive about various things sound being one of them.
All these posts are about what you can do to minimise your sound - which we all should be mindful & think of neighbours if adjoined etc so all useful suggestions.

But equally if she’s noise sensitive /intolerant then the onus is on her to manage that herself ie noise cancelling headphones etc she can’t expect everyone to be like her.

She sounds intense & a bit obsessional about things.

Autumnisclose · 25/10/2022 06:10

To be honest if my neighbour had the washing machine on at 6am and the TV on 24 I'd probably be getting peeved off. That aside she just sounds annoying. I'd turn the noise down a bit and stay away from her.

OperaStation · 25/10/2022 06:34

She’s dropping massive hints because you put the washing machine on at 6am and hoover at 9pm. You really can’t do things like that when you are in a terrace with thin walls.

ImJustMadAboutSaffron · 25/10/2022 06:53

Just to clarify:

I don't vacuum every single day at 9pm - often I get in at 9, sometimes it's anywhere between 6 and 9. But sometimes it is 9.

I don't have the washing machine on at 6am every day . It's once or twice a week at most, it's nowhere near the woman's house or party wall and she'd only hear it if she was standing under my kitchen window.

The TV is on at a reasonable volume.

I cannot change my work pattern to suit her.

OP posts:
ImJustMadAboutSaffron · 25/10/2022 06:54

Autumnisclose · 25/10/2022 06:10

To be honest if my neighbour had the washing machine on at 6am and the TV on 24 I'd probably be getting peeved off. That aside she just sounds annoying. I'd turn the noise down a bit and stay away from her.

Please try reading the full thread about the TV volume.

OP posts:
ImJustMadAboutSaffron · 25/10/2022 06:56

@anotheronenow No my cats ABSOLUTELY DO NOT poop in anyone's garden. However a neighbour has three that are out a lot and she was passing remarks about that.

I clean my own windows too!

OP posts:
Tiani4 · 25/10/2022 06:57

In counselling, often use the phrase "So what does that mean?" I like to shorten it in my head to "So what?" As it illustrates this point well

Neighbour may well be passive aggressively telling you to be quieter
"So what? (... does that mean?)"
Does it mean you can't make normal household noise? Nope.
Neighbours will always hear some noise from each other, she chose a house with close/ attached neighbours

Do you have to react as if she has complained to you & try to read into what she said?
Nope
If NDN wants to complain to you then she needs to be clear and concise. PA behaviour is unhelpful confusing and frankly better ignored by the receiving end party.

Do you have to change your behaviour and worry you are disturbing her ?
Nope, not as you describe (you're not playing drums or partying with Meatloaf on loud til 3am every weekend)

You have the right to use your home to live in. It's your home. Live it. If you need to use your washing machine at 6am, that's fine but not on Sunday 😄 as that's about society norms and currently in energy crisis is about using off-peak hours. Sure that rolling blackouts and £200 jumps in utility bills will trump "I like to wake up at 7am for work not 6am to a washing niche occasionally on over other side of my ndn house!"

If your TV is a bit loud at 11.15pm that's not a disaster. I'm sure NDNs TV will be at some point. It's good you turned it down but don't turn it down forever to where you can't hear it. Just be aware of not excessively loud if for eg an action film comes on (as suddenly noise level jump can creep up on you!)

PeekabooAtTheZoo · 25/10/2022 06:57

She is spending WAY too much time paying attention to what you’re doing and how you do it, she comes across as controlling. Maybe next time she annoys you, send her a link to a company who will soundproof her walls? 🤣
Also if you did get a robot vacuum you could put it on charge during economy 7 to save money.

Tiani4 · 25/10/2022 07:00

Also I'm a fan of naming the elephant in the room..
When this neighbour approaches you again with these long diatribes you can simply reflect back your surprise, it might be a learning experience for her ...

"Gosh you do tell me a lot of your private information, we've only just met"

(If you want to cut it short, yiu just add ".... anyway can't stop now/ must get on as lots to do.. Have a good day"

Spellcheck · 25/10/2022 07:03

Dear OP, you sound lovely, so considerate and you live a quiet, blameless life. Please don’t let this woman ruin it! Carry on as you are, keep her at arm’s length. She’s a bit controlling/eccentric but you’re doing nothing wrong.

Spellcheck · 25/10/2022 07:04

Btw - what do your neighbours on the other side say about you? Can you hear them? I reckon you’ll find you’ve done nothing out of the ordinary.

Tiani4 · 25/10/2022 07:07

ImJustMadAboutSaffron · 25/10/2022 06:53

Just to clarify:

I don't vacuum every single day at 9pm - often I get in at 9, sometimes it's anywhere between 6 and 9. But sometimes it is 9.

I don't have the washing machine on at 6am every day . It's once or twice a week at most, it's nowhere near the woman's house or party wall and she'd only hear it if she was standing under my kitchen window.

The TV is on at a reasonable volume.

I cannot change my work pattern to suit her.

You don't need to justify any of this @ImJustMadAboutSaffron

You don't need to second guess your NDNs "long conversations at you "
You know you're not unreasonably noisy. You've had NDN before.

As a divorcee she may have downsized a from a detached to a terrace. Some living noises carry and she cannot expect to live in a terrace house with absolute quiet. But that irrelevant . What she is trying to say, is irrelevant as she hasn't actually said anything but a load of waffle and that one night she asked for tv to turn down as too loud- all resolved.

See recent posts

ImJustMadAboutSaffron · 25/10/2022 07:08

Spellcheck · 25/10/2022 07:04

Btw - what do your neighbours on the other side say about you? Can you hear them? I reckon you’ll find you’ve done nothing out of the ordinary.

I never hear him. He's out at work and I've only ever heard his TV once. Same with the people who lived there before. I don't see a lot of any of the neighbours tbh as I'm out so much of the time.

OP posts:
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