Another neighbours and hot tub one

[nooverheadlighting]

I would love anyone's input here. AIBU to be really upset over my neighbour's new inflatable hot tub? For context, we are a family of four in a family neighbourhood. We do make some noise but just the usual family stuff. Sometimes music practice, singing etc can be heard from the garden but we mostly shut windows etc. Our children play in the garden too, but never late and not excessively.
Basically, we're really sensitive to our neighbour's noise dislikes as they live alone and have said they don't like the sound of children.
However, they have recently acquired a hot tub and it is driving me insane. We don't have big gardens. Ours is around 7m across and theirs 3.5m across. This means the tub cannot be positioned more than 0.5m from our boundary fence. It's on all the time, 24/7 with a hum that's impossible to tune out. We can also hear it from bathroom, kitchen and two back bedrooms if the windows are open.
We told neighbour this and at first they were fairly amenable, building a soundproof box to encase the pump. But it's barely made any difference and we're bathed in the sound as soon as we step outside. Neighbour has said it's just like a fridge and that we should get used to it as they've had to get used to our children. Literally, as in you have laughing, babbling, crying children, I have a hot tub, c'est la vie. Which has made me feel really sad because comparing children to a hot tub is just mean?!
Plus, our children are not outside all the time.. older one no more than an hour or so during the week, little one maybe more but always supervised and rushed indoors as soon as they make a grumpy sound (but apparently even joyful sounds have to be 'tolerated').
We haven't asked for the tub to be removed, just to be able to aid in building an improved sound dampener, with an expert if necessary. We are being friendly but honest in sharing how we feel because it's literally ruining our outside space. It's much louder than a fridge.. more like a substation. Our youngest says 'zzzzzz', making the sound of it when we go outdoors.
We don't want to fall out with neighbour any more than this and moving from this otherwise lovely neighbourhood seems rash and expensive.
What would you do??

Thing is, you live where there are people, you expect people noise, not silence.

Not sure that mechanical noises are the equivalent

Sorry I haven't read the full thread but we have a similar problem with our neighbour, it's not a hot tub but some kind of generator making a constant hum.

I'm planning on buying a solar powered water fountain in the hope that I'll be hearing the gentle trickles of water instead of the hum!

Parents really underestimate how much noise their children make, because they have become so used to it and it's just background noise for them. Even well behaved children make a lot of noise, which will be at least as annoying to her neighbours as the hot tub is to her.

I don’t think they’re comparing your children to a hot tub I think they’re comparing the noise your children make to the noise their hot tub makes. That isn’t worth getting upset about. The noise will be annoying and frustrating, but I don’t really think there’s anything you can reasonably do. You will get used to it overtime and also they probably will get board of it. If it is still bothering you in 6 weeks then maybe try and talk to them and have a proper sit down chat. You’ll have to give a little and make a few compromises regarding your noise, but they sound reasonable and you sound pretty sane so I’m sure together a compromise could be worked out. :)

YANBU. This loud buzz would absolutely drive me up the wall and make me want to move house.

And I agree it's really unpleasant of them to compare a constant 24/7 mechanical humming sound with that of children playing in a garden for a couple hours a day.

Hopefully in the long-term the neighbours will get bored / dislike their high electricity bills. In the short term, stop bringing your children in from the garden the minute they make a grumpy noise, just enjoy your outside space as normal - play music and make more noise yourselves - and look at getting a trampoline!

What do they want to do outside which they scream they can’t because of kid noise? Deep meditation maybe? They sound utterly crackers and deeply unpleasant to boot!

This is my worst nightmare. People who are not sensitive to this kind of noise wouldn’t understand!

You really have my sympathy. I hate that sort of noise you can't ignore.

I'd go with this. Carry on being polite to them but let the subject of the hot tub go. They can't really complain about your noise when they are now making noise.

Let your children run around in the garden making ZZZZZZZZZ sounds and have some music on. If your neighbour says anything, just laugh and say that you're thinking of getting a dog. Can your children start learning the trumpet?

Same, except in this case he thinks he's Jimi Hendrix and I am here to tell you, he really isn't! Plays outside in the summer which drives me mad if I am quietly sunbathing with a book!

Mines 5 years old 😂

They have a hot tub to relax in. It won't be very relaxing if each time they are in it is timed perfectly with your children appearing in your garden to play football, bounce basketballs and have a freezing cold water fight where the water sprays everywhere, possibly through the fence. Will it? 😜

Water feature and / or wind chimes - create your own background noise

@Strictlymad Not sure! If it was some kind of meditation we would accommodate if we could if they were nice.
They just garden, he chops wood and has bonfires (no matter what the weather).
It doesn’t end there, when we had the windows done he was advising we probably shouldn’t be doing it, same when we had the house painted, he’s even given our window cleaner a mouthful. Horrid man!

Even if he was Jimi Hendrix, I wouldn't want to listen to him in my garden!

He could come around for the occasional party and play in my kitchen, when invited.

if you are serious about stopping this noise (most people in this country are too timid to confront the problem), contact Sanctum Consultants (see their website) for cheap and effective advice. But you have to let go of being seen as Mrs Nice Guy. Note that most people and councils fail to understand the law on noise. What counts as unreasonable noise can take place at any time of day or night. I used Sanctum and solved all neighbour noise problems at very little cost and did not need to go to court.

We had neighbours who loved a hot tub along with loud music and would shout over the top no offence to anyone but she had a shrill Liverpudlian accent too I was so relieved when they sold up and moved , all the neighbours were.

I find them annoying myself even the pump makes a racket and it's harder when you have children as they need their sleep (they didnt care what day of the week it was either)

I asked them politely to keep it down made no difference. I hope you can resolve it nicely nothing worse than noisy neighbours unfortunately people are becoming less concerned about anyone else around them.

Don't keep your children quiet or close windows either they don't care about the noise from their end !

Thank you for this tip. We're not at that stage yet but it's good to know where to find effective external help should we need it.

You can go the environmental health route BUT it's a long haul of diaries etc and depending on the scale of it and the time of night normally they sometimes aren't the most helpful and can sometimes make you feel worse if they tell you it's normal noise . I know it's not and I get how annoying it is . Also if you want to sell you will have to declare it if you do .
Just food for thought

I didn't know they had to be on all the time. Why's that? Can't they just fill it and heat it when needed? Sounds like a waste of electricity.

You need a trampoline and vuvuzelas invite all their lfriends

Could you get a fountain going.. the sound of running water is very appealing and might disguise the hum

We lived next door to a massive pop up pool on one side, another pop up pool on a garden that bounded our front garden and a hot tub right against the back fence.

Couldn't even go out in the garden late at night/ early dawn without some bloody pump running.

Oh and the people with the big pop up pool also had an alarm in the greenhouse that beeped incessantly once it got warm.

We moved, it was hateful. Now live in a hamlet next to a field with minimal neighbours.

Gosh, what a nightmare to have pumps going on three sides! Just the one is enough... I think that's what is the worst... I'm used to going outside late or early to find next to no human noise and have never taken it for granted. I really enjoy that quiet space to unwind. I will definitely miss it. Minimal neighbours must be bliss.

Me neither! I think it's to do with keeping the water filtered and heat-wise because it takes so long to heat up depending on outside temp. Neighbour wants to use every day so always wants it warm. I think if one is a weekend user it could be filled and heated then as you say.