Noise over school holidays

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Hello,

What do you all see as acceptable noise over the school holidays? I live in a ground floor flat and it's been lots of banging and crashes so far, audible from every room and over headphones.

The kid upstairs is around 11, so old enough to be made aware of the noise. We have a shared garden which they rarely use but would be better for rough play.

I'm thinking of waiting to see if it is simply first week of holidays energy. But I can't really accept it all summer as I work from home. I have already had to raise noise with the parents as they were doing indoor workouts and had gym machinery up there so don't want to be a nag!

Thoughts please :)

Well..we currently experience a lot of noise and squealing etc from next door, the daughter visits daily and brings her son, about 3 years old...the noise is awful from 8 am to about 6pm, she is spoilt and entitled and even her father goes out to avoid the noise...we are thinking of saying something as the child is very noisey and runs riot.She has her own flat with garden up the road, yet has filled her parents garden with a pool and swings etc so often other children visit and play also.

I’m surprised there hasn’t been a pile on in this thread. Normally threads about kid noise are ripped apart, hopefully some sense is prevailing on here at long last!

I feel for you OP. I think any indoor noise that can be heard outside of the property is too loud, and that extends to thumping around in the flat upstairs. Outdoors is a bit different, I’ve no objection to hearing children play and learn, but the screeching that increasingly seems to go along with it is too much.

From what you’ve said, I don’t think you’d be out of line to set something if it goes on much longer. You can say you’ve accepted it for a few days because the boy might have been excited for the beginning of the school holidays (although at 11 he should be past that stage), but something needs to be done about it. They sound inconsiderate though, if they thought it was acceptable to have gym equipment in an upper floor flat, so be prepared for that.

Good luck!

I’m with you. I had a knock from my neighbour saying our tv was too loud and making their mantle piece shake due to the new Sonos speaker. That after we who were childless at the time and no sooner than we had moved in realised their 3 kids were unbearably noisy. Through the walls in winter and the summer was hellish. 2.5 summers I put up with the ball smashing the communal fence in our tiny gardens over and over and over again. Deafeningly loud. I knocked on their door the summer I was pregnant to say I can’t listen to another summer of it. They also had a nanny out there for after school screaming with them, it was so deafening I had to pick up my laptop and work from a different room than the one that looked out onto the garden. I had no shame knocking, he kids were out of control and when I peered over one weekend evening I saw their bi fold door shut. So they were inside wirh door shut and leaving everyone else to absorb the noise of the fighting screeching and ball slamming who wanted to enjoy their gardens.

You live in a flat not an office. You working from home is not your neighbours concern. If it's excessive noise as anti-social times that's different, but children are going to make noise and to play, and that's inevitably going to be worse in the holidays.

It might be that worth looking to hire some office space during the school holidays if you can't get quiet enough at home.

Ps: I work from home too and have done so with many neighbours using children, building work either side etc. It's my problem to work around my theirs as long as it's not truly antisocial.

Gosh what a miserable bunch (except for the ball against the fence, that would be annoying).

It’s bloody annoying working from
home when kids are screaming in their gardens. I can’t complain as half the time my own kids do this when they’re home.

its hard living in a flat with a young child. You have to expect a certain amount of noise. As someone else said, it’s not an office its a home so some noise is inevitable .

Reasonable to expect quiet overnight, not say noise at 6am, but daytime noise will happen.

This is true for sure. I am asking at what point an "amount of noise" goes beyond the level I should say something. For context we regularly hear footsteps, running up stairs, slamming doors, and the family arguing - but willing to let these go as general family noise.

I used work as an example but really the noise would impede anything you'd reasonably do in your home e.g. I can hear crashes over the tv, music in headphones etc.