New housing developments are like a box of chocolates – you never know what you’re going to get. 😉
After a month here at the location, we’re a bit annoyed by the noise level. It’s nothing to really complain about. It’s Saturday noon, and if the neighbor wants to play moderately loud music in the garden, that’s probably within their rights. Unfortunately, it’s just 3 meters (10 feet) in a straight line from our office and children’s room, wakes my sleeping baby, and personally really gets on my nerves. You can’t recognize the songs, but you hear thumping bass lines through the wall/windows for hours. I’m quite sensitive to that, and it’s annoying me.
On another property, someone has moved in who so far seems to combine the intelligence of a houseplant with the humor of a certain comedian. They often blast poor punk music late into the night and then drunkenly shout nonsense across the street when you want to let the cat out. Hooray. 🙄
We had actually hoped that people like that wouldn’t have the money for a house. Either way, these were just first impressions, maybe it will improve.
But regarding the music noise during the day, we would like to do something about it. I don’t want to approach the neighbors about it—they are very nice and I don’t believe they’re doing anything wrong. These are just sounds you have to expect, and the fact that they bother me is my problem.
Do you have any ideas on the best way to block sound?
We already agreed with them and planted a hedge along the boundary. If we now put up a wall or fence on our side of the property, would that be a problem, or can we just do it? What offers the best noise protection, especially against bass? Is there anything we can do to the house itself to prevent the sound from coming inside?
After a month here at the location, we’re a bit annoyed by the noise level. It’s nothing to really complain about. It’s Saturday noon, and if the neighbor wants to play moderately loud music in the garden, that’s probably within their rights. Unfortunately, it’s just 3 meters (10 feet) in a straight line from our office and children’s room, wakes my sleeping baby, and personally really gets on my nerves. You can’t recognize the songs, but you hear thumping bass lines through the wall/windows for hours. I’m quite sensitive to that, and it’s annoying me.
On another property, someone has moved in who so far seems to combine the intelligence of a houseplant with the humor of a certain comedian. They often blast poor punk music late into the night and then drunkenly shout nonsense across the street when you want to let the cat out. Hooray. 🙄
We had actually hoped that people like that wouldn’t have the money for a house. Either way, these were just first impressions, maybe it will improve.
But regarding the music noise during the day, we would like to do something about it. I don’t want to approach the neighbors about it—they are very nice and I don’t believe they’re doing anything wrong. These are just sounds you have to expect, and the fact that they bother me is my problem.
Do you have any ideas on the best way to block sound?
We already agreed with them and planted a hedge along the boundary. If we now put up a wall or fence on our side of the property, would that be a problem, or can we just do it? What offers the best noise protection, especially against bass? Is there anything we can do to the house itself to prevent the sound from coming inside?
Well, but it’s hard to forbid your neighbor from playing a radio outside...
You’re not alone with this problem... there are already three of us here.
The issue is mostly in your mind because you feel like you spent so much money to finally live your life the way you want and have peace, only to be told again by others how to spend your free time... Because the music forces you to put on headphones, or you can’t even take a nap at midday when you want to because the neighbor is playing music.
I haven’t found a solution either. It even got to the point where I spent days wondering if building was such a smart decision and how I could have been so foolish to choose the wrong building materials...
You can really beat yourself up about it...
The only real solution is to train your mind not to focus on it anymore. Even if it’s emotionally exhausting, you have to manage not to pay attention by distracting yourself with something else. There have been plenty of suggestions here...
Especially since you mentioned you have a baby: Our reptilian brain is wired to pick up threatening sounds as a new parent... your brain interpreted this as a threat, and you have to work on reversing that.
You’re not alone with this problem... there are already three of us here.
The issue is mostly in your mind because you feel like you spent so much money to finally live your life the way you want and have peace, only to be told again by others how to spend your free time... Because the music forces you to put on headphones, or you can’t even take a nap at midday when you want to because the neighbor is playing music.
I haven’t found a solution either. It even got to the point where I spent days wondering if building was such a smart decision and how I could have been so foolish to choose the wrong building materials...
You can really beat yourself up about it...
The only real solution is to train your mind not to focus on it anymore. Even if it’s emotionally exhausting, you have to manage not to pay attention by distracting yourself with something else. There have been plenty of suggestions here...
Especially since you mentioned you have a baby: Our reptilian brain is wired to pick up threatening sounds as a new parent... your brain interpreted this as a threat, and you have to work on reversing that.
S
Smialbuddler8 Nov 2020 11:00Snowy36 schrieb:
But you’re not alone with this problem… we are already three here now…… now four! But unfortunately, I can’t really help either.
For me, it’s a particular neighbor, with whom I’ve already had some other issues (and whose hobby, to my dismay, involves various gasoline-powered garden tools…). And of all people, this neighbor also likes to play loud music outside – my brain just can’t switch it off.
I have now reached the point where I consciously tell myself that it’s silly and objectively the other neighbor’s tractor is much worse, but it doesn’t bother me at all. I then deliberately focus on other things instead of the bass lines – and it starts to work.
Working on your own mindset, I’m afraid, is much more promising than trying to block low-frequency sound waves. That is simply a real challenge physically. Unfortunately.
I also prefer to often have no background music; sometimes I turn off the noise at work or just enjoy the silence at home.
kati1337 schrieb:It helps me when I know who it is and can associate the sound with a positive voice in my head. For example, if a neighbor is explaining things to their child in the yard, I immediately tend to think negatively. But I can control that. I tell myself: great, how he interacts with his child, how he explains the world to the little one... and then it becomes only half as annoying.
He is currently working there, yes, and yesterday, unfortunately, right next to our house. So the radio was only a few meters away from our house in a straight line.
kati1337 schrieb:Well, that is exactly the attitude YOU can change. You don’t have to wear headphones or go to the playground. It is an option you choose yourself. Nobody is forcing you. Not even the neighbor. Because you are the problem yourself, as you already recognized. And if you are the problem, you can’t be angry about your own choices—that is, your own solutions.
It feels frustrating when I can’t behave normally as I usually would, but instead have to carry annoying headphones / get displaced from my own home (for example, to the playground / to a store) / have to play counter-music even though I don’t want to listen to any – that just makes me even angrier inside. Hard to explain.
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Pinkiponk8 Nov 2020 11:04Snowy36 schrieb:
Well, you can hardly forbid your neighbor from playing a radio outside... Maybe it’s just my age, but I’ve always understood that as you go through life, you try not to disturb other people. Whether it’s through smells, loud talking, burping, etc., or playing music so loudly that others have to listen whether they want to or not. Basically, I think people go outside to enjoy nature — the "outdoors" (birdsong, the buzzing of insects, crickets chirping ...) — as opposed to being indoors, and in my view, music isn’t a sound that belongs to nature. This might sound a bit strict, I know, but the idea of playing music outside, except at an open-air concert, wouldn’t occur to me. For that, I have my stereo systems inside the house.
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Pinkiponk8 Nov 2020 11:10KingJulien schrieb:
I would have actually said it’s the other way around. People from rural areas are familiar with it and hardly notice it consciously. You’re probably the exception 😉 Both might be true. I do notice it consciously and enjoy it because of the associations mentioned above. 🙂 I also like watching farmers making their rounds in the fields. :-)Pinkiponk schrieb:
Maybe it’s because of my age, but I understand life as trying not to bother other people. Whether it’s through smells, loud talking, burping, etc., or playing music so loudly that others have to listen, whether they want to or not. Basically, I think people go into the garden to enjoy nature, to hear the outdoors (birdsong, buzzing insects, crickets chirping ...) as opposed to indoors, and from my point of view, music is not a sound that belongs to nature. I know this might sound strict, but I wouldn’t think of playing music outside except at an open-air concert. That’s what I have my sound systems inside the house for. He’s not having an open-air concert; he’s just playing a construction site radio...
If you go over and ask him to turn it off, you’re not far from being a nag...