ᐅ Garden Photos Chat Corner

Have you ever had friends over and asked them if they hear anything or if it bothers them? This can help to assess things more objectively. If they also find it annoying, you might consider asking the neighbor if they would be willing to listen to it at your place. You have to keep in mind that you want or have to live next to each other, and sensitivity to noise can vary. For that reason, I would first check if friends or acquaintances also notice the noise as bothersome—without pointing it out to them beforehand.

Good idea, but when you are in a group, you hear yourself louder and perceive sounds differently.

Even if some might find it childish, you all seem to be too quiet.

Anyway, if you want to start a conversation, pay attention to how you phrase it. Phrases like "It would be nice," "could," or "should" are soft and don’t always get your point across. Be more direct.
It would be nice if you could turn the music down, please. We would like to have coffee.
Or
We are having coffee right now, and your music is disturbing us. Please turn it down.
@hampshire is better at this.

You could also offer him headphones. He gets better sound, and you get your peace and quiet.

haydee schrieb:

Good idea, but when you’re in a group, you tend to be louder yourself and perceive noises differently.

Even if some might think it’s childish, you all seem a bit too quiet.

Anyway, if you want to start a conversation, pay attention to how you phrase it. Phrases like “It would be nice,” “could you,” or “should” are soft and don’t always come across clearly to others. Be more direct.
“It would be nice if you could turn the music down, please. We’d like to have some coffee.”
Or
“We’re having coffee right now and your music is disturbing us. Please turn it down.”

@hampshire is better at this.

Why not offer him headphones? He gets better sound quality, and you get peace and quiet.

I’ve even brought them headphones for their new home office setup. How many headphones am I supposed to carry over there? XD I would offer him myself if he would accept it. But it is a bit annoying. I even wear noise-canceling headphones myself when they get loud and I want to work in the garden. But some of it really is an objective disturbance. When working in the garden, you move around a lot, I keep accidentally pulling out the cable, or my phone falls out of my pocket onto the ground, or I get tangled in the cord and almost trip. I really dislike in-ear headphones, and buying a $300 wireless model hoping it would bother me less is... well, I don’t know? It’s an option, but wouldn’t it annoy you to sit in the garden with noise-canceling headphones on and nothing playing, just to block out your neighbor’s music? You would also miss hearing birds and the rustling of leaves...

So I don’t really know if he would accept it if I asked him to use headphones in the garden. You either need an expensive model with good range, or you have that annoying cable literally around your leg.

Okay, this is truly a bad situation. If you get unlucky with your neighbors, you've really drawn the short straw. Legal disputes are basically hopeless in Germany; you have no real leverage. You need to try to resolve the problem yourself.

1) Talk to them. If that doesn’t work, then
2) Build a soundproof wall 2 meters (6.5 feet) high—really solid.

But that would really bother me. Our neighbors also sometimes play music. I don’t like it, but it’s rather rare, so I can tolerate it. Noise, in general, annoys me. I always joke that I should have built on a small marsh island instead. But that’s not just a joke...

From the way the neighbors are described, I wouldn’t want to get involved with them—it sounds like trouble once you cross a certain line.
I don’t have a concrete idea right now—well, actually I do. How about a small, cozy seating area in front of the house? You have a wonderful view of your beautiful front garden there, don’t you?

So, if my neighbor, assuming I were often busy or loud outside in the garden, brought me headphones, he’d have lost my respect. But I would also react differently if someone spoke to me about the noise. With just a few decibels though...

kati1337 schrieb:

“It’s strange, we don’t hear anything from you,” and I thought, “Well, no wonder, we’re not making any noise either,” but I just didn’t say anything.

That’s how I am too. Unfortunately. I think of things that could be said. It’s nothing wrong with that.

haydee schrieb:

But every party somewhere uphill is noticed. Sounds like they’re sitting on our terrace. We now amuse ourselves by guessing who’s partying. Depending on where you stand, it sounds different. So we try to make it ridiculous instead of getting annoyed.

That doesn’t bother me at all. I like the “distant partying,” music, parties, laughter. What bothers me is when I’m not happy myself; then I become jealous and disapproving because I don’t feel involved.

haydee schrieb:

Police for noise disturbance?

That would be an option, for example, after 10 p.m. (22:00).

kati1337 schrieb:

But I also want to be in the garden on Sundays sometimes.

You can do that. It’s all in your head! Go outside and enjoy life, invite the neighbors over sometimes – then the topic will come up naturally, although it shouldn’t be made a big deal of. Instead, try to see your neighbors as friendly people you can have fun with and trust with your house key.