Noisy Neighbours with kid screaming at a Unit complex

We have recently moved into a unit in a complex comprised of 6 units and the worst nightmare has come true: the noisy neighbours coupled with their little kid screaming. We have now developed a mental disorder as we cannot sleep properly and during our sleep, there is always a fear that the noise may come at any time.

1/ At anytime of the day, the kid will go outside onto the driveway or on the balcony on the first floor and starts yelling or sometime screaming for his mom and dad (It was like MOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM).
2/ That is not the end (obviously), he and his mom treat the driveway, which is right in front of our bedroom and his playground and they often play together and inevitably, laugh together in a very loud manner as if there is no other living in the complex.
3/ To make it worse, their neighbours, which are likely to be their friends often join the fun and together, making it like a kindergarten, right in front of our bedroom.
4/ Now for the worst, the adults often chit chat over the balconies right above our bedroom really loudly and because they live on the first floor, if there is anyone on the ground floor (the driveway) wanting to talk to the one on the first floor, they will yell out.

Those happen at anytime during the day from 8am-9pm and we can hear the noise at a full volume from our bedroom.

To brief you guys about the location, the complex comprised of 6 units. Our is the one on the ground floor and our bedroom faces the driveway. There is a balcony in between the bedroom and the driveway. Their units are of the exact same location and same setting but are directly above ours and next to each other (so the balconies are directly above our balconies and next to each other).

Please give us a hint as to what we can do. We have talked to them in several occasions and they keep making empty promises.

P.s. we rent and they rent as well

Comments

  • +2

    Step 1. Go talk to them. Get to know their side of the story. Tell them your side of the story.

    • +1

      Utterly ridiculous. They interrupt the OP's mentally strained lifestyle with the horrible sounds of children playing and he has to go outside to talk to them? Outside?

      • +3

        Is Outside a new mod in Skyrim?
        Where does one get this "Outside"?

  • +1

    I don't think there's much you can do about it. Have you try talking to them? Sometimes they just don't know that it disturbs other people. Tell them nicely and tell them to keep the noise down a little but and see how it goes. Since the neighbours are friends you don't really want to be on their bad side just in case your whole neighbours despise you.

  • +2

    Can you not park your car in said driveway and obstruct their ability to play there?

    • +2

      They are Uni students, they should all park their bicycles there or put a tent there and sublet it Hahahah

  • +2

    Have you spoken to your neighbours about the noise?

    There are some tips here
    http://www.epa.vic.gov.au/your-environment/noise/residential…

    Talk to them first, if that doesn't help, you can get help.

  • +1

    Bikies

    • +4

      Buy the kid a bike so they can exercise and be away from the driveway?

      What a great idea!

  • +24

    Oh no, kids playing being kids in daylight hours, parents talking and being normal adults, this is too hard for my introverted uni student self….

    Mental disorder, ffs…

    Harden up princess.

    • +5

      At first, I feel that we are being unreasonably oversensitive but after a while, it has to be something wrong.

      Putting legal stuffs aside as it is a different story, now just imagine that someone is standing right in front of your bedroom door talking loudly like they are having a party and play with their kids like it is the playground while you are sleeping in your room. Regardless of how soundproof your room is, the door is the weakest point so of course, you will hear it fully. Say you dont sleep in late but what if you have to study or concentrate in your work, you just cant since someone is having a party right outside your room. If you have a house, somewhat quiet enjoyment is something you would expect. You would expect that you can sleep at anytime, study at anytime, at least not with a party happening right outside.

      At first, I feel like I am a little oversensitive but hopefully now you can understand my pain

      • +2

        This sounds more like an architectural design issue and your bad luck that you got stuck with an undesirable location for your bedroom rather than an issue with unreasonable neighbours.

        For all intents and purposes, the driveway is public so you can't really have a go at the neighbours for using it as such. That's just my personal opinion.

        As an analogy, say you bought a house where the design was such that the the master bedroom was situated right next to a busy road, and there's a bus stop right outside so there's a lot of noise from passing cars and buses. In that case, I think the usual response from others would be to not buy such a house or the asking price for such a house would be lowered to compensate because its not a desirable quality to have.

      • So I take it you've never lived on campus at college lol.

  • +1

    First talk to them,they may keep quiet for a day and two then back to normal, then talk you your agent again and suggest that if they have not doing anything more than acknowledgement you may escalate to authority for them not taking any action.

    OR you can call Police and report noise, they may think that it have to be after a certain time of the day but the fact is it can be reported anything of the day if it is excessive.

    Also joining your neighbor is another good solution as more people against it you will have more power to keep them quiet.

    • +5

      Please call the cops and tell them that children are laughing outside your house during the day. Please.

  • +7

    We have now developed a mental disorder as we cannot sleep properly and during our sleep, there is always a fear that the noise may come at any time.

    The last bit "there is always a fear that the noise may come at any time."

    You fear noise, wtf

    Could be worse living in a war-torn country where they actually fear noise from life-threatening situations……

    Headphones, music and a few teaspoons of concrete. Harden the f())( up or move somewhere else

    • +4

      Hypersensivity to noise is actually a medical condition, hyperacusis I think the term is. Autistic people frequently are hypersenitive to one or more sensory modalities. Apartments + hyperacusis is a marriage made in hell. Detached homes on a decent sized block are wonderful but are so expensive now (especially in Sydney) and uncontrolled immigration is increasing the population density of our cities, something the deranged Mr Turnbull regards as desirable.

      The complaint I hear most often from people living in apartments, though, is the sound of their neighbour's TV. People living in units tend to go out rarely and spend all their free time watching the idiot box with a volume at 90 Decibels. Australia has extremely poor quality housing desite the exorbitant price - no sound proofing and no insulation, and noise deadening double glazing is astronomically expensive compared to other countries.

      • People living in units tend to go out rarely and spend all their free time watching the idiot box with a volume at 90 Decibels.

        I feel like this is a gross generalisation.

    • What if they are actually from a war torn country and have legitimate ptsd from living in those places. Noise could be the trigger.

      *Leftist argument thrown in for good measure just to see where logic stands.

  • +8

    Think Frozen: Let it Go…

    The more it annoys you, the more it will annoy you.

    You are living in an apartment, in close proximity to others and there will be noise. Be thankful it is the sounds of conversation and children playing and not arguments and murder.

    Find some ways to reduce the noise in your apartment. Heavier curtains, windows closed, white noise generator. Failing that, it's time to move. You are only renting so up stumps at the end of the lease.

    • +2

      Failing that, it's time to move.

      To where? A library? Antarctica?

      • not sure they'd be happy if you set up your bed in the library and Antartica might be a bit far to commute, but there are plenty of places to live. Might be a case of better the devil you know though.

  • +1

    What's your postcode?

  • +7

    Kids make noise; simple. Between 7AM-10PM, you can do sweet fa about it. Why don't you just move?

    • +1

      We still have 6 month left on our lease unless there is a way to break the contract earlier without any compensation. Any suggestions?

      • +4

        Yes. Move elsewhere and sub-lease this one to ~10 uni students at $100 a week each, including all services bar food; can include a weekly donation of two-minute noodles as a gesture of good will and a sweetener to what could otherwise be perceived as an unsavoury deal…

        • +2

          this guy is going places

      • Will you pre-screen potential properties in six months to ensure there are no children, motorbikes and people that laugh in the area?

  • +5

    I would suggest passive aggressive post it notes

  • +3

    Time to have your own kids so you get free child care :)

  • +4

    like other people have said, it's apartment living you're going to have to put up with it.
    Nothing much you can do unless it's in the boundaries of your own home.
    If still not happy move.

  • +1

    Play music with significant amounts of swear words in it during the day - not ear-splittingly loud, but loud enough so that it can be heard through the walls. Then when the parents ask you to stop, make some empty promises of your own :)

    • +1

      Play it on the balcony when they're playing outside - I would start off with something quite depressing like Nick Cave or the National, then if that doesn't get any result move to some metal, then combine with swearing. It's not illegal and you would be rightly enjoying yourself on your balcony.
      There's nothing worse than inconsiderate neighbours. I don't think it would be a problem if it just happened for an hour here and there, but if it goes on and on it would be terrible.

  • +8

    I think the problem is a difference in schedules. Personally I don't see a problem with children making noise between 8am and 9pm. If you're up past midnight and sleeping in till midday every day it may be annoying but I think the former is more accepted than the latter.

    I'd much prefer to deal with the kids during the day than have uni students as neighbours.

  • +1

    Invest in earmuffs?

    noise cancelling ear things.

    Will help you sleep. Quite effective at blocking off noise.

    • I'm not sure if there are effective noise cancelling headphones that also allow the user to sleep on their side

  • -6

    Buy a house

    • +3

      haha, we are uni students without any rich parents. I may try to by a lottery ticket instead

  • +3

    Write a passive aggressive note and pin it on their door.

  • +6

    Thank goodness it's only kids playing.

    Try living next to a women that has karaoke parties till 3am every weekend. Or living next to people playing music instruments that invite their friends over on weekends and jam till 3am. Or living next to diy renovators that take forever to renovate, even operating power tools or hammering away at 10pm at night. Or the dog that constantly barks because the owners couldn't be bothered walking it. Or the neighbours subwoofer at 1am in the morning. That'll interrupt your sleep.

  • +6

    I once lived in the same scenario, but with 24 units over 3 levels facing a common driveway. Often from 11PM to 1AM some people would be out on their balcony smoking and chatting. Not loudly but all that concrete seemed to amplify it. It really sounded like they were in the room next to you. They weren't being obnoxious, it was just an awful building design.

    I would swallow the bitter pill and put it down to experience. In NSW and VIC (and I assume everywhere) you can break your lease, but you have to pay the rent and re-leasing costs until they find a new tenant. If you have a friend who would allow you to stay with them for a few weeks it would allow you to wait until a tenant has been found before you looked for a new place (saving you from paying rent for 2 places).

    Being vengeful in anyway, like making your own noise or writing notes, is just going to cause you grief. As a general rule you should try to be on good terms with the people you live with, even if they are in the wrong, otherwise next time you get a scratch on your car you will be consumed with paranoia.

  • -4

    IF you ever hear a child screaming you immediately call the POLICE !
    Every single time.
    Call 000 and repeat what you heard, which is "MOOOOOOOOOM please stop hurting me".

    This is guaranteed to fix you current problem.

    • Do NOT do this. Do NOT waste the police's time. They have more important things to deal with.

      • Yeah kids being abused by their parents is simply a waste of police time, they got better things to do like hand out fines and generate money for the government.

        • Do you know for a fact that kids being abused or the parents just trying to discipline their kids?

        • Except the OP did not hear that a child was being hurt, Adhoc made that up. He was encouraging LYING to the police about child abuse so that they would come.

  • +4

    Honestly OP you can't do much. Their kids and they eventually grow up and form to teenagers. In the meantime you either go along with it or move out when you can :/

  • +2

    What's the noise level like in other rooms? maybe you can stay in your living room (with music in the background or watching TV) and keep the bedroom's door shut, hopefully will make a difference?

  • +1

    Go buy a pack of syringes and scatter them outside your window

  • Open your window and take photos.

  • +2

    If you can't deal with the sounds of adults chit-chatting and THE LAUGHTER OF CHILDREN (ffs are you serious?) you are not suited to apartment living. You are not suited to city living. You are not suited to suburban living. You are not suited to semi-rural living. You need to pack your shit up, and move about twelve hours towards the centre of Australia, where you can have some peace and quiet, and you won't have any internet to whinge on.

    • I can deal with them if it is from a distance. I grew up in an Asian country where you hear motorbike sound and horn all the time, even at night. It is just that this is right in front of your bedroom and you can hear them as if you are standing next to them, even though there is a window and a balcony in the way and that they are making noise as if there is no one else living there.

      Before moving here, we lived in the city and on a very busy road with noise coming from the cars and from students walking back home. It was just fine because it was from a distance, not at full volume from within the house

      • +4

        Two practical suggestions.

        1- Buy a roll of self-adhesive window/door sealing tape. It's adhesive on one side and basically it's foam sponge or urethane approx 10-15mm wide. Apply this around the perimeter of the window(s) ensuring there are no gaps.

        This stuff, while sticky enough to perform its function, is easily peeled off without damaging paint when the lease is over. Especially true if your window frames are aluminium.

        2- Get yourself to an Op-shop (charity shop). Buy the thickest curtain you can find that will cover the window. If there's no curtain hardware mounted already, check instructables.com for non-marking mounting tips. Personally I'd use 3M Command adhesive. It's very strong but removable without damage.

        Shouldn't cost more than $20. Less if you can use existing curtain rod and don't need the 3M stuff.

  • You will always hear it if you listen for it.

    So, have you talked to them yet?

    • I did, they seemed to understand and they made promise but it turned out be an empty promise

  • I don't get what's the problem. You should be more out there during the day. What are you doing all day in the bedroom? It's not in the middle of the night as far as I understand so why are you complaining? Maybe you should go back to your country, sorry I am an immigrant too but I don't go abroad and then expect the world to change for me. It should be the other way around.

    • May be you miss my point but I have lived in a very busy Asian country so I have been through worse but it was reasonable because the noise is from a distance. So I would say if I have a problem with this one then this one is even worse than a much busier Asian country; hence, it is absolutely unreasonable given that this is Australia. We study full time and work part time so you would imagine that sometime we have to pull an all-nighter for an assignment and sleep in late for the next day. Or may be we come home after all day shift and just want a nap, may be at around 6pm

      • -4

        sometime we have to pull an all-nighter for an assignment and sleep in late for the next day

        Boo-hoo. I would guess the majority of Ozbargain users are students/graduates, so we know what it means to have assessment. I studied full time and worked part time, so I also know that 99% of the time, an all-nighter is due to poor time-management in the lead up. The world cannot, and should not, revolve around your schedule and over-sensitive ears.

        • +3

          Hey dude, thanks for offering your opinion.

          First off, please do not judge people like that as not everyone is working 9-5. Everyone has their own priority and plan their lifestyle accordingly to achieve what they aim for. Think about (and this is just an example, not my situation) the one who has to work night shift in maccas, because during the day, they have to study and they need money to support their life. Hence, most likely that they will spend the next day sleeping during the day to recover. Think about the one that has to work their arse off to accommodate their life because that is their sole income and hence leave the work until last minutes.

          Speaking of that, on the other hand, I think it is more likely than not that a typical uni student's lifestyle would be studying at night and sleep in late in the morning and this is just their preference, not due to any poor-time management. It is simply a choice.

          Recognising that everyone lifestyle is different and at least, they can have a choice as to their lifestyle, they should not be punished for that. This is well recognized as the right to the quiet enjoyment of your own property in the legislation.

          And lastly, when I described the noise, I tried to be as objective as possible and even care to explain to you that my noise-tolerance is much higher than a typical Australian due to the fact that I grew up in a much busier country on a much busier road. Therefore, using these objective measures, when I found that I had the problem with the noise, I dont think that I am being oversensitive at all.

          After all, this is not about me being oversensitive or them being as normal but about us being considerate to everyone around us. I think that if you know that what you are doing is disturbing to others and there is a reasonable alternative, then you should stop.

        • +1

          @shinichiduy:
          Your noise tolerance is NOT ""much higher than a typical Australian. Australians grow up listening to kids playing loudly in the driveway. I'm from Hong Kong. Don't give me that bullsh!t. You just don't understand Australian culture. Playing in the COMMON area within reasonable hours is completely acceptable. It is NOT just for driving cars on, just because it's a called a driveway.

          A driveway is where your mum or dad teach you how to ride your bike safely for the first time. It's where you jump on your skateboard for the first time. It's where you'll graze your knees as you fall over, chasing after your friends. you'll play cricket down the driveway, chase the other kids around the neighbourhood in summer with water bombs and super soakers.

          This doesn't matter if it's in a house or an apartment complex. Affordability has pushed families out of owning their own houses and have to rent apartments. Times have changed, the setting has changed, but the activities, great memories and fun times will continue.

          A sign of a resilient, strong family no matter the circumstance is how much they laugh and how much time they spend with their children. You could learn something from them.

          It's a shame that your unit was poorly designed to maximise profits and ease of construction. That is the only issue here. NExt time find an apartment that doesn't have windows facing common areas. Your choice of choosing a ground floor apartment was also not the wisest thing to do.

          Stop being such a whinging b!tch. You made a bad life choice. Deal with it. Stop repeating your crappy story to everyone about your needs and schedule.

          And welcome to 'Straya!

        • -1

          @shinichiduy:

          I tried to be as objective as possible and even care to explain to you that my noise-tolerance is much higher than a typical Australian due to the fact that I grew up in a much busier country on a much busier road

          I chose to ignore that because you saying you have a "noise-tolerance much higher than a typical Australian" is obviously complete bullsh*t - given you are having a sook about laughing children outside your house. Move away from society, man.

  • +3

    Dude, I feel your pain. I lived with two friends in a similar complex with 6 or so townhouses. The adult in the house next door would literally be on the phone maybe 12-14 hours a day, and I would wake early every morning because my bedroom window was right next to where he would be talking, and he spoke quite loudly. He would also mow his lawn at 6-7am on a saturday morning, coincidentally my day off. Eventually we started facing our speakers towards his house, and playing music and xbox at ungodly hours of the night, prepared to take a noise complaint or two just to get our point across. Immature? maybe. Did it work? you bet.

    Some people just have no way to conceptualise what it must be like to be in your situation. Think of it as education ;)

    • +5

      Sounds like the guy ozbargained the hell out of those phone plans with unlimited calling.

  • Call the bikies

    • any deals on them, like 50% off or BOGOF?

  • +10

    So we're clear….

    You moved into an apartment block where current tenants get along (chat, etc), have formed a sort of community (kids play in the area), and you've found this unsuitable, so the existing tenants should change their behaviour?

    As much as I want to side with you, OP (the kids sound like annoying shits, and I'd hate to be living in that situation), but seriously, there's a community of sorts here… and just because it doesn't suit you, it doesn't make you right.

    • +1

      Could not agree more with this.

      OP should just find a new place to rent. Why the hell are we entertaining this thread.

      • Because they are stuck in a lease

  • +1

    Everytime they make a noise you don't want, yell at them to shut them up. U have to let them know or they'll think you don't mind.

    • On ya, Ebenezer.

  • +3

    One day, when you have kids, you will come back to read this message and will realize that all your problems were not real.

    • -5

      I would think that if I have kids, I would not let him/her play in the manner that is dangerous to himself (in the driveway) or disturbing to others (because who knows what others can do to him, or at least, using offensive language to him). I would have moved to a further area and get a proper house, which may be inconvenient to the adults but better for the development of the kids. If for some reasons I have to stay where they are, I would have taken him/her to the park properly. Mind you that I have talked to them all of these but they would still ignore it.

      After all, I think that it is not about what you can claim as it is your right but it is about being considerate to all around you.

      • +6

        You aren't a parent yet, you don't know.

        "I would take him to the park properly" That is a great idea, but you can't be at the park and prepare diner etc. Sometimes you just need the kids to play where you can see/hear them from inside while you are carrying out your domestic duties.

        When kids get active/excited they get loud, its a fact of life. When they get bored and quiet is when you need to worry.

  • -3

    Wah wah wah, I want to sleep in all day because I'm an entitled uni student, I can say big words like objective so I must be it, right!? Its not fair that when I want to sleep in all day after being up all night that normal people living normal lives want to do normal things.

    Considerate to others.. How about realising you are the odd one out in society here?

    Honestly, this is what happens when you have a bunch of little princes running around thinking they're the centre of the universe and can do no wrong… No life skills.

  • The only stress about doing complex living is the uncertainty of changing neighbours…be wary if some Maoris move in, you'd probably have an anurism.

  • +6

    Wow….
    You rent an unit in an apartment block. You physically saw where the rooms where and how close the units were during inspection. If I see my bedroom right next to a busy road, I know that I should expect traffic noise. Anyways… the complains are just baseless. Kids can play, make noise, people can talk and communicate. And looks like you are the only one 'getting offended' and you are trying to spin it into a catastrophe.
    If it offends you so much, move out. I can't see why people who have been living there before you and have no problem what so ever, change their way of life suddenly because you work part time and study hence want to sleep at 6pm. Not their problem, but yours.
    I have pulled all nighters for uni assignments as well. And we spent that night (and countless others) in our uni library/study rooms. Its calm, quite, can have all the team members together, smash those assignments out. Never had a problem.

    Get off your high horse.

    • +3

      whilst some of your comments are valid

      the common area known as the driveway isnt a playground and youll find in most by-laws it will state the driveway to remain clear at all times

      apartments close together is an issue but during the inspection who is to say it was quiet and the offending issue wasn't present

      you can't go off at the op for this but yes you should expect some noise between wall to wall apartments but excessive screaming causing a disruption to peace of enjoyment of a premisis is something the op can complain about

      this will allow them to either break lease and move at no charge or better yet have the body corporate or building manager issue a by law breach to the driveway issue

      noise is inevitable however and you cant expect this to be solved in a fast manner
      high horse or not a playground isnt a driveway and screaming from a balcony is just downright rude to everyone in the complex

      as for uni students i lived in a complex and they were the noisiest and rudest little pricks that we ever had, not only did they keep me awake all night playing music they threw bottles and Garbage over the balcony into the common areas

      wrote letters to body corporate and they were evicted in a week due to having 8 people living there but only 2 on the lease, just saying just because you're quiet and courteous doesn't mean anyone else is and i had enough of been kept up hours on end working 8-5pm having these little mongrels thinking they owned the place

  • +2

    I love these posts, people buy cramped wall to wall houses / units then complain that they can hear neighbours, dogs, cars ect ect.

    I also have a wall to wall house but I don't expect my neighbours to hide inside just in case they make any noise.

  • +4

    The solution is to have aggressively loud sex (or in lieu of that, play loud pornography) during the time they are playing outside. The children will be scarred for life and the parents will probably be too embarrassed to confront you. The parents will probably then keep their children inside during daytime hours to prevent child scarring.

    • +2

      Haha this is thinking outside the box

      • Or… inside?

  • +3

    I sympathise with your situation. Our neighbours' window points into our living room. They have a baby and toddler that do all sorts of screaming. They don't seem to mind the heat or cold because that window is open all day until 11pm. Quite frustrating to watch any sort of movie or TV show when the quiet bits are filled with screaming.

    • -1

      They're just letting the sound out to reduce the internal SPL. They probably notice at least 5dB off the top, and think you'll enjoy it. Maybe the discarded nappies are less pungent too.

      Part of the licensing conditions of having a kid should be to get agreement from the neighbours adjoining your property. I agree that rescension due to such noise incidents would be complicated, it could reduce this sort of thing happening and make it easier to find any opt to breed without appropriate authorisation.

      At least they have faith enough to go keep contributing to the last few generations, someone has to be here to help cleanup our pollution once the Robots gain control.

  • +3

    Every time they play/chat in front of your bedroom, you should try running in circle in your bedroom, throwing your hands in the air, screaming out loud, with your windows opened, and on top of that, naked.
    Try that for a month, and let us know.

    • +1

      Do something that will really disgust them… May I suggest playing porn at high volumes when they are next to your room… the more filth/kink the better easily found on the net. After they hear someone saying eat this… suck that… loud moans.. sounds of whips and chains they will never play next to your place again.

      • Running around naked in public view is a quick way to get arrested.

        Yes, if you can be seen naked from the street doing lewd acts then you can and will most likely end up in handcuffs.

        Porn noises can also fall under obscenity laws and noise pollution laws, so also not great as you can and most likely will end up with a cop knocking on your door. If they ask you to turn the 'music' down and you don't then it can become serious.

        I know it's like this for Vic also, but a quick search only brought up the EPA NSW laws in regards to making noise.
        http://www.epa.nsw.gov.au/noise/neighbourhoodnoise.htm

  • +2

    To be honest OP, a lot of people in here are suggesting silly things and funny things etc, but the reality is you are going to have to move. Im really sorry and im very sympathetic to your predicament. I wrote in another comment earlier in this thread my g/f suffered badly at a place she lived at previously due to a similar situation and her mental health also suffered. So i just want to say i really do sympathise with you. Perhaps you could try talking to them calmly but the reality is if it's a kid involved, well, he's not going to change. So im sorry to say but i think you might have to try and endure to the end of the lease and then get out - or you could possibly break the lease (im sure you could get a medical certificate if required).

    • Seconded. I have a similar issue at my place at the moment and I am paying a mortgage on it. Unfortunately the noise issues are dispersed throughout the neighbourhood and vary in type even within the same houses (one house is a dog and family noise, another is frequent cars coming and going all of which are WRX's and the like with exhausts, hanging out on their balcony until late and calling stuff out to their friends coming and going). I have accepted I have to give up my home but it is going to be a lot of work to find somewhere else to live that 1. is more soundproofed in its design and construction and 2. doesn't appear to have noisey neighbours either currently or in the future

      I've even heard a story recently of someone like me who thought they would never live on property or a farm somewhere however became disillusioned with city and suburban living and bought themselves a property in what they thought was the middle of nowhere. WRONG. They moved next to a property that threw large all night rager parties and hire PA sytems to pump tunes and left off fireworks.

      • That's terrible. It might be worth staking the place out at night for a few nights if you are thinking about buying, just to ensure there's none of that. Have a camp out ;) I know it's a lot of work but might be worth it !

        • +1

          This is what I'll be doing before I next move

  • +1

    Contact the real estate about the excessive noise, and let them know you are not happy, at the same time mention that this problem may cause you to move out before your contract finishes and that you'd prefer not to resort to getting legal advice from a lawyer.

    • They have heard it all 1000 times.

      They will just say if you move out before your lease expires, then you are liable to pay out the remainder of the lease if the owner can't find another tenant.

  • +2

    Whenever the kids are out playing in the driveway, you should also go out, stand and eye them with a dreamy look on your face, licking your lips occasionally. After a week the parent will keep them in.

    • +1

      Or the parents will video you and put it on the internet with your address.

    • Is that a tried and tested method?

  • +1

    Just buy some condoms (constantly posted on OzB) unroll them add a bit of milk on the inside and leave them scattered near your place. Surely if a kid picks one up and says mummy what is this it will stop them from playing near your place. If the parents complain tell them you can't control your kids and I can't control where people have sex!

  • +1

    I wonder if it was dogs barking throughout the whole day if people would have a different view.

    Personally I'm fine with normal living noises during normal hours, and I used to live in a set of townhouses as a night shift worker. It's not great, but there's things like putting a fan on while you sleep to help with it.

    However there was a 6+ month period where one of the other tenants left their 2 dogs (pomerianian and chiwawa) in the front balcony area (with door open to the room) and they would bark from the moment she left (7am) to the moment she got home (often 11+pm).

    That turns even the calmest of people into a rage.

  • +3

    I like someone's suggestion from another thread like this. Play 'Achey breaky heart' real loud at 3am on repeat

    • -1

      Or Rick-roll 'em:

      • movement sensor near the window
      • every time it triggers:
        "Da Da-Dah, Da Da-Dah, Da Da-Dah, Da Da-Dah…. "
        "Never gonna givbe you up… never gonna give, never gonna give…"

      Even at a low volume, Rick Astley can prove extremely effective.

      Problem solved, quickly and legally and with no interaction whatsoever. No risk of confrontation.

      Now just need an ozBargain post for a movement sensor that works through a window, with a switched power out to turn on speaker driven by a MP3 player with one song on autoplay.

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