Noisy neighbor advice

June 2, 2009 12:21 AM

Advice on noisy neighbors. My family just moved. Our immediate neighbors are elderly and hard of hearing, and so the TV volume is quite blaring in the evening, grating for us, but hard on our 2 year old. They seem like nice people though cant understand why our 2 year old needs to go to bed at 8. Wondering the best approach to this? Buy them so wireless headsets? They might not like the gesture nor be able to adapt to the intrusion of this new device. On our end we have tried white noise, but the windows need to stay open with the heat.
posted by dougiedd to human relations (14 comments total)

You could install a soundproofing material such as rockwool or other sound-deadening material.

Depending on the wall area that may not prove as cheap as convincing your neighbours to check their hearing aid batteries.
posted by le morte de bea arthur at 1:18 AM on June 2

This might be a dumb idea because I don't have kids but when I've had noisy neighbors I would simply wear earplugs while sleeping.
posted by XMLicious at 2:11 AM on June 2

Have you actually talked to them about it? I know it's hard to do but it would be a start.
posted by sully75 at 2:18 AM on June 2

Putting a big square fan in the window might help.
And when possible, make sure your kid gets some extra physical exercise to tucker her/him out so s/he sleeps more soundly? A 15-minute game of tag each day should help.
posted by pseudostrabismus at 2:29 AM on June 2

If they're cooperative, it might be as simple as moving their TV slightly. Away from the wall, or to an opposite wall. Obviously in some circumstances that might be a very intrusive demand, but maybe not, and the effect can be surprisingly significant.
posted by game warden to the events rhino at 4:58 AM on June 2

It seems you've already talked to them about this... so I'd say you're going to have to make modifications on your end. That might be a box fan in the window or a portable air conditioner with the windows closed... and then a noise canceling/white noise machine.

If they don't understand why a 2 year old needs to go to bed relatively early, I doubt they are going to take to headsets or something like that.
posted by jerseygirl at 5:14 AM on June 2

I have noisy neighbors and I've found that, barnone, the best way of drowning out their noise in the summer is with an air conditioner. I would consider that at least in the kiddie's room, and earplugs for you.
posted by PhoBWanKenobi at 5:43 AM on June 2

One thing to keep in mind is that your child can learn to sleep even though she can hear the neighbor's tv. You just moved. The noises are all new to her. Soon, it will become familiar and she'll tune it out.
posted by onhazier at 6:09 AM on June 2 [2 favorites]

The #1 best solution by far is to keep the windows closed. If that creates too much heat, you'll have to find a way to deal with that, or to give up and live with the sound. A window AC might work, but just make sure that you don't put it in the window facing your neighbours...window ACs let in a lot of noise.

Barring that, if your neighbours moved the television to another room, or even the other side of the current room, it might make a big difference. The problem with that is that you have to be on pretty friendly terms with these people, and it sounds like they're already a bit stand-offish towards you. Buying them headsets is definitely not the way to go.
posted by hiteleven at 6:50 AM on June 2

I'm thinking AC in the open window. besides blocking the noise somewhat, AC's generate what after a while reads as white noise, masking the neighbors even more and maybe even helping the little one sleep better (once he's used to it).
posted by Billegible at 8:26 AM on June 2

I want to add to onhazier's comment. With our kids we did not do the quiet thing when they wen to bed or took naps. The kids learned to sleep through the noise. This was a tremendous boon in so many ways. Garbage truck comes by, kids slept through it, car backfires, phone ringing, entertaining guests, what have you, the kids slept through it.
This isn't a solution to your problem (since you didn't ask about how to get your kid to sleep through noise), but I felt it might help in general.
posted by forforf at 9:30 AM on June 2

Talk to the neighbors some more. I have bad hearing, and the teevee volume creeps up. Next day, I turn it on and am surprised at how loud it is. My closest neighbors, fortunately, are old enough to have bad hearing, too, and the window nearest them stays closed. Your neighbors could use hearing aids. Even cheap ones amplify teevee really well. (Aside: standard hearing aids really suck. They distort a lot of ambient noise and are hard to adapt to. If your elders don't wear their hearing aids, there's a good reason.) Or they could use wireless headsets, or close their windows.

Seems unfair to have to pay for an air conditioner, and use electricity, just for their teevee, but it could come to that. Maybe they could get an a/c unit? They have a responsibility to work with you on this, but noise is a constant issue with neighbors.
posted by theora55 at 9:31 AM on June 2

I'm hard of hearing (though not elderly). I would be extremely embarrassed to know that I had bothering someone for weeks/months and they didn't say anything. Please try talking to them. Almost every TV show has closed captions, maybe you can explain how to use them if they're not aware of them (although if their vision is poor, it won't matter).
posted by desjardins at 11:38 AM on June 2

We used closed captioning on our TV for my 60-year old husband who can't hear for shit. Perhaps it might work with your neighbors? We do this for two reasons: to keep the noise down for ourselves and our neighbors. If you suggest gently with a plate of homemade cookies and the little one with you on his best behavior, being absolutely adorable, it might work.

We did live across the street from an elderly man who had his TV so loud we could follow along in our house. We live in a rural area, so it was really disconcerting. The problem was solved with a window AC. Of course the problem with this is the cost of the unit and monthly electricity.
posted by fifilaru at 2:28 PM on June 7