How to stop my neighbours' loud music?

[kent davidge]

I live in a complicated community. People will have parties lasting all the night in the weekend. Ocasionally some neighbours will complain and call the police. However people are usually too afraid of doing anything fearing retaliation. (Fortunately during this pandemic authorities are not allowing any gathering, so things are remaining quiet and thus Coronavirus has brought something good to us.)

So I thought I could solve the problem at least for me by somehow blocking the sound from entering my bedroom so that I could sleep at night.

I know there are some special windows out there which partially block sound. Buying one could be a solution. Aside from that, is there any other thing I can do? I mean, perhaps some way of diverting away the waves.

 

[.Scott]

I would suggest a white noise generator.
Such as this one: rohm

If that's not enough, call the police - every time.

 

[sysprog]

I had an upstairs neighbor whose kid would play Led Zeppelin too loudly right above my bedroom. I talked to the Dad and got a response that was in my view rather apathetic, along the lines of 'what're you going to do -- he's a kid'. So I pointed my Celestion speakers at the ceiling, turned my NAD amplifier to the max, put my Yamaha sound board that I used as a pre-amp on max, and put The Who's 'Won't Get Fooled Again' on repeat, and then went out for a long walk -- the noise quit the next day permanently . . .

 

[Tom.G]

Cheaper than new windows is hang heavy draperies or blanket over the window... or get some furniture pads that moving companies use to protect stuff during a move.

If needed, you can use the same treatment on the walls, or cover the walls with corkboard.

A friend found a low cost window treatment; he used thermal insulating panels from the hardware store made of Styrofoam and cut them to fit in the window frame.
(use a knife, not a saw. a saw leaves thousands of little bits that are tough to clean up!)

Good Luck! Please let us know what works for you.

Cheers,
Tom

 

[pinball1970]

I live in a complicated community. People will have parties lasting all the night in the weekend. Ocasionally some neighbours will complain and call the police. However people are usually too afraid of doing anything fearing retaliation. (Fortunately during this pandemic authorities are not allowing any gathering, so things are remaining quiet and thus Coronavirus has brought something good to us.)

So I thought I could solve the problem at least for me by somehow blocking the sound from entering my bedroom so that I could sleep at night.

I know there are some special windows out there which partially block sound. Buying one could be a solution. Aside from that, is there any other thing I can do? I mean, perhaps some way of diverting away the waves.

Totally identify with this.
An absolute moron used to play his music loud underneath me. It's soul destroying.

 

[jrmichler]

Some friends had that problem. So they asked their daughter to step outside for some music practice. After a half hour of bagpipe practice, the loud music stopped. For the rest of the summer.

 

[sysprog]

Some friends had that problem. So they asked their daughter to step outside for some music practice. After a half hour of bagpipe practice, the loud music stopped. For the rest of the summer.

When I was a pre-teen kid there was a neighbor older kid who would at reasonable hours practice marching and playing bagpipe -- he was pretty solidly good -- different meaning for the 'drone' word in that context from what it normally denotes today . . .

 

[some bloke]

I have a neighbor who regularly would open his windows up, play his indoor stereo loud (with an appalling taste in music, I might add, all modern robotic auto-tune crap). This went on for 2 weeks, in which he washed his cars outside nearly every day (does anyone know of a mail-order service for life? I might order him one...). After my partner (who is stuck at home during the lockdown all day) complained, I went out and did some work in the garage, and elected to play Dropkick Murphys, very loud. funnily enough, he hasn't played his music with the windows wide open since.

If they are having parties until the early morning, then the best time for you to play for them is about 8-9AM. It may be worth investing in a sound tube, which you could fit a speaker to and literally fire your music at them, and spare the neighbors somewhat. I recommend ABBA, it's rarely welcomed by hungover people.

 

[some bloke]

You could also overpower their music with abba via the soundtube, that'll disrupt their party!

 

[ETsmyhomeboy]

Hah oh no feel like I'm one of those annoying people (sorry!) I'm pretty hard of hearing for my age though (28) I find myself responding with "what?" Or "huh?" The majority of the time rather reciprocating an answer. I sometimes debate with myself in my head if it's just selective hearing, but most of the time it's not. My mom and dad were "rock and rollers" and would blast our rock station (DC 101) every evening during dinner time after we said Grace. I loved it though. My parents are cool My personal favorites specifically were Nirvana, Sublime, and QUEEN!

I have found that when people do things that annoy me, I try to put myself in their shoes and decipher how I would want someone to approach me with the issue and keep it copacetic.

 

[gmax137]

I was on a field job for over a year; the apartment I got seemed very nice. Soon I learned the complex had a work-out room. On the other side of my bedroom wall. The weight lifters had a habit of dropping the weights. Ugh. They were supposed to clear out at 10:00 PM but that was after my bedtime, and some nights they stayed late. I called the office and the manager would go close the gym, but this happened over & over. I taped up a sign in the gym, "Please I am sleeping on the other side of this wall." Big mistake, some of the patrons thought it would be funny to be extra loud.

No solution, I had to put up with it for about 15 months...

 

[Dullard]

There are noise-cancelling systems available for your situation. Search 'outdoor active noise cancelling.' I'm not sure how much money you're prepared to spend.

An alternative: I have found it useful (on occasion) to be perceived as the craziest guy in my neighborhood. Knock on the offender's door and politely explain that the music is making it hard to hear the voices in your head, but they seem to be getting mad. People fear crazy.