Noisy neighbor

Post Reply New Topic

My next door neighbor has been using a power washer that is powered by a generator to wash the driveway that is alongside my house. It is the loudest thing I have ever heard, something like a motorcycle revving up. It's louder than chainsaws, wood chippers or multiple leaf blowers. And he operates it for 30 minutes at a time, and then starts up again. I truly don't know what to do. The noise is completely intolerable to me.

I went and talked to him yesterday and he was trying to be nice, sort of (though he complained about my trees as being part of the reason his driveway is dirty, which is just plan sick: the trees are being trees) and said I could tell him when I'm going to be out, but I am never out because I have a chronic illness, and I don't see how that would work anyway.

It's not okay for him to make that level of noise, ever. He's bothering 100 people even if I'm the only one complaining to him directly. It's just not okay to subject other people to this level of noise.

I truly don't know what to do. Do I have to move? That would be very very hard.

Might call Local police dept first,and ask for direction..then you might try codes dept for your area, and find out if , that noise level as a ongoing practice is allowed in your area you live in ?Might get someone to come by and witness the nouse level. If such a person is available .? Otherwise a recording and note time of day, you made the recording.
Even go as far as maybe , showing your intent to be reasonable have a few limbs trimmed off your tree nearest the offending neighbour? or " Not"
Next a Brown noise generator of somekind..and possibly noise cancelling headphones or earbuds, when he is doing this.
Just my humble opinion.
But you may risk , your social relations with this guy

A white noise generator for you and a endless running plug in style sonic dog repeller,that make a very high tone for dogs ears only, ( i think )

In the absence of noise cancelling headphones, I've found that playing white noise through regular headphones usually blocks out a good chunk of outside noise. And you don't have to buy a white noise machine, you can just play it from your phone.

Maybe I need to get some noise cancelling headphones. I would imagine that they are uncomfortable, though, and they won't help if the noise wakes me up since I assume you can't sleep in them. It's always a challenge for me to venture into acquiring and using something new.

Thank you for all your responses.

About noise canceling headphones, how well do they work? Do you have to be listening to music or do they cancel out noise just by putting them on? And to what degree? I'm assuming you can still hear it a bit? Can you lie down wearing them? Do they press on your ears? And if they work really well, is it disorienting to suddenly not hear anything?

The ones I'm looking at cost $350, which I can afford but it would be a lot to spend if they turn out to be useless.
https://www.target.com/p/sony-wh-1000xm ... A-79757338

I wouldn't need them when I'm out, only when there's a loud noise at my house, like this neighbor and his power washer, or leaf blowers, or a chainsaw, etc.

I’ve heard good things about those Sonys. They seem like a solid choice.

How well they work highly depends on the specific manufacturer and model of headphones but generally the high end Sonys and Bose will block out virtually everything.

They can usually be activated and block out noise without playing music. They’ll also have a “transparency” mode, where outside sound is piped in to the headphones so you can hear everything without having to take them off.

my bose earbuds seem to allow human voices right infront of you to be hear but softly...but have been in environments
where they are not adequate .nightclubs, bars with bands playing . sudden noises are stopped. most things are muted very well. might play soft music in order to drown out most everything ....sleeping in them are a individual thing ..
My friend loves her headphones more than the earbuds..And if you can pair up a blue tooth devise, they work well.
On the average I get 4-6 hours per charge. they are, Bose . fyi.....think they can link up to 4 different devises.
And save those in it memory .. You may have to download a app. to get all benefits of them?

Thank you all.

The only way I can sleep at night is with silicone earplugs.

The only way I can work (at home or in an office) is with gun-range-type headphones. I didn't care what they thought of me when I wore them in my cubicle. It was the only way to get anything done.

I have been surrounded by noisy idiots my whole life, and noise is a huge issue for me.