Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
[WARNING: Sorry for the long bit of text, TLDR at the bottom]
Basically, a few months ago, our neighbors rented out their half of the semi-detached house we live in. Their new tenants seemed liked decent people until the last few weeks or so. But now the noise has begun... and before anyone asks, my wife and I don't care about hearing their toddler son running and jumping around, that's perfectly okay for us. What we take issue with is hearing them blast their freaking audio system for long periods at a time, and notably, their woofer is loud and clear through our wall as well as rattling our floors. I should note, it seems that they have their system setup on our shared wall (which is supposed to be the dining area as it's an open concept home).
They don't constantly do it, but it's become frequent enough that it's causing my wife considerable misery. She suffers from over-sensitive hearing. Any loud, low-frequency sounds (coupled with the associated vibrations) gives her one heck of a headache as well causing nausea-inducing disorientation for her. Generally, she can tolerate things up to a point without too much issue, but this has gone beyond putting up with it for about 15-20 minutes. We've politely asked our neighbors in the past to turn it down and were met with hostility, and phone calls to their landlord amounts to 'nothing I can do, just call the cops.' This isn't the first time we've been forced out of the house because my wife just cannot tolerate it anymore and enough is enough.
So... I've taken to purchasing a sound meter, and start logging the noise level whenever we call the police. They've already visited our neighbors once, and it stopped for all of 48 hours and they're back it again today and louder. Unfortunately, I'm stuck at work and my wife just called me to say that she can hear their movie over the dryer at home (on the 2nd floor).
I know that one can expect an average of 45-55db of background noise level in the home (barring tv, radio, etc.). However, I assume that any noise penetrating the wall that pushes the level over that (even if slight) can be considered a nuisance? Especially as they have an affinity to rattle our floor and wall? Our home is fairly new as it was built in 2014, so the soundproofing should be sufficient (but one never knows with Brigil).
That being said, we've contacted the police regarding the matter. But, as anyone who lives in Gatineau knows, the cops aren't going to be there anytime soon, and we'll be lucky if they actually give them a noise violation ticket (almost guaranteed a verbal warning at minimum, and those are only so effective).
Before anyone asks, I've already looked up city bylaws and there's no specified noise limit or time as when sounds can be considered a nuisance. It's considered a nuisance if it disturbs a person's or neighborhood's peaceable enjoyment (and no, we're not the type of people who will call the cops for someone mowing their lawn at 7AM).
That being said, is there another option that I have short of having to call the cops all the time and have them considering us a nuisance? As it stands, if this goes on much longer, I might explore taking my neighbor (and/or their landlord) to court for the constant nuisance. And no, I will not resort to blasting them with crappy music from my own system, I don't need the tables turned.
Also, installing extra soundproofing isn't an option at the moment as our house is up for sale.
TLDR: Neighbors rented out their half of the semi-detached house we live in (built in 2014) and their tenants are getting to be noisy with music/movies for long periods of time, especially with their damn woofer penetrating the walls and vibrating our floors. Wife has sensitive hearing and can't stand the racket as it gives her a hell of a headache and makes her sick. Asked them to stop, they didn't, their landlord is useless. So now we're calling the cops. I don't want to do it everyday, so now I want alternatives. And no, blasting crappy music isn't in the cards, I don't need the noise tickets. That being said, I'm considering about lawyering up.
Location: Montreal -> CT -> MA -> Montreal -> Ottawa
17,330 posts, read 33,029,371 times
Reputation: 28903
Ugh! I'm sorry that you're going through this. Your wife and I are the same -- the slightest noise sounds HUGE and LOUD to me too.
My takeaway from your post was this: [...]our house is up for sale.
I know that even another minute with those neighbors is horrible but, since you're selling anyway, just keep calling the police when it's too loud. They'll tell you if you should stop calling them.
Good luck with the sale of your house. I hope that it sells quickly.
Thanks for the support, but our house has been sitting on the market for over a year now. We've since changed agents as the other one seemed to be just sitting on his rear and not doing much in terms of marketing.
Is this the first time something like this happened to you?
This happens all the time (literally) in Latin America, and that's why I was thinking about moving to Canada...hope your situation is an exception and not common...
P.S I thought that Canada was like the nordic countries where the majority of people respect each other and follow the rules...
Location: Montreal -> CT -> MA -> Montreal -> Ottawa
17,330 posts, read 33,029,371 times
Reputation: 28903
Quote:
Originally Posted by mike_art03a
Thanks for the support, but our house has been sitting on the market for over a year now. We've since changed agents as the other one seemed to be just sitting on his rear and not doing much in terms of marketing.
Buying of houses is less of an agent thing nowadays and more of on the buyer. We all have access to the MLS and other resources and can see the available houses without an agent telling us what's on the market.
On the seller side -- and I know that you don't want to hear this -- maybe your house isn't priced right. That's usually the reason that a house doesn't sell -- it's priced too high. Maybe bite the bullet, eat the crow, suck it up, and lower your price? Your wife is unhappy, you're unhappy, just do what you've got to do to move on? If your house has been ACTIVELY on the market for a year now, that'll be harder since people know ("oh, it's that house... still") so you might need to pull it off the market now and put it back up in May/June, with updated pictures. And an updated price. And probably a new agent.
I hope that you'll soon be done with this. I feel and understand your pain.
Is this the first time something like this happened to you?
This happens all the time (literally) in Latin America, and that's why I was thinking about moving to Canada...hope your situation is an exception and not common...
P.S I thought that Canada was like the nordic countries where the majority of people respect each other and follow the rules...
Howdy!
I've dealt with noisy neighbors in the past, but they didn't realize how much their music was carrying through the wall and they were nice enough to adjust until it wasn't a bother. So this is more of the exception than the norm. As I've said, my neighbors weren't too much of a headache until recently, it doesn't bother my wife and I if we hear the odd thump or boom of the woofer once in a while. It's another story when we have to put up with the racket and shaking floors for more than 20-30 minutes straight.
Buying of houses is less of an agent thing nowadays and more of on the buyer. We all have access to the MLS and other resources and can see the available houses without an agent telling us what's on the market.
On the seller side -- and I know that you don't want to hear this -- maybe your house isn't priced right. That's usually the reason that a house doesn't sell -- it's priced too high. Maybe bite the bullet, eat the crow, suck it up, and lower your price? Your wife is unhappy, you're unhappy, just do what you've got to do to move on? If your house has been ACTIVELY on the market for a year now, that'll be harder since people know ("oh, it's that house... still") so you might need to pull it off the market now and put it back up in May/June, with updated pictures. And an updated price. And probably a new agent.
I hope that you'll soon be done with this. I feel and understand your pain.
I know what you're getting at. We've already dropped the price by $15,000 and aren't shy to entertain reasonable offers. I'm not looking to make a large profit, but I'd like to have enough of one (after mortgage and realtor commission) so that I can use it to make a decent down payment on another home (a single house this time).
We've had a few offers, but most of them have been on condition of financing... suffice to say, they fizzled out. The other ones were asking if we'd sell for less than $50k+ under our selling price... that'd still leave me on the hook for part of the mortgage.
Location: Montreal -> CT -> MA -> Montreal -> Ottawa
17,330 posts, read 33,029,371 times
Reputation: 28903
I hear ya. Selling in the winter is always a rough ride. I hope that the sun of spring shines on you and your house.
I'll just tell you this story so that you don't feel like you're in the worst position ever in the history of ever. We were living in Connecticut when my husband was offered his dream job in Massachusetts. This was in 2011. We hadn't found a buyer for our CT house (which we'd bought at the peak of the bubble in 2006), but we found the PERFECT house in MA. And commuting from CT to MA until we sold was beyond ridiculous. So we bought the MA house. Before we even had an offer on the CT house. Yup, two mortgages. Joy! Obviously at that point, you could have offered me a lint-covered TicTac that you dug out of your pocket, along with the most insulting low-ball offer -- or just the damn TicTac! -- and I would have handed you the keys, given you my congratulations, told you what day was garbage pickup, and baked "enjoy your new house" cookies for you in THE KITCHEN THAT I'D JUST HAD COMPLETELY REMODELLED A YEAR AGO! Suffice to say, that's pretty much what happened. We lost a boatload of money on that house in Connecticut. But y'know what? We loved our house in MA and quickly forgot about all the lost money in CT. It's life. You win some, you lose some, but if you're happy where you are now -- right now -- all the poop that happened before gets forgotten and you just enjoy the now.
When the music is booming next door......Go next door and ASK the person who answers the door...To come into YOUR place and listen to the racket. Then point out that their music is YOUR NOISE. If they turn down the music WHEN they answer the door.....It is TOO loud.
When the music is booming next door......Go next door and ASK the person who answers the door...To come into YOUR place and listen to the racket. Then point out that their music is YOUR NOISE. If they turn down the music WHEN they answer the door.....It is TOO loud.
Sorry for the delay in my response as work has been keeping me busy.
I've already tried talked to them, twice, and all I got was a hostile, yelling whatever. Didn't even allow me to finish my sentence before he told me to take a hike (and this is me keeping what he said polite). I work security for a living so I'm a pretty patient guy (and I put up with a lot working in a hospital), so angry people don't really bother me one bit. However, after getting the hostility treatment twice, and my mother in-law's boyfriend once because he asked the guy to move his car over a bit because it was blocking his truck's passenger door (we have a shared lane-way and the 2 folks next park in a staggered formation and use our half of the lane-way to come/go).
Now, for a new twist, my neighbor's wife had the balls to threaten my mother in-law on Friday telling her that 'we'd better sell our house soon and move the **** out. Because we'll have more problems coming.' While not a direct threat to our safety, this matter was reported to the authorities so we have a paper trail. Now I'm considering seeking legal counsel to what options are open to me.
So yeah... the fun continues... I should write a book.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
