Garden Pictures Chat Corner

Does the neighbor have other neighbors? If yes, how do they see it?

And sorry, counter-noise is really the last kindergarten. Then he makes his music even louder, it doesn't seem to bother him himself. What do you do then?

I can't really imagine that it would count as normal room volume (at least the low frequencies) if he is playing music on his property and I can hear it OVER my TV in my living room with the windows closed?

Neither can I. But then it’s not just 45 dB. Your own TV should be about 60 dB at normal volume. Yes, room modes can increase sound pressure at a specific position. When two peaks of a sine wave meet, they are twice as strong as normal. And bass frequencies are indeed a special case anyway. I gather the neighbors are no longer very willing to compromise? Have you ever invited the neighbor over when his speaker is on? Maybe then he’ll realize it can’t be considered normal room volume anymore? Difficult situation. Legally, you can only be sure through an expert assessment, but whether it will measure in your favor is unfortunately not certain.

Try counter-sound for real.

I tried that on Sunday. Took our little Alexa outside, said "play Rammstein," then turned it up as loud as possible. I don't think it could compete, don't know if he even noticed. We only have a small Echo Dot in the living room, it can't get that loud. Besides, that helped me little because I can't be outside with all that noise either. Regarding other noises: When people work in the garden on a Sunday, cheering on the sports field, kids croaking/shouting — that doesn't bother me a bit. No sound pressure bothers me there either. Those are sounds I can easily keep in the background. They are not disturbing noises for me. What bothers me is music/noise. I'm a person who doesn't listen to music "on the side." Either I listen to music, then I mainly focus on it mentally — or I have it off. I don't understand people who let themselves be bombarded with music in the background. Not in any situation. I can't do that. Many people listen to music while gaming — doesn't work for me, it distracts me a lot. Where there's a rhythm, a line, a bass running — my mind follows the line. I can't switch that off. I can't remember a time in my life when that wasn't the case. Regarding psychological issues, I definitely see a doctor, have done so in the past. But I doubt whether a certain musicality / musically focused disposition can be "cured" with therapy. You can't cure a language talent or color blindness either. Some things are simply rooted in the person. I have actually considered moving. But on one hand I would feel sorry for our beautiful house and all the work we've put into it, and we also partially financed it with the home savings plan and subsidies, and I shy away from the bureaucratic effort of figuring all that out and settling everything.

that may be childish, but what if talking doesn’t help? Police because of noise disturbance?

what does the neighbor say to his other side?

what does the neighbor say to his other side?

This really only affects us. We have the only directly adjacent garden. Behind our gardens is meadow/trees. And on the other side there is first a pedestrian path and some nature, and the next neighbor lives basically "around the corner." Between the noise source and the neighbor stands his house -> he shouldn't notice anything. For us, it only affects the living room and the garden. In front of the house, I hardly hear anything anymore.

Edit: When we first met, the neighbor also told us that in the rental apartment they once had "nitpicky neighbors" who constantly called the police on them just because they listened to music... :rolleyes:

Me neither. But then it's not just 45 dB.
Your own TV should be about 60 dB at normal volume.

Yes, room modes can increase the sound pressure at a specific position. When two peaks of a sine wave meet, they act twice as strong as normal. And bass frequencies are particularly special anyway.

I gather that the neighbors are not very willing to compromise anymore? Have you ever invited the neighbor over when his speaker is on? Maybe then he’d realize it can no longer be considered just room volume?

It’s a difficult situation. Legally, you can only be sure with an expert opinion, but whether the expert will measure in your favor is unfortunately not certain.

We don’t have our TV particularly loud now. For example, children’s programs, where there is often little talking when we watch with the little one. And whenever not much “happens” on TV, you just hear the bass thumping.

Whether they are still willing to compromise, I don’t know. We have children the same age. The two can play nicely together, we have good conversations. We have also talked a few times about the music—and messaged 1-2 times on WhatsApp. I once sent a message asking if they could turn it off when they are no longer outside because we wanted to watch TV. No reply, but they turned it off then.
In face-to-face conversations, I might be too timid. I told them that the sound echoes extremely in our place, especially the bass. He then said something like “that’s strange, we don’t hear anything from you,” and I just thought, “no wonder, we don’t make noise,” but I didn’t say it. I’ve always tried to hint at it gently, but he eventually said “well, it’s just room volume, you have to put up with it, I should at least be able to hear it while I’m working,” and then I never know what to say. I don’t want to have trouble with them, but I also can’t use my garden like this.
If it happens again next Sunday, we’re thinking of going over and politely asking if they could turn it off, because we want to sit outside and it annoys us a lot.

I always approach them a bit gently. I don’t know if you know people like this—I don’t know much about them, but from little small talk, I always hear the same pattern: They have stress with their (ex-) employer, court cases, previous trouble with neighbors, stress with childcare... it paints a picture that they somehow always feel “treated unfairly.” It reminds me a bit of the old man on the highway who hears on the radio “ghost driver on the A28,” and says “one? hundreds!”...
I just want to keep things low-key because I don’t want to immediately join the league of people who have trouble with them. :D But I also want to be able to be in the garden on Sundays.