This is my issue too, and our next door neighbor is obsessive about his lawn, mowing and blowing 3X per week in spring and fall and 2X in summer, with 2 different types of lawnmowers - so 2 passes for mowing, then all the weed-whacking, then the (gas) blower. Takes 1.5 hours, normally from 4:30 - 6 pm (the time of day we like to be on our deck.) Our plots are small with no fence or hedge in between, so he is right on top of us when he mows. He also blows rain, snow and stray leaves off his lawn - basically he likes to put the blower backpack on most days when he gets home from work and on the week-ends. He works as a truck and auto mechanic and he also owns a race car, so we think he is addicted to noise.
We keep our yard pretty well maintained, but I know it drives him crazy that we use a landscaping service that swoops onto the street and gets about 5 yards done within 20 minutes, and doesnât always leave a neat straight edge where our 2 lawns meet (he pointed it out to us once this summer, and honestly I could not see what he was complaining about!)
All the noise and his constant presence in his yard drives me nuts, but I do remind myself that a neighbor with an unkept yard or yappy dogs would be way worse!
Have lived in this house for 25 years and can happily say we have great neighbors, no annoyances- even when people have moved, new people are great. There is a reason why some of us donât want to leave! I feel very fortunate.
When I take walks I have noticed a guy a few streets over who does this. He blows everything from his yard out in to the street. AND THEN he blows everything in the street in front of his house âawayâ (i.e. so it is in front of his neighborsâ houses, not his).
I donât care about having grass clippings in the street in front of my house, but if I lived next door to him I think I might return them to him.
@Embracethemess I would take an overgrown yard and a pack of howling dogs over your neighborâs yardwork noise, anytime. I actually have to leave my house while that kind of work is going on. I tried noise cancelling ear muffs but they donât really address the issue.
And @MAmomto4 this is why I just donât get leaf blowers. The wind can blow everything right back or the debris ends up in someone elseâs yard. I have even seen landscapers chasing one leaf
Our landscapers put the leaves into a mulch machine and take them away. Leaves and grass are not allowed in the street, vegetation not removed by landscapers needs to be put in green recycling bins or biodegradable paper bags to be picked up.
I do actually try to plan my walks and grocery store trips around when I know he will probably be mowing! Itâs not as bad in the heat of the summer when the windows are closed for A/C and he doesnât mow as often, but Spring and Fall are brutal - so.much.noise! It took me awhile to figure out that I had heightened sensitivity due to my (pulsatile) tinnitus and thatâs why I get so agitated about it! I have told my husband that he will probably be the catalyst that will force us into making our next move!! Iâm also sensitive to high-pitched barking dogs so that could be worse if it was all day - at least with him I know I have peace until he gets home at 4!
We also have a weed smoking young man next door. Heâs around 27 Iâd say and I guess his parents donât let him smoke in the house. Heâs always sitting in his car smoking. So many times Iâll go to walk the dog and think I smell a skunk but then I see him and he gives me a big wave.
Iâve been surprised by how friendly most of our neighbors have been after they had to endure over a year of demolition and construction of our new home. Only one has made negative comments about the house, ending with how he didnât understand why we had to tear down the old one. H told him that he just didnât like the color of the brick and walked away while the guyâs mouth was hanging open. He hasnât spoken to either of us since then.
We have big inflatables of Mickey and Minnie that our granddaughter loves so theyâre on the front porch October - December, getting changed out for each holiday. If anyone finds them tacky they havenât said. One little girl waved to Minnie on her way to preschool each morning last year. I wish I could find a pair for each month, but that might be pushing my luck.
Iâm not anti weed (itâs legal here) but Iâd be mad if anyone smoked anything in my home. My sons have smoked in their cars (I learned when I had to move them), I told them theyâre idiots because if you get pulled over, being in a car that smells like pot is not a good idea.
Our neighbor recently bought an old derelict military Jeep and parked it in his driveway. It had a clear plastic tote underneath, to catch all the oil or whatever fluid had leaked out, which was full to the brim. A rock jammed in front of a tire was the only thing keeping it in the driveway. The HOA (which doesnât allow inoperable vehicles in the driveways) didnât take action for months, until it was covered in cobwebs and droppings from his tree. We donât trust the guy so we didnât want to be the ones report him. He finally cleaned it up but the vehicle and the rock are still there.
We are pretty quiet neighbors, and we keep our yard reasonably well, but our son is a musician with quite a loud baritone voice and plays a few instruments as well. I have often wondered what the neighbors think of his practicing or his singing in the shower at all hours.
Weâve had some painful barking-dog situations in the past, but all has been good lately .
But my favorite neighbor story was one that didnât really inconvenience us directly, other than causing minor facepalm injuries. Next door neighbor George had been grumbling for a while about having to pay a ârooterâ company every six months or so, to clean out the sewage pipes. But they were older houses with roots grown into the pipes, so it was what it was. Well, George thought he was cleverer than the rest of us: he decided to dump RoundUp down his toilet. Imagine his shock and bewilderment when a brown line appeared down the middle of his yard, and then spread to engulf most of his lawn. Poor George - who couldâve seen that coming?
One neighbor loved their backyard firepit - EVERY evening. Unfortunately, Iâm allergic or highly sensitive to the smoke, and cannot be outside at all during that time. These are great neighbors, so I never knew if or how to approach them, so did not. They have every right, but at the same time, it meant we could not enjoy our yard at all most evenings. Fortunately, the novelty waned, and use is now far less.
Very loud trucks or cars especially at 5am (adjacent driveway is 10â from all our bedrooms).
Our two immediate neighbors must hate trees. Two beautiful mature maples near our front yard property line were removed for no apparent reason (not diseased or structural, no branches over the house, not near any utilities). They shaded our home much more than theirs, so I donât think light was an issue either. When we moved into our home, all our back yards were part of a beautiful wooded nature corridor, that prior neighbors left natural, as did we. Deer, fox, rabbits, occasional coyote, owls, hawks, and numerous birds were all visitors. Both new neighbors proceeded to cut down the trees, or re-grade (killing remaining trees). A developer totally destroyed the adjacent wooded area (clearing over 100 trees and filling the natural stream). I continue to mourn the loss.
We left our rear yard natural. Iâm assuming we are now âthoseâ neighbors who do not maintain their suburban lot.
Our kid is a trumpet player. All our neighbors asked was that we close our windows if he was practicing after 9 p.m. (they had younger kids who had been put to bed). This was no problem. Same neighbors now say they miss his practicing.
Our kids are both musicians and have âtreatedâ the neighbors to the âwonderfulâ sounds of music practice since my son started with the squeaky violin at age 5⊠then piano, viola, cello, French horn, alto sax, ⊠Itâs often a bit much for ME, but no neighbor has ever complained. Our rule is no loud practice after 8 PM and I guess thatâs ok with everyone. On the whole, we have great neighbors. I was reading through this thread and realized that I donât have any annoying stories to add!
Kids in the neighborhood we used to live would use Roundup or some grass killer to write obscenities on lawns. We did not have a lawn so they only unsuccessfully tried to smash our sturdy mailbox with baseball bats.
Itâs often a bit much for ME, but no neighbor has ever complained. Our rule is no loud practice after 8 PM and I guess thatâs ok with everyone. On the whole, we have great neighbors. I was reading through this thread and realized that I donât have any annoying stories to add!