Noisy Neighbours with kid screaming at a Unit complex

We have recently moved into a unit in a complex comprised of 6 units and the worst nightmare has come true: the noisy neighbours coupled with their little kid screaming. We have now developed a mental disorder as we cannot sleep properly and during our sleep, there is always a fear that the noise may come at any time.

1/ At anytime of the day, the kid will go outside onto the driveway or on the balcony on the first floor and starts yelling or sometime screaming for his mom and dad (It was like MOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM).
2/ That is not the end (obviously), he and his mom treat the driveway, which is right in front of our bedroom and his playground and they often play together and inevitably, laugh together in a very loud manner as if there is no other living in the complex.
3/ To make it worse, their neighbours, which are likely to be their friends often join the fun and together, making it like a kindergarten, right in front of our bedroom.
4/ Now for the worst, the adults often chit chat over the balconies right above our bedroom really loudly and because they live on the first floor, if there is anyone on the ground floor (the driveway) wanting to talk to the one on the first floor, they will yell out.

Those happen at anytime during the day from 8am-9pm and we can hear the noise at a full volume from our bedroom.

To brief you guys about the location, the complex comprised of 6 units. Our is the one on the ground floor and our bedroom faces the driveway. There is a balcony in between the bedroom and the driveway. Their units are of the exact same location and same setting but are directly above ours and next to each other (so the balconies are directly above our balconies and next to each other).

Please give us a hint as to what we can do. We have talked to them in several occasions and they keep making empty promises.

P.s. we rent and they rent as well

Comments

  • +2

    Luckily at ozbargain, we have just the thing you need
    https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/253167

  • +1

    How long is the lease for there?
    That was worse than my situation in Sydney sleeping 3 meters from a constantly barking Rottweiler.

    Can you afford to move? either to another place near where you are, or into the countryside?

    You have my sympathy, I know what it's like.


    People are the worst.

  • +4

    Prank them. Hint: Conjuring 2

  • +2

    Wrap the kid up in carpet and chuck it off a bridge

    • +2

      Is there a OzB post for cheap carpet?

      • +1

        I actually searched, LOL. All i could find was someone asking for cheap carpet in the forums, which makes me wonder what that person wanted it for? Hmmm…

        • +1

          For renovating an apartment. What else? evil grin

  • +1

    It's call living life mate. Why don't you do the same? When they're outside your bedroom having fun, you could be inside having fun very loudly. Consummate, mate!

    • +1

      What is your address mate? I am sure shinichiduy will have no problem sending the brats your way.

  • +1

    Dude, I really feel for you and in my experience, the ill feeling makes the noise even worse. As a few others have suggested - this is a lost cause. For your own sanity, if recommend:

    1. Make plans to leave, excessive noise might even be enough to break your lease in a month or so with a sympathetic agent.

    2. Make friends with the neighbours - this wont help the noise but will help with your mental health. Have a pizza night - invite the kids and their families over - get some computer games for the kids, wine for the parents and just let it go.

    I think making the best of your situation and preparing to leave really is your best option. I'm really sorry for you but at least this way your wont feel trapped in your own house.

  • +1

    we used to be living in similar situation… a couple moved in with 3 kids above us(they bought the property and no idea how they can stuff 2 adults, two boys and a girl into a 2 bedroom unit), the kids are just jumping from sofa or bed to their floor ( our ceiling) and run in all rooms… tried to talk to them nicely but the mum just does not give it a damn, lead her kids in front of me and tells me :" you tell them, not to run in rooms…" we talked to one of the police officer and not much help at all, after all, they cannot do much as well….

    however… playing in drive way is something you can complain for sure… as it increases the risk to the kids and bring troubles for everyone who use the drive way.

    PS. we ended up moving out of the building and found a new place to live… just cannot win.

    • +2

      This is what baffles me. Why are some kids so well behaved? Is it the parents doing anything different? Is is it their demeanor towards their kids or just some parents lacking in teaching their kids discipline.

      • apparently… in my case, I/we cannot touch the area how other parents rise their kids, it is a very sensitive area I was scared to touch, in my case, I was told by that mum - by quoting her original words :" … I encouraged my kids to step on the new plastic bag they found, I have my way to rise my own child!!!"

        well… I do not really care except… her encouragement caused a big bang over my head followed by other tow and then 6 bare feet running on timber floor for next 45 minutes while I was trying to have more sleep on Sat. morning…

        that was where "just cannot win" from

        • +2

          And therein lies part of the problem. Others should not have to tell any parent how to raise their own kids. Granted.

          However part of how one should raise their kids is to show respect. Respect for ones self and others.

          How is a kid who has grown up always getting their way by simply yelling, hurting themselves and others and throwing tantrums going to take rejections later in life when they never hear the word no from their own flesh and blood?

  • +2

    Stand on your balcony when the kids are playing, speak really loudly with lots of swear words, do the vaccuming at night, bounce a basketball above their bedroom (if u live above them) play recorded crying baby noises from your balcony…actually play all kinds of weird noises from your balcony…like crickets chirping, that always drives me nuts. Lol

  • -1

    Dude you live in units, stop being a tight arse and go rent a house away from it all!

    • +1

      Or the other tenants can stop being tightarses and rent a house with proper buffers between them and the neighbours so their activities don't impact on others.

  • -1

    move to the farm that way you can be sure that there are no humans living next to you…or get married and have children that way you may understand as to why children like to play outside.

  • Suck it up, buy some earplugs. If you're worried about sleeping through an alarm get a smart watch/sportband that vibrates to wake you, then move when the lease expires.

    I guarantee your claims of mental strain are invalid. Especially if you the noise only occurs between 8am and 9pm (which as mentioned is not unreasonable). If that is the worst of it, you actually have it pretty lightly for living in a unit complex.

    I would say unless the parents are unemployed the noise should stop at 9am when the kids go to school anyway.
    Try working night shifts from 6pm to 6am frequently, whilst being an engineering student and living next to a building site (in the leichhardt area construction noise can start at 6am) making sleep very difficult.
    I guarantee a concrete saw will beat kids and noisy neighbours any day of the week.

  • if you have a strata manager request a set of bi laws and send a written complaint as most sets of bi laws are based on peaceful enjoyment… or just find a way of have a non confrontation chat asking them to keep it down

  • +3

    OP, having been in your situation (I was working full time and studying post grad full time) I can empathise with what you're going through and have the following advice:

    1. Society does have measures in place to deal with issues like these… Body Corporate By-Laws will have a clause on noise. Likewise, your local council will deal with noise in some way too. Unfortunately, they usually require more effort than it should be to sort the noise issues and unless you are willing to put in the effort to mount a case, it won't be effective going down this avenue.

    2. Paying them back like for like isn't a good option. You can turn up music or get a loud dog but these actions will then make you a target when it comes to by-laws, etc. From my experience, loud talking and noisy kids seem to be immune to laws even if they do it so loud that you can hear them as if they're in your own home for 12hrs+ every day.

    3. The frequency and magnitude of noise is a subjective thing and even in the law system, they look at what is "reasonable" which is different from one person's view to the next. This caters for different situations but also makes your options in (1) a pain to work through. What the measures in (1) also don't consider is the sum of all noise factors. If you're unlucky enough to have 5 or 6 sources of highly interruptive noise around you, they may each be reasonable on their own but the sum can be too disruptive to facilitate your study needs.

    4. This may be generalising but from my experience over the past decade or more, if you rent in a complex that has got low rent, you will more than likely be living next to noisy neighbours. They can range from families clearly too big to be living in a 2brm units to low income earners who keep pumping out noisy kids to blue collar workers who spend their weekends partying loudly. And having dealt with a dozen families as neighbours in 2brm units over a decade, I can only recall one that was quiet… a Korean mother who was very polite and was clearly good at parenting by how well behaved and healthy her kids were. In my current 3brm townhouse complex, I've yet to encounter a noisy family… and we have a few with toddlers. Socio-economics is a factor to consider when you're renting.

    So my solution is two fold:

    A. Be prepared to move. Tell your renting agent that there is a noise issue that stops you from being able to study even with ear plugs (those things don't work with high pitched kids screaming as you said… I can vouch for that). Hopefully, their owner will do something about it but more likely than not, it won't be successful. Ask on Whirlpool.net.au's "home" forum about how to go about breaking your lease in Melbourne.

    B. Rent a larger property with more people in a suburb with good numbers of professionals compared to blue collar workers and low income earners… I suggest at least a 3brm townhouse with 2 bathrooms. Per person it should be the same or better than a 2brm unit between 2 people (assuming that is your current living situation) but it will more than likely weed out those from a socio economic background more likely to make noise. Do your due diligence and visit the new area at least 3 or 4 times during days, nights and weekends to see if anyone is noisy. Music you can lodge a noise complaint with the police and pets can be dealt with via by laws easily… but the noisy talkers and kids you need to avoid.

    Hope that helps. Feel free to PM me if you have further questions.

  • +1

    First thing, talk to them and also suggest that driveways are not play areas. If that doesn't work, talk to the agent and escalate the matter to strata.

    • +1

      Whilst I concur that some dialogue should be the first step, the OP has already stated that they've tried this with no results.

      And whilst I do believe one should stand their ground on such matters, experience has taught me that there's enough parents out there who want to provide for their kids as much as they can, but don't have the means to do it in a socially responsible way that when it comes to a "backyard" for their kids to play in, they'll treat body corporate common areas as their own no matter what.

      Society has a way of seeing this as bullying when these sorts of parents don't get their way.

  • Sell your unit for a bargain! Post it here on OzBargain.

    • Of course, sell a unit they don't own!

  • I will take playing and laughing kids anytime vs drunk neighbors partying and making a lot of noise at 1am

    • +1

      I wouldn't put up with either… but if I was to decide between the two, I'd prefer for drunk, partying neighbours.

      You can lodge noise complaints with the police to deal with the drunks… and if they keep being a nuisance, the more ammunition the police has to deal with this. Noisy kids and irresponsible parents is harder to deal with (and I've dealt with some really noisy kids that don't stop for like 10hrs straight whilst their parents chat over the phone the whole day… both of which I can hear clearly from my own unit).

  • How old is the kid?

    I'd befriend the kid and start telling them all kinds of stuff that would annoy the neighbours.

    Depending on how old they are:
    Starting from:

    "Santa isn't alive" to "this is how babies are made"
    Here is an awesome game called doom that you should play
    Hey have you heard about the website called redt…

    If you don't want to talk to them you could just leave notes with the above lying around.

  • I was just sitting here reading this thread, and then suddenly I could hear a number of children running around a laughing outside my window… I think they might be my neighbours… I've never noticed them before, I wonder how long they've lived there.

  • I'd just move out. And be more careful about your new place. Keep moving until you find something nice.

  • +1

    Soundproof:

    http://www.ecomaster.com.au/how-to-insulate-your-windows-wit…

    http://www.builditsolar.com/Projects/Conservation/bubblewrap…

    buy it online here: https://www.google.com.au/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&rlz=…

    Better than suffering or starting a war it sounds like you'd lose.
    If they're poor parents then they haven't any consideration for you, let alone their kid(s).
    They'll find ways to punish you for daring to expect them to be decent neighbours.

    Good luck!

  • Go live some place very rural where people don't exist. I think you would be happy

  • +1

    Play some really loud porn.

    Go to the neighbours, tell them nonchalantly that you have been criminally charged with children related misdemeanour previously. and you are trying your best not to do it again.

    Bring cookies though when you visit the neighbour, be a bit creepy :)

    Let them play the worst scenario over their head

    :) :) :)

    • -2

      Porn will probably not work for them. They have no morals. Anyone who would willingly allow their kids to play and annoy others intentionally really doesn't give a s#!t!

      • +1

        At first I thought you must be a joking troll, but further down this page you have also recommended that the OP throws their urine on the area that kids play in.

        It takes a real horrible excuse of a human being to make those statements if they actually mean them.

        I wouldn't be surprised if next you will be telling the OP to key their neighbours cars and slash their tires, because kids are playing in their shared common ground.

  • Move out, but really check over the new place first.

    • Why should they have to move? By your logic they would be moving every time they encounter a inconsiderate #%@%@
      If you are renting complain to your agent. They are getting paid and it is their job not yours to address such issues.

      • But how are you going to stop kids being kids? Agents aren't going to be able to do much.

  • DIY some ultra-high-frequency device against them (speaker, amplifier point toward walls 24x7) and kill them from the inside!!

  • +1

    Send a letter to the neighbour addressed as someone else saying you're a paedophile and for them to be careful.

    • -1

      Never do anything like this, you put yourself at risk from people that think they are justified in committing violent acts, etc. against someone they suspect of being a threat.

      The risk is statistically too large to try this. Do anything else, including moving out.

      IME parents usually think others (and society more generally) have an obligation to help them bring up their children. Some even believe everyone else should school them, educate them, mentor them, provide healthcare, discipline them and even love them like they do. Not everyone does, and that's just a fact of life. However always, if you do not wish to display adoration in abundance of their efforts to contribute their DNA back to the world you risk being looked upon as the neighbourhood grump. Children are the fault of their parents in many more ways than the law mandates, so when parents shirk their responsibilities the offspring quickly become a real imposition to others.

      But if your neighbours behave as they do, you will not change them and worse, they will have some level of this thinking.

      Society is not always to us. We have to make the best of it. But to do so, you are living in the wrong place.

      Beware of loud units with flimsy walls as well as loud neighbours. Live in a solid house in a quiet location or alternately a loud area where the threshold level of noise is so high you will get used to that and human-generated sound will be less annoying.

  • Sooooooooo………find a solution…….Move I've been in the same situation, I found someone else to move into my place marched into realestate agents with new people signed it over to them and got out of that sinking boat.

  • +3

    Firstly, this is a bad place to get advice judging from how nasty the suggestions are. My advice, use your brain. You live in a unit complex so you don't want neighbours as enemies because that never ends well. Talk to them and ask them nicely if they could try to keep the noise to a minimum and explain why. People are generally understanding when you're not acting like a tool. It's no wonder the world is in such a state!

    • +1

      I agree that this is a bad place to ask for advice… this is a bargain hunting website, not one to discuss social issues.

      But towards the end of the OPs post, they did say that they've tried talking to the neighbours.

      And personally, having dealt with numerous noise issues over the years, my experience is that people are happy to understand but not happy to change. I use to be one who would try talking to the neighbours first but it just made things worse when they do nothing about it and instead be noisier. When I hit the 10th or so inconsiderate neighbour who thought that my right to peace and quiet was a joke… well, my will to be fair in my approach just doesn't exist anymore. These days, if people decide to be unreasonably noisy and not follow by-laws, I just lodge the issue with the body corp or a noise complaint with the police. The noise issue goes away pretty quickly… sometimes those neighbours too.

      One of the more comical situations (and I can say comical now that I no longer live there) was when I had to put up with a noisy family on the top floor of my complex, as well as the "Fri to Sun… lets PARTY LOUDLY!" kind of people on the two complexes to each side of mine. The family on the top floor was so loud that even the partiers would yell out of them to "Shut the f#%k up!". The partiers would throw litter or beer bottles at that family's unit too. One of the units in my complex was commission housing and with one of the mentally ill guys they put in there… well, all the noisy folk sure got a taste of what I had been going through. None of them stopped for a second to think that maybe if everyone just kept noise low enough so it didn't travel outside their own lot, then maybe we'd have all been living in a nicer area.

      • Didn't realise they'd exhausted that option. I've had issues with my next door neighbour bring spiteful and ride to my wife in the past and after repeated requests for him to stop, I just sort of evicted him. Luckily I was his landlord lol. He didn't see that coming.

        • LOL. Good position to be in. That's one way to get to pick your neighbours!

  • -1

    If you can't change your world, change yourself.

  • +2

    Which state are you in? If you're in NSW there are laws to protect you in this situation. For example, "Tenants have a basic right to quiet enjoyment of the premises they are renting". In the first instance I would speak to fair trading. If you have no luck with them speak with your real estate agent, explaining you want the owner to be notified that another lot is interrupting your right to quiet and enjoyment of your premises. Your owner then has an obligation to speak with the strata manager (or if there is not one, directly to the owner of the offending lot) requesting that the noise stops, and if it doesn't you have recourse to take the offending lot owner to the tribunal. If it gets to this than gather all documents including the doctors diagnosis. It is definitely worth fighting, it is becoming more and more common in today's inconsiderate society.

    • They're in Melbourne but all states should have similar standard by laws.

  • +2

    Im shocked, kids playing out side your window and of all things laughing. People talking to each other…

    Sounds like hell.

    What has Australia come to..

  • -1

    play some pantera at 3am,

  • I have a better idea…. Just urinate into a bucket and throw it in the area where they play. If they continue to play there you can sit back and laugh knowing what you have done.

    • +1

      You know how sometimes people hear about someone's friend who got cancer and they feel obligated to say 'oh, how sad'?

      Well if someone told me their friend got cancer, but also told me that in the past they threw their urine where children play just out of spite I would say 'well, some people deserve cancer'.

      • +1

        Well what responsible parent would let their kids play in a place that smells like urine?

        It is easy for you to say when you are not the one being victimized by inconsiderate neighbours. Surely they can take their kids to the local park to play or let them play inside. Being a good neighbour is having respect for others … if they have no respect for the quality of lifestyle for others they can get stuffed.

  • I can't say my approach would be the best but it worked for me. Opposite my unit there were tenants that would skateboard, drink and talk loudly on the driveway. After about the 5th night I went outside onto my veranda and asked them to please keep quiet. I said you treat the place like you are the only people living here. I had a sick child at the time and there all night parties were just too much. They apologised and said they didn't know my child was sick otherwise they would have been quiet to which I replied no one needs to be sick for you to be respectful of others. Thank goodness they moved out 2 days later!

    Edited to add: If you don't have a dog get one so every time they're out being unreasonable with noise the dog will bark at them :). Mind you, it could keep you awake some more though.

  • +5

    Hi all,

    Thanks a lot for all of your suggestions/recommendations/creativity and even some of your negative views about our possible oversensitiveness. It is really the diversity of the discussions that helps me a lot.

    While it is so tempted to get back at them in a way that they would never expect, thanks to your creativity, it is generally our last resort so we will keep your ideas duly noted in our minds in case we have nothing else to lose and will bookmark this thread to update you guys if we try it.

    We have written again to the agent and they seem to quiet down a bit, but this may well be because of the winter and rain at the moment. We will be looking to move and will take this as a lesson in looking for other property even though it is quite hard to break the lease to be honest. I hope you guys will get something out of this as well in case you are looking for a place to buy/rent. Make sure that you camp the place at a random time for 1 hour for at least 2 days to avoid situations like this.

    While I acknowledge that the situation might sound ridiculous to some of you guys, holding the view that kids have the right to play and adults have the right to talk in public or at least in a common area, it is not really the right that I am talking about but about the subjective impact to other people. Just because what you are doing is reasonable does not mean it does not cause any negative impact to other person. If there are other reasonable alternatives, I think you should consider stopping what you are doing even though it is perfectly within your right to do it.

    In our case, the real reason behind is the poor soundproofness of the windows which we have no control over that causes this difficulty and had the windows been soundproofed properly, the sound would only have been heard slightly, which should have been perfectly ok for us. They knew of this, they knew that if they let their kids play like that, it will inconvenient their neighbours and still they keep doing that. It is not about the reasonableness of their action but about the subjective impact on others and that they have full knowledge of it. Also, there are other reasonable alternatives that they could consider, even though at a slightly lesser degree of convenience.

    This is not to mention that it is also dangerous to play in the driveway, that we are entitled to the quiet enjoyment of our property and that they have the obligation not cause us to lose that right but it is best to not go towards this legal direction.

    Again, thanks all for your comments.

    • +1

      Well put OP. The negative impact on others is what this is all about.

      For anyone who still thinks the matter is a non-issue, noise from one lot or the common area disturbing other lots for extended or overly frequent periods can be looked at similarly to cigarette smoke going from one lot or the common area into another lot. In both cases, it's something negative being posed on others without their consent.

      In QLD atm, it's within the right of occupants to not have to take responsibility for putting other lots' occupants in the position of passive smoking but the body corp act is being looked at to have this changed. So considering a clause on noise is in the standard by-laws but smoking isn't, you'd think that noise affecting others would definitely be considered an issue.

      As high density dwellings become more and more dense, we're going to see bigger shifts in what is deemed reasonable in situations like these.

  • +2

    If there are gardens near by, throw heaps of dynamic lifter (manure based fertiliser) on the lawns and plants and close your windows. Hopefully the smell will keep them indoors

  • -2

    Plenty of good deals on here for noise cancelling headphones other than that it's clear you exaggerate!

  • Sounds like the OP needs to move into a retirement village rather than a complex. Retirement homes are very quiet and you never really see any kids because they never want to visit their grandparents.

  • just trying to inspire anyone who might be in a similar situation, not yet 100% sure this would be legal though.

    one could leave the curtains/blinds open and let the neighbors enjoy some nasty adult videos for free. needles to say, the volume itself shouldn't be annoying, but definitely audible. windows should be left open if necessary.

    of course there's always a chance the neighbors might be into that, in which case it'd be really best to move out…

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