At wit's end...can anything done about neighbors playing basketball ALL DAY and part of the night?? (sales, house)

[otterhere]

UPDATE: I *did* finally sell my house, despite the disruptions next door. So it CAN be done!

[Dumbdog]

In my subdivision, I am blessed with neighbors right behind me who have 3 screaming crotch dumplings (not the normal playing sorts of screaming mind you, full on raging like someone is killing them screaming). As if that isnt bad enough, the stay at home mother routinely has "mommy and me playdates" where i am only to assume she has befriended only hags who have unruly devil spawns, like herself (i believe they like to run in packs like wild dogs). I am a programmer and work from home. Last summer, after a weekend away a 2 story playhouse was errected at my fence line over looking my backyard (cue the screaching like howler monkeys over the fence line looking into my pool) . The neanderthal parents had no clue why i would be displeased by this (slaps forehead). I explained the safety issues of multiple kids having a play-structure higher than the fence overlooking my pool, but remember neanderthals do not have the upper cortex structure the rest of us but i digress that is a story for another time. So, any who i love classical music and i cant imagine anyone finding such music offensive (if maybe annoying of course!). So now i have external speakers outside my house by all my doors and windows and when the kids are screaming at 70-90 decibels from 5 metres away (yes i was pissed enough to actually invest in a metre!!!) I just play the music outside my house at the same decibel volume to create a wall of sound to drown them out. Works pretty well, i still hear the odd screach but now i no longer feel like a blood vessel is going to pop in my head. This year i was treated to a bouncy castle being installed next my fence! Oh the joys.

I used to keep my boys shushed by the pool, play noise was ok mindless screaming not. But now being surrounded by parents who can obviously tune the noise out, i tell the teenagers they can make as much noise as they want in pool (and if anyone has teenagers, then you will know the gripping intellectual discourse they have about their "*******s" and all....insert eyeroll). I am actually looking forwarding to aging and going partially deaf. Because god only knows what these special snowflakes will be like when they are teenagers, at least then i wont have to hear it!

In case anyone is wondering "what is someone calls the cops on you for your music?". Well dont worry, i have a plan. You see i have temporal lobe epilepsy, and if a nice police officer comes and writes me a noise ticket over the classical music, i will just go to my doctor and have a note written stating i do not respond well to medication therapy (which is true) and that part of my treatment plan is to manage noise exposure ( because it is). Then i will go to court and fight it on medical grounds. I cant control the kids noise levels (which i can't) but i manage it with soothing classical music. So my advise to you is to clearly think about your medical defense upfront (such as migraines or what ever) get a diagnosis and talk to your doctor about the unbearable noise upfront, that will be your defense. All i ever hear people say is "they are only children they cant help themselves, they have (insert any tempermental/medical/behavioural issure here add, adhd, ect). Use the sytem exactly as they do. I hope you like classical and some peace and quiet! Cheers

[earslikeacat]

Bose Sound-Cancelling Headphones. $200 worth of sanity. Talk to a city counsel member. Then rent out ur place or move.
We waited too long and came too close to losing it. Don.t let it go that far. And don.t try to reason with the neighbors. Even seemingly-nice people get hinky about "their" home. Get the headphones and a super soft down pillow so you can sleep with them on. I feel for you:been there and it sux!

[flashfearless]

That part of KY, you have to expect that basketball will continue to be King. Accept it.

[Cryptic]

Originally Posted by Dumbdog

In my subdivision, I am blessed with neighbors right behind me who have 3 screaming crotch dumplings (not the normal playing sorts of screaming mind you, full on raging like someone is killing them screaming). As if that isnt bad enough, the stay at home mother routinely has "mommy and me playdates" where i am only to assume she has befriended only hags who have unruly devil spawns, like herself (i believe they like to run in packs like wild dogs). I am a programmer and work from home. Last summer, after a weekend away a 2 story playhouse was errected at my fence line over looking my backyard (cue the screaching like howler monkeys over the fence line looking into my pool) . The neanderthal parents had no clue why i would be displeased by this (slaps forehead). I explained the safety issues of multiple kids having a play-structure higher than the fence overlooking my pool, but remember neanderthals do not have the upper cortex structure the rest of us but i digress that is a story for another time. So, any who i love classical music and i cant imagine anyone finding such music offensive (if maybe annoying of course!). So now i have external speakers outside my house by all my doors and windows and when the kids are screaming at 70-90 decibels from 5 metres away (yes i was pissed enough to actually invest in a metre!!!) I just play the music outside my house at the same decibel volume to create a wall of sound to drown them out. Works pretty well, i still hear the odd screach but now i no longer feel like a blood vessel is going to pop in my head. This year i was treated to a bouncy castle being installed next my fence! Oh the joys.

I used to keep my boys shushed by the pool, play noise was ok mindless screaming not. But now being surrounded by parents who can obviously tune the noise out, i tell the teenagers they can make as much noise as they want in pool (and if anyone has teenagers, then you will know the gripping intellectual discourse they have about their "*******s" and all....insert eyeroll). I am actually looking forwarding to aging and going partially deaf. Because god only knows what these special snowflakes will be like when they are teenagers, at least then i wont have to hear it!

In case anyone is wondering "what is someone calls the cops on you for your music?". Well dont worry, i have a plan. You see i have temporal lobe epilepsy, and if a nice police officer comes and writes me a noise ticket over the classical music, i will just go to my doctor and have a note written stating i do not respond well to medication therapy (which is true) and that part of my treatment plan is to manage noise exposure ( because it is). Then i will go to court and fight it on medical grounds. I cant control the kids noise levels (which i can't) but i manage it with soothing classical music. So my advise to you is to clearly think about your medical defense upfront (such as migraines or what ever) get a diagnosis and talk to your doctor about the unbearable noise upfront, that will be your defense. All i ever hear people say is "they are only children they cant help themselves, they have (insert any tempermental/medical/behavioural issure here add, adhd, ect). Use the sytem exactly as they do. I hope you like classical and some peace and quiet! Cheers

Why not move out to the country? Neighbors there are acres away.

[Tesscan]

Wow I googled how to stop the noise of kids next door playing basketball. Didnt expect to read so many other people are suffering same problem. Listening to the bounce & the more often then not ball rebounding of fence and other things is super SUPER annoying. Its driving me crazy as like so many others have said, the ball play area is right by my living space. Funny its nowhere near theirs. I am all for kids getting outdoors to play but the sound of it constantly is really annoying and does impact on ones life. I find myself shutting doors,windows, turning volume up on tv or radio which is far from ideal. I have sent a polite letter to neighbor expressing my thoughts. They have agreed to stop by 6pm. Its a compromise but there is more room on other side of their house that would be perfect to fence off and use as basketball area. It wouldn't impact on ANYONE but no they keep playing in a very tiny area. Everything is colorbond so the noise is way louder then wooden fences etc like alot of us grew up with. Anyway someday they will leave the nest or maybe take up "Chess"

[Rivertowntalk]

Best way to handle this situation when it is so close by is to install open wifi in your house with no security code and give those kids cheap tablets or old phones. It will become very quiet over there.

[otterhere]

Originally Posted by Rivertowntalk

Best way to handle this situation when it is so close by is to install open wifi in your house with no security code and give those kids cheap tablets or old phones. It will become very quiet over there.

[hjcrouch]

I own my home and I have the same situation with renters next door who have 2 girls. At first it was fine to have them play soccer /basketball with my son in the space between our house but then it gradually moved to my front yard since they have a small yard. The problem started when we came home one day and there were 10 kids in front of my house running through my yard and playing soccer. My fence started taking a beating and was beginning to fall down. I explained to the kids that when we aren't home they are not allowed to play in my front yard or at the basketball net but that didn't stop them. So I tried talking to the parents and told them when we are not home your kids are not allowed to play at my house. That didnt help either nor did it stop them from playing in my yard!! I tried to set a healthy and livable boundary for all concerned but that was totally ignored and kids continued to play in my yard. The last straw came when the renters next door had a party and there were kids and adults in my front yard running & chasing a ball. That was it I'd had enough. I notified the parents that their kids were no longer allowed to play in my yard. Surprise!! the kids have now moved to another neighbors house to play ball in their yard..that is awesome. They can deal with the kids. Uncomfortable as it is I will protect my property against trespassers and that trumps any rights of the kids or their parents to play in my yard.

[Archer1203]

Why are some people such inconsiderate, ghetto, trash. To allow your children to haul the portable basketball hoops out to the street and play, with the amount of noise that it creates, the constant bouncing of the ball and throwing the ball at the the back of the hoop can be so loud and grate on your nerves. All day long and sometimes into the night as late as 10:00 pm, when my husband has to leave the house at 3:00am to work a 12 hour shift. Well this is what I had to put up with for about a year or two. I complained to their landlord and to our homeowners association and they told me it was a neighborhood problem and to notify the sheriff. Well nothing seemed to work, until I started being nasty to them, which is not me at all. But my husband was getting little to no sleep and we were at our witts end. The aholes finally moved out. But now I'm so leery about who's gonna move in there. Because once you've had (like I said before) ghetto trash you worry and it's not a good feeling.