It sucks if it's really like nails on a chalkboard to you. I realize we are all different but I love the sound of kids playing hoops or anything else. Reminds me of my youth doing the same thing. We had lights in the yard and played very late during high school years.
ARGH - basketball next doors
- Thread starter broadway
- Start date
youbet
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
More than you might think, actually.
GalaxyBoy
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
I feel your pain, and I also feel that the kids really don't mean harm and the exercise is surely good for them.
For me, it's two LOUD barking dogs, one on either side (thankfully two doors down, each). WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF all dang day. I mean ALL dang day. And somehow, when I'm the one simply trying to concentrate or just relax, I'M the jerk who DARES complain about the noise.
There. I feel a bit better now.
OH, and speaking of cannabis stories. You've surely heard how some businesses who hire less-skilled labor have a hard time finding candidates who can pass a drug test. I met a guy who told me that when he told an interviewee that drug testing would be required but that the company would pay for counselling, he was told "no, I like doing drugs and I'll go find a job somewhere else."
For me, it's two LOUD barking dogs, one on either side (thankfully two doors down, each). WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF all dang day. I mean ALL dang day. And somehow, when I'm the one simply trying to concentrate or just relax, I'M the jerk who DARES complain about the noise.
There. I feel a bit better now.
OH, and speaking of cannabis stories. You've surely heard how some businesses who hire less-skilled labor have a hard time finding candidates who can pass a drug test. I met a guy who told me that when he told an interviewee that drug testing would be required but that the company would pay for counselling, he was told "no, I like doing drugs and I'll go find a job somewhere else."
Sunset
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
There is always some noise to bother someone, that is the price of not living in the middle of the boonies.
We had the same issue, but it got solved. Just wait 10 years and the kids will grow up, and they will be tired of throwing balls and instead be at jobs/school/moved away etc...
In the meantime, turn on your music, or get out of the house and do stuff in the daytime.
We had the same issue, but it got solved. Just wait 10 years and the kids will grow up, and they will be tired of throwing balls and instead be at jobs/school/moved away etc...
In the meantime, turn on your music, or get out of the house and do stuff in the daytime.
timo2
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Even the boonies can have noise. I lived in a cabin in Wyoming once that would get elk rubbing against it and vocalizing very early in the morning on work days. Work is work no matter where and falling asleep on the job is never good form.
Just make sure they don't get any closer.
Ronstar
Moderator Emeritus
I have the same problem with birds, ducks, geese, etc. At least the OP's problem will grow up and move away.
Sounds like me when I was a kid. It was my favorite thing to do... shoot baskets in the driveway for hours at a time. Sometimes I was even able to get the neighbors over for a game of horse. Now as an adult I love a peaceful neighborhood but yet somehow when there are loud kids playing outside ruining my peace and quiet it still makes me smile. It's nice to see kids outside getting some fresh air, getting exercise, using their imaginations, etc. If you need quiet time to work, I'd go with the earplugs.
Jack_Pine
Full time employment: Posting here.
- Joined
- Apr 18, 2013
- Messages
- 834
In Wisconsin we are on 80 acres. sometimes a plane flys over and makes noise. I have learned to live with it.
Seriously, there is a shooting club about a mile away and it is noisy sometimes, I just hear it as background noise now.
Seriously, there is a shooting club about a mile away and it is noisy sometimes, I just hear it as background noise now.
Last edited:
EastWest Gal
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
When we moved here we discovered that there was a racetrack 1/2 a mile from our house. Saturday nights, all summer, so noisy you had to shout to talk. Thank goodness it shut down after a few years.
After 30 years as a pediatrician with crying toddlers and babies, the quiet tones of a basketball are music to my ears. Our son played across the street when he was a kid and our neighbors have a basketball hoop. When my husband plays piano or I practice my flute, our neighbors say they open the window to listen. I love the sound of a small plane overhead. It reminds me of lazy summer afternoons growing up in California. The sound made me happy then, it does still.
Instead of trying to change the sound, try figuring out why you are so upset about it.
After 30 years as a pediatrician with crying toddlers and babies, the quiet tones of a basketball are music to my ears. Our son played across the street when he was a kid and our neighbors have a basketball hoop. When my husband plays piano or I practice my flute, our neighbors say they open the window to listen. I love the sound of a small plane overhead. It reminds me of lazy summer afternoons growing up in California. The sound made me happy then, it does still.
Instead of trying to change the sound, try figuring out why you are so upset about it.
Does this neighbor actually know that you are bothered so much by their basketball play? If not, it's hard to use the word "inconsiderate" here.
Is the hoop on their own property? Or on a public street?
It's going to be hard to find a reasonable way to complain to someone playing basketball for a few hours on their own property during daylight hours. The same is true for playing on a public street, although in this care you might nicely ask if they could move the hoop a bit so that it's a bit further away from your window.
So you still have reasonable choices here:
- You could move your office to the other side of your home (I'm guessing this wouldn't be your best solution)
- You could wear noise-cancelling headphones when basketball is being played
- You could put up some sound-dampening draperies
- You could learn to live with it. Honestly, most people can tune out almost any repetitive noise after a little while
- You could shut your computer down, go outside and join in the b-ball for a while
Now "get off my lawn"!
I'm sinking into my chair with guilt reading this thread. Years ago, I lived in a multi-family neighborhood (two and three story buildings in close proximity). I had two teenage boys who would play bball in the driveway endlessly. Often times I would come home from work to find more than a dozen kids in my driveway playing, yelling and generally whooping it up. I bet the neighbors secretly hated me. But, they were home and I got to know most of their friends too.
Not much assurance I can offer you, but, after a couple years, their circle will widen, they'll discover girls and you'll be back to peace…. That is until they discover cars and motorcycles.
Not much assurance I can offer you, but, after a couple years, their circle will widen, they'll discover girls and you'll be back to peace…. That is until they discover cars and motorcycles.
Reminds me of the story of the woman who looked outside & saw her sons & other boys roughhousing in their yard and yelled to her husband that they were tearing up the grass. Husband calmly responds, "We're raising sons, not grass.". I think of this a lot when kids are outside playing & making a racket. I feel good.
stephenson
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
- Joined
- Jul 3, 2009
- Messages
- 1,610
Perhaps it's time to move to a neighborhood without kids.
I can't think of anything better for them to be doing than being in the front yard, burning calories.
Sometimes ya just gotta say, "it's time to go."
I can't think of anything better for them to be doing than being in the front yard, burning calories.
Sometimes ya just gotta say, "it's time to go."
RunningBum
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
- Joined
- Jun 18, 2007
- Messages
- 13,236
I have some sympathy for the noise but calling the neighbor "inconsiderate" for kids playing outside, before dark, is out of line. It would've been a good vent if not for that last line.
If it were my kids and you complained like your other neighbor did, I wouldn't tell you FU, but I would tell you to deal with it. This is your problem that you are hypersensitive to the sound of a basketball on pavement, and that you chose to live in a neighborhood with closely spaced houses. Put some music on. Move your office to another room. Put up some sound deadening curtains or panels that you can close when they are playing. Plant some shrubs to block the noise. Go hang out in the library. Adjust your schedule so you aren't working or whatever you're doing while they are out. Get some real noise cancelling headphones, not just cheap earplugs. Move away.
Sounds like you have 2 more years of it, then the kid moves out.
If it were my kids and you complained like your other neighbor did, I wouldn't tell you FU, but I would tell you to deal with it. This is your problem that you are hypersensitive to the sound of a basketball on pavement, and that you chose to live in a neighborhood with closely spaced houses. Put some music on. Move your office to another room. Put up some sound deadening curtains or panels that you can close when they are playing. Plant some shrubs to block the noise. Go hang out in the library. Adjust your schedule so you aren't working or whatever you're doing while they are out. Get some real noise cancelling headphones, not just cheap earplugs. Move away.
Sounds like you have 2 more years of it, then the kid moves out.
Winemaker
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Usually noise ordinances are from 9AM to 9PM.
Nobody gave a rat's a$$ about noise when I worked midnight shift for 35 years, and tried to sleep during the day.
As a basketball coach, practice makes perfect. I am glad they are trying improve their skills.
I understand that certain noises can drive people to insanity. While hiking in several National Parks over the years, I could not escape the sound of car and truck traffic continuously, it is much quieter on my deck in the back yard.
Nobody gave a rat's a$$ about noise when I worked midnight shift for 35 years, and tried to sleep during the day.
As a basketball coach, practice makes perfect. I am glad they are trying improve their skills.
I understand that certain noises can drive people to insanity. While hiking in several National Parks over the years, I could not escape the sound of car and truck traffic continuously, it is much quieter on my deck in the back yard.
Bestwifeever
Moderator Emeritus
- Joined
- Sep 17, 2007
- Messages
- 17,774
Nothing sadder than a driveway basketball hoop without kids around to throw balls at it. I have to agree with most posters here that this is a very minor problem and that the OP should move if it bothers him this much. We have teenagers a few doors down that have a handful of small parties in the summer around a firepit with a little music playing, parents always home. They leave by midnight and honestly, it makes me smile, even though I might not be able to sleep. I think I'd try to be nice to teenage neighbors who like to shoot hoops, just with a hi when I see them.
HFWR
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
I recommend getting a shed...
Three years ago after retirement DW and I were looking to relocate to another state. We saw one really nice house in a really nice area that we would have considered, but I noticed the next door neighbor had a beautiful basketball court that took up most of their back yard. It was also well lighted for play after dark. That was all I needed to see to know to move on.
I understand your issue but if they are playing during daytime hours, I think you just need to accept and forget it. As others mentioned try yo come up with a method to reduce the infiltration of the noise in your space. Growing up, I played a lot of ball outside, but I grew up in the city. There were no driveways or any places to put a rim, so we always went to the playground to play hoops. We did play outside but pretty much stick ball or maybe run the bases, so not a lot of banging.
As long as the little darlings are not causing any damage or vandalism and not playing all hours of the night, there's not much to do except to accept it. Remember too that kids get bored and move on to different activities so it may not be a long lived nuisance.
As long as the little darlings are not causing any damage or vandalism and not playing all hours of the night, there's not much to do except to accept it. Remember too that kids get bored and move on to different activities so it may not be a long lived nuisance.
Big_Hitter
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
good one - OP, I lived next door to a homeschooled kid that played basketball until 10pm, every night until he was about 16. At 16 the kid started practicing his bagpipes in the driveway. I guess his parents wouldn't let him do that in the house. This was in Houston so he played all year round, then when he wasn't playing/bagpiping the kid practiced his skateboard jumps in the driveway. This was right next to our bedroom and would wake my wife during naptime and kept us up. It sucked but there is nothing we could do.
At least he was such a loser he didn't have any friends.Then he went off somewhere, wherever homeskooled kids go I guess. I think he teaches music at Texas Tech or something now.
I'm not sure you have a leg to stand on complaining to the dad, this is what kids do. This is what we did growing up. This is healthy activity. Be glad they aren't out tagging and vandalizing your hood.
Sojourner
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
- Joined
- Jan 8, 2012
- Messages
- 2,597
Dog constantly barking drives me crazy too. And I love dogs.
+100
Unlike kids shooting hoops during daylight hours (which I also have about 3 doors down from me), a dog barking constantly for hours upon hours is probably covered by a local noise or "general nuisance" ordinance, regardless of what time of day it is. I wouldn't hesitate to take action in a situation like that. And I love dogs, too... as long as they're mostly quiet
+100
Unlike kids shooting hoops during daylight hours (which I also have about 3 doors down from me), a dog barking constantly for hours upon hours is probably covered by a local noise or "general nuisance" ordinance, regardless of what time of day it is. I wouldn't hesitate to take action in a situation like that. And I love dogs, too... as long as they're mostly quiet
Yeah, for sure. I shut up a dog barker recently. We concluded that the two dogs must be chewers and pottyers, so when the owners went to work, they left the dogs in the courtyard all day. I tried to discuss with the neighbor politely, but he immediately got rude, and I thought he may literally shoot me. Next time, I am going straight to the city, who ended up solving the problem promptly. Most people don't react well. And an FU is not the worst thing that can happen
As far as basketball and kids are concerned, I was a kid once
And I was obsessive about playing basketball and loud music. As kids grow up into teenagers, they tend to remember those people that called the cops, their parents, etc. Just sayin' 
