How do I get my neighbor to shut up?!?!?!?

Question

I like my neighbor, she is nice, her kids are nice. We are friendly.

She is soooo flippin loud. Face to face she mumbles & I can barely hear her....then she stands on her porch hollering to her kids, talking to her kids & her dog....clear as day & LOUD. ALLL THE TIME, ALL HOURS OF THE DAY! She's ALWAYS out there, talking, hollering. I can't leave my windows open, forget about quietly reading the paper & having some coffee.

"Aaaaannnnndreeeeewwwwww! Soooooooppppphhhhhiiieeeeee....." It's driving me insane. How to I get her to shut up w/out hurting her feelings & making her self concious? I know other neighbors have told her before...she doesn't get it.

My sanity thanks you for your advice!

Thanks all..... I'm sure I will have to speak to her eventually....or maybe I'll chicken out & send an anonymous letter!

Answer 1

Silence is golden.... Duct tape is silver!
In all honesty you can call the police and report a noise disturbance. You can remain totally anonymous and perhaps a visit from the PD will cause her to realize that she needs to tone it down. Just tell the police you are concerened because there was a lot of shouting coming from the house. They won't charge her they will just check to make sure that everything is ok and warn her to keep it down.
Drastic times call for drastic measures.

Answer 2

Something similar happened to me once. I was walking down the street when I heard a woman shouting into her cell phone. I stopped her and said that I didn't want to poke into her business - but that her voice was so loud that I could hear her half a block away. At first she denied anything of the sort - until I repeated nearly word for word what she was talking about (a financial matter complete with money figures). This was a questionable neighborhood where a man had been stabbed and robbed a few evenings before. She was shocked that her voice would carry so far...

That said, you may want to just record her hollering from your back porch- This is especially helpful if you can catch her and her husband having "words" or something sensitive like that.

Then invite her over for coffee and play the tape for her - saying "I thought you might want to know that your voice carries quite well over here. And I don't want to appear as though I'm poking my nose into your personal business - but I often hear things that you might want to be kept private ...."

But if others have already mentioned it, there may be nothing you can do short of wearing ear plugs.

Answer 3

Follow it with other compliments, like , "Boy your kids sure can get away from you can't they. I understand that, but do you think you could call them a little quieter so you don't scare my cat/dog (or if no animals) little quieter so I can read the newspaper. i would really appreciate that." Honesty is the key here. If you DO have animals, those will really help here because they can serve as your excuse. Think of something creative. Hope this helped!

Answer 4

Get one of those electonic bullhorns, or use your stereo speakers with a microphone plugged in to help her call her children in for her! As soon as you hear "AAnnddrreeww and SSoopphhiiee" come out of her lips then crank up the volume on your end and repeat it then add, "didn't you hear your mother calling you? Go home now!" She might get the point that way! If she asks you what you're doing, then simply tell her "I was trying to help you call your children in, obviously they didn't hear you, but I and the rest of the neighbors did."

Or you can get her a loud bell (as a gift) that she can attach to the house and ring it as a signal for her children to come home. Or one of those air horns (like those used at sporting events to signify the end of the period/game) that she could use to serve as a signal for her children to come home -- playtime is over!

Answer 5

Boom box in the window where you sit&have coffee with the speakers pointing towards her.As you leave to get another cup,go potty or etc. . . use the remote to crank it up. As you exit your home place your subwoofer in the corner of ur basement with the increased base level and volume. Mow ur lawn early in the a.m.,the extension cord used for the weed wacker-plug in the boom box. Mix up the contents of ur selection while it in operating mode.TALK RADIO,METAL MUSIC etc. . .Ur going to get a reply from her.Come back"I was tring to void out all the kids noise and your technic of summons". "I sorry my solution isn't working out,maybe you can help me find a common comfortable solution?"

Answer 6

Really not much you can do without being blunt about it. In reality, there's probably something that you do that irritates her. I know my neighbors can't stand the fact that I do things a particular way. That's the beauty of neighbors and friendship; you test what you can put up with on a regular basis.

Answer 7

Duct tape will work for a while.. but in the long term you will have to tell her in the most polite way that she is making noise and that you cant concentrate on what you want to do?

Answer 8

2x4

Answer 9

Have to just bluntly ask her to chill. If that doesn't work you're gonna have to call the cops and have them talk to her. She is disturbing the peace. I can't imagine there is anything else you can do. Well, you could kill her.

Answer 10

Duct tape works for me