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How late is too late for a house party?
I did it. I called the police with a very kind noise complaint. A house party down the street was going at 0130. I typically wouldn't care, but this was so loud that I could ask siri what a song was and it told me. The house is three houses away, across the street, on the next block.
For fellow party-poopers, how late did you let it go before you did something?
Music blasting after 10, I get annoyed. Go inside and party there giving yourselves hearing damage. If there are too many guests then you're just too cheap to rent a hall.
Past 12 is highly unacceptable for neighbors to be able to hear your music and I'll keep calling the cops
@tomf did cops do their job? Did the neighbors turn their music back up?
I called around 0130 or so and they were silent before 0200.
"★★★★★ -- definitely would snitch again!"
I'll bite as the odd one out in this thread:
Given the inherent risk of death and loss of freedom involved in ANY interaction with American police, I will never involve them for petty matters without exhausting all alternatives first.
If it's not a regular occurrence and I haven't already reached out personally to speak with them, I won't be responsible for someone getting shot, a kid losing their scholarship for an underage drinking offense, a parent going to jail for letting their teenagers drink with friends safely at home, a bullshit drug possession charge, etc etc etc.
As someone aware that these things can happen as a result of simple petty noise call, I'd argue calling the police in America as a first reaction is horrifically irresponsible.
I agree. calling the cops about a loud party as a first response seems like the neighbor equivalent of using a handgun to kill a spider
Completely agree.
If it’s a nice area and parties aren’t happening this late regularly, just go talk to the people and ask them to turn it down. It’s probably a genuine special occasion and might not have realized how loud they were.
If they’re assholes about it, that’s another story. But your neighborhood is a little community, why not try to foster a positive relationship?
Edit: also, on the other side of things: kind of a complete waste of emergency resources as well if the neighbors are normal reasonable people as well…
If the neighbors are being as loud at 130am I don't think it's wise to personally identify yourself by trying to ask them to be quiet. If op doesn't know them the odds are similar that they could hurt him. Not every drunk person is kind.
Imo it's not worth it, I'm not putting myself in danger for strangers disrespectful actions.
someone in my apartment complex's group chat warned in advance when they were having a birthday party in case the noise bothered anyone. But ofc this is Germany, where they have legally-defined quiet hours and take noise complaints quite seriously.
Neighbor noise is only acceptable if it's drilling or similar things to do with home renovations - and only during work hours. Loud music is always inconsiderate and such a huge dick move if anyone else can hear it who didn't willingly sign up to listen to it. Doesn't matter if it's during the day, evening, or night. If your neighbors can hear it, you need to turn it down. No exceptions. Go to a bar, club, concert, etc., if you want to make noise..
That's just my opinion. I know the world doesn't work like that however my current building has the rule that you may not ever bother anyone else with noise however that is not respected. The part about no loud noises past 22 seems to be generally accepted though. It happens once in a blue moon that it's not respected but that's when I become very firm - yet still polite - when I ask/tell people to turn it down.
But this is an apartment building, of course. Separate houses don't share walls so you can have much louder music without bothering anyone. That it is this loud three houses down is just fucking insane though. Hope the police responded quickly..!
Just a counter opinion that it's more nuanced and there is room for loud music sometimes:
My next door neighbors have parties where they play loud music and I'm completely fine with it.
In my backyard the music is loud, in my kitchen and dining room which have windows facing them I can hear the music well. I can go to my bedroom and it's just a faint mumble sound.
They are an older couple maybe in their late 60s or 70s. The parties only happen 4-5 times a year, usually around holidays, and they usually shut it down before midnight. I think they have their younger extended family over and it smells like they BBQ. I think they are Latino and play a lot of Spanish language music, but also some boomer pop/rock.
I generally enjoy it when they have these parties. I'm glad they get this time with who I think are their kids and grandkids. It reminds me that I live in a community filled with all kinds of different people living their lives and that somehow makes me happy.
Also my kids play loudly in the backyard quite often during the day, so I consider it a more than fair trade.
Like you said houses are different, and I feel like my current situation is very manageable. I've been in apartments where you just hear someones subwoofer droning away every other night and it's infuriating.
Yep. Came for this. Depends on if it’s a good neighbor or a bad one or an unknown one. And if I like the music. And if there are kids. I had an upstairs neighbor that had a rager every Christmas. Sometimes it went past midnight. Sometimes we did coat-check at the shared front door for it. Sometimes I was the chef.
In another flat a few years prior, we called the cops at anything we could because the sounds were plausibly domestic violence.
If it’s a kegger in a college town this would vary (for me) at the time of year. The beginning and end of the school years and semesters I’d be tolerant. If it was four nights a week from a frat of degenerates, that’s a different story.
Sounds like you’re a fair person and good neighbor, and the fact that you came here and even asked speaks well of your character, IMO.
Right, I was not talking about any kind of faint mumble sound - I was talking about being subwoofers droning away. Sometimes even feeling the vibrations from it in the floor and through my bed.
Even with my oversensitivity to sound etc., I would also not likely be bothered by these neighbors. They sound like very nice and kind people. Mind you, my building is at least 95% 20-somethings.
I guess I'm out of touch. What exactly qualifies as "boomer pop/rock"?
I think I've heard some Springsteen, Jesse's girl, etc. I was thinking of music from the 70s and 80s but not like punk or new wave, just the stuff that was popular among boomers I guess? Maybe even the Beatles and other classic rock.
I didn't mean it to be derogatory btw, I have room for boomer rock in my life ;)
I'm assuming any classic rock on the radio? AC/DC , Bon Jovi, Led Zeppelin, The Beatles
Holy shit, you just cast a wide net! The heydays of Bon Jovi and the Beatles were twenty years apart or so. I'd call BJ early Xer music myself, but that's just me.
Lol! I just looked up a YouTube classic rock community playlist and those came up. I've been listening to my parents' classic rock stations since the early 90s, and those artists seem to match what I expected to be on there.
I’m still scarred by hearing Pearl Jam then finding out it was coming from a “Classic Rock” radio station. F… that station. ELO and Led Zep are classic rock. (And I love all of it)
This happened to us last night. The house was a block away, the base was loud, we have new windows that turned loud cargo planes into something I sometimes don't notice.
After a day of leaf blowers, I was annoyed. I did nothing, though.
We've lived in this house for three years now and this is the first time it's happened in the neighborhood, so it was probably a graduation party. If that's how they want to celebrate, good for them. As long as it isn't a regular thing, I can live with it.
I can't speak for the folks who live next door, I'm sure it was quite loud. I also might have felt differently if it had been warm enough to have our windows open.
I'm more annoyed by the neighbors who leave their trucks running for half an hour in the morning.
I grew up in a neighborhood with a few guys who worked on their cars all weekend, starting around 8am. The constant revving drove us nuts.
Yeah, we had a neighbor who LOVED his truck. He had a train horn on it and honked it at least once a day for fun when he got home from work. He lived across the street but thankfully moved.
Sure to be an unpopular opinion in this crowd but I personally would never call the police (for noise) without at least attempting to speak to the host of the party.
Sometimes that might happen on a different day, or I might knock during the party.
I understand this is not for everybody. I understand it's not always possible or safe. I understand that you don't owe the party any considerations.
This is simply how I would handle it in my community.
Contact your municipality about allowed decibel levels per time of day. Write it down. Some municipalities have that information on their web site under code enforcement.
Install a decibel reading app on your phone. You can also get a decibel meter for about $30 USD on Amazon.
If the decibel level of the party is over the limit for the time of day, call the police.
If it is under the limit, but it is late, call the police anyway.
Some people have infants or children. Some people have early morning jobs. Some people have anxiety issues. Some people have events early the next morning. Those people and you have just as much right to lead their lives as the partyholes do.
Can you recommend an android app that doesn't request ridiculous permissions?
Audio Spectrum Analyzer and NoiseCapture appear to be the best options in that regard. NoiseCapture requires more permissions if you wish to contribute to the community noise maps.
I think if you live in a building with shared walls, you have to be a bit more tolerant of noise from neighbors. I would say 11pm on a weekend is the limit for noise, but the best solution for apartments is to talk with your neighbors and negotiate how late you can make noise.
For separate houses, I feel like there is no excuse to ever hear much from your neighbors if you are inside with all your windows shut. If a neighbor you don’t share walls with can’t manage to keep their noise from penetrating through glass from 50 feet away, they need to do something differently. 1:30am is way too late to be disturbed by loud music no matter what day it is.
The sound ordinance bylaws in my area go into effect at 11pm until 7am, which I think is perfectly reasonable. And so I personally wouldn't feel guilty calling the cops if someone in my neighborhood was being loud enough to disturb everyone in the area after 11pm. There are exceptions, of course. Like if it was just a one-off thing, wasn't overly loud, and/or they warned everyone in the area / apologized ahead of time. My parents used to do that when they had big parties planned. They would send apology notes along with gift baskets, wine, or flowers (and sometimes invitations) to all the neighbors to pre-apologize for any excess noise that night.
Have you checked to see if your area has sound ordinance bylaws too, @tomf? IME, most areas do, and they're usually reasonable.
I'm jealous of anyone that has their sound bylaws enforced. Where I live we have the same time frame, 11pm-7am, however some years ago the cops said they were no longer responding to noise complaints and were instead deferring them to the handful of local bylaw officers. The bylaw officers aren't armed nor are they trained to deal with drunken house parties so after a number of bylaw officers were assaulted by responding to complaints they also said they would no longer enforce these laws. So now there's no point in even reporting.
I also have three neighbours with pools and outdoor sound systems... sometimes the bass starts pounding at 10am and goes until 3am. Sometimes they even get annoyed with one another and try to drown each other out by cranking the volume up further. None of them are capable of being in their backyards without music on for some reason and there's nowhere in my house that I can escape the bass.
Ooof, yeah that would suck. I've thankfully never had that problem here in Ontario, Canada. The cops up here are usually pretty good at shutting shit down after 11pm if someone complains.
Really? I'm in Toronto and they wont do anything for house parties unless they pose a threat to public safety. The best you can hope for is having someone from the bylaw "Noise Team" investigate sometime in the next 5-7 business days which will go nowhere.
I just looked it up and apparently the city recently reviewed the noise bylaws and have said they will now be strictly enforced but I have my doubts. I hope I'm wrong because this will likely be the last weekend before the three open their pools for the season.
I'm sure there is lot of variance in enforcement levels depending on where exactly you live in Ontario. But I lived most of my life in Mississauga, a few other suburbs around the GTA, and am now in a town even further out in Halton (Georgetown), and the cops in all those places have usually been pretty quick to respond to noise complaints. Unlike in downtown Toronto, there is probably nothing better for suburban cops to do late at night, I guess? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
we're similar to yours.
It appears I am far more generous with party sounds than most. haha
On a Friday or Saturday night, I'm a bit more forgiving. I remember what I was like in college, living in an apartment with roommates and constantly having friends over. Anyway, I would hope people wrap it up by like 2-3am. At least quiet down. That's when bars close in my area, I feel like that's reasonable at home, too.
But during the rest of the week, like 11pm? By midnight, at the absolute latest. I think in my apartment (in the US), quiet hours during the week are 10pm to 8am or something like that.
A couple years ago, I reported neighbors for being loud. Around 11pm to midnight on a Friday, him and his girlfriend were having a domestic incident. Didn't sound like anything physical, just the woman berating him loudly, while he was at least trying to ask her to be quiet. I had my windows open, and it sounded like they were on their balcony, so I heard everything. But I didn't report that. I get that couples, especially when drunk, sometimes get into it. It happens, whatever. And I was awake watching YouTube or something so it's not like it was disrupting to me. Of course, I can't speak for our other neighbors.
But the next morning, around 7am, she was back at it again. This time, straight up screaming at him at the top of her lungs. The whole neighborhood had to have heard that. I mean like the whole block. And there was a lot of slamming of doors and stomping around. This place is made out of paper, so I could literally feel the slamming doors and stomping around. They woke me up.
So I reported them to the apartment management. Several days later, cops showed up and watched her as she hastily and angrily threw large garbage bags of her belongings down the stairs and out of the apartment building. I don't know if the apartment forced her out or if the BF told her to GTFO and called the police or what. Since the guy didn't get evicted, I'm assuming she wasn't on the lease and wasn't supposed to be living there. Either way, that hasn't ever happened again. But given how disruptive they were, I can't imagine I was the only person who reported them for that.
I think Sunday-Thursday 10pm is a reasonable cutoff, Friday and Saturday should get a little more leeway. I think the type of neighborhood context matters but 1:30am feels extreme.
As others have said though there is a limit, it doesn’t matter what time of day it is if you’re being obnoxious with noise.
Idk about varying the times per day actually. I know that, to get good quality sleep, you need to have a routine and stick to it all week long. Go to sleep at the same time, wake up at the same time. If this gets disrupted, anxiety, depression, and I'm sure many other mental health issues can get worse. Seeing how common mental illness is, I think rules should respect people who have these disabilities.
I hear you - but most people do thrive off socialization and I think allowing people to have a bit of fun a little later on nights where most people aren’t working the next day seems reasonable?
Framing noise concerns as a mental illness concern seems like a strange angle to me.
No 🤷♀️
What right does anybody have to disrupt somebody else's sleep?
Okay what if I work at night and sleep during the day? Should everyone be quiet during the day because nobody has a right to disrupt my sleep?
Don't know why you jumped to that conclusion. I have a sleeping disorder and no, I do not expect people to be totally quiet during the day because I and everyone else that sleeps in the day make up less than probably 1% of the population. I do however expect not to be bothered by noise most of the time, and I also think it's fair to expect silence during the night.
Just my opinion.
Sure, I agree that socializing and having fun and whatnot are equally as important as healthy sleeping habits. But unlike the (average) healthy sleep schedule, having fun and socializing doesn't need to be during hours late into the night/early morning. Especially if it's the weekend anyway.
Really depends on the country (e.g. in Switzerland you can ring the police a few minutes after 10pm – the start of the "night rest" – and they will show up almost immediately to intervene, in Turkey you probably can't do anything).
I think past 11pm is time to wind things down, and anything past midnight is plain anti-social behaviour.
I'm just incredibly jealous that you live in a country where it is possible to take action against noise. My country is basically party central and calling the authorities is a complete waste of time. It got to a point that I was cursing the attendents on the phone. I have constant murderous fantasies whenever party central is on full blast. And it is always on full blast. I'm basically locked in my bedroom with the AC on a lot of the time. I miss the pandemic.
I'm 42 years old. I don't care if some youngster think I'm an annoying old fuck. I have no issue whatsoever with party pooping. I would poop all loud parties if I could. Anytime is too late if it's infringing on your mental health.
I think it's time you learned about the "disque de pisse" ("piss disk" in French):
https://forum.hardware.fr/hfr/Discussions/Viepratique/sales-coups-demande-sujet_90962_479.htm
Second comment from the top. You'll have to use Google translate but the pictures pretty much speak for themselves.
Okay but that actually kinda feels unhinged. The letter wasn’t that rude or anything, I mean a bit passive aggressive sure. But the OP didn’t even hear any noise. The OPs sole relationship to this neighbor was this letter. The neighbor was new and was being passive aggressive because someone called the cops on him for noise for a get together instead of talking to him first. A bit out there to send everyone in the building a letter sure, but nothing actively harmful or anything. Also not like this was a pattern of behavior or something. Anyways OPs response to getting this mildly annoying letter is to freeze his piss so he can flood the entryway of the neighbors apartment with it. Which actually is kinda insane.
There's some context missing in my response. Often when a story about annoying, noisy, or inconsiderate neighbours is shared on social media in French, someone will inevitably mention the "disque de pisse". It's essentially a meme. As I said above, it's not something I'd recommend someone do to their neighbours. The consequences would likely not be great for the piss disk-er (disk pisser?).
Ahhh I definitely was missing that context, it’s the first time I’ve run across it, but I was also partly just trying to share some of the context for how nuts this was to people who didn’t read French and couldn’t read the photo of the letter even with google translate.
Google Translate
Can you explain "aqua tube"? It's a kind of dye that activates upon contact with water?
And wow that's a bio-nuclear option.
I shared this in jest, I don't particularly recommend the method, but every time I hear someone mention inconsiderate, noisy neighbours this story comes to mind.
An aquatube is a toilet roll tube that supposedly can dissolve in water, meaning you can flush it down the toilet. It's quite common in France, though I've never tried as I don't trust it not to clog the drain.
Haha yeah I figured it was a cultural lore level meme of some kind :) i particularly enjoyed the faces of the pucks
This is essentially the plot of Party Hard. If you're into video games, check it out