Good Statutes Make Good Neighbors?

**ACH** · 06-30-2019, 12:48 PM

Originally Posted by stuckathuntermtn

Don't be a fucking narc. His new backyard sounds pretty sweet. Maybe say something like hey, I like what you did with the place, but did you check the setback laws? I can hear your AC from every room in my house. I don't wanna be an asshole and get the city involved, but I think it needs to go back in your backyard.

So, your response is basically to call him out on the noisy AC and threaten him (by getting the city involved) if he doesn’t comply?

Nice move buddy...

**iceman** · 06-30-2019, 12:51 PM

Originally Posted by KQ

This was the range war to end all range wars IMO:

Washington state man bulldozes neighbors’ homes in a fit of rage

Well not quite.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5zRs...&frags=pl%2Cwn

**ACH** · 06-30-2019, 12:53 PM

Wouldn’t play for me, was that the Granby, CO killdozer?

**iceman** · 06-30-2019, 12:57 PM

Yeah it was. It's not the best video anyways.

**ACH** · 06-30-2019, 01:02 PM

Originally Posted by iceman

Yeah it was. It's not the best video anyways.

I think there was a long read about this (and the whole back story) a while back, maybe in the Atlantic?

**redacted user** · 06-30-2019, 01:04 PM

Breaking teh codes and ruining neighbors quietude is where the psy-ops started. Must play the same game only better to win.

**wooley12** · 06-30-2019, 01:56 PM

Like what Ice said, dogs die, kids move, but neighbors will always be there. For better or worse depending how you handle it. Humans feel a shock to our senses with any change in our environment. Been there, done that. IME, in one year you won't hear it or see it. Move on.

**SumJongGuy** · 06-30-2019, 02:01 PM

It would be a shame if that noisy AC unit were to suddenly fail and they had to replace it with a modern quieter one..

**MiddleOfNight** · 06-30-2019, 02:10 PM

Talk to him.

He needs to know it bothers you and deserves a chance to remedy it. Seems the decent thing to do.

**old goat** · 06-30-2019, 02:13 PM

Originally Posted by wooley12

Like what Ice said, dogs die, kids move, but neighbors will always be there. For better or worse depending how you handle it. Humans feel a shock to our senses with any change in our environment. Been there, done that. IME, in one year you won't hear it or see it. Move on.

In a year it will sound louder. Too many assholes get away with too much shit because people are afraid to stand up to them. It's certainly worth talking to the neighbor--hinting that there's more than just the AC that the city can flag so best to move it--or maybe a sound-damping enclosure?

**wooley12** · 06-30-2019, 02:58 PM

Not been my experience. But I don't think that I've ever posted in the "Things that annoy you" thread. You seem to be a regular. I could be wrong. Took my wife 2 years to not see our neighbors 20' dia. solid aluminum dish sat tv antenna mounted 15' above the ground that he put on the lot line.

**ACH** · 06-30-2019, 02:59 PM

I’ve got to 2nd (or whatever we’re up to at this point) Icemang’s psy-ops suggestion. A little social engineering and manipulation is called for when the person in question has already displayed contempt of their neighbors and local building codes...

**nickwm21** · 06-30-2019, 03:21 PM

The best solution for him is to replace the AC with a new one.

Complain about the noise to him in an honest, respectful way. Try to get him to come to that solution himself. Ask him how old the unit is.... What is his electrical bill... Give him a name / number of a buddy that does HVAC....

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**MontuckyFried** · 06-30-2019, 03:26 PM

Originally Posted by PassTheDutchie

So my next door neighbor spent a shit-ton of $ over the spring creating a monstrosity of a backyard--pool, bricked patio, natural gas fire pit, the works.

I dunno. If that were my neighbor I think I'd show up to his front door with a giant case of beer and a pool float! Sounds like he just built quite the oasis for you to hang out at. I miss having party neighbors I'd bbq and chill with every weekend. All my new neighbors are really nice, but almost toooo quiet.

Good thing about your neighbor is that even if you're not a fan of the changes, it DOES kind of give you a bit more license to do your thing too. You don't narc, they don't narc on you. It's all good. However, if you do start hanging out with him, I'm sure you could bring up the A/C in casual but polite conversation. This one's gonna take playing the long game to keep everyone happy and chill and a win/win is you'll get lots of beer drinking, burger flipping, and swimming in all summer long while you work toward your cause.

**MontuckyFried** · 06-30-2019, 03:28 PM

Originally Posted by nickwm21

The best solution for him is to replace the AC with a new one.

Complain about the noise to him in an honest, respectful way. Try to get him to come to that solution himself. Ask him how old the unit is.... What is his electrical bill... Give him a name / number of a buddy that does HVAC....

Bingo. That's a good way to implement phase II of my plan outlined above.

**wooley12** · 06-30-2019, 08:27 PM

I don't know the lot plan but how far would he have to move it and be compliant? 3'? Cost would not be a factor. That's how far I'd move it if a neighbor made me do it and I'd plan more parties for the first year. Sometimes shit happens and you have to live with it. It's time you knew. When I moved from the last house at the party our friends and neighbors gave us, the next door neighbor said, "Never saw you get mad in 28 years but I saw you get even a few times."

Good luck, hope it works out for you.

**snowaddict91** · 06-30-2019, 08:34 PM

Originally Posted by AustinFromSA

I dunno. If that were my neighbor I think I'd show up to his front door with a giant case of beer and a pool float! Sounds like he just built quite the oasis for you to hang out at. I miss having party neighbors I'd bbq and chill with every weekend. All my new neighbors are really nice, but almost toooo quiet.

Good thing about your neighbor is that even if you're not a fan of the changes, it DOES kind of give you a bit more license to do your thing too. You don't narc, they don't narc on you. It's all good. However, if you do start hanging out with him, I'm sure you could bring up the A/C in casual but polite conversation. This one's gonna take playing the long game to keep everyone happy and chill and a win/win is you'll get lots of beer drinking, burger flipping, and swimming in all summer long while you work toward your cause.

Agreed. I'm having a hard time imagining how loud this AC must be, but it could be so much worse. Like barking dogs 24/7, drug deals 10' from your house, or my current situation is some weirdo that creeps on kids and women in the neighborhood.

**iceman** · 06-30-2019, 09:14 PM

nuke from orbit.

**redacted user** · 06-30-2019, 09:33 PM

the reality is this might devolve into a Fargoesque situation

**iceman** · 06-30-2019, 09:38 PM

you betcha

**old goat** · 06-30-2019, 09:48 PM

Good acs aren't much better. It's not just the volume but the fact they turn on and off. Especially if you're trying to sleep with the windows open.

**Mustonen** · 07-01-2019, 05:40 AM

My neighbor has an alarm that goes off from 3:30am to 4:30am every morning. She isn’t home. All windows are open cuz it’s kind of a hot stretch and we don’t have AC.

Should I call the police? The FBI?

My other neighbor has a big husky dog (pretty dog!) who he keeps chained to his front porch. It will occasionally howl all night. Like a goddamned wolf.

Your neighbor put in a pool, you say?

**SumJongGuy** · 07-01-2019, 06:45 AM

Originally Posted by Mustonen

My neighbor has an alarm that goes off from 3:30am to 4:30am every morning. She isn’t home. All windows are open cuz it’s kind of a hot stretch and we don’t have AC.

Should I call the police? The FBI?

My other neighbor has a big husky dog (pretty dog!) who he keeps chained to his front porch. It will occasionally howl all night. Like a goddamned wolf.

Your neighbor put in a pool, you say?

I have neighbors on both sides. Houses are 20 feet apart tops. Their A/C units are on the side of the house, both sides. Pretty sure they're totally legal too. Last place I lived homes are now going for 7 figures and there the A/C units were also on the side of the homes with around 30 feet between houses. What oasis does OP live in where A/C units have to be in the back?

**zion zig zag** · 07-01-2019, 07:01 AM

I put in a new A/C last year and put the compressor on the property line, right under my kitchen window. I have to look at the tree above to even know if its running. Neighbors are probably 50 feet away so even if it were louder I doubt it'd bother them too much. Anyway, if there is a code that says it can't go on the property line, I had no idea and neither did my installer.

As far as the gas firepit, I don't have a copy of the IFC in front of me, but it says something to the effect of "must be 10 feet from combustible construction. Exception: 1 and 2 family homes." It's possible your city has amended that to be more restrictive, but not super likely. I get a phone call about once a week from someone telling me their neighbor has some unsafe fire condition next door and I would guess that about 10% of the time their primary concern is actually fire safety.

**muted** · 07-01-2019, 09:20 AM

If the OP says it's a rickety loud AC, it's probably a rickety, loud AC. Having that near a porch where you take naps would suck for sure.

I just replaced a rickety old AC this summer that was 25+ years old. If that thing was 10 feet from where I took naps outside I'd be pissed. I replaced it with a newer 2-stage Trane. If that new Trane was 10 feet from where I took naps outside I'd be pissed....because if it was not there before and shouldn't be there, mentally that would fuck with me. It's not whisper quiet anyways. On-off, on-off-on-off.......never stops when it gets really hot.

I'd talk with him, and play the long game like Austin says and be buddy-buddy. If someone asked me to move my AC I'd do it, especially if I like my neighbors. Maybe I'm weird though. Playing Nickelback loud is a damn good idea, too. It may drive him to bulldoze your house.

I have a neighbor who is the loudest guy I've ever met. To the point it's like a SNL skit, it's so over-the-top. It's amazing and shitty at the same time. But he helped pull some stubborn/impossible roots on our fence line for hours and hours, saving me days of work. Funny thing is, it was for a fence I was building to completely block him out of our view. "How high is the fence going to be anyways, muted?" "Oh, pretty high Jeff. pretty high"

Otherwise I'd want to strangle him. My wife may strangle him, probably this summer, she is over it. Do your neighbor a favor one day, see if he returns it by moving the AC.