Wind chimes

**Maza** · 27-04-2017, 01:31 PM

My blood pressure is rising as I type.

My neighbour (garden backs onto ours) has recently 'installed' a wind chime and it is honestly driving us INSANE. It's a clunky wooden thing. They have put it at the side of their house where they have no windows but it is opposite our lounge and our bedroom window. I can hear it now. I can hear it at night in bed. You know when once you have let something get under your skin you can't ever ignore it or not hear it? First world problem maybe, but it is really, really antagonising me.

I know they are a lovely activity to do with the children, but please think about your neighbours before you do - sound travels. I've never made them myself because I like hearing natural sounds from my garden - birds, the wind, bees etc. This is the most innocent form of noise pollution!

**FloraDora** · 27-04-2017, 05:05 PM

Never quite understand wind chimes. Most people who install them never hear them as they are snuggled inside when it is windy and the chimes are at top action time.
Gentle tinkle, only audible if you sound close is good enough for the children in the garden I think. We are on the distant flight path for Birmingham airport and a regular fly over for a private CEO's helicopter, near a railway line and a dual carriage way and a road that takes fire engines and ambulances to their emergency....the birds only just get a look in, let alone wind chimes....great for environmental noises though.
Another reason for my adventure in retirement.

**sarah707** · 27-04-2017, 06:18 PM

We have a few up at the side of the house but we are thoughtful neighbours and take them down if it gets windy - the children like them

**Maza** · 27-04-2017, 06:44 PM

Originally Posted by FloraDora

Never quite understand wind chimes. Most people who install them never hear them as they are snuggled inside when it is windy and the chimes are at top action time.
Gentle tinkle, only audible if you sound close is good enough for the children in the garden I think. We are on the distant flight path for Birmingham airport and a regular fly over for a private CEO's helicopter, near a railway line and a dual carriage way and a road that takes fire engines and ambulances to their emergency....the birds only just get a look in, let alone wind chimes....great for environmental noises though.
Another reason for my adventure in retirement.

When I first moved to London, twenty years ago, the tube was not far from the bottom of our garden. My housemates and I all found it strangely rhythmical and comforting. I especially like the fact that when my alarm went off for work, I could hear the tube and knew that people were already on their way to work. Similarly, when I was all snug in my bed at night and I heard it I used to feel sorry for the people only just on their way home. A couple of times I've found myself living under flight paths and have found it unnerving for the first couple of nights but have then become oblivious to it. DH and I can't seem to block out the wind chime though. We've gone so far as to google it and found out that other people are driven mad by them too, so we know we are not the only grumpy old neighbours out there, lol.

**SYLVIA** · 27-04-2017, 06:52 PM

I quite like the sound of the wooden ones. Our house is across a green from a house that has one. On s breezy night, when we go to bed and it's dark and quiet, I can hear them and I find it quite a comforting sound as I snuggle up in bed ( I always sleep with the window open) just incase you're thinking it must be really loud.

**Maza** · 27-04-2017, 07:01 PM

Originally Posted by SYLVIA

I quite like the sound of the wooden ones. Our house is across a green from a house that has one. On s breezy night, when we go to bed and it's dark and quiet, I can hear them and I find it quite a comforting sound as I snuggle up in bed ( I always sleep with the window open) just incase you're thinking it must be really loud.

Ok, I'm going to try to change my mindset - I'm going to try and pretend that it is comforting...

**SYLVIA** · 27-04-2017, 08:53 PM

[QUOTE=Maza;1430762]Ok, I'm going to try to change my mindset - I'm going to try and pretend that it is comforting...[/QUOT
Worth a try but I'm not sure if I'd like them close to my house and making a noise all the time. I have a friend who just can't stand any wind chimes

**mama2three** · 28-04-2017, 07:09 AM

I have a set of the wooden ones , just brought it back from my easter holiday. I was annoyed that it hardly makes a noise at all unless the children use the hanging bit to move it , but after reading your posts thats probably a good thing!!! I have a huge 'xylophone' made from aluminium tubing on my old trampoline frame. If its really really windy the tubes knock together so i take the tubes down at night as its so loud!

**Mouse** · 28-04-2017, 01:11 PM

We used to have neighbours who had lots of metal wind chimes in their garden. Sometimes you'd be outside on a wind-free day and hear just the odd tinkle of sound. I quite liked it then - it was soothing and peaceful. If there was anything more than just a slight breeze though the noise was awful - imagine a classroom full of 4 year olds playing the triangle for hours on end and you get the idea. Rather than the quiet tinkles being soothing, every loud clang was like stabbing needles in your head!

I do quite like wooden chimes. They tend to have a much deeper, hollow sound rather than the annoying, tinkling sound. I don't know if I'd want to hear them all the time though.

**loocyloo** · 28-04-2017, 04:20 PM

Originally Posted by Mouse

We used to have neighbours who had lots of metal wind chimes in their garden. Sometimes you'd be outside on a wind-free day and hear just the odd tinkle of sound. I quite liked it then - it was soothing and peaceful. If there was anything more than just a slight breeze though the noise was awful - imagine a classroom full of 4 year olds playing the triangle for hours on end and you get the idea. Rather than the quiet tinkles being soothing, every loud clang was like stabbing needles in your head!

I do quite like wooden chimes. They tend to have a much deeper, hollow sound rather than the annoying, tinkling sound. I don't know if I'd want to hear them all the time though.

I had ' tuned ' wind chimes, that were metal but made a nice sound, no matter how windy it was (although I used to take them down in high winds because I didn't want them damaged!) After many years (and lots of small children) the 'beater' in the middle fell off and we've never replaced it. Now they only make a sound if tapped by the children!

Seriously ... they truly were tuned! I bought them in Australia and they were not cheap! (Another reason not to leave them out!)

**poppy321** · 03-05-2017, 09:25 PM

My neighbours have a metal wind chime right next to our lounge window and just under my daughter's bedroom window. It drives us all crackers in the evening when it's windy. My neighbours have double glazing,so expect they just can't hear them. We have single plate glass as we plan to extend on the back of the house at some point so it was never double glazed when the rest of the house was.

The problem is, is that my neighbours are retired and had just one daughter who left home not long after we moved in. Obviously having one child meant that there were no siblings laughing loudly, shouting, fighting etc and I feel like they probably do at times hear a fair bit of noise coming from my house when I can have 7 children playing out in the garden. I am really conscious of this, and don't allow screaming ...I don't want to hear that either! I make a point of always taking the children out for a good couple of hours each day to the local parks so that the noise isn't constant. As far as I'm concerned, my children aren't in the garden before 9.am or after 4.45 pm so we certain'll y don't disrupt sleep, they are pretty well behaved,no screaming,never bad Language and generally all get along well together.

My children have asked many time for me to complain as the chimes literally keep them awake at night and they both are taking exams. When my mum comes to stay she shares my daughter's room and also hates them!

I just feel that it's a bit like opening a can of worms.Although we have always got on ok, I don't really feel that they would take the slightest bit of criticism well. I think even if I complained I n the most diplomatic way, I think that would be it... I think the chimes would come down but then they would complain every time the children are in the garden!

Hey ho, I am so glad I got that off my chest anyway!!! Has anyone taken the step of actually complaining?

**Maza** · 04-05-2017, 08:59 AM

Oh Poppy321 I feel for you.

We haven't complained - we hardly see the neighbours with the wind chime and it sounds odd but I don't know how to get to their front door - their garden backs onto the corner of ours and their front door is on a higgledy piggeldy maze of streets where we never go.

When I googled it I found people who had complained and their neighbours were mortified and took down the wind chimes. Most people though just put up with it because it's an awkward conversation, but are slowly driven mad. When you think about it, wind chimes in residential areas is such a bizarre concept. It's like hearing a shop door opening in the middle of the night, or a distant door bell. Having said that, I have considered making them with children in the past and hadn't given a second thought to how it might affect neighbours, so I know it's such an innocent action.

I have been really, really trying to embrace the 'noise' and to find it comforting. I literally have to focus on my breathing when I hear it. It's helping a little, but not as much as climbing over her fence with a pair of scissors would help! (Scissors to cut down the wind chime obviously, lol.)

I'm also aware that as childminders we add to the local noise levels too. Good luck Poppy321, I think if I was in your position I might be tempted to mention it to your neighbours. x