I bought a property near a church, about 30 meters. When I bought it and years before the bells were “off” and it’s barely used.
Since a year they fixed the bell and clock and now it starts at 05:30 in the morning, 08:00, 11:00, 12:00, 01:00 and 18:00
For each 5 minutes very loud.
I talked with the people who work at the church and said it is a huge issue for me, especially cause I work nights.
They don’t care and refuse to make it quieter and won’t reduce the length of each time it starts the bells.
Long story short: I am in therapy since a year because I have a huge debt, I can’t move away and I can’t sleep anymore. I have no idea what I can do with my life I am afraid I am going to get even more mentally ill than I am now. Selling is also now no more option, who would buy a place where you can’t fall asleep or if you fall asleep you wake up by massive bell noise.
The only time I sleep is when I can afford vacation twice a year…
My therapist wrote my insurance and they are thinking of giving me the oppertunity to sleep somewhere else for one to two weeks every three months. They will pay for it, but this can’t be the solution?!
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Is it legal to ring church bells at 5:30 am? WTF?
Anyways, get some ear plugs.
Get a sound meter. Check the laws to se if they are exceeding the sound decibels, then complain to the police and keep asking for higher supervisors and be persistent.
Complain to city council or mayors office if police refuse to enforce the law
Jesus: “love thy neighbor”
The church: I’m just gonna pretend I didn’t see that
Sabotage.
This sounds really frustrating.
I used to live similarly close to a bell tower (it was a big, old university). I don’t remember how long it took me to get used to it, but it did end up being that I barely noticed the sound. It was weird to visit a friend for a few nights in the same area after having moved away — the bells were so loud and annoying that I could barely sleep or focus on things.
My intention with this comment is to try to reassure you that it is possible to become acclimatised to the sound such that it doesn’t cause significant issues. Adjusting to things like this can be extra difficult if you’re already experiencing mental health stress, so you might find that you’re not able to acclimatise, but there are definitely people who would be fine with buying property near a church, if it comes to that (people like me who have always lived somewhere loud)
Are you not overthinking it? A good pair of noise canceling headphones or ear plugs would solve this issue. Most people who work nights that i know have to take extra steps to block out noise and light regardless of their mental health it just comes with the territory
I work nights and sometimes have to use disposable foam earplugs if there is lawn maintenance waking me up.
Wax earplugs are where it’s at. I’m a light sleeper so I use them most nights and they’re both more comfortable and better for sound isolation.
If the church doesn’t care, send a letter to the mayor, show up to the town hall meetings or public town hall sessions, make videos about it on social media, sue them for being a noise nuisance, send the newspaper a message and describe your situation to ask for help in exposing the problem so that more people get wind of it, … Basically, air your dirty laundry since the church doesn’t give a fuck about you.
Personal opinion about loud, religious venues: fuck them. I wish more people would sue them for being a noise nuisance. If they want to remind people to show up, send an electronic message or hell, even a carrier pigeon for all I care, just stop making everybody aware of your beliefs. Many people don’t care or believe in the same things as you. These aren’t the 1800s anymore.
The fact that a lot of the neighbours like it means it could sell. You might get lucky with some old people. My grandparents had a clock that chimed every hour. They absolutely loved it even though it went all night.
Short term solution is to invest in the best ear plugs you can.
Just talked with the church priest just now. He can’t do anything…
But now I have an idea, I might just play loud music outside while I am inside, stuff like Heaven Shall Burn or Breakdown of Sanity (legal volume on my ground).
In the hope church goers will be annoyed and talk with him out me making noise all day. Then we can make a deal and if he can’t do anything I sadly can’t either because I love listening to music during the day
Just talked with the church priest just now. He can’t do anything…
He can, he just doesn’t want to.
Yeah, I don’t think going on the offensive is going to help you. It’s just going to alienate everyone.
I don’t quite get how you still get woken by the bells if your house is isolated and you wear ear protection to bed. There must be a way to get your bedroom soundproof.
It sounds like your issue isn’t just the sound of the bells. I’ve lived near a hospital with ambulances blaring students coming and going randomly at every hour. After a while we got used to it. Now, when I rewatch videos from back then I’m surprised to hear them, because they aren’t in my memory. What I’m getting at is that your opposition to the sound, your anger, is drawing your focus. I don’t think you can get used to them if they keep triggering strong emotions in you. It might be a long shot and I understand this isn’t the solution you are looking for, but maybe you can get used to them eventually. Humans are really good at getting used to new conditions. You can’t control your environment, but you can control your reaction to it. It sounds like some zen shit, and it is, but reducing your anger about the bells and accepting them as a new part of your life, might help you get your sleep back. There is no physical reason, why you shouldn’t be able to sleep through the bells ringing. So, at least in theory, you should be able to change it by accepting it. I’m not saying it’s going to be easy, but it should be possible and if you manage to do that, you will be able to handle similar issues as well.
I used to live in a rented duplex apartment directly beside some train tracks. The trains blasted their horns going through town at 3am every day. I quickly stopped noticing.
When girls would stay over they would ask me why I didn’t wake up to that shit. I am a deep sleeper though.
This guy can afford to buy a house and he’s crying about hell’s bells. I used to work late nights and sometimes still do. When I was working 12am to 8 am I absolutely fucking hated people running lawn mowers and weed whackers. Random robot scam calls were particularly bad back then, before smartphones. Working nights is rough. But if this guy can afford to buy a whole house I imagine he has other options.
For me these days, I’m beat after work and nothing can wake me. My wife on the other hand wakes up to everything. She’s better then she was, she used to wake up to light from the kitchen.
Selling is also now no more option, who would buy a place where you can’t fall asleep or if you fall asleep you wake up by massive bell noise.
I’m sorry for what you’re going through. I lived just near a cathedral which rang their bells every 15 minutes, in a badly isolated apartment but that never bothered me. I’m not saying this to minimize the seriousness of what you’re experiencing, but to show a possible way out: we each have very different levels of tolerance. What is (legitimately) unbearable for you may be (legitimately) bearable or even pleasant for someone else. If the inconvenience is so great, try to sell anyway: at worst no one will buy and you will have lost nothing, at best you will find a buyer who is not bothered by bells and you will be able to rebuild your life far from this nuisance.
You’re much nicer than me. I was thinking be an adult and sleep through that shit. But you’re right.
It’s been a year. I think if the OP was going to be able to adapt to the sound it would have happened by now. Some people just can’t tune out some sounds no matter how hard they try.
You need to install double or triple paned windows and insulation. Windows are not easy to shortcut, but insulation generally is. Carpet is an outstanding sound deadener. I know other parts of the world have different construction and higher quality than American toothpick and plaster board crap houses. If you can access the spaces in the walls and ceiling, you can use old carpet instead of premade insulation. Even if you cannot access and install properly, you can line a room with carpet on all sides. You really need 2+ layers for some serious sound deadening.
I used to play in a band with a drummer that lived in a condo with neighbors all the way around him, above and below. He had a bedroom with a layer of carpet in the attic, another layer on the ceiling, and three layers of carpet on the walls and door. The space felt tiny, but he could practice as hard as he played normally and you could not hear a thing from outside the house. Inside it was no louder than people having a quiet conversation in the room next door.
I lived in Georgia at the end of a military base where they make the F22. When they do the first test flights of each plane, they took off and went vertical straight up above my house. It was so loud, you could not have any kind of conversation when it happened. Inside my house, it was nearly completely silent. The houses in the area all have triple paned glass and the wall insulation needed to make the sound irrelevant.
It is possible to hack a solution (carpet), and to quiet even the most high and low frequencies too. There are proper ways to do this that are more aesthetically pleasing. If you’re having mental health issues, hack something together with carpet. People throw away tons of the stuff all the time. The vast majority of carpet that gets thrown away is nearly brand new. It was under furniture or in closets and other areas of low to no traffic. Call up local construction small businesses or just find work sites with dumpsters. You’ll find some for free with a little persistence.
Thanks for advice but this house is new and it has insulation and triple glas windows with extra sound insulation
OP: I am in therapy since a year because I have a huge debt
You need to install double or triple paned windows and insulation
Read all. Full spectrum was given and was really just trying to sell the idea of carpet and that there are solutions.
Not all insulation or windows are equal either.
Tech Ingredients’ testing was best IMO:
Already have that…
That sounds horrible… I recommend getting a pair of loops, they will help you sleep better. Also, for when you are awake try a noise cancelling like bose qc2, just wear them with noise cancellation on if you don’t want to listen to music.
This is not a perfect solution, but at least you will some quality of life improvement.
Don’t other neighbors mind the bells? Also, where are you from (what country)? There might be legal options to.pursue. Finally, the church is a hierarchy - you might want to go higher up so to speak and write or call a bishop for example.
Germany.
No legal options… the church bells don’t count as “Lärm” (Noise Pollution) here.
Tried everything. The neighbours love it and missed the bells. They are all older than 80+… Only one other neighbor has the same opinion as I do and is annoyed.
Sometimes I wish it would just burn down randomly.
I don’t wanna hijack this thread to make it political, but I find it insane how sk many people are opposed to the “noise” of mosques, but then don’t mind the constant ringing of bells.
I’ve also lived near a church in Germany for some time and it rang every 15 minutes. Granted I wasn’t bothered as much as you are, but it is still really annoying and I can totally understand your point.
I think religious sites should just not make any noise like this, whether it be a church or mosque.
I don’t wanna hijack this thread to make it political, but I find it insane how sk many people are opposed to the “noise” of mosques, but then don’t mind the constant ringing of bells.
Well, bells only ring shortly, the muezzin sings for a long time and sounds… not good, let’s say.
Churches ring their bells for a long time too when calling for mass. or when there is a wedding, or any event like that. Whether it sounds good or not is in the ear of the beholder
Yeah, ‘randomly’ …
Well, The first obvious step is to find a job that allow you to work during the day.
Working at night only causes big health issues mid and long term, and is now an incompatible life style with where you live.
Which is fucking bullshit. If I had my way I would wake up at 10 and go to work at noon every day. Sometimes I get to be the guy who decides things like that, but it will piss off morning people.
