‘That’s when I pull out the speakers’: Noise-phobic neighbor starts a sound war with innocent dad just trying to build a playset

Having neighbors can be one of the greatest joys and biggest struggles of residential living. Having someone to bring you cookies when you move in or water your plants when you’re away is wonderful. But noisy or nosy neighbors can be petty, rude, and the absolute worst. The dad in this viral TikTok knows these struggles all too well.

Davey Struggle was working in his back yard, building a playground for his kids, when his neighbor got fed up with the sounds of his hammering, drilling, and sawing. At first, his neighbor tried to stop him with a simple, and policing scream of the words “Shut up.” When that patient gesture didn’t work, the next logical solution was to beat Davey in the imaginary noise contest that they were having.

After yelling at him to shut up a couple of times, the neighbor headed back into their house to grab some pots and pans and bang them from their yard just to drown out the sound of Davey’s work.

The irony of disrupting even more of the neighborhood because of some unwanted noise was lost on the neighbor, but it definitely wasn’t lost on Davey’s comment section. Many viewers said that put in the same situation, they would suddenly be inspired to take on a surplus of noisy carpentry projects.

“‘You’re making noise? Well, let me also make noise! Now we’re both making noise’ As if it will cancel out,” one viewer sarcastically commented.

Commenters agreed that noise in your own back yard is perfectly acceptable during daylight hours, and hearing what’s going on in your neighbor’s yard can be annoying, but it’s just part of the neighborhood experience.

According to NOLO, excessive neighborhood noise can be harmful to your health. Ongoing exposure to lawnmowers, motorcycles — or perhaps pots and pans — can cause stress and anxiety as well as restless sleep. In fact, if you have a particularly noisy neighbor, you can take them to court and ask for money for damages or even order them to stop. However, to win you have to have asked your neighbor to stop, have the enjoyment of your home affected, and have been subject to excessive noise. Although, a less time-consuming and more effective solution may be mediation or a conversation with a neighborhood council, not the clanging of pots and pans.

Davey updated his audience that he was able to finish the playground set with minimal kitchenware banging from his neighbors. On top of that, he took the high road, straying his tool usage away from any drills, electric saws, or aluminum pots and pans.