Bright lights from neighbor's house

[tvguy]

It's the back of our house and they cannot see in. There's quite a bit of distance there, it's angled, it's not a straight shot, there's lots of trees, a lot more going on than you can visualize. This is why I didn't ask for advice how to handle it. No way of someone knowing the situation and the replies get off topic.

Remember, replies drive a thread not the original post.

 

[Kitty 34]

Those are actually pretty. My neighbor's yard looks like a construction site at night. Just ugly white bright lights piercing the eyeball.

I have no advice but I am so on your side. I would HATE that. And we don't sleep with curtains of any kind either. Good luck.

 

[Starport Seven-Five]

For me neighbors being able to see in would bother me more. If the light is getting in, they can see in. But I'm big on privacy.

Also security. Open blinds give potential intruders a chance to scope out the house. Can also tell much easier if someone is home at night.

 

[mefordis]

I have no advice but I am so on your side. I would HATE that. And we don't sleep with curtains of any kind either. Good luck.

Thanks. In our house we have tons of windows in the back that I like to look out of, onto our deck and yard, and we have landscaped for privacy. However, you need thick evergreens to block out those bright, halogen lights. We have some, but couldn't seem to grow enough to cover 8 bright halogen lights lining the neighbor's house. So happy we found a solution and I'm looking forward to solving this once and for all.

 

[Timandalicia]

It seems like lighting up the outside of the house like it's a space ship is the thing to do now. I'm talking those bright, white construction lights all around the exterior of the house. We have a neighbor adjacent to us, backyard, who has 8 of them blaring at us. It started with one, but he's added more.

I have tried to grow trees in that location but they have died - not enough sunlight due to tall trees there. Luckily we have a jungle gym semi blocking that location and we have decided to put a tarp/roof over it, which should serve to block out their bright lights. We have evergreens blocking most of the rest.

Anyone else have to deal with this? And if you are the ones with the bright lights, don't those bother you from within the house? I couldn't take it. We have old fashioned porch lights (soft yellow, not the bright white kind) but only keep the front porch light on.

Next house we move to I'm getting at least an acre and no houses i can see from my property, due to trees squarely on my own property that cannot be cut down by neighbors. Lesson learned.

Read the story about how the Osborne Christmas Lights was born. It’s a fun story that you will be able to relate to.

 

[DLgal]

I have tall floor to ceiling windows that i"m not about to get curtains for. It's not the look of the house and why should I when I already have a solution that doesn't entail adding curtains! Thanks for the input though.

The purpose of the post was to ask if anyone else has this problem and if someone lights up their house, doesn't it bother them. Not to solicit advice on how to handle it.

That's what we have in the back of our house too. Floor to ceiling window panels. 9 of them. There are sheer curtains installed, but they cost an arm and a leg because they basically have to be installed at the ceiling junction. The landlord told me she paid $12,000 for them. I was floored. I appreciate them, though, as they provide privacy when we want (otherwise the neighbors behind can look straight into our downstairs from their upstairs windows) and it helps with glare in the afternoons. They are sheer off white, so let in plenty of light during the day, but don't block worth a darn at night when those lights are on.

 

[DLgal]

Also security. Open blinds give potential intruders a chance to scope out the house. Can also tell much easier if someone is home at night.

Sometimes this is an issue, but other times, it's not. Our house is surrounded by a 9ft high cinderblock wall on three sides. The fourth side (the front) has NO windows at ground level. To get into the back landscaped patio area where all the floor to ceiling windows are, you'd have to gain entry into our locked gate by literally scaling a 9 foot sheer wall with nothing to hang onto. It's not an issue in these homes in our area. There are much better and easier access houses literally across the street. Our neighbors to the back can see into our house only from their upstairs windows, so we keep our privacy curtains closed at night.

From the front of our house, though, there is NO way to tell if someone is home at night or not, since there are no windows on the front of the house except the upstairs bedroom ones, and unless the lights are on in one of those, it doesn't reliably indicate whether someone is home or not.

 

[TippyThomas]

Have you thought about talking to them about it?

 

[mefordis]

Everyone around us has large windows, fenced in back yards and lots of trees. We also have distance between our houses. No one seems to have curtains but you still can't see in well enough to know if someone is home. So, you might see a small portion of a window but trees are blocking the rest. I couldn't spy on any of my neighbors because not enough of the inside of their houses are exposed. They would have to stand in a certain place for a long period of time for me to even make out that a person was standing there, if I squint hard enough.

 

[mefordis]

Have you thought about talking to them about it?

Good question. No, I would never approach them. They obviously put a lot of money into those lights and added them because they wanted them. I'd rather just solve it on my own and move on.

My architect told me I could file a complaint with the town but I'd never do that either.

 

[mefordis]

That's what we have in the back of our house too. Floor to ceiling window panels. 9 of them. There are sheer curtains installed, but they cost an arm and a leg because they basically have to be installed at the ceiling junction. The landlord told me she paid $12,000 for them. I was floored. I appreciate them, though, as they provide privacy when we want (otherwise the neighbors behind can look straight into our downstairs from their upstairs windows) and it helps with glare in the afternoons. They are sheer off white, so let in plenty of light during the day, but don't block worth a darn at night when those lights are on.

We have sheers in our dining room, but we have large green giant evergreens growing nice and tall now so soon I can pull them open indefinitely!

 

[DLgal]

Good question. No, I would never approach them. They obviously put a lot of money into those lights and added them because they wanted them. I'd rather just solve it on my own and move on.

My architect told me I could file a complaint with the town but I'd never do that either.

In my experience, people who install this kind of thing are either completely oblivious (not usually the case) or just selfish jerks. I'd rather not confront the latter and it's pretty clear if they have installed numerous lights of this nature, they know they are bright.

 

[DisneyJamieCA]

Sometimes this is an issue, but other times, it's not. Our house is surrounded by a 9ft high cinderblock wall on three sides. The fourth side (the front) has NO windows at ground level. To get into the back landscaped patio area where all the floor to ceiling windows are, you'd have to gain entry into our locked gate by literally scaling a 9 foot sheer wall with nothing to hang onto. It's not an issue in these homes in our area. There are much better and easier access houses literally across the street. Our neighbors to the back can see into our house only from their upstairs windows, so we keep our privacy curtains closed at night.

From the front of our house, though, there is NO way to tell if someone is home at night or not, since there are no windows on the front of the house except the upstairs bedroom ones, and unless the lights are on in one of those, it doesn't reliably indicate whether someone is home or not.

This is off topic, but I’m struggling to picture a house that has no windows on the front on the lower level. What rooms are those in your house?

 

[DLgal]

This is off topic, but I’m struggling to picture a house that has no windows on the front on the lower level. What rooms are those in your house?

It's one of these. There is a coat closet on the inside wall next to the front door, and then the garage. When you walk in, there is a foyer/hallway, stairs immediately to the left along the wall that go up, and then the garage entry on the right side. There is a powder room, then it opens up into a great room in the back half of the house.

 

[mefordis]

Off topic but who else loves the It's Complicated house? My gosh I would love to live in that house.

 

[GAN]

Thanks. In our house we have tons of windows in the back that I like to look out of, onto our deck and yard, and we have landscaped for privacy. However, you need thick evergreens to block out those bright, halogen lights. We have some, but couldn't seem to grow enough to cover 8 bright halogen lights lining the neighbor's house. So happy we found a solution and I'm looking forward to solving this once and for all.

Have you checked with your local building commission? Many cities/towns have regulations on light leak. There are plenty of ways to properly light an area without affecting neighbors or roadways ...box stores have made people feel like they know things when they really don't!

 

[DisLiss]

Next house we move to I'm getting at least an acre and no houses i can see from my property, due to trees squarely on my own property that cannot be cut down by neighbors. Lesson learned.

This is exactly what we had---for over 20 years. But unfortunately the vast majority of trees at the back of our property were ash trees and they all died. At the same time, the person who owned the land behind our property died and his family decided to cut down every single tree in the wooded end of their property for some reason. And now, this year, a stand of evergreens we had suddenly started dying too. Probably due to how much wetter that part of the property gets now with the dozen ash trees of ours and ALL of the trees and vegetation on the neighbor's side suddenly gone. Our property dips down in the back and now it's been getting swampy. So be sure to plant a really good variety of hardy trees on that future property of yours.

Because now there is a super bright spot light of a house well over an acre away from me that shines right into my one bedroom window at night. So, since new trees take time to grow, we're just using black-out blinds now.

 

[LYSE]

I've had neighbors that I've asked to adjust their lights to avoid light trespassing.

Once I moved my lights to point directly at their house and they got the picture pretty fast.

 

[mefordis]

This is exactly what we had---for over 20 years. But unfortunately the vast majority of trees at the back of our property were ash trees and they all died. At the same time, the person who owned the land behind our property died and his family decided to cut down every single tree in the wooded end of their property for some reason. And now, this year, a stand of evergreens we had suddenly started dying too. Probably due to how much wetter that part of the property gets now with the dozen ash trees of ours and ALL of the trees and vegetation on the neighbor's side suddenly gone. Our property dips down in the back and now it's been getting swampy. So be sure to plant a really good variety of hardy trees on that future property of yours.

Because now there is a super bright spot light of a house well over an acre away from me that shines right into my one bedroom window at night. So, since new trees take time to grow, we're just using black-out blinds now.

Sorry to hear about the tree situation. We also had plenty of trees when we first moved in. We couldn't see any houses from our backyard. Then additions were added, trees were cut down (neighbors in the back of us) and thank goodness I planted the ones I did.
I plant a tree a year now, even though we really don't need anymore, I think just to spite the tree cutters behind me. Not that they care since they are not on their property but some do hang over theirs. I expect they'll start cutting branches soon, which they have a right to do legally. I have plenty of trees that don't hang over their property that they won't touch.