Help with incessant beeping in neighbor's house

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GrowthSeeker
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Help with incessant beeping in neighbor's house

Post by GrowthSeeker »

I am hoping the BH community will have an answer for this problem.
My friends have a next door neighbor who is almost never home (for months at a time), and for 2 weeks there has been a beeping coming from inside the neighbor's house. It is very annoying, keeping people awake at night. No one knows how to contact the owner.
Fire dept was called, they came, and were not interested.
Police were called, also not interested.
Visit to City Hall: apparently they will send a letter to the owner.

Issue One: trying to get authorities to take matter seriously enough to act on it.

Issue Two: perhaps try to identify what type of device is making the sound since that may turn out to be something that will get more interest from the authorities. On that note, I haven't been there to make my own measurements, but from verbal reports, it is a rapid beeping about 4 beeps per second that goes continuously without ever stopping. The frequency seems to be in the ballpark of 2400 Hz.

Any ideas? Thanks in advance.
Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean they're NOT out to get you.
Trader Joe
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Re: Help with incessant beeping in neighbor's house

Post by Trader Joe »

GrowthSeeker wrote: Fri Jul 23, 2021 8:34 pm I am hoping the BH community will have an answer for this problem.
My friends have a next door neighbor who is almost never home (for months at a time), and for 2 weeks there has been a beeping coming from inside the neighbor's house. It is very annoying, keeping people awake at night. No one knows how to contact the owner.
Fire dept was called, they came, and were not interested.
Police were called, also not interested.
Visit to City Hall: apparently they will send a letter to the owner.

Issue One: trying to get authorities to take matter seriously enough to act on it.

Issue Two: perhaps try to identify what type of device is making the sound since that may turn out to be something that will get more interest from the authorities. On that note, I haven't been there to make my own measurements, but from verbal reports, it is a rapid beeping about 4 beeps per second that goes continuously without ever stopping. The frequency seems to be in the ballpark of 2400 Hz.

Any ideas?
Thanks in advance.
Yes, your friends should work hard to make friends with their neighbors. Your friends should also share contact information so that they can address these types of situations. Why have have your friends not already done this? Everyone else in my neighborhood does.

Your friends should also buy some great earplugs when they cannot contact their neighbors. Here is a link to some examples for your friends:

https://www.amazon.com/s?k=ear+plugs+fo ... _sb_noss_2
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GrowthSeeker
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Re: Help with incessant beeping in neighbor's house

Post by GrowthSeeker »

Trader Joe wrote: Fri Jul 23, 2021 8:46 pm
GrowthSeeker wrote: Fri Jul 23, 2021 8:34 pm I am hoping the BH community will have an answer for this problem.
My friends have a next door neighbor who is almost never home (for months at a time), and for 2 weeks there has been a beeping coming from inside the neighbor's house. It is very annoying, keeping people awake at night. No one knows how to contact the owner.
Fire dept was called, they came, and were not interested.
Police were called, also not interested.
Visit to City Hall: apparently they will send a letter to the owner.

Issue One: trying to get authorities to take matter seriously enough to act on it.

Issue Two: perhaps try to identify what type of device is making the sound since that may turn out to be something that will get more interest from the authorities. On that note, I haven't been there to make my own measurements, but from verbal reports, it is a rapid beeping about 4 beeps per second that goes continuously without ever stopping. The frequency seems to be in the ballpark of 2400 Hz.

Any ideas?
Thanks in advance.
Yes, your friends should work hard to make friends with their neighbors. Your friends should also share contact information so that they can address these types of situations. Why have have your friends not already done this? Everyone else in my neighborhood does.

Your friends should also buy some great earplugs when they cannot contact their neighbors. Here is a link to some examples for your friends:

https://www.amazon.com/s?k=ear+plugs+fo ... _sb_noss_2
I appreciate the humor, I really do; but your comment is not very helpful. My friends know many of their neighbors, but none of the other neighbors know this neighbor. I think he's the relative of whoever lived there but passed away several years ago.

This particular neighbor had piles and piles of junk, trash, foul garbage etc in his back yard for over a year until the city started fining him, or at least threatened to.
Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean they're NOT out to get you.
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quantAndHold
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Re: Help with incessant beeping in neighbor's house

Post by quantAndHold »

It could well be the alarm system. We live next door to some luxury townhomes which all have alarm systems, and every once in awhile a unit will be empty or someone will be on vacation, and we’ll have to deal with the unit’s alarm system beeping.

Not this situation specifically, but we had an empty nuisance property a couple of doors down (owner had died, it was stuck in probate, and the abandoned property was inviting problems), and the thing that actually helped was a few hours of an attorney’s time. The attorney found out who the owner was, and sent a letter with all the right buzzwords, and the problem was taken care of almost immediately. Everything we tried before the attorney (police, etc) was pretty much useless.
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gobel
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Re: Help with incessant beeping in neighbor's house

Post by gobel »

If it's every 30 secs or so, then may be low battery in a smoke detector.

But if 4 beeps every second, then that appears to be the universal signal for CO detected https://www.firstalert.com/on/demandwar ... -beep-mean
Freetime76
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Re: Help with incessant beeping in neighbor's house

Post by Freetime76 »

Reminds me of the post about the mysterious sound in somebody’s house.
(I won’t spoil the end, but oh, the theories! The investigation! Truly, an epic thread. :sharebeer )

It sounds like the homeowner needs to be contacted. It could be a panic alarm...though if you’re lucky, it’s only running on batteries, which eventually will run out of juice. Next time you see the neighbor, try to get a phone number or email!

The police really weren’t interested?? At all?? What if someone had broken in, set off whatever it is that is beeping, and someone was hurt inside (no car doesn’t mean nobody is home). Can the police do a wellness check on the neighbor? (They go in to see if a person is okay.) I am saying this knowing of a friendly but hermit-like person who was deceased in the home for at least a week. Nobody called. How do they KNOW it’s vacant??

Are there any signs or stickers for alarm systems?
Check the property tax records for a name, and maybe a different mailing address. Usually, it’s public info.
Not to be glib, have you googled the street address for a name?

Do you know anyone who knows a guy on the shady side who could “take a look” (kidding, just kidding! 8-) )
Please spell out new acronyms. Thank you.
Flyer24
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Re: Help with incessant beeping in neighbor's house

Post by Flyer24 »

A couple of posts suggesting trespassing on to the property to shutoff power were deleted. Illegal suggestions are not allowed on this forum.
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Kenkat
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Re: Help with incessant beeping in neighbor's house

Post by Kenkat »

Call 911 and tell them you think your neighbor’s smoke detector or carbon monoxide alarm is going off and you think the owner is out of town.
Trader Joe
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Re: Help with incessant beeping in neighbor's house

Post by Trader Joe »

GrowthSeeker wrote: Fri Jul 23, 2021 8:50 pm
Trader Joe wrote: Fri Jul 23, 2021 8:46 pm
GrowthSeeker wrote: Fri Jul 23, 2021 8:34 pm I am hoping the BH community will have an answer for this problem.
My friends have a next door neighbor who is almost never home (for months at a time), and for 2 weeks there has been a beeping coming from inside the neighbor's house. It is very annoying, keeping people awake at night. No one knows how to contact the owner.
Fire dept was called, they came, and were not interested.
Police were called, also not interested.
Visit to City Hall: apparently they will send a letter to the owner.

Issue One: trying to get authorities to take matter seriously enough to act on it.

Issue Two: perhaps try to identify what type of device is making the sound since that may turn out to be something that will get more interest from the authorities. On that note, I haven't been there to make my own measurements, but from verbal reports, it is a rapid beeping about 4 beeps per second that goes continuously without ever stopping. The frequency seems to be in the ballpark of 2400 Hz.

Any ideas?
Thanks in advance.
Yes, your friends should work hard to make friends with their neighbors. Your friends should also share contact information so that they can address these types of situations. Why have have your friends not already done this? Everyone else in my neighborhood does.

Your friends should also buy some great earplugs when they cannot contact their neighbors. Here is a link to some examples for your friends:

https://www.amazon.com/s?k=ear+plugs+fo ... _sb_noss_2
I appreciate the humor, I really do; but your comment is not very helpful. My friends know many of their neighbors, but none of the other neighbors know this neighbor. I think he's the relative of whoever lived there but passed away several years ago.

This particular neighbor had piles and piles of junk, trash, foul garbage etc in his back yard for over a year until the city started fining him, or at least threatened to.
You seem to have 100% completely misunderstood my response to your post/question.

My response to your post/question was in no way "humor".

You asked for feedback and I provided it.

Good luck with your "friends" issue.
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cchrissyy
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Re: Help with incessant beeping in neighbor's house

Post by cchrissyy »

i once had this issue but the beeps were spaced apart more than you describe. i lost sleep over it for sure. eventually i discovered it was a low battery in their driveway, maybe the motor for the gate or something else near that? i don't recall. anyway the low battery eventually died out.

if you have any realistic concern it's a smoke or CO2 detector i suggest calling the police non emergency line to say you're worried and they should do a welfare check. hopefully you are correct nobody is home and they stop the beep during the visit.
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Fulltimer
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Re: Help with incessant beeping in neighbor's house

Post by Fulltimer »

While your friends are trying to figure this out, I would suggest a white noise machine or app to help them sleep
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F150HD
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Re: Help with incessant beeping in neighbor's house

Post by F150HD »

Freetime76 wrote: Fri Jul 23, 2021 9:14 pm It sounds like the homeowner needs to be contacted.
the OP stated in the first post "No one knows how to contact the owner."
cacophony
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Re: Help with incessant beeping in neighbor's house

Post by cacophony »

F150HD wrote: Fri Jul 23, 2021 10:20 pm
Freetime76 wrote: Fri Jul 23, 2021 9:14 pm It sounds like the homeowner needs to be contacted.
the OP stated in the first post "No one knows how to contact the owner."
You could always try this:
https://www.fastpeoplesearch.com/address

It's free and seems pretty accurate
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tooluser
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Re: Help with incessant beeping in neighbor's house

Post by tooluser »

F150HD wrote: Fri Jul 23, 2021 10:20 pm
Freetime76 wrote: Fri Jul 23, 2021 9:14 pm It sounds like the homeowner needs to be contacted.
the OP stated in the first post "No one knows how to contact the owner."
As quantAndHold stated, they may not be trying hard enough. There are ways. They may cost something. How much is it worth to solve the problem?
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F150HD
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Re: Help with incessant beeping in neighbor's house

Post by F150HD »

tooluser wrote: Fri Jul 23, 2021 10:33 pm As quantAndHold stated, they may not be trying hard enough. There are ways. They may cost something. How much is it worth to solve the problem?
Sounds like this should be addressed to the OP. :thumbsup
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F150HD
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Re: Help with incessant beeping in neighbor's house

Post by F150HD »

GrowthSeeker wrote: Fri Jul 23, 2021 8:34 pm I am hoping the BH community will have an answer for this problem.
My friends have a next door neighbor who is almost never home (for months at a time), and for 2 weeks there has been a beeping coming from inside the neighbor's house. It is very annoying, keeping people awake at night. No one knows how to contact the owner....

Any ideas? Thanks in advance.
Have your friend put up a post on Nextdoor and address it only to their local neighborhood. Give the address of the property and ask if anyone knows the owner etc.... https://nextdoor.com/
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jabberwockOG
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Re: Help with incessant beeping in neighbor's house

Post by jabberwockOG »

Call fire or police normal number (not 911) every day to report what sounds like a fire or carbon monoxide alarm going off in neighbors house. If that doesn't work and it was me, I'd sell the house and get the H out of there - regardless of cost...not kidding.
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Watty
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Re: Help with incessant beeping in neighbor's house

Post by Watty »

They likely have someone that mows their grass. Leave a note for them and have someone try to catch them while they are there. They likely have the owners contact information.
Barsoom
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Re: Help with incessant beeping in neighbor's house

Post by Barsoom »

If the noise in the neighbor's house is audible from your friend's house, contact the HOA and tell them that the neighbor is violating noise regulations in the HOA CC&Rs. Usually, HOA's bar loud noises after 10:00pm and before 8:00am.

Then let the HOA's compliance processes take over to contact the neighbor to correct the condition.

-B
Seabear
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Re: Help with incessant beeping in neighbor's house

Post by Seabear »

Issue Two: Gobel is correct. Four, consecutive beeps indicates a carbon monoxide, CO, alarm. Three, consecutive beeps indicates a fire alarm.

Issue One: It may not be a matter of disinterest. Depending upon the department, employer, and/or officer responding, once you silent/reset an alarm, you technically "own it" in today's litigious society. Furthermore, the information provided to the call taker may possibly impact the level of investigation performed on scene. If it's "the neighbor is away on vacation and the alarm has been sounding for the past two weeks," a cursory examination would likely be sufficient by the responding officer. On the other hand, if the responder is informed that neighbors are unable to make with contact the occupant and there is an activated CO alarm and there is a strong likelihood that the occupant is inside (IE - car parked in the driveway), then the responder would likely make a more thorough investigation than in the first scenario.

So to recap, from the information provided, it sounds like the source is most likely an activated carbon monoxide alarm (like all electronic equipment, CO alarms are subject to malfunctions). Second, it may be the responding agency's standard operating procedure not to silent and/or reset any type of alarms, especially when the information provided to the call taker makes it seem like it is most likely a false alarm. Hope this helps.
anon3838
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Re: Help with incessant beeping in neighbor's house

Post by anon3838 »

GrowthSeeker wrote: Fri Jul 23, 2021 8:34 pm I am hoping the BH community will have an answer for this problem.
My friends have a next door neighbor who is almost never home (for months at a time), and for 2 weeks there has been a beeping coming from inside the neighbor's house. It is very annoying, keeping people awake at night. No one knows how to contact the owner.
Fire dept was called, they came, and were not interested.
Police were called, also not interested.
Visit to City Hall: apparently they will send a letter to the owner.

Issue One: trying to get authorities to take matter seriously enough to act on it.

Issue Two: perhaps try to identify what type of device is making the sound since that may turn out to be something that will get more interest from the authorities. On that note, I haven't been there to make my own measurements, but from verbal reports, it is a rapid beeping about 4 beeps per second that goes continuously without ever stopping. The frequency seems to be in the ballpark of 2400 Hz.

Any ideas? Thanks in advance.
I had incessant beeping sounds in my garage when my house was about 5-years old. Took me forever to identify where the beep was coming from. Every 90 seconds or so, there would be 2 beeps.

Turns out, AT&T had installed fiber to my exterior wall with a cover over the wiring…there was a battery backup installed as well. I don’t use AT&T services, so I pulled the battery out and solved the problem. I hear the beeping all over my neighborhood…

HTH.
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snackdog
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Re: Help with incessant beeping in neighbor's house

Post by snackdog »

I think for authorities to act the volume would need to exceed local limits. Is it really that loud? If not, you may have to live with it.
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TomatoTomahto
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Re: Help with incessant beeping in neighbor's house

Post by TomatoTomahto »

Seabear wrote: Fri Jul 23, 2021 11:26 pm Issue Two: Gobel is correct. Four, consecutive beeps indicates a carbon monoxide, CO, alarm. Three, consecutive beeps indicates a fire alarm.

Issue One: It may not be a matter of disinterest. Depending upon the department, employer, and/or officer responding, once you silent/reset an alarm, you technically "own it" in today's litigious society. Furthermore, the information provided to the call taker may possibly impact the level of investigation performed on scene. If it's "the neighbor is away on vacation and the alarm has been sounding for the past two weeks," a cursory examination would likely be sufficient by the responding officer. On the other hand, if the responder is informed that neighbors are unable to make with contact the occupant and there is an activated CO alarm and there is a strong likelihood that the occupant is inside (IE - car parked in the driveway), then the responder would likely make a more thorough investigation than in the first scenario.

So to recap, from the information provided, it sounds like the source is most likely an activated carbon monoxide alarm (like all electronic equipment, CO alarms are subject to malfunctions). Second, it may be the responding agency's standard operating procedure not to silent and/or reset any type of alarms, especially when the information provided to the call taker makes it seem like it is most likely a false alarm. Hope this helps.
Seabear, welcome to the forum.

I try to learn something every day. It’s early (5:35 AM) and I already learned a few things from your post. Thanks.
I get the FI part but not the RE part of FIRE.
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JoeRetire
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Re: Help with incessant beeping in neighbor's house

Post by JoeRetire »

GrowthSeeker wrote: Fri Jul 23, 2021 8:34 pmNo one knows how to contact the owner.

Any ideas?
Do your friends' neighbors have a phone number?

Sorry to say, but I don't think your friends are trying hard enough.
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galawdawg
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Re: Help with incessant beeping in neighbor's house

Post by galawdawg »

GrowthSeeker wrote: Fri Jul 23, 2021 8:50 pm
Trader Joe wrote: Fri Jul 23, 2021 8:46 pm
GrowthSeeker wrote: Fri Jul 23, 2021 8:34 pm I am hoping the BH community will have an answer for this problem.
My friends have a next door neighbor who is almost never home (for months at a time), and for 2 weeks there has been a beeping coming from inside the neighbor's house. It is very annoying, keeping people awake at night. No one knows how to contact the owner.
Fire dept was called, they came, and were not interested.
Police were called, also not interested.
Visit to City Hall: apparently they will send a letter to the owner.

Issue One: trying to get authorities to take matter seriously enough to act on it.

Issue Two: perhaps try to identify what type of device is making the sound since that may turn out to be something that will get more interest from the authorities. On that note, I haven't been there to make my own measurements, but from verbal reports, it is a rapid beeping about 4 beeps per second that goes continuously without ever stopping. The frequency seems to be in the ballpark of 2400 Hz.

Any ideas?
Thanks in advance.
Yes, your friends should work hard to make friends with their neighbors. Your friends should also share contact information so that they can address these types of situations. Why have have your friends not already done this? Everyone else in my neighborhood does.

Your friends should also buy some great earplugs when they cannot contact their neighbors. Here is a link to some examples for your friends:

https://www.amazon.com/s?k=ear+plugs+fo ... _sb_noss_2
I appreciate the humor, I really do; but your comment is not very helpful. My friends know many of their neighbors, but none of the other neighbors know this neighbor. I think he's the relative of whoever lived there but passed away several years ago.
Sorry to hear of these difficulties but I'm not sure why you think the comment isn't very helpful. You/your friends seem to think it is the responsibility of the police, fire department or city government to fix this issue since those are the only two issues you pose...how to get the authorities to do something. Unless there is a violation of the law, a violation of a city ordinance or a serious exigent threat to life or property, it is not the responsibility, nor even the right, of the authorities to take any action.

If there is an HOA, they could be contacted but their ability will be limited to sending letters and assessing fines.

Trader Joe is exactly correct. You/your friends should attempt to develop a neighborly relationship with the homeowner next door and communicate about how to avoid this problem in the future. Failing that (and without knowing what the character of the neighborhood and housing is that would permit such beeping to travel through walls/windows of one dwelling and through the walls/windows of a nearby dwelling to the point it is a nuisance) earplugs are a good temporary solution.

Ultimately if this issue continues, you/your friends may have to talk with an attorney about any legal remedies you/they may have.
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galawdawg
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Re: Help with incessant beeping in neighbor's house

Post by galawdawg »

jabberwockOG wrote: Fri Jul 23, 2021 11:10 pm Call fire or police normal number (not 911) every day to report what sounds like a fire or carbon monoxide alarm going off in neighbors house. If that doesn't work and it was me, I'd sell the house and get the H out of there - regardless of cost...not kidding.
That is a good way for the caller to find themselves receiving "unwanted" attention from the authorities. It was reported and it appears that there is nothing the police or fire department can/should do (see my post above). Continuing to call every day to essentially harass the police or fire department is something I would not recommend.
investingdad
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Re: Help with incessant beeping in neighbor's house

Post by investingdad »

Maybe an alarm clock that won’t stop?

White noise and ear plugs are not a useful suggestion for this type of noise.

And I agree the above reply was not helpful.
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Re: Help with incessant beeping in neighbor's house

Post by prudent »

Topic is locked (not a personal consumer issue).
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