Rant: My neighbor mows his lawn at 7am every Saturday and thinks I'm the jerk for complaining

So I live in a quiet cul-de-sac in Naperville, and this guy Mike across the street starts up his riding mower at 7:01 AM every single Saturday like clockwork. I work late shifts so I'm usually asleep until 9 or 10 on weekends, and I've asked him nicely a few times if he could maybe push it back an hour. He just laughs and says 'that's when the dew burns off' and that I should get my sleep schedule sorted out lol. But here's where I'm torn: part of me thinks yeah, it's Saturday and people deserve to sleep in, but another part wonders if he's actually being reasonable since it's his property and he's not doing anything illegal. I could get earplugs or a white noise machine for like $30, but I also feel like basic courtesy should mean not being a human alarm clock for the whole block. What do you all think, am I being unreasonable or is he just being a tool about it? Has anyone else dealt with a neighbor who treats the weekend like a construction zone?

2 comments

2 Comments

william_carter3h ago

My buddy had this exact same issue with his neighbor and he ended up getting one of those white noise machines and he said it worked pretty well honestly. But I remember reading somewhere that some towns have actual noise ordinances for early morning stuff, even if it's just a lawnmower. Might be worth checking your local rules, not gonna lie Mike sounds like the kind of guy who wouldn't care even if the cops showed up.

laura1891h ago

Our town actually has a rule about no loud yard work before 8am on weekends. My neighbor got a warning once for firing up his leaf blower at 7am. So maybe Mike's town has something similar, could be worth a quick look online.