My Neighbor’s Floodlight.

[Palanan]

I am gifted with a neighbor whose high-intensity floodlight is aimed directly at my bedroom window. I can cover the window, but the light floods my yard at night, which makes it impossible to enjoy stargazing or anything else. It will also drown out the modest holiday display I’d like to put up in my front yard.

Owing to years of past experience I know that trying to talk with this individual will not be productive. I’d like to try stretching a sheet of something dark and opaque along the edge of my property to block most of it, but I’m not sure what material would work best. Most ordinary fabrics will be overwhelmed by the intensity of the light. What kinds of materials could work in this situation? And where could I find them?

[Peelee]

It's a shame talking to the neighbor doesn't work. On a completely separate topic, did you know that you can sometimes find large mirrors for relatively cheap at yard sales or thrift stores? And you can just put them wherever you want on the outside of your house?

Anyway, don't know how to solve the floodlight in the bedroom issue. Hope you figure something out!

[Rater202]

I'm reminded of the episode of Home Improvement where Tim and Wilson's friendship breaks down over Wilson's plans to build a greenhouse.

Unfortunately I can't find a clip, but TL/DR, you can legally build or install whatever reflective surfaces you want on your own property as long as you don't do any construction that requires a permit without said permit.

[MCerberus]

I am gifted with a neighbor whose high-intensity floodlight is aimed directly at my bedroom window. I can cover the window, but the light floods my yard at night, which makes it impossible to enjoy stargazing or anything else. It will also drown out the modest holiday display I’d like to put up in my front yard.

Owing to years of past experience I know that trying to talk with this individual will not be productive. I’d like to try stretching a sheet of something dark and opaque along the edge of my property to block most of it, but I’m not sure what material would work best. Most ordinary fabrics will be overwhelmed by the intensity of the light. What kinds of materials could work in this situation? And where could I find them?

Black felt backing rough cotton. DYI cheap blackout curtains. Use non-disposable paperclips to hold together seams.

[Peelee]

I'm reminded of the episode of Home Improvement where Tim and Wilson's friendship breaks down over Wilson's plans to build a greenhouse.

Ya know, somehow i can all too easily buy into the verisimilitude there.

[Rynjin]

You could maybe call the police on him over it. Seems like it would (potentially) fall under "public nuisance" statutes.

[J-H]

Blackout curtains aren't that expensive.

Also call Code Enforcement or City Hall and ask if there are any city codes that might come into play. Note that there's a good chance your neighbor will figure out who did it. Make sure your place is fully up to code before giving an address.

[Solamnicknight]

I feel your pain! My neighbor has a lightning company he runs out of his detached garage and his yard is lit up like a baseball diamond. It’s especially awful for my mom who is a nurse and has to get up early and the lights around his fancy trees are in her window.

[TaiLiu]

I am gifted with a neighbor whose high-intensity floodlight is aimed directly at my bedroom window. I can cover the window, but the light floods my yard at night, which makes it impossible to enjoy stargazing or anything else. It will also drown out the modest holiday display I’d like to put up in my front yard.

Directly at your bedroom window? That's awful. Does he dislike you?

It's a shame talking to the neighbor doesn't work. On a completely separate topic, did you know that you can sometimes find large mirrors for relatively cheap at yard sales or thrift stores? And you can just put them wherever you want on the outside of your house?

Anyway, don't know how to solve the floodlight in the bedroom issue. Hope you figure something out!

That's brilliant! Replacing the bedroom window with a one-sided mirror might work, too.

[Rater202]

Random thought: Is putting reflective tape on the backside of your curtains an option?

[OracleofWuffing]

Owing to years of past experience I know that trying to talk with this individual will not be productive. I’d like to try stretching a sheet of something dark and opaque along the edge of my property to block most of it, but I’m not sure what material would work best. Most ordinary fabrics will be overwhelmed by the intensity of the light. What kinds of materials could work in this situation? And where could I find them?

I think the formal term for "opaque material along the edge of one's property" would be a Privacy Fence. Of which there are further materials to weigh one's preferences for aesthetics and maintenance, but PVC and wood are more likely to have a better chance at blocking light than fabric^{[citation needed]}, and I guess you could even get shiny metal if you want to escalate your neighbor's frustration, too (I don't really want to recommend the option to spite people that know where you live, but it appears that's a minority opinion in this thread). Any hardware store would probably be the place to check for materials, and they would probably point you in the right direction for installation instructions or people that you could pay to install it.

But depending on which hemisphere of the planet you live, it might be "the worst possible time to install major yard work projects," so a cheaper, less permanent option would be to construct a frame out of PVC pipes. You're probably not going to find any instructions that exactly match what you want to do, but you're just using the pipes as sticks to make a frame, just make sure your fittings match whatever pipe size you're using. While blackout curtains would probably work, I'm not so confident about using them outdoors, so you would probably want to use a vinyl tarp as the blocking material. Those should also be at any general hardware store, or maybe farm supply shop.

Somewhere in between those two options, try looking around for Patio Privacy Screens? Less work to set up than a full-on fence, just as "professional" looking, and probably less likely to blow away if you did something wrong.

...I am now irrationally annoyed by how frequently I used the word, "probably." Well, crud. Guess I ain't going to sleep any time soon.

[Peelee]

I think the formal term for "opaque material along the edge of one's property" would be a Privacy Fence.

....

(I don't really want to recommend the option to spite people that know where you live, but it appears that's a minority opinion in this thread).

1.) Normally I wouldn't advocate a course of action that is likely to have the neighbor retaliate/escalate, but in this situation, that is IMO likely no matter what. Calling the police has issues; the light has to be against an ordinance, the police they contact will have to know that, and the police they contact will have to care to actually deal with it. "That's a civil matter" is not an uncommon thing to be said when they don't want to deal with something - or it may actually be a civil matter - and even if they do come out and talk to the neighbor, it's highly likely the neighbor will figure out who called them and retaliate/escalate anyway,. The fence is a good option that is unlikely to instigate any further issues, but it's also incredibly costly.

B.) Speaking of, even the fence can be an aggressive action, if done a certain way. Spite fence! I do not recommend spite fence.

[DavidSh]

Some places have restrictions on how high a fence you can have. If there is a six-foot limit, and both the floodlight and the bedroom window are on second stories, a fence won't do much for blocking the light.

[Keltest]

That's brilliant! Replacing the bedroom window with a one-sided mirror might work, too.

Doing that properly would sort of void its use as a window. "One-way" mirrors/windows are just regular mirrors. They work through relative light levels since there isnt an opaque surface on the back, so the ones you see in cop shows and the like are basically just really reflective windows with the lights turned out on one side. You could set it up like that, but then all you've done is make the side of your house shiny without stopping the light from shining on you.

[TaiLiu]

Doing that properly would sort of void its use as a window. "One-way" mirrors/windows are just regular mirrors. They work through relative light levels since there isnt an opaque surface on the back, so the ones you see in cop shows and the like are basically just really reflective windows with the lights turned out on one side. You could set it up like that, but then all you've done is make the side of your house shiny without stopping the light from shining on you.

I’m a little confused, but I think I understand. You’re saying that one-way mirrors won’t work cuz they need to let in light so the person on the other side can see. So of course a one-way mirror wouldn’t work.

That’s super obvious now that you point it out. My mental model of the world is embarrassingly bad. 😖

[Keltest]

I’m a little confused, but I think I understand. You’re saying that one-way mirrors won’t work cuz they need to let in light so the person on the other side can see. So of course a one-way mirror wouldn’t work.

That’s super obvious now that you point it out. My mental model of the world is embarrassingly bad. 😖

Basically. A One-way "mirror" is just reflective glass. They work due to the relative amounts of light going through each side, like how its easier to see your reflection in a window when the side youre looking out on is dark.

[Peelee]

Basically. A One-way "mirror" is just reflective glass. They work due to the relative amounts of light going through each side, like how its easier to see your reflection in a window when the side youre looking out on is dark.

Imean, in the same sense that a standard mirror is just reflective glass, yes. It is significantly mlde reflective than standars glass, but they are still made as mirrors (just differently from standard mirrors) and function as mirrors so I'm not sure about calling them "mirrors".

That being said, yeah, it's not ideal since it involves significant cost and little benefit, as well as being a permanent solution to an ideally temporary problem. Notwithstanding potential legal or structural issues i may not be familiar with.

[Keltest]

Imean, in the same sense that a standard mirror is just reflective glass, yes. It is significantly mlde reflective than standars glass, but they are still made as mirrors (just differently from standard mirrors) and function as mirrors so I'm not sure about calling them "mirrors".

That being said, yeah, it's not ideal since it involves significant cost and little benefit, as well as being a permanent solution to an ideally temporary problem. Notwithstanding potential legal or structural issues i may not be familiar with.

Standard mirrors usually include an opaque surface on one side, or are set into/against walls. I guess it qualifies in that you can toggle the mirror on or off with the lighting conditions, but most people don't think of a mirror as a thing that lets light through, hence the scare quotes.

[TaiLiu]

Basically. A One-way "mirror" is just reflective glass. They work due to the relative amounts of light going through each side, like how its easier to see your reflection in a window when the side youre looking out on is dark.

Oh, I see. The window analogy is helpful.

[Palanan]

Thanks for the comments, everyone.

Originally Posted by MCerberus
Black felt backing rough cotton. DYI cheap blackout curtains.

Originally Posted by OracleofWuffing
…try looking around for Patio Privacy Screens? Less work to set up than a full-on fence, just as "professional" looking, and probably less likely to blow away if you did something wrong.

Solid ideas, will look into these.

Originally Posted by Rynjin
You could maybe call the police on him over it. Seems like it would (potentially) fall under "public nuisance" statutes.

It should, but unfortunately long experience has shown that the local police aren’t interested in doing much of anything.

Originally Posted by J-H
Note that there's a good chance your neighbor will figure out who did it.

He only has the one floodlight, aimed right at my house, so he’ll know exactly where any complaints about lighting are coming from.

Originally Posted by DavidSh
Some places have restrictions on how high a fence you can have. If there is a six-foot limit, and both the floodlight and the bedroom window are on second stories, a fence won't do much for blocking the light.

This exactly. The light is high enough on his house that it would reach right over a standard privacy fence. Anything large enough to block the light would be extra-tall and thus extra-expensive.

Originally Posted by Solamnicknight
My neighbor has a lightning company….

That’s awesome, I might look into hiring his services re: my neighbor.

More seriously, this kind of high-intensity light pollution doesn’t get the attention it should. Next to useless as a practical deterrent, consumes far too much energy, and as you’ve pointed out, it can be extremely disruptive to other peoples’ lives.

Unfortunately my “neighbor” is the sort of person who doesn’t care about any of that. He’s a long-term renter who goes all-in on the performative aspects of lawn maintenance. My yard has plenty of native shrubs and trees, and I have abundant wildlife as a result. His yard is a sterile monoculture of close-shaved grass, with no wildlife to speak of.

Not directly relevant to the lighting issue, but it speaks to why talking to him just won’t work. Irreconcilable philosophies on pretty much everything.

[Melayl]

In regards to the two-way mirror solution, they *do* make films you can apply to your windo to get the effect without having to replace your window. They have various opacities you can get.

[Aedilred]

If he's a renter, could you speak to his landlord? Might be he's in breach of his tenancy: in England at leas, it's usual for tenancies to require the tenant not cause nuisance (or do anything likely to cause a nuisance) to neighbours, quite aside from whether it's an unauthorised modification.

[Rockphed]

If he's a renter, could you speak to his landlord? Might be he's in breach of his tenancy: in England at leas, it's usual for tenancies to require the tenant not cause nuisance (or do anything likely to cause a nuisance) to neighbours, quite aside from whether it's an unauthorised modification.

This is the tack I would follow if he refuses to turn off the light of doom at a reasonable hour.

If that doesn't work, get some blackout curtains.

[Algeh]

It looks like you've already gotten quite a bit of advice about trying to block out the light (which, yeah, it sounds like won't really work well in your situation in terms of outdoors), so I'm just going to suggest additional non-police people you could possibly contact depending on who exists in your area if you wanted to go the route of complaining to someone. You know your overall situation better than I do, so I'm not going to try to give you any advice on whether you should complain to various groups, just going to give you a list of additional entities you could complain to in case any of them seem like a good fit.

Landlord: someone else already mentioned this, but complaining to the neighbor's landlord is a solid option in terms of it being someone who might have the authority to make him change stuff. Whether the landlord will care is a complete tossup. They're more likely to care if the light was installed into the house electrical system recently by a non-licensed electrician (and/or if it's attached to the house in a way that might cause damage) than they are to care about how the light impacts the neighborhood, but if that applies in your case they may care quite a bit. If the landlord is Just Some Guy rather than a large company, it's possible that they also care what the neighbors think, but it's also possible that they're on Team Well-Lit Monoculture.

HOA, if any: If you have a Homeowner's Association, check your bylaws to see if there's anything relevant. If there isn't anything relevant but there is an HOA, you can attempt to persuade them to add regulations in this area, probably by framing it as an issue for either wildlife or livability. My limited experience with HOAs is that they tend to be on team Well-Lit Monoculture, though, which is one of several reasons why I didn't buy a house in one.

City code enforcement, if different than police: If you have code/nuisance inspectors who are dispatched through some city bureau other than police, you could try contacting them to see if they're interested if there's a city code violation involved. This may be another place where unpermitted electrical work, if any, would come into play.

Mediators: In the city where I live, and also the different city where my mother lives, there are city-sponsored mediators that you can involve in neighborhood problems. I personally have not used them, and in my mother's neighborhood they were not able to resolve the issue they were called out for (mediation only works if both parties are reasonable, and don't have resources for dealing with someone with severe mental illness), but if this person seems to be operating on the same or a closely-adjacent plane of reality it might be worth a try.

Any local dark sky advocacy or bird advocacy groups: These groups will be unlikely to have any direct authority to talk to your neighbor, but may be up on what laws, regulations, and tactics have worked well in your area. They may be able to point you in additional directions.

[Liquor Box]

It should, but unfortunately long experience has shown that the local police aren’t interested in doing much of anything.
.

I don't know where you are from, but in some jurisdictions there's a tort of private nuisance, which is unreasonable interference in someone else's use of their land. This situation may meet that. You can take it to court yourself and get an order.

[Corsair14]

If it doesnt violate nuisance laws, the neither will putting up a mirror on your side of the fence angled to reflect the light into his windows. I would put up a camera in case he tries to break the mirror then you have him on vandalism and destruction of property.