Woman goes to war against her neighbour over cluttered backyard: ‘My guests have to manoeuvre through his junk and witness him doing his weird little rituals’

Author image for Melissa Knudson
Melissa Knudson • Writer
Sep 29, 2026 7:15 AM EDT

How far are you willing to go when defending your backyard?

The word "home" should be a synonym for peace and quiet. It should be a safe space to hide from the world once the week is over, and happily enjoy your own company. It should also be a place to invite friends and family over for a cheerful afternoon of laughs and good company. A house can be plenty of things, but it shouldn't be a battlefield. 

Coexisting with other human beings can be hard, especially when they live right next door. Try fitting into this person's shoes: you like your space to be clean and organised and appreciate hosting small get-togethers. However, you cannot fully rely on your friendly company, because your neighbour insists on placing giant things in your shared backyard, making it very challenging for your guests to actually get to your front door. Also, he likes to stay outside doing things you feel are a little embarrassing, to say the least. 

It's important to mention that the whole "wind chimes" debacle was not the first step in this escalating situation. The owner of the story tried to reason with her neighbour and, when that failed, even tried to get the actual owner of both properties involved. Not even a timely warning could keep her neighbour from filling up the backyard with junk. That's when she decided to fight fire with…wind chimes. A lot of them too. So much so that other neighbours are starting to be annoyed by the situation, for the sound of the wind chimes becomes unbearable with every passing day. "The chimes come down the second he stops hanging out outside my window and clears the junk," was her answer, after everyone requested her to put them down. 

We get it. The messy neighbour is definitely being very inconsiderate by putting his things everywhere, not taking into account that the backyard in question is shared by two renters. However, she is also being inconsiderate. Her actions have involved every other neighbour on the property and continue to escalate a situation that, at this point, needs the involvement of proper law enforcement officers. We will give it to her, though; she is very creative. Everyone here should be using that exact same creativity to try and figure out a solution that benefits all parties. What side of the yard would you be on?

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  • Neighbours fighting.
    via JackF

    Neighbours fighting.

    Featured likenesses do not identify those mentioned.

  • AITA For hanging a bunch of windchimes to deter my neighbor from being outside my home

    I rent an ADU, and a family member rents the main house on the property. We both rent from another family member who owns the whole lot.
    via Human_Philosopher339
  • Before the ADU was built, this guy had random junk in backyard and spent an a lot of time back there just doing weird sh. Now the home is built and the yard space is tiny.
    via Human_Philosopher339

  • So...not great

    He went to buy some big thing we knew wouldn't fit in his little junk yard and was told not to because it would block the walkway and he'd have to relocate it anyway. And well that conversation went great, if you consider screaming and threatening physical violence "great".
    via Human_Philosopher339
  • Today the monstrosity sits right outside my door, bottlenecking the walkway. My guests have to maneuver through his junk and witness him doing his weird little rituals just to get in my house. It's embarrassing, it makes the place look like a salvage yard, and my front window has basically become a live show of bafoonery.
    via Human_Philosopher339
  • Six months passed with zero progress. So, I went the petty route and hung an irrational amount of wind chimes right outside.
    via Human_Philosopher339
  • Neighbours having a disagreement.
    via JackF

    Neighbours having a disagreement.

    Representative only.

  • Do they drive me crazy too? Absolutely. It sounds like an aggressive orchestra every time a breeze hits. But I'm a woman on a mission, and warfare requires sacrifices.
    via Human_Philosopher339
  • Now the main house is ped, claiming the chimes are bothering their baby. I told them the chimes come down the second he stop hanging out outside my window and clears the junk.
    via Human_Philosopher339
  • Naturally, the family is divided. Most agree he needs to move his junk, but they chimes take things too far. Meanwhile, the owner told him to clear it out.. got screamed at, and promptly tapped out to keep the peace.
    via Human_Philosopher339
  • Edit: The owner did tell him that he needed to clear his clutter out because it sits directly in front of my front door and did make it clear before the home was even completed.
    via Human_Philosopher339
  • Second edit: I'm sorry I wrote it in way that was confusing I'm trying to be vague. To clarify, the junk owner is the renter of the main house. The owner of the homes does not live on the property.
    via Human_Philosopher339
  • Wind chimes.
    via JRLPhotographer

    Wind chimes.

    Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • KrofftSurvivor Look up the number for the fire marshal and fire code enforcement in your town. Call them and explain that you are concerned about the number of objects blocking your exit and you want to know whether or not it's a fire hazard.
    via KrofftSurvivor
  • bootsmegamix NTA The guy is clearly irrational and you can only meet that with a higher form of irrationality
    via bootsmegamix
  • Beck943 NTA. Wind chimes are annoying. Physically obstructing your door is illegal and a fire code violation.
    via Beck943
  • Relevant_Struggle Yta I get that you want to resolve this, but you are bothering your neighbors too. Wind chimes drive my nervous system crazy. It's like fingernails on a chalk board. If a neighbor did this, I would lose my mind
    via Relevant_Struggle
  • WTH4030 I'm curious as to what the Weird Rituals are with his junk!
    via WTH4030

  • About the rituals...

    Human_Philosopher339 Ill give ONE example. Sometime he is harnessed in running on a trampoline right infront of my door and windows. Like harnessed to a weight on the floor for resistance and running in place on a trampoline.. outside the window where I sit on my couch.. rituals might have made it sound worse than it is but he is always on bulls lol
    via Human_Philosopher339
  • Vegetable_Print5150 I like wind chimes. Maybe he'll fix his junk if his baby keeps him up. They make wind chimes that make very deep noises. Go out and do your own strange rituals while he is being weird. Move his stuff. Put it in front of his door.
    via Vegetable_Print5150
  • schec1 ESH, from OP's comments, sounds like a family dynamic. If they don't want to involve authorities, either live with cheap rent along with the junk/wind chimes stalemate or hire people to remove the junk.
    via schec1
  • Unlucky-Ambition-643 INFO: is an ADU?
    via Unlucky-Ambition-643

  • About the ADU...

    Human_Philosopher339 It stands for accessory dwelling unit, its a back house. I have my own address but my home is in the backyard of a preexisting home. The max they can be is 1200 sq feet but most are studios.
    via Human_Philosopher339
  • Old junk in a backyard.
    via oboltus

    Old junk in a backyard.

    Scene is illustrative and does not depict actual individuals or events.

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disagreement relatives woman AITAH traditions backyard property limits neighbor fight junk wind chimes conflict
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