Situation With Upstairs Neighbors

[sweetandsassyfl]

My roommate and I have upstairs neighbors that start stomping around and (it sounds like) throwing things around at 4:30 in the morning. I don't have to get up to go to work until 6:45 but I can't sleep through all the noise they're making. We've talked to the husband (he's not really the one making most of the noise) and he knows it's noisy but he hasn't really done anything to stop it (I don't know how he'd stop his wife from making noise anyway except that they did split up for a while but they got back together - unfortunately for my roommate and myself, fortunately for them and their son.) Would you take the complaint to the office (not that I think there's much that can be done by the office and I don't want to seem like a witch for escalating it) or would you try talking to them again and again or would you find some other way to get it through to them what it's like to always be woken up before you need to get up (I thought about going up there and banging on their door at 2 in the morning someday when I had just been woken up and was really ticked off)?

 

[Todd&Copper]

I don't know. That was the worst thing about apartment living and I am so glad I am in a SFH now with a large yard.
We had a situation when DH and I were first married in an apartment where our upstairs neighbor woke up at 6 am on weekend mornings and ran around for a good half hour, clomping on the floor. It sounded like they had Clydesdales up there! I was so not getting out of bed to complain, but I'd throw things at the ceiling and scream for them to cut it out. I told DH we should wake up super early one day every week and start banging pots against the ceiling randomly to give them a taste of their own medicine. He convinced me to just use ear plugs and turn the volume way up on our alarm.
Good luck, and you have my sympathy!

 

[BroadwayGirl]

I guess I would need to know WHY they are making so much noise at 4:30am. Is someone getting up to go to work or just getting home from work? Do they have an infant they are getting up to feed? Are they just doing normal things but because of the time the noise is magnified?

I mean, if someone has to get up and get ready for work there isn't much you can do except suggest to them that they might be unaware of how much the sound travels. Thats why I take off my shoes as soon as I step inside my apartment - bare feet or slippers are much quieter than feet in hard soled shoes. If they are just late night people who are being inconsiderate then I would suggest a visit to the management office.

My sympathies to you. I've mostly be very fortunate in my upstairs neighbors although I did have the one guy in the apartment upstairs when I lived in NC who went "Tromping Around Wearing Boots like Gaston." That was annoying because all I heard was the clump clump clump like a herd of elephants.

 

[mickeyboat]

Do you use a fan or white noise machine? That was the only way I was able to sleep while we lived in an apartment.

 

[lovemygoofy]

Our apt neighbor that lives below us likes to complain about us too making too much noise. I think it's more that the floors creak and pop and it's hard to be quiet without tippytoeing around. It's even worse because my husband is not a light walker with his heavy army boots around.

Of course they didn't start complaining until I complained about my floor and windows vibrating from the neighbor downstairs music.

 

[sweetandsassyfl]

Actually, they make the noise basically all day...it's just that when it starts at 4:15 in the morning, it's very annoying...I can live with it for the rest of the day...and it's not because of an infant. Their son is about 10. It got a lot quieter when the wife moved out but now that she's back, it's started again.

 

[wvjules]

My downstairs neighbors are loud! I can't imagine how bad it must be for the people below them.

 

[Fitswimmer]

I wish I could get my downstairs neighbors to stop cooking whatever dish it is that smells worse than the cat box.....

I get up at 4:30 to go to swim practice, and I'm sure they're not fond of it, but I'm not changing my schedule to accomodate them. I don't put shoes on until I'm ready to leave, try to keep the noise to a minimum but stuff happens. One morning the cat knocked over the entire salt container and I had to dig out the dyson to clean it up-no fun for anyone upstairs or downstairs.

 

[sweetandsassyfl]

fitswimmer, at least you try...I'm pretty sure the wife doesn't even try to be quiet....and if it wasn't an everyday thing I could deal with it a lot better (for example, your cat's salt shaker incident.)

 

[Todd&Copper]

I wish I could get my downstairs neighbors to stop cooking whatever dish it is that smells worse than the cat box.....

Ooooh, that was the other thing that sucked about apartment living. I have had friends complain about apartment neighbors who cooked smelly fish all the time, but DH & I lived a floor below someone who cooked something that smelled like a pig's a$$. Kind of porky, kind of smoky, but kind of like doody, and I can't believe someone willingly ate food that smelled that wretched.

 

[LindaG4458]

We own a duplex townhouse in NH, and the other half of the building rents to vacation tenants. The two units share the main beam across the structure and noise radiates from the other side, especially if there are children running up and down the stairs. DH has a rubber mallet and, when the noise gets too bad, will pound on the common beam with it. Never fails to quiet things down immediately.

 

[Nynaeve]

Ooooh, that was the other thing that sucked about apartment living. I have had friends complain about apartment neighbors who cooked smelly fish all the time, but DH & I lived a floor below someone who cooked something that smelled like a pig's a$$. Kind of porky, kind of smoky, but kind of like doody, and I can't believe someone willingly ate food that smelled that wretched.

We used to smell some funky things in the hallway of our old apartment, but nothing that bad!!

 

[Violet Crayon]

I lived in a building a few years ago that actually requested you make complaints to the office so confrontations would not create any drama between tenants.

Nobody lives above us right now because they were evicted for playing live music and having obnoxious dance parties. Not sure how many people complained, but we were making calls, and the police gave them a citation (which was needed to prove the situation for eviction). I felt bad, but they were really inconsiderate, and I keep my fingers crossed a noisy person will not move in before May.

 

[Shyvioletisme]

oh no! I know I couldn't do it if it was an every day thing...we have downstairs neighbors who every so often decide to open up their balcony door and play the bongos and yell at about 2-3 am...My answer was to call in a noise complaint to the cops, they come, and the noise does not start back up again....then when the office opens, we go down and let them know the situation-- that we had noise issues with said apartment and had to call in a noise complaint to the police. I don't know that anything would ever be done about it from the office....but sorry I don't have a better suggestion.

 

[MouseJunkie]

Oh boy have I been there, only I had Godzilla's version of Romper Room upstairs. I changed apartment units and upgraded to a bigger one at the same to make the hassle of moving really worth MY while. I couldn't be happier now. I just feel for the person who occupies the unit I left open because they are in for a rude awakening.

If changing units is an option, as much of a pain in the bootie as it is, I'd do it again.

Some say you should check out who your neighbors are before hand. Well, that's all well and nice, but it's a little hard to try out an apartment unit on a trial run basis.

Good luck...and yes I'd go to the office. Mine really worked with me and were very empathetic. I hope you reach a solution.

 

[MouseJunkie]

I should add I had grand fantasies about retaliating too. For example, one of my favorite ideas was somehow attaching my alarm clock to the ceiling above the little angel's head and make it go off really loud very early in the morning. I had other rotten ideas too, but this was the first to come to mind. I never did retaliate because I knew it'd only make things worse, but it was fun to fantasize about it. I also went the route of confronting the person, but they were less than cooperative. So, yeah I'd still go the leasing office route.

 

[sweetandsassyfl]

Thank you Mouse Junkie (and everyone else)....you seem to know exactly how I feel.