What do you consider normal apartment noises?

[Pomlover2586]

I live in an town home like apartment- it's 2 stories and we are an end unit to we only have 1 neighboring wall. This wall connects to the 2 bedrooms, as well as the living room and dining room.

I'm wondering what you all consider to be "normal" apartment noises? I know that when you live in an apartment or town home like this you're going to hear some neighbor noises- that's normal, but at what point does it cross a line?

Our neighbors are relatively quiet during the day. At night however they get somewhat loud- for our standards anyway. They like to vacuum at 10 or 11 pm at night. In addition they play their television rather loudly-to the point where sometimes we can hear their TV over ours in the living room. Also, DH and I are having to sleep with earplugs because they stay up until 3 or 4 in the morning watching TV in their bedroom- which backs up to ours- neither are currently working so they stay up late and sleep in. The woman is also loud when she speaks- she tends to do an almost yell when calling to her small child- 1 yr old?

We are new to the complex- just moved in a month ago- and i'm not sure if I want to try speaking to them or just deal with it. Our past neighbors in our old apartment were loud- feet noises at all hours- children playing etc so were not unused to noises- but this is the first time we've been unable to sleep without ear plugs due to them. Thoughts?

 

[Lorem Ipsum]

Man do I not miss apartment living. We used to live under "Baron Von Squeaky." Every Saturday morning his bedsprings would squeak. I am sure that I do not need to elaborate...

 

[Planogirl]

I don't miss those apartment days either. Sometimes neighbors seem loud because the walls are so thin.

Do you get the impression that their TV is loud or is it at a regular volume? Could you get a white noise machine if this remains a problem?

 

[disneyfav4ever]

I live in an town home like apartment- it's 2 stories and we are an end unit to we only have 1 neighboring wall. This wall connects to the 2 bedrooms, as well as the living room and dining room.

I'm wondering what you all consider to be "normal" apartment noises? I know that when you live in an apartment or town home like this you're going to hear some neighbor noises- that's normal, but at what point does it cross a line?

Our neighbors are relatively quiet during the day. At night however they get somewhat loud- for our standards anyway. They like to vacuum at 10 or 11 pm at night. In addition they play their television rather loudly-to the point where sometimes we can hear their TV over ours in the living room. Also, DH and I are having to sleep with earplugs because they stay up until 3 or 4 in the morning watching TV in their bedroom- which backs up to ours- neither are currently working so they stay up late and sleep in. The woman is also loud when she speaks- she tends to do an almost yell when calling to her small child- 1 yr old?

We are new to the complex- just moved in a month ago- and i'm not sure if I want to try speaking to them or just deal with it. Our past neighbors in our old apartment were loud- feet noises at all hours- children playing etc so were not unused to noises- but this is the first time we've been unable to sleep without ear plugs due to them. Thoughts?

I have mixed feelings about this, if they are truly listening to their television that loudly, that is kind of inconsiderate, but I wouldn't factor in the time of day they're making noise, since they're just on a different schedule then you. Also, if the vacum making noise is noticeable, I have to wonder how loud the tv really is.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

I live in an town home like apartment- it's 2 stories and we are an end unit to we only have 1 neighboring wall. This wall connects to the 2 bedrooms, as well as the living room and dining room.

I'm wondering what you all consider to be "normal" apartment noises? I know that when you live in an apartment or town home like this you're going to hear some neighbor noises- that's normal, but at what point does it cross a line?

Our neighbors are relatively quiet during the day. At night however they get somewhat loud- for our standards anyway. They like to vacuum at 10 or 11 pm at night. In addition they play their television rather loudly-to the point where sometimes we can hear their TV over ours in the living room. Also, DH and I are having to sleep with earplugs because they stay up until 3 or 4 in the morning watching TV in their bedroom- which backs up to ours- neither are currently working so they stay up late and sleep in. The woman is also loud when she speaks- she tends to do an almost yell when calling to her small child- 1 yr old?

We are new to the complex- just moved in a month ago- and i'm not sure if I want to try speaking to them or just deal with it. Our past neighbors in our old apartment were loud- feet noises at all hours- children playing etc so were not unused to noises- but this is the first time we've been unable to sleep without ear plugs due to them. Thoughts?

Sounds normal to me and that your place has very thin walls.

Be thankful they are not lifting weights until 2am and they are above your head. That was our last place.

 

[AKL_Megs]

Normal? Anything.

In our first apartment, we got used to the 2am phone calls to India and after work Guitar Hero sessions from our upstairs neighbor. Our "back to back" neighbor and his significant other were VERY attracted to one another, if you catch my drift.

In our second apartment, our upstairs neighbor would get up LOUDLY at 4am EVERY MORNING, walk to the bathroom and pee... LOUDLY. Gross. She was an older lady and LOVED watching an assortment of reruns. I'd listen to them as I cooked dinner most nights...

Other noises... Dogs, kids, arguments, laughter... Everything.

Thin walls, what can you do. It made us save up for our house FAST.

 

[tvguy]

Sounds normal to me and that your place has very thin walls.

Be thankful they are not lifting weights until 2am and they are above your head. That was our last place.

Yup. Absolutely normal apartment living.
My son spent 3 years in a college dorm, and 1 year in an apartment and said the dorms were far quieter.

 

[bicker]

They like to vacuum at 10 or 11 pm at night.

Generally, I've seen 10pm highlighted as the dividing line. So vacuuming at 9pm is fine. 9:59pm is fine. 10:01pm - not-so-much.

In addition they play their television rather loudly-to the point where sometimes we can hear their TV over ours in the living room.

Assuming you're talking about before 10pm, then there are two equally-valid ways of looking at it, the other being that you keep your television so quiet (rather than them keeping their television so loud).

Also, DH and I are having to sleep with earplugs because they stay up until 3 or 4 in the morning watching TV in their bedroom

Generally, after 10pm, nothing should be audible outside the walls of their apartment.

 

[princesshannahsmom]

We lived in an "apartment" for a year before finding our home here. I don't remember any of those noises. We were sandwiched in between two other units and had one behind us as well. I never heard anything except an occasional door slam (very rarely). All of our neighbors kept the same schedule as we did, so I can't imagine we wouldn't have heard there daily comings and goings, but we never did.

Of course, these weren't really "apartments" the were "condos" because they were individually owned, so I don't know if maybe they are built differently. I don't know much about that because it was the first time we haven't lived in a house.

Sadly, our behind neighbors were cooking (not food) at about 3 in the morning. I was awoken by what smelled like burning toast. I woke DD up to have her help me "sniff" around to see if we could figure it out. The smell was getting stronger and stronger and I started seeing smoke. We were already packed to go out of town, so I grabbed all of the bags, throwing the animals in the bags and rushed out the door. They caught their place on fire and it burned so hot it burned through the firewall of our apartment. We WILL NOT be living in "condo" again!

 

[bicker]

Do you get the impression that their TV is loud or is it at a regular volume?

This highlights an interesting wrinkle. One of the best features to be added to television over the last 50 years - even better than HD - was 5.1 surround sound. The ".1" portion of that is interesting though - it indicates support for a sub-woofer, a speaker that essentially puts out low frequency sound, i.e., rumbling. Low frequency sound travels through floors and walls and such very efficiently, so even at low volume, you'll "hear" (really: "feel") it next door. When we got our 5.1 system, we really enjoyed it, but soon thereafter we were chatting with the neighbor and he asked if we had recently started hearing rumbling all the time. It didn't take long for us to realize that the culprit was the sub-woofer. He didn't make the connection because he didn't hear an increased volume of sound from the television (i.e., the dialog or music), but just the rumbling. We're very conscious of the clock now and assuming we actually stay up to 10pm (which really never happens anymore really) we always turn off the sub-woofer at that point.

 

[tomthebarncat]

Shagging sounds, but they generally don't last long

 

[bicker]

Of course, these weren't really "apartments" the were "condos" because they were individually owned, so I don't know if maybe they are built differently. I don't know much about that because it was the first time we haven't lived in a house.

I don't think there is much that can be done with apartments. We lived in an apartment-condo ten years ago and there was definitely more noise-transmission. Now we're in our second townhouse condo together, and both were much quieter - simply very quiet. I saw these being built, and they have cinder block walls between the units, up to the eaves, so there are essentially three separate airspaces between each unit (including inside the cinder blocks), and so that probably makes all the difference. I was in a townhouse condo before we were married, as well, and there was definitely a lot of noise transmission there. I suspect if we "opened up" a wall, we'd have seen the backs of the nails from the picture hangers that our neighbors used to put up pictures on their walls.

 

[emma'smom]

My thought is that if you felt your neighbors at your last apartment were noisy and you feel that your new neighbors are too---than your tolerance for noise might just not be very high.

When we lived in an apartment in NYC, we would often hear people in the hallway coming up the stairs and into their apartments. We would also hear the teenager below us playing his stereo. In my opinion, the noise goes with the territory of apartment living---particularly if you are the "new neighbors" and these noises may have been perfectly acceptable for the previous tenants. Time to start saving for a house!

 

[The Mystery Machine]

My thought is that if you felt your neighbors at your last apartment were noisy and you feel that your new neighbors are too---than your tolerance for noise might just not be very high.

When we lived in an apartment in NYC, we would often hear people in the hallway coming up the stairs and into their apartments. We would also hear the teenager below us playing his stereo. In my opinion, the noise goes with the territory of apartment living---particularly if you are the "new neighbors" and these noises may have been perfectly acceptable for the previous tenants. Time to start saving for a house!

Yep. Apartment living can be noisy at times.

With my parents, they have a family with kids a golden retriever & a cat living above them. That sounds like a racetrack.

My MIL lives in a condo that has noises as well.

Heck, even when you live in a house you have to put up with neighbors.

 

[golfgal]

Giving them the benefit of the doubt, they may not know how loud their TV is. I would let them know that their TV is very loud at night and could they turn it down. If they are receptive to that, problem solved. If not, I would be watching MY loud TV at 6:00 AM while I am getting ready for work. If that doesn't work, contact the property manager, invite him/her over at 10:00PM to listen. I would document when you talk to them and what was said as well.

When we were first married we lived next door to a woman that had to have been at LEAST 85. Her TV was VERY loud-to the point we could understand what was being said on the tv in our apartment. She never had the TV on late at night though so it wasn't an issue.

 

[3boymthr]

Footsteps, TV noises and vacuuming are very normal noises. The timing might stink but that's apartment living. But I would ask them if they could turn it down. Just mention that you think the walls are thin.

Just thank your lucky stars it's not someone screaming "yes, yes, yes" at the top of their lungs accompanied by thumping and smacking noises every day while you are eating dinner. (their bedroom backed up to our kitchen). 'Cause, really, how do you ask them to turn that down?

 

[gillep]

It sounds like you just have really thin walls. When we bought our townhouse we made sure to pick one where there were essentially firewalls between each unit so as to not hear our neighbors. We hear no noise from either of our neighbors unless we both have our front doors open when the one vacuums then I can hear it through our door.

In my last apartment we had people above us which I hated for many reasons but the biggest problem with that was that the lady was a moron and kept forgetting about her bathtub and would overflow it at least once a month causing a leak in our bathroom It is really great to get up at 1:00 am to go to the bathroom and get a shower from above with horribly smelly yellow water.

 

[Toad_Passenger]

TVs, vacuums, intimate moments...they all sound like normal Apartment noises to me.

When DW & I first moved in together we had the unfortunate task of calling the Police on one of our neighbors. He was a single Dad, and began (loudly) abusing his young daughter, verbally. One night we actually heard the abuse turn physical and we immediately called 911. Turns out she was fighting him on getting a bath and he threw her into the tub and she hit her head pretty hard. Police came, and we never saw him or the girl again. Two older people (I'm assuming his parents), came and moved all of his stuff out.

That girl is probably between 16-18 years old today, and I hope her life improved because of our phone call.

So, to answer the OP's question, the stuff you hear is normal. Physical abuse, is not normal.

 

[Robinrs]

I lived in many apartments, in NY and atlanta, and don't remember ever hearing anyone's TV. I've heard all kinds of other sounds, feet, skating, banging, flushing, but not TV.

My sister bought a townhouse around the same time I bought one and she heard every cough, music selection and argument her neighbors had. I NEVER heard my neighbors, and there was a Mom, Grandmother and a young girl living there. I heard them outside and they spoke LOUD, it's just that the insulation in the walls prevented noise. My sister was so angry because her neighbors, who eventually divorced and unfortunately she knew why because she heard EVERYTHING.

Not much you can do about it, apt managers usually will ask the neighbors to pipe down and all it causes is animosity. I'd just make sure I can find something UNattached on my next move.

 

[ols386]

If its really bothering you, op, and it sounds like it is, either go to the neighbors directly or if there is a building manager or something like, go to them and tell them what's going on and ask if they can talk to the neighbors.

When I lived in an apartment a few years ago, the guy who lived below me, was a college kid. Shortly after he moved in, he started having all-night parties, with lots of loud talking, sing-alongs, and guitar playing. His parties would literally run to 5am, and I had to get up at 6am for work.

I called the apartment office after a couple of weeks (it was a huge apartment complex) and just told them what was going on. They said they would ask him to keep it down, and that if it continued, they would notify his parents. Apparently his apartment was in their name.

After the office people asked him to keep it down, because someone had complained, he went around knocking at all the doors of the apartments in our building, including mine, asking who complained. I said it wasn't me. After that, the noise subsided. I wasn't trying to be mean, but that's just ridiculous to have all-night parties, and be that inconsiderate of neighbors.