What do you do about noisy neighbors?

What to about noisy neighbors by Nolo Press:

http://www.tenant.net/Other_Areas/Calif/misc/noise.html

Here's another way:

http://www.wisegeek.com/what-are-some-ways-to-deal-with-noisy-neighbors.htm

Noisy neighbors up stairs.

It’s 11pm on a Thursday night and you’ve been having the most horrible week at work. You’ve been working on a presentation all night long and you’re finally done. All you can think about now is your big, soft, squishy pillow and your blankey. You’ve had your chamomile tea and you’re all tucked in for the night ready to dream about sugar plum fairies and the land of Nod when… for the 100th time, the distinct thump thump thump of the beginning of “Bootylicious” begins to emanate from the apartment of your downstairs neighbor.

Sunday morning, last night you had a great night with the guys and your head is just a little bit in pain. You’re about ready to take your second dose of aspirin when you hear shouting in the hallway. Your next door neighbors are at it again, the very loud, very heated argument makes it way from the hallway into the apartment and before you know it, there goes the slamming door, breaking glass and much much more shouting that seems to go on forever.

Upstairs, there’s this guy. He’s kinda cute but every time you see him you just want to punch his lights out. See, he’s on a little bit of an exercise kick, and since he starts work at 5 am, the only time he has to run on his treadmill is in the MORNING before 5AM!!! Daily, you are awoken by the steady rhythm of his wannabe beefcake gams pouncing up and down on the highest setting on his NordicTrack.

I’m sure at one time in our lives we’ve all been the victim of the unruly neighbor or two. The longer these type of disruptions continue, the less sleep we get, the more irritable we become and the more we fantasize about violent actions perpetrated towards our neighbors. STOP right there. Odds are, if you create a scene or confront your neighbor in a hostile manner, your neighbor will probably be provoked into making your life even worse. There are non-violent ways to go about getting your neighbor to lower the sound levels while keeping the peace in your apartment community.

The Polite Approach

My mom always said that you can gather more flies with honey than you can with vinegar. First step, try being nice and direct with the neighbors who are creating the decibel level disruption and approach them with your concern. Try not to sound too whiney or belligerent and calmly tell them how their noise is affecting you. There is a good chance that your neighbor didn’t even realize that his nightly treadmill antics were causing you that much of a problem and he may switch to a later exercise routine. If the idea of face to face confrontation is not for you, a polite letter may do the trick and draw attention to the fact that there is a noise issue. Make a copy of any letters you write and send. Record the dates of these letters as well as any confrontation situations that may have taken place. If the polite approach does not work, you may need this documentation as you progress into the next two possible lines of attack.

Here is my noisy neighbor story -

We live in a condo where two town houses are above us. We have not had noise issues (normal stuff but nothing too bad) and our neighbors had always been kind about taking shoes off (both have hard wood floors), if they were to have a party or large group of people over, they always would tell us about it.

One of the neighbors, the husband died unexpectedly - wonderful considerate man. A couple of years later, she gets this boyfriend and suddenly noise. He didn't take his shoes off, he would drag the kitchen chair across the tile flooring, etc. Our bedroom is directly below the kitchen and we never had an issue before. The Polite Approach - tried - my husband talked with them pretty much the way you explained.

They seemed nice about it. On the positive side, they were both retired and went to a cabin a good part of the time. But when they came back, the noise continued. So hubby started blasting the music load whenever they did so (after a couple more conversations).

They wanted to sell to move south - they never told us when there were open houses or people coming to see the place. So we would hear the high heeled shoes and think it was them being rude again so the music or TV would go on. Once she came running over saying they were trying to show the place so could we keep it down - funny how things change when they want something. I did comply.

They went on another vacation. They come home late at night. We had just been dealing with several sleepless nights as our kids had strep throat - the first night we could sleep at 11:00 at night they come - bam! They just drop their luggage on the floor right over our heads and then walking around with heavy and high heeled shoes. Hubby has had it - I go over (being the more even tempered).

The Polite Approach - yep try it. I don't get a word in - both are screaming at me like crazy people. I try to calm them explaining how we haven't slept and their noise. Guy screams at me I'll walk around all I want with my shoes on - she - your husband is crazy, and then on about my kids even. Then she says something about the her guy - what is a senior citizen going to get in a fight with my husband. I'm thinking wtf? Where did that come from. My husband heard them screaming at me so he came over - he stayed a good distance from their door and motioned for me to come back (knowingly realizing they were out of their friggin minds). So the old guy goes threateningly toward the door towards my husband. My husband having more sense (even though with one fist he would have knocked the guy out) walked away.

Thank goodness they finally sold the place.

Did you ever suggest to your neighbors that rugs on the floors might solve the problem?

Simple; invite one of them down while the other is making all the noise. They'll soon hear what you're talking about.

GReat idea

we've had a slew of Noisy Next-Door Neighbors From Hell over the years.
most recently they had a karaoke party on the patio, which is about 4' from our house.
it was sooooooo loud that we quickly left the building, and could still hear it 5 blocks away.
when we got back we called their absentee landlord and left a message saying that if they didn't turn it down we would call the cops - AGAIN.
i'm sure landlord heard just how ear-splittingly loud it was when they listened to the message.
eventually they turned it off...

Well I was going to tell them that I was going to report them to the board because apparently if they were making that much noise they must not be meeting the required 80% coverage of the floor with rugs.

We did suggest putting those padding things on their chairs in the kitchen or perhaps to lift their chairs so we do not get those "scratching on the chalkboard noise going on", but alas they really didn't seem to care.

I also thought of that, but after the reaction I received with them shouting out of control at me and me just standing with my mouth hanging open as they berated me and my family, I figured I really didn't want them in my house.

The odd thing is - when her first husband was around for about 7 or so years, we never had a problem - rarely a sound, of course when they had several people over or their grandson, but that is expected. And when they did have people over, they always let us know in advance. It was quite shocking when after 7 years or more years this bozo moves in and we all of a sudden have problems.

I honestly think they guy is a looney - who over retirement age physically threatens a man that is years younger and in good shape to boot?