Noise from upstairs apartment.

tiny_penguin

I moved into an apartment 2 weeks ago. Really nice place and everything is grand except for one thing. We can hear the neighbours above us. Not talking or tv or music but their footsteps and every time they drop something. Doesnt sound so bad but they have a child who seems to spend the entire day and evening running around - not just for five minutes, literally back and forth all day long. And it goes on until after 10 at night. I dont really understand waht they are doing up there. They also seem to be quite clumsy as there always seems to be stuff dropping on the floor which does make some noise.

Obviously I know we cant go and knock on their door and ask their child to stop playing/running in their home but its starting to do our heads in. I thought we might get usedto it. But unless we have our TV turned up very loud there is no ignoring it. . Anyone have any suggestions for what we can do.

fussyonion

Had the same problem in my old ground floor apartment.

Girl upstairs had a five year old daughter who seemed to spend the whole day running back and forth.
It was getting really annoying and I did knock on her door one night and told her to keep it down.
Her response was "I can't control her, she's playing".

I told her the child couldn't be running around day and night making noise; there are other people to consider, but she was rude and obnoxious and didn't care about anyone else.
I understand the child needed to play but what was stopping her playing outside on the lawn?
And surely at night the child should have been in bed?

Anyway we used to play loud music in retaliation at night-not for long, just a minute til she got the message and that worked.
Failing that you could try to talk to the mother/father and tell them you can hear everything.

PS Tell them you can hear them pee..That'll embarrass 'em!

riclad

Obviously the building has bad insulation or improperly fitted insulation,MY sister never hears any noise from left ,right or above apartment .
Lives on the ground floor .
i think there,s just single people in her block,no kids.
Maybe you could put insulation on your ceiling.
they may have wooden floors, no carpets , so sound travels more.
if you rent an apartment under 2 or 3 bed unit ,you have to think there maybe family living there.
i know woman,with daughter 8 or 9, kid would go to bed at 12 o,clock, watch tv til 1 o,clock.IN her bedroom every night.

alot of apartment building s look fine,
were never inspected, have little or no soundproofing.OR IT was not fitted to architects spec.
once the plaster is up ,its hard for a non expert to
know is it fitted to standard.
MY sister lived in 2 apartments ,ten years old ,approx,
both had good sound,insulation , no sound problems.
i stayed there 3 days , the only sound i hear
is slight traffic noise,
motorway, is about 500 yards from building.
if you own apartment ,it would not cost that much
to insulate ceiling at least in the front room.
And theres unit,s on right ,left, above her apartment.

handlemaster

fussyonion wrote: »

Had the same problem in my old ground floor apartment.

Girl upstairs had a five year old daughter who seemed to spend the whole day running back and forth.
It was getting really annoying and I did knock on her door one night and told her to keep it down.
Her response was "I can't control her, she's playing".

I told her the child couldn't be running around day and night making noise; there are other people to consider, but she was rude and obnoxious and didn't care about anyone else.
I understand the child needed to play but what was stopping her playing outside on the lawn?
And surely at night the child should have been in bed?

Anyway we used to play loud music in retaliation at night-not for long, just a minute til she got the message and that worked.
Failing that you could try to talk to the mother/father and tell them you can hear everything.

PS Tell them you can hear them pee..That'll embarrass 'em!

you have to be joking.. telling a neighbour their five year old can't be running around all day in their own home... I had issues before with noise but it was constant partying. It sounds like there is poor sound insulation

fussyonion

handlemaster wrote: »

you have to be joking.. telling a neighbour their five year old can't be running around all day in their own home... I had issues before with noise but it was constant partying. It sounds like there is poor sound insulation

You try living in ground floor apartment with a child running around all day and night and then tell me you wouldn't do the same.
Her mother had no respect for anyone else and didn't seem to think it was an issue for her child to run around all day and night.
I tell you, blaring out some music for a few minutes at night worked wonders!

handlemaster

fussyonion wrote: »

You try living in ground floor apartment with a child running around all day and night and then tell me you wouldn't do the same.
Her mother had no respect for anyone else and didn't seem to think it was an issue for her child to run around all day and night.
I tell you, blaring out some music for a few minutes at night worked wonders!

I understand what your saying I personally hate noise coming from the neighbours but when you have a kid making noise from just playing it would be hard not to sympathise with the parent kids want to and have to play in order to learn. Your plan worked anyhow.


can't get font off ....

tiny_penguin

fussyonion wrote: »

You try living in ground floor apartment with a child running around all day and night and then tell me you wouldn't do the same.
Her mother had no respect for anyone else and didn't seem to think it was an issue for her child to run around all day and night.
I tell you, blaring out some music for a few minutes at night worked wonders!

I don't want to start getting into a war of noise with our neighbours. Also we have people below us and beside us to think about, so playing loud music isn't really an option. We may go and have a polite word with her but I don't really know what to say that won't sound unreasonable!

Equality

If you are renting, move out. Give notice and explain why.

If you own, sell.

There is no solution to this problem. You can hear the child, and I understand that it is upsetting. I feel for you, as I have had a similar experience. BUT children walk around, and sometimes they do this all day and all night. It depends on the child. If the mom has a new baby, the baby might need to be fed every few hours - that means mom is walking around for half the night. This is normal living, it is not antisocial behaviour. The only solution that works for you is living elsewhere.

I know of a case where a parent complained to the garda, and the garda called to the guy in the other apartment, and said that he was not to complain again about the baby crying - this is normal behaviour for a baby, it is not possible for the parent to stop the baby crying, so he was banned from complaining about it.