Can they complain?

joostl

So the story is as followed, I'm doing home fitness DVD course each day between 5pm-7pm, which last 40min each day involves jump excersises and ground work. Today my downstairs neighbour came by twice to complain about the noice.

I understand that it makes some sounds but does he has any right to complain as it is at a "civil" hours and I reckon only the jumping is causing some noice due to wooden floors.

Am I right to continue my fitness program?

Outside of this I never had a single noice complaint

listermint

joostl wrote: »

So the story is as followed, I'm doing home fitness DVD course each day between 5pm-7pm, which last 40min each day involves jump excersises and ground work. Today my downstairs neighbour came by twice to complain about the noice.

I understand that it makes some sounds but does he has any right to complain as it is at a "civil" hours and I reckon only the jumping is causing some noice due to wooden floors.

Am I right to continue my fitness program?

Outside of this I never had a single noice complaint

Why not get a large fitness mat in Argos. This will block the sounds for downstairs and is non slip.

It is the ideal solution to this. Make sure to get a large one I have one in the spare room for similar setup and weights.

Mousewar

Do you legally have to stop? Probably not.
Up to you. Your neighbour has let you know that you're doing something that's bothering them. Up to you to decide if you want to be considerate or not.

Santa Cruz

joostl wrote: »

So the story is as followed, I'm doing home fitness DVD course each day between 5pm-7pm, which last 40min each day involves jump excersises and ground work. Today my downstairs neighbour came by twice to complain about the noice.

I understand that it makes some sounds but does he has any right to complain as it is at a "civil" hours and I reckon only the jumping is causing some noice due to wooden floors.

Am I right to continue my fitness program?

Outside of this I never had a single noice complaint

You mean the person down at the end of the road hasn't complained????

athtrasna

Wooden floors are not permitted in most apartments, you may have drawn attention to this with this work out. Depending on whether you own or are renting, this could cause trouble.

Gatling

You can pick up large square foam mat's from Argos and so on should help that or try your work out without the jumps ,

Might not be wooden floors that is causing the problem

murphaph

You won't mask the thuds of jumping up and down unless you install a trampoline. Mats etc won't prevent that thudding from being transmitted. Your neighbour has never bothered you about noise before so you can safely assume he's not a crank just complaining for the sake of it. It is clearly a problem.

Just for some perspective, here in Germany courts have already decided that jumping up and down is not normal use of a rented flat and people that do it are liable to be sued. A child jumping up and down however is not something a neighbour can complain about as that's considered normal, for children!

A flat is quite simply not a house.

OP, are you Dutch by any chance? If so, would this be allowed in the Netherlands?

djimi

Legalities aside, surely common decency would suggest that if your exercise routine is causing an issue for your neighbour then you should find an alternative way to exercise?

Pawwed Rig

The best course of action here would seem to be to apologise to the neighbour for bothering him and ask him to suggest an alternative time when it will not affect him. If there is no other time that suits then see post below re common decency.

listermint

murphaph wrote: »

You won't mask the thuds of jumping up and down unless you install a trampoline. Mats etc won't prevent that thudding from being transmitted. Your neighbour has never bothered you about noise before so you can safely assume he's not a crank just complaining for the sake of it. It is clearly a problem.

Just for some perspective, here in Germany courts have already decided that jumping up and down is not normal use of a rented flat and people that do it are liable to be sued. A child jumping up and down however is not something a neighbour can complain about as that's considered normal, for children!

A flat is quite simply not a house.

OP, are you Dutch by any chance? If so, would this be allowed in the Netherlands?

Of course you will.

joostl

any experience with either of these:

http://www.argos.ie/static/Product/catalogId/14551/partNumber/3024306.htm

or

http://www.argos.ie/static/Product/partNumber/9061655/c_1/1%7Ccategory_root%7CSports+and+leisure%7C14419152/c_2/3%7Ccat_15701400%7CFitness+accessories+and+equipment%7C29022124/Trail/searchtext%3EMATS.htm

murphaph

listermint wrote: »

Of course you will.

OK, if you say so. Does that go for any body weight?

listermint

murphaph wrote: »

OK, if you say so. Does that go for any body weight?

semantics, and i wont get involved so you can prove a non point.

listermint

joostl wrote: »

any experience with either of these:

http://www.argos.ie/static/Product/catalogId/14551/partNumber/3024306.htm

or

http://www.argos.ie/static/Product/partNumber/9061655/c_1/1%7Ccategory_root%7CSports+and+leisure%7C14419152/c_2/3%7Ccat_15701400%7CFitness+accessories+and+equipment%7C29022124/Trail/searchtext%3EMATS.htm

I have the second one, and would recommend it to anyone. First time laying it it might curl up at the ends but it does settle down.

Valentine1

If your upstairs neighbour was causing a repeated thumping noise to come through your ceiling for 40 minutes at a time just as you got home from work I'm sure you would want to complain too.

Gatling

A face to face conversation is probably your best bet after picking up some mats ,

See can you's come to a suitable comprise

enda1

I'd say tell them to get used to it. People are entitled to make some noise in their apartment during the day.

Shakti

Exercise is proven to be more effective outdoors, also anyone who exercises knows there are numerous possible exercises and combinations of exercises that address the same targets and goals , so why not just change to a quieter one if you are unwilling to go outside, or is this a case of 'my flat and I'll do what I like' or 'my neighbour has bionic hearing'?

djimi

enda1 wrote: »

I'd say tell them to get used to it. People are entitled to make some noise in their apartment during the day.

Lovely attitude to have towards your neighbours.

Given that this neighbour has not complained about noise in the past, and there is virtually no chance that they have not been hearing some level of noise from the upstairs apartment up to this point, Id say its fair to say that the noise caused by the exercise is above and beyond what would be considered to be "normal" for apartment living.

enda1

djimi wrote: »

Lovely attitude to have towards your neighbours.

Given that this neighbour has not complained about noise in the past, and there is virtually no chance that they have not been hearing some level of noise from the upstairs apartment up to this point, Id say its fair to say that the noise caused by the exercise is above and beyond what would be considered to be "normal" for apartment living.

Meh.

Part of living in an apartment is having to put up with daytime noise. If it was happening at night then there's cause for complaint. What if the OP had a baby? Was practising a musical instrument? Was hoovering?

Get real, you'd be walking on eggshells if you gave into this whim of theirs.

djimi

enda1 wrote: »

Meh.

Part of living in an apartment is having to put up with daytime noise. If it was happening at night then there's cause for complaint. What if the OP had a baby? Was practising a musical instrument? Was hoovering?

Get real, you'd be walking on eggshells if you gave into this whim of theirs.

Part of apartment living is also accepting that you have neighbours on as many as four or five sides, all seperated by usually pretty thin walls, so you have to be more considerate and cannot make the kind of noise that you would get away with in a house.

Like I said, they havent complained before, so chances are this is more than a whim (otherwise the OP would have heard from them every time they closed a door or flushed their toilet...)

LaughOrDie

I live in a house which has been divided into 2 flats. I live upstairs.

I started the insanity home workout and I'd say a I made a lot of noise. With all the jumping.

I couldn't put my neighbor through that again. He never complained or anything.

To show consideration I would avoid jumping up and down at home.

What about talking to your neighbor, explain what you're doing and see if you can work out a better time?

murphaph

listermint wrote: »

semantics, and i wont get involved so you can prove a non point.

Can you even find a link to any product that doesn't resemble a trampoline that will completely hinder noise transmission through a floor for say a 12 stone man?

mikemac1

Is this the insanity workout OP?

My neighbours were fond of skipping upstairs and the noise was brutal through my ceiling. It was done to me so I wouldn't do it to others.

When I started insanity I put it on my iPad and take it down to the local GAA pitch in the early hours before work. You can jump away and give it your all! I guess you could put this on your phone also

Yes you get strange looks from the walkers but who cares

Jimmy Garlic

I would burn my eyes out with red hot pokers before I would live in an apartment. Nobody wants to hear someone jumping around like a demented chimp right over their head.

ChRoMe

I would want to kill you if you were jumping around the place for 40 minutes every evening.

Seriously, I'm sitting here thinking of how would I dispose of the body if I was ever in the situation!