Snoring neighbour disturbing our sleep

BOBIDGE

Help! This is not a normal noisy neighbour issue. My partner and I live in a one bed apartment, its on the top floor (of three floors) and its a Georgian style house.

It is a lovely apartment etc..but one issue - the apartment directly below us has a very very loud snorer. Some nights its very hard to get to sleep and sometimes its wakes me up in the middle of the night.

Any advise on how to deal with this? Its getting to the stage where we may have to move due to lack of sleep.

Flatzie_poo

BOBIDGE wrote: »

Help! This is not a normal noisy neighbour issue. My partner and I live in a one bed apartment, its on the top floor (of three floors) and its a Georgian style house.

It is a lovely apartment etc..but one issue - the apartment directly below us has a very very loud snorer. Some nights its very hard to get to sleep and sometimes its wakes me up in the middle of the night.

Any advise on how to deal with this? Its getting to the stage where we may have to move due to lack of sleep.

Have you tried ear plugs?

Seems like the rational remedy to this.

Sam Kade

Ear plugs.

BOBIDGE

I don't not want to go down the earplugs route - what if a fire alarm etc goes off / or I get an emergency call?

Any alternative options?

Bob24

Not convinced by the earplugs suggestions ...

If there is no better solution than earlplugs (or sleeping tablets, etc) to go to sleep, it is time to move out. No matter what the rent is, an apartment which doens't provide an environment where you can sleep properly is not good value for money!

HAving said that it might be a tricky one OP - difficult to blame the neighbor for snoring and force him to do something about it :-/

yellowlabrador

I'd approach the neighbour and tell them. This is a health issue. They need to visit a doctor and get checked out. So you would be doing them a favour.

BOBIDGE

Bob24 wrote: »

Not convinced by the earplugs suggestions ...

If there is no better solution than earlplugs (or sleeping tablets, etc) to go to sleep, it is time to move out. No matter what the rent is, an apartment which doens't provide an environment where you can sleep properly is not good value for money!

HAving said that it might be a tricky one OP - difficult to blame the neighbor for snoring and force him to do something about it :-/

Maybe if he know how bad his snoring was, he might address it?

In saying that, the landlord owns all the apartments. Is it out of line to mention it to the landlord as an issue?

Polo_Mint

theres nothing you can do. its not like they are partying or purposefully making noise.

Its a snorer.

BOBIDGE

Bob24 wrote: »

Not convinced by the earplugs suggestions ...

If there is no better solution than earlplugs (or sleeping tablets, etc) to go to sleep, it is time to move out. No matter what the rent is, an apartment which doens't provide an environment where you can sleep properly is not good value for money!

HAving said that it might be a tricky one OP - difficult to blame the neighbor for snoring and force him to do something about it :-/

Maybe if he knew how bad his snoring was, he might address it?

In saying that, the landlord owns all the apartments. Is it out of line to mention it to the landlord as an issue?

Bob24

BOBIDGE wrote: »

Maybe if he know how bad his snoring was, he might address it?

In saying that, the landlord owns all the apartments. Is it out of line to mention it to the landlord as an issue?

Yes talking to him and hoping he doesn't get offended and is willing to try and do something is probably your only option. But even then, even with the best will in the world is it possible for a heavy snorer to become completely quiet? (genuine question if someone has some experience)

Galadriel

BOBIDGE wrote: »

I don't not want to go down the earplugs route - what if a fire alarm etc goes off / or I get an emergency call?

Any alternative options?

I wear earplugs at night time and it doesn't drown out the sound of alarms etc.

Mrs OBumble

Good luck with the apartment hunting - only solution.

traprunner

Galadriel wrote: »

I wear earplugs at night time and it doesn't drown out the sound of alarms etc.

Same here. I find the 3m E-A-R Soft FX to be great. I buy them in a box of 200 pairs. They are rated for 39db. Alarms have a higher decibel level.

athtrasna

Or get a white noise app or machine and you will tune your brain to sleeping while it's on.

There really is nothing you can do. Snoring is natural and not a cause for eviction or breaking a lease.

dball

if the room is carpeted - perhaps a high quality underlay might absorb some of the sound, if its a wooden floor I dunno

runawaybishop

BOBIDGE wrote: »

Help! This is not a normal noisy neighbour issue. My partner and I live in a one bed apartment, its on the top floor (of three floors) and its a Georgian style house.

It is a lovely apartment etc..but one issue - the apartment directly below us has a very very loud snorer. Some nights its very hard to get to sleep and sometimes its wakes me up in the middle of the night.

Any advise on how to deal with this? Its getting to the stage where we may have to move due to lack of sleep.

Complain to your landlord about the level of sound insulation. Its nothing to do with the snorer.

Sherlof3

Yes I would complain to your landlord - just say you understand it's a delicate situation but you're really suffering and ask if they have any suggestions? Or maybe ask your colleagues in work?

fret_wimp2

runawaybishop wrote: »

Complain to your landlord about the level of sound insulation. Its nothing to do with the snorer.

Will a Landlord honestly do anything about this?
You can hear noise from next door through the walls, thats a common issue. A landlord is not going to put in further insulation. What if once the snoring issue is resolved you can hear the traffic outside at night, will he then have to put in new sound proof windows?

On reading the page for noise nuisance on CitizensInformation :

Rented dwellings
If the noise is coming from a rented dwelling and you don’t get a satisfactory response from the tenants, you can complain to the landlord – whether this is a private landlord, a local authority or a housing association.

Tenants of private rented dwellings have certain obligations. These include not engaging in anti-social behaviour, which includes persistent noise that interferes with the peaceful occupation of other dwellings. You may complain to the Private Residential Tenancies Board (PRTB) if a private landlord fails to enforce the tenant’s obligations in respect of noise.

Under the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2009, tenants of local authority housing are obliged to avoid any nuisance (including noise) to the occupiers of any other dwelling. If the noise persists, the tenants are in breach of their tenancy agreement and the local authority can take steps to enforce the terms of the agreement.

Applying to the District Court
If this does not work, the Act allows any person, a local authority or the EPA to complain to the District Court about a noise that is ‘so loud, so continuous, so repeated, of such duration or pitch or occurring at such times as to give reasonable cause for annoyance to a person in any premises in the neighbourhood or to a person lawfully using any public place’ and seek an order to deal with the noise nuisance. There is a small fee.

Consult the Clerk of the local District Court about an appointment for the hearing of your case. You will need to refer exactly to the legislation under which you are making the complaint – Section 108 of the Environmental Protection Agency Act 1992 and the Environmental Protection Agency Act (Noise) Regulations 1994.

At least 7 days before the date for the hearing of your case, you must serve notice on the person or business you are complaining about, using the Environmental Protection Agency Act 1992 - noise form of notice. It is important to use this form of notice only and to complete it fully and accurately.

A person making noise in the course of trade or business may have a defence if it can be shown that all reasonable care was taken to prevent the noise or that the noise is in accordance with a licence issued under the Act.

If the court finds in your favour, it can order the person or body making, causing or responsible for the noise to take measures to prevent or limit the noise. Any such orders must be complied with.

Snoring is not antisocial behavior so thats not something you can complain about.
If you have a PRTB, talk to them, how much success you have is based on how much authority they can exert and how willing they are to approach the other tennant. After this, you will have to go to the district court. Id love to see a report in the Indo on a district court case brought against a guy who snores too loud!


You have two options in my opinion:

1. Talk to the neighbor. Its a toughie as i dont know how you approach this without embarrassing the neighbor and actually get him to address it.

2. Move somewhere more suitable. If the place doesnt suit you find somewhere that does.

Celly Smunt

What is talking to the neighbour going to do?

"Oh sorry, I won't snore anymore so"

The action is really with you to drown it out.

eeguy

If you have a carpet you could place acoustic panels underneath it.

Not a cheap option, but it would help you sleep and it'd stop him complaining if you were making some noise in the bedroom

AlanG

Even putting down a thick rug would make a big difference. Try that.

BOBIDGE

It is a wooden floor and there is a thick rug on it.

Sometimes we leave the window open so there is traffic noise / rain etc but the snoring can still be heard.

I can usually sleep through anything, I have lived beside busy roads, bars etc. This is a different level

howamidifferent

BOBIDGE wrote: »

It is a wooden floor and there is a thick rug on it.

Sometimes we leave the window open so there is traffic noise / rain etc but the snoring can still be heard.

I can usually sleep through anything, I have lived beside busy roads, bars etc. This is a different level

Sorry OP. I'll try to be quieter tonight.

daheff

how about every time hes snoring...go and ring his doorbell & wake him up. If he sees you at the door, just say there was somebody ringing his bell for ages and you went to answer cos the sound of the bell was louder than his snoring.

fret_wimp2

daheff wrote: »

how about every time hes snoring...go and ring his doorbell & wake him up. If he sees you at the door, just say there was somebody ringing his bell for ages and you went to answer cos the sound of the bell was louder than his snoring.

This is malicious. DONT do this.

manonboard

There are really useful pillows that have music players in them. Its for people who like to listen to music but their partner doesn't when sleeping. Suppose to be completely silent unless your lying on it.

One of these might help you if you play some soft ambient music or white noise.

id just get some ear plugs. Your reasoning of not hearing alarms etc is not accurate, and the emergency phone isnt either. Just put the volume on loud.
They only soften the sound, you can get assisting ones rather than deafening ones. All you need is to take the edge of it.

that or some music is the best options i can see.

Victor

daheff wrote: »

how about every time hes snoring...go and ring his doorbell & wake him up. If he sees you at the door, just say there was somebody ringing his bell for ages and you went to answer cos the sound of the bell was louder than his snoring.

Constructive posts only please.

Do not respond on-threadto this post.

Moderator

mrcheez

BOBIDGE wrote: »

Help! This is not a normal noisy neighbour issue. My partner and I live in a one bed apartment, its on the top floor (of three floors) and its a Georgian style house.

It is a lovely apartment etc..but one issue - the apartment directly below us has a very very loud snorer. Some nights its very hard to get to sleep and sometimes its wakes me up in the middle of the night.

Any advise on how to deal with this? Its getting to the stage where we may have to move due to lack of sleep.

No, absolutely nothing you can do about this unfortunately OP, beyond trying to block out the sound from within your own apt.

When I bought my terraced house I was ecstatic to discover I could hear my neighbours through the walls. Had to spend several grand soundproofing the party walls and now the noise is approx 10% of what it used to be (can only hear low bass-frequencies when they blast the radio etc).

It's possible to do this in apartment flooring as well, but I doubt your landlord will pay for it. Perhaps you can do it if you offer to pay for it?

Victor

Not everyone realises they snore, how much they snore or how much they are disturbing others. Don't talk to them during the middle of the night, as they will be half-asleep and won't take it in properly. Talk to them, clearly and calmly, during the day. Tell them how it is disturbing you and suggest they see a doctor.

Ear plugs can be useful.

runawaybishop

Victor wrote: »

Not everyone realises they snore, how much they snore or how much they are disturbing others. Don't talk to them during the middle of the night, as they will be half-asleep and won't take it in properly. Talk to them, clearly and calmly, during the day. Tell them how it is disturbing you and suggest they see a doctor.

Ear plugs can be useful.

Why would you even bother doing this? The issue isn't the snoring, its the terrible sound insulation.

runawaybishop

fret_wimp2 wrote: »

Will a Landlord honestly do anything about this?

Probably not in fairness but you shouldn't be able to hear someone else snoring so it could be that the place isnt up to regs.

Victor

BOBIDGE wrote: »

I don't not want to go down the earplugs route - what if a fire alarm etc goes off / or I get an emergency call?

Then you will hear them. Ear plugs will deal with background noise, not alarms.

vagazzled

Would you consider trying noise cancelling headphones?
I think going down to have a chat with them might lead to bad feeling, and a landlord is not going to boot out a tenant for snoring.

Victor

vagazzled wrote: »

Would you consider trying noise cancelling headphones?

That would block out the fire alarm and ringing phone.

Boulevardier

I live in an apartment and wear earplugs most nights. They represent no danger whatever in terms of alarms. I certainly recommend trying them before you approach the neighbour in question.

Wabbit Ears

Earplugs do not block out alarms etc. I'd suggest just to try them. If they work, great if not, not much else you can do.

If you own your place a thick deep pile carpet and underlay can be good for sound blocking.

Speak to your neighbour anyway. Chances are he doesn't know it upsets anyone else.

Wanderer78

ear plugs suck when sleeping. can become very uncomfortable in the ear after a while. you probably would hear alarms though with them in. i use to hear or feel my phone alarm under my pillow with ear plugs in.

Boulevardier

I do not suggest speaking to your neighbour. There is nothing he can reasonably be asked to do.

SKETT

Just move if you're renting. I don't think there's a worse form of torture in life than sleep deprivation.

mkhall

Speaking to your neighbour probably won't be effective, he hardly snores that loud (or at all) on purpose and there is the possibility of embarrassing him. I find wax ear plugs really effective and im a pretty light sleeper, and as others have said they won't block out alarms and you can put your phone on vibrate. I would try the carpets as well..exhaust all your options before you think about moving.

The Masculinist

Try these, they are much more comfortable than normal earplugs. My former housemate used to keep me awake with his snoring, very upsetting, until I got a pack of these earplugs.



http://www.boots.ie/en/BioEars-Soft-Silicone-Earplugs-with-activ-aloe-3-pairs_39424/

Demonique

Celly Smunt wrote: »

What is talking to the neighbour going to do?

"Oh sorry, I won't snore anymore so"

The action is really with you to drown it out.

Heavy snoring can be a sign of an underlying health condition (some of them potentially life threatening) so maybe he might end up going to the doctor and getting a potential health risk eliminated.


Oh and there are ways to prevent yourself from snoring

salamanca22

While it is a biological problem I do wonder if house rules come into play here.

In most apartment buildings you must keep the noise down after a certain time this includes music, tv etc. I do wonder if snoring would also qualify. I mean it is noise after all, just because the noise is being generated in a body makes it no less disturbing than if it was a speaker blasting out the DB's.

Rabo Karabekian

traprunner wrote: »

Same here. I find the 3m E-A-R Soft FX to be great. I buy them in a box of 200 pairs. They are rated for 39db. Alarms have a higher decibel level.

On a side note, where do you get these?

traprunner

Rabo Karabekian wrote: »

On a side note, where do you get these?

Here's the link for the last time I purchased them. Get them sent to parcel motel to save on delivery. I have no affiliation to the seller and you may get them cheaper by searching eBay.

http://m.ebay.co.uk/itm/161173645302?ul_ref=http%3A%2F%2Frover.ebay.com%2Frover%2F0%2Fe11400.m1842.l3160%2F7%3Feuid%3D09b46fce66fe4ca48a3702b72a29afcc%26loc%3Dhttp%253A%252F%252Fcgi.ebay.co.uk%252Fws%252FeBayISAPI.dll%253FViewItem%2526item%253D161173645302%2526ssPageName%253DADME%253AL%253AOC%253AIE%253A3160%26srcrot%3De11400.m1842.l3160%26rvr_id%3D0&_mwBanner=1&varId=460243333097

jgorres

Good morning,

Hope you slept well ;-)

I am surprised about all the suggestions even to approach your neighbour the legal route.

It is him, who is snoring - approach him. Snoring and the resulting apnoea are a serious medical issue, where a CPAP mask and device will help.

This is my very personal experience. Anybody, who does not believe this, may ask my wife.

It is a delicate thing to approach your neighbour, but simply do it.

<ADDED>To explicitely point it out: the CPAP mask would be for your neighbour, not for your ears ;-)</ADDED>

Regards,
Jörn.

Jen44

he could have sleep apnoea! I use quies wax ear plugs they are fantastic I worked night duty for years and they worked a treat. They dont drown out the louder sounds of alarms etc

mrcheez

mkhall wrote: »

Speaking to your neighbour probably won't be effective, he hardly snores that loud (or at all) on purpose and there is the possibility of embarrassing him. I find wax ear plugs really effective and im a pretty light sleeper, and as others have said they won't block out alarms and you can put your phone on vibrate. I would try the carpets as well..exhaust all your options before you think about moving.

This. I'm surprised at all the suggestions to tell the neighbour to change his ways rather than the OP trying to find a way to block the noise.

Plenty of people snore and your neighbour can't help it so he has a right to sleep without a mask or meds if he chooses. It is not always a sign of sleep apnoea, not that it's any of the OP's business.

It is up to the OP to block the noise out, and keep on good terms with the neighbour, not embarrass them.

If the neighbour was playing the radio all night or something like that which is easily remedied by volume control, then the OP would have a case to ask them to keep it down.

ash23

My OH snores like a tractor and I'm a fairly light sleeper. We tried lots of things but nothing worked and he doesn't have sleep apnoea.

I use Boots wax earplugs and they're great. I rarely hear him now but I'll still hear my alarm etc in the morning. It's just a case of getting used to them and I do feel your pain OP as there is nothing worse than broken sleep but earplugs are really the most obvious thing to try first before escalating it to the landlord or neighbour directly.

Emme

I slept with wax earplugs for years when I lived in Dublin. Like the OP it was an apartment in a Georgian house, very nice with high ceilings etc but very poor insulation. I was on the 1st floor and could hear noise from above and below.

I dated a snorer for almost a year and used to sleep with earplugs when I stayed over with him.

I never had any problems hearing the smoke alarm through earplugs. Luckily the fire alarm never went off while I was there.

lainey316

Have the same issue and earplugs have not worked due to the pitch of the snoring - going to try some of the wax earplugs mentioned here. The white noise works to a point, depending on how bad he is (it varies night to night). I do sleep with iPod in but I don't especially like that. I couldn't come up with a way to approach the neighbour.

On a bad night I do get up to the loo and flush. Sometimes this disturbs him (crap noise insultaion goes both ways) enough that he must wake a bit or move, and snoring dissipates.