Having to move out of accommodation one just moved into?

Sugar_Rush

The ink on my lease in hardly try but there's emerged a critical flaw that makes tenancy here unsustainable.

How this didn't affect previous tenants or they didn't file formal complaints about it, I have no explanation for.

Actually I know it did impact one pair of former tenants but apparently they just put up and shut up.

Ground floor apartment, water pump for entire apartment facility located directly beneath it in the parking garage.

Resonates this intolerable high pitch whine right through my living area and bedroom.

And it's not really audible until things are silent. i.e. during the viewing you're moving about, speaking with the agent, you don't notice.

Trying to sleep in the dead of night, it's like there's a tuning fork resonating on your head board.

Seriously makes me want to claw my eyes out.

Threshold have explained to me provided I can source a new tenant, there's an obligation to release me from the contract within 28 days.

........

The problem is I got this place through a letting agent who also got me last two places, and in this current market it's stupidly difficult to find a place, let alone a decent place.

So would an experienced letting agent basically tell someone in my position to go kick rocks, or they may be understanding and assist such a person with finding alternative living arrangements?

Sugar_Rush

Maybe an easier way to phrase the question would be, did this happen to anyone ever (or an acquaintance), and how did you (or yo' mate) manage the situation?

Caranica

How many threads do you need about this water pump?

You either put up with it or are on your own. Can't see why any agent would help you to move again

Sugar_Rush

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118480752#Comment_118480752

Well that's one point of view.

But just FYI the insane whir/whine from the pump has legitimately given me tinnitus.

Tinnitus is no joke.

Lesser men have clawed their own eyes over less.

PS - this is a thread about relocating from a property one literally just signed the lease on, water pump was just an explanation for anyone who may be curious as to the reason why.

Sugar_Rush

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118480752#Comment_118480752

Jebus, this post was thanked twice already.

I'm not getting much sympathy here.

Is the accommodation crises that bad at the moment, that I should count my blessings I live over a water pump and not in a water drain?

jmreire

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118481493#Comment_118481493

Middle ground, as aside from the whirring pump the apartment is fine. So why not look at possible solutions ? Can the pump be silenced by boxing it in with sound deadening materials? Vibrations can at least be reduced by placing heavy wooden battens ( like used railway sleepers) underneath where the pump is fixed to the ground? I'm pretty sure that the problem can at least improved on anyway.

Caranica

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118480779#Comment_118480779

I'm living with tinnitus, not sure it will ever go away.

As the previous poster said, get the landlord to sort remediation of the noise issue if it's a problem.

Tow

Why not update your previous thread.

You don't make is clear what this pump is doing. Most pumps should not be pumping all the time. It is illegal to directly pump the mains water supply. Where are the tanks? In the roof, the basement or both? If there are no tanks, then they are definitely pumping the mains water supply. If so you can make a formal complaint to your local Co Co/Irish Water.

Often, a building would have a tank in the basement, it will pump from the basement tank to a tank in the roof. The tank in the roof will have a float switch to switch the pump on when it's water level gets too low.

Sugar_Rush

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118482297#Comment_118482297

Yes there is a tank in the basement.

I have no idea if there's a tank on the roof but that's interesting.

I tried to contact the management company so I could speak with their plumbers but they never got back to me, and I'm cautious about pushing it cause their manageress is a thundering ***t.

I tried speaking to them already and they shamelessly inferred I should jog on and not cause them hassle.

If I could speak to the county council about it.... that's an interesting idea.

Might light a firework under their ass.

Pump is on the right.

Tank is on the left.

Sugar_Rush

I didn't update the other thread cause this thread was not intended to be about a water pump but rather moving accommodation less than 1 month after signing the lease.

Grolschevik

I can sometimes hear the high-pitched whine that some sonic deterrents emit. Ditto some phone chargers. Could it be possibly be something like that?

Tow

There is a tank, so they probably filling the tank from the mains, using mains pressure. The pump is then used to pump from the tank. This is legal, as the pump is not connected directly to the mains.

Sugar_Rush

I checked the satellite view of the building.

From what I can see there's no tank on the roof?

The two structures are stair wells on the north and south ends of the building.

Apart from that I can't see anything that could act as a water tank?

So the pump in the parking garage supplies all apartments constantly.

And according to the above contributor does so within regulations?

.......

So it makes sense that out of 100+ apartments someone somewhere is going to be using water and the pump would run 24/7?

C3PO

I’d be very interested to see a proper medical diagnosis that states that the sound of a water pump has given you tinnitus!

But to answer your question - you can just leave and lose your deposit or you can find an acceptable tenant to take over the lease. As to whether the letting agent will work with you again - why don’t you ask? I know what my answer would be!

Tow

It looks like the pump may run continually, much like a hotel hot water system.

There have been studies and reports over the years on effects of low and high frequency sounds. In recent times the American diplomats have been suffering with Havana syndrome.

MakersMark

Your tinnitus was not caused by the pump.

Tinnitus is usually caused by chronic exposure to high volume noise, not a pump you can only hear at night.

MakersMark

1874

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118484407#Comment_118484407

Or the Op could locate somewhere else and just give the required notice for a tenant, even if he is on a fixed term lease there are ways out. If its just a standard lease (not fixed term) rtb will gove standard notice periods for a tenant (usually less than for landlords) and at this point probably a month is all that is due (check rtb). Id probably have a recorded complaint to the landlord/agent & managment company (although as a tenant doesnt have any contract with them, I dont think it is usual for them to reply to tenants), maybe a recording of the noise if possible. Find somewhere, give notice and leave, they may lose some rent in the overlapping rental unless they can secure a new place exactly when the old lease has expired. Id make a point of highlighting the problem to the agent.

While it seems unlikely this noise has caused tinnitus, noise is subjective, and I can empathise as it sounds like the kind of thing I would not like (and I actually have tinnitus), it does sound like something that would be noticeable or exacerbate existing tinnitus.

Anyway, legitimate notice is the best way to go, as the OP probably stands to lose some rental in overlapping as mentioned above, not reasonable they lose their deposit too (so long as they give notice and terminate officially, as if not that gives the agent reason to withold some/much/all of their deposit). Retention of a deposit doesnt hold much substance if the correct steps to submitting notice for ending the tenancy are given.

Sugar_Rush

This is bullshinanigans (referring to my situation).

How the FORK did the building contractors get this one so wrong?

Who puts a high power water pump directly under an apartment?

They could have gone down to the 2nd level of the basement but nooooooo, let's put this motherf**ker directly under someones bedroom, hell yeah!!

** high fives all around **

I've spoken with other accommodation seekers in my area and they're in a state of despair.

One couple I knew actually took a bedsit miles away and commute to work now.

........

I would literally become a hookers he-bitch at this point (an offer which was made available to me before overseas and I declined).

But I would take it now for real if it meant I could sleep without this awfulness violating my inner ear cochlea.

Sugar_Rush

If I contacted the county council and let them know the situation, would there be anything they could realistically do?

Maybe they could have management install that water tank on the roof and re-route the water or would that involve re-configuring the plumbing network for the entire building?

Ray Palmer

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118489860#Comment_118489860

Not a chance, the pump can only really be lower than where the water it is going to. You move out is the only solution for you. I would very much doubt everyone is as sensitive as you and wouldn't be bothered by it. Tinnitus is not going to be caused as you suggested.

My brother lived in a place that suddenly had planes flying over due to flight route changes. He heard planes everywhere all the time because it was bugging him so much. THis sound appears to have affected you mental health in a similar way. Move

Sugar_Rush

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118490304#Comment_118490304

Your brother didn't happen to mention how long after moving out it took for the flying planes in his mind to stop flying?

JimmyVik

GIve your 1 months notice and move.

Either that or end up in the mental hospital.

Building management, council, et al will take years to fix it even if they do.

And if your pump is as annoying as your threads on it, then you really should just move.

People are as sick of hearing about your pump as you are sick of hearing the pump.

Sugar_Rush

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118494022#Comment_118494022

Pffff, don't be so quick to knock the process.

First, no one is forcing you to click the thread.

Second, I've got very comprehensive clarity on the situation from this and the other thread via the insights and experience of others.

I understand where I stand now in relation to the setup as a whole and can make the best decision for myself and those around me (management, letting agent, potentially county council) moving forward.

Which in this current market may well have prevented me from becoming homeless (like 1 in 5 people in this country in my demographic at the moment).

Have I been thorough? I expect nothing less of myself, especially when it comes to my health and keeping a roof over my head.

Has it been a little tedious for those who can relate to an unpleasant living arrangement and probably feel powerless to help? Could be, but ees normaal.

All things considered I feel it's a job well done re the entire purpose of this forum.

JimmyVik

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118494245#Comment_118494245

I think you may be the first person I ever muted in boards :) How to you do that?

L1011

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118494254#Comment_118494254

I was going to say there is no point in telling someone you muted them - but that isn't true. Its actually outright trolling. If you put someone on ignore, just do that and don't say anything.

mrslancaster

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118482428#Comment_118482428

You should be speaking to your landlord about the noise issue, you don't have a contract with the management company or the letting agent or the local council. If it can't be sorted with the landlord then give your notice and find somewhere that suits you better.

That's a despiciable way to speak about the female manager of the building. You are obviously deaf to the current discussions and uproar about the misogynistic language used about women in this country.

Jmc25

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118489827#Comment_118489827

That's apartments in Ireland for you - constructed below the bare minimum standards.

Honestly though as others have said, just up and leave, you're only renting at the end of the day and even in a fixed term lease you're not really tied in in any way and in the current market your landlord will find tenants in a couple of weeks max so worst case scenario is you lose two weeks deposit. If it's badly affecting your quality life I'd say it's worth it.

You'll get absolutely nowhere with that management agent - if that pump has been going like that for years with no complaints, they'll view you as the problem (I'm not saying you are, just that they absolutely will see it that way).

Just leave and be thankful you're not stuck with a mortgage on it.

salonfire

You might get used to it in time. Often people living near airports and busy roads don't hear a thing while visitors are aghast at the noise.

Try listening to talk radio, music or white noise while falling asleep. Laying in a dead silent bedroom, you're going to hear everything especially when you're already sensitive to it.

Sugar_Rush

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118497781#Comment_118497781

The final sentence is maybe somewhat sadistically to those in such a position, but quite consoling.

None the less it still burns my ass I got stung with this.

A water pump of all things, who ever heard of such a thing?

I got stuck into daft the last few days and this great place came up, just in my price range etc.

I kid you not, less than 1 hour it was taken down.

i.e. there's people that desperate for accommodation they're actually submitting their applications within minutes of properties going online.

Claw Hammer

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118507612#Comment_118507612

Nothing unusual about that. I recall a time people waited outside newspaper offices to the the first editions of the evening papers soo the could contact landlords immediately. Some even travelled immediately to the address even if the viewing would not be for several hours.