Complaint about noisy neighbour

Eric Cartman · 17-01-2021 10:24pm

Caranica wrote: »

You can always change your electricity plan. You're not tied to day and night surely?

I bet theres storage heaters, in which case you'd be insane to swap to an all day tariff.

Caranica · 17-01-2021 10:26pm

Eric Cartman wrote: »

I bet theres storage heaters, in which case you'd be insane to swap to an all day tariff.

If that's the case the OP should budget for laundry during the day. I would never in a million years put a washing machine on after 10 at night or before 10 in the morning.

road_high · 17-01-2021 10:28pm

Fairly obvious before she moved in that there’d be a strong possibility of some noise- if she wanted total silence then I’d suggest a detached house out the country. Other than that politely go away

Mimon · 17-01-2021 10:31pm

1874 wrote: »

That looks like a good idea and cheap too, just a sandwich of wood or fibre boards and foams,
I considered getting a pump in, was going to make something like that up, but was considering a heavier or solid base layer to fix to the floor with rubber blocks, some kind of flexible layer and then a heavier layer to mount the pump and dampen vibrations.

Build quality has a lot to answer for imo, a small margin of improvement can go a long way.

On the build quality, I worked on sites during the Celtic tiger and the amount of chancers was unbelievable.

The lad in charge of putting in the soundproofing at the service ducts in one set of apartments would put a tiny bit in and then cement over. Guarantee the neighbours in these will be able to hear each others conversations.

In this case surely the council as landlord has to come up with a solution instead of joining in in the harassment of the OP.

em_cat · 17-01-2021 11:16pm

Our apt was finished in 2009, so far we’ve spent nearly 10,000€ to sound insulate, mitigate from the roof garden which is now out of use and to try & dampen as much noise of our connecting neighbours as we could. Unfortunately we also had to obtain 2 abatement orders against both our neighbours as it was considered by a judge to have to listen to conversations, washing machines, preparation of meals etc and the children bouncing all over the place past 11pm (private rental) I know the landlord had to relay the timber floor correctly, supply a better rated washerdryer and put in the correct underlay and various other things. The other side loved to have karaoke parties after 1 am, they are an owner & sub tenant.

Luckily, though we will be selling later this year or early next and moving.

OP, do feel for you as you have the right to live a peaceful enjoyment of your accommodation you really really need to pressure the council to help you. What I would do is to ring your housing officer, if that’s the term, explain the issues to them so they can help you insulate the boiler and other items in so much is possible, some of the issues are items that probably are the property of the management company. I also can understand where your neighbour might be coming from, if they never had children and live a fairly isolated life then family life noises can be quite invasive & unreasonable to them.

I’ve lived in apartments for many years along with terraced houses & have never been in such terribly insulated properties as I have been in ROI. I think on the continent, there is a much longer history of high density housing and are better at sound insulation.

irishfemme · 18-01-2021 12:26am

Eric Cartman wrote: »

I bet theres storage heaters, in which case you'd be insane to swap to an all day tariff.

The bill is already craze, the storage heaters are made for the day and night Meter, so switching is not an option here. That's how they built the apartment on top of duplex, no gas... But duplex has both gas & electricity.

irishfemme · 18-01-2021 12:30am

My entire point!!!! She lives alone in the 3 bed and was particularly concerned about noisy kids before she moved in. I never thought much of it and told her it was a family estate. The duplex here are fairly affordable I guess.

She complains about my other neighbours kids, but they have totally ignored her... But I honestly feel for her, she seems soo fragile.

road_high wrote: »

Fairly obvious before she moved in that there’d be a strong possibility of some noise- if she wanted total silence then I’d suggest a detached house out the country. Other than that politely go away

Cerveza · 18-01-2021 12:31am

No excuse for loud coitus.

irishfemme · 18-01-2021 12:33am

Again, thanks for this, I just want the council to inspect this apartment. I have insisted on no communication until someone actually comes out to inspect the pump and hear the sounds in her duplex.

Mediation won't work in a case like this... I think.

Mimon wrote: »

On the build quality, I worked on sites during the Celtic tiger and the amount of chancers was unbelievable.

The lad in charge of putting in the soundproofing at the service ducts in one set of apartments would put a tiny bit in and then cement over. Guarantee the neighbours in these will be able to hear each others conversations.

In this case surely the council as landlord has to come up with a solution instead of joining in in the harassment of the OP.

CollyFlower · 18-01-2021 12:56am

irishfemme wrote: »

Thanks everyone, I think that's the problem, I am too accommodating!! The other neighbour she requested to move out stopped talking to her, she has a 5 & 3 yrs olds.
She bought her duplex privately, just my apartment is a council one.
The pump makes normal noise I am accustomed to. I have lived in apartments for over 11 years and had no issues.

This apartment I guess is badly built! And the neighbour doesn't want a single noise.
I have accommodated her cause she lives alone in the 3 bedroom, I have never seen a friend or visitor drop by, only her dad.
She looks super fragile to me, although very young.

The man that calls me from the council does so almost every other week and this is also affecting me mentally. He hasn't actually done anything, except tell me he would write an anti social letter to me. "

I have several emails to him requesting someone to visit the apartment and investigate the noise.
The day and night Meter also means I have an average bill of €300 without washing during the day...
She has even said she could hear the radiator noise.

I am fed up at this stage, blocked her from my whatapp as she messages to ask what exact time my baby cries, as she's yet to hear her cries at night.

Thanks.

(//" the man that calls me from the council does so almost every other week and this is also affecting me mentally. He hasn't actually done anything, except tell me he would write an anti social letter to me. "//)

Are you sure it's someone from the Council who's ringing you? It could be a friend of hers she's getting to ring you, does he give his name when he rings you?

Spanish Eyes · 18-01-2021 12:57am

Write down everything you can remember about the issue, and everything you have done to mitigate the complaints.

Send a copy to the council.

Then Forget about it. Sounds to me like the complainant doesn’t like those housed by the council and is getting REVENGE! Lol.

You appear to have gone above and beyond to solve the problem. You are to be commended for that, but enough is enough. Block her number if you haven’t already.

Edgware · 18-01-2021 1:25pm

irishfemme wrote: »

I live in an apartment on top of a duplex, and we have about 5 of these joined together.
The apartment is electricity only and has those storage heaters, a day and night Meter is what it uses.
We are a family of 3/4 in the small 2bed apartment but the 3bed duplex is occupied by only a young lady.

This lady has complained about everything, the says she can hear the water pump, strange pipe sounds, showers, flushes, washing machine.

I agreed not to wash at night, and to start the washing at 7-8am, the day time kicks in at 8am. So I only have one hour window to do all washing. I have a 1yr old child and another under 10.
She requested washing to only be done on weekends, which most days I adhere to.

I have my showers late, 5 mins shower and lately, she says it affects her, and we should refrain from showering after 10pm, unfortunately, this isn't possible.

She complained about sounds going on for 3-4 hours, but won't record the sound or give evidence. She says it's from pipes or flooring.
I spoke to my neighbor and I was told she's says their kids are noisy too and she would like them to move.

She complained to my landlord (the council) and all I get is constant calls from them to ask me not to wash or shower. No one has come to investigate the pump or flooring, or even hear the sound in her duplex.

The situation is very tense and this lady seems very fragile, my kids can't even jump, out of fear of her lashing out.

The council said they have arranged mediation btwn her and myself, but I feel we may not get anywhere as no one is actually out to inspect.

I can hear my other neighbours conversations and nightly sex and everything. I just believe it's a part and parcel of this apartment on top of duplex living.

What can be done to solve this?
The pump wakes me up whenever anyone ons the tap etc, but we are accustomed to it now.

I think that you are being too reasonable. Unfortunately inmost Irish apartment blocks such noises are prevalent. Pumps, washing machines, showers and general pipework can cause noise. I can't help but think that there are other issues at play here. You have really compromised and if you were at faultthe Council would more sterner action than mediation.

DaveyA · 04-02-2021 11:58am

I agree with those who say you're being too reasonable. I rented my spare bedroom to a woman who seemed nice, but before I knew it she was running the house - first she said she'd heard a door slamming in the house next door and it had 'an angry energy', and she asked if she could move her bed into a different empty bedroom. I said I didn't want anyone in that room as I watched TV late at night in the room beneath it, where I slept, but she said she didn't mind. She kept her stuff in the first bedroom so then she had 2 rooms plus the bathroom on that floor.
My sister came to stay for a week, she complained I hadn't asked her permission, "it would have only been polite".
She said she could hear my TV at night, and she thought 10 o'clock would be a reasonable time to turn it off
I said "you have a month to find somewhere else".

When you're nice and reasonable with unreasonable people they push and push and push, because they think you'll give in forever.

My advice is to stick by the nightime noise rules, but apart from that you're entitled to live your life. It's not your fault that builders were allowed to get away with shoddy thin walls, nobody cared about the people who had to live in those places that were thrown up with not a thought for anyone, only profit for landowners and builders.

kravmaga · 04-02-2021 8:06pm

irishfemme wrote: »

I guess my question is, is there a more quiet pump that can be bought? This was only replaced 2 years ago.
To me, it's not loud to the extend of affecting my life, it may be different for the lady downstairs.
She won't record how loud it is or anything though.

OP,

That looks like a 2 bar pressure Stuart Turner refurbished negative head pump.

Once you run a tap, bath, shower , washing appliances, dishwasher etc it will activate.

There is 4 legs on it and you can buy a rubber mat to place underneath it to reduce the noise which maybe transmitting to your neighbour below you.

There is probably no sound insulation between your apartments, this happened in a lot of celtic tiger builds, builders just cut corners and costs.

Your management agent or OMC should have a set of house rules for the apartment complex. I think your neighbour should be raising any issues with the Management agent/ company 1st instead of running direct to the council who I understand is your landlord.

I have sent you a sample set of house rules via PM.

There should be an IMMERMAT 31100 timer attached to the pump which you can set for it to turn off after 11pm at night time and come on at 7am in the morning. I think they cost about €40, a plumber can install this timing unit if it is not present.

There is 3 options on this timing unit,

1. Constant on =Permanently ON
2. constant off =Permanently OFF
3. timed on/off =switching programme as set on dial.

https://www.plumbingproducts.ie/time-clocks-ireland/3305-flash-31100-immersion-time-clock-with-surface-box.html

Hope this helps.

Complaint about noisy neighbour

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