Help! Noisy family upstairs (apartments, construction, rental, house)

[calif408]

I'm not sure if this is the right forum, but I thought I'd start here.

I just moved in to a gorgeous apartment....its perfect in every way. Except one.
The family that lives above me has a very active young boy who I think is jumping, or playing wii or something....I know I have seen him in a karate outfit, so maybe he's practicing?
Also the father is a very large man, probably 6'5 well over 300 lbs.

About 70% of the day and night my apartment walls are shaking and there are loud thumps and sounds coming from my ceiling. I have a panic disorder and loud or sudden noises make me extremely nervous, so this is affecting my well-being. I'm taking anti anxiety meds constantly.

Now, I don't want to start any bad blood between my neighbors and I. They seem like a nice family. What is the best way for me to handle this situation? I, myself don't have children, so I am in unfamiliar territory,

I can't very well complain to the rental office for the dad walking around the apartment or the kid playing....I mean they have every right to live their lives in their apartment.

Help....
Signed,
SAND (Sleepy, Anxious Neighbor Downstairs)

[Zimbochick]

Move to the top floor. That's all you can do.

[Hedgehog_Mom]

I've been in that situation before. There's nothing you can do except wait for them to move, or move yourself. They're not at fault for the construction of the apartment, and that's really the problem.

The loudest person who ever lived above me was a 120 lb man who was on some kind of drugs. His wife was easily twice his size but you couldn't hear her walk, but we could hear every step that man took, all night long. He used to run back and forth and open and shut the front door and patio door all night, every night. We moved. When we moved, we ended up with an upstairs neighbor who had a kid who dribbled a basketball all day long in the apartment. I never wanted to live upstairs...how would I get the kids out if there was a fire? so as long as we lived in apartments, we had to put up with the sound of people walking, running, dribbling a ball, etc. above us.

[KittenSparkles]

there are many others who share your pain: Dealing with a Noisy Neighbor

this blog has some good ideas- and if nothing else, by reading the comments, you won't feel alone - its a VERY common problem!!

Hopefully you are just renting- if you read that blog, there are plenty of people on there who BOUGHT condos and then have to deal with constant noise from someone above them.

[txtqueen]

You have 4 categories to choose from when dealing with noisy neighbors. 1 being friendliest and 4 landing you in jail.


Level 1:
Politely go up there and explain the situation with your anxiety.
Try to come to a compromise with "quiet hours".

Level 2:
Make moaning noises at annoying hours of the night.
Place a bed on the outside wall and practice front flips on it, it'll sound like something different.
Sing off key in the shower loudly in the AM.
Play annoying polka music.
Cook stinky food.

Level 3
If you smoke, smoke outside on the patio.
Jab a broom handle into the ceiling, see how many layers you can get it through.
If they aren't rational talkers, **** on the doormat.
Call the cops and report something that sounds like a child being hit, I bet the kid has bruises from karate.

Level 4
Set your apartment on fire "accidentally".
Set theirs on fire on "accident".
Have someone come by random times during the night to simply kick in their door and leave.


I am not condoning any of these but I just came up with the cause I am bored.

I had neighbors who were loud, all hours of the night, smoked and I couldn't keep my windows open because of them, we eventually found out they were making meth in their bath tub.

But I would sing loudly off key when they started making noise late at night.
Think a female version of the brady kid who's voice cracked ANN*crack*NNNNNNDD IIIIIIIIIII*offkey*IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII WILLLLLLLLLLL ALLWAYS LOVE YOUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU.
That is an easy song to screech.
We had cats so we would tie bags of kitty crap to the ceiling of our patio and it would SMELL right by theirs but they would never see where it was coming from.
I'd play annoying music too, can you say POLKA TIME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I was 17 and my mom hated them as much as I did so she never did anything about me being annoying back. It was lulzy. Eventually the cops showed up one night after all the noise, found their meth.

[calif408]

Originally Posted by KittenSparkles

there are many others who share your pain: Dealing with a Noisy Neighbor

this blog has some good ideas- and if nothing else, by reading the comments, you won't feel alone - its a VERY common problem!!

Hopefully you are just renting- if you read that blog, there are plenty of people on there who BOUGHT condos and then have to deal with constant noise from someone above them.

Thank you!!! I will look at this post............
Unfortunately moving to to the 3rd floor is nearly impossible for me. I am on 2nd floor right now, and I have disability which make climbing stairs absolutely torturous.

Thanks everyone for your replies! Much appreciated

[AnnaNomus]

I've been in your situation, and the way I handled it was to politely go upstairs and tell them they're being loud. Sometimes, they really have no idea how loud they're being. Hopefully, your neighbors won't be jerks about it, and will agree to quiet down. However, if they ARE jerks about it, there's not much you can do outside of complaining to management or moving. Good luck.

[manderly6]

You need to find a top floor apartment in a building with an elevator. End of story.

[nj21]

There is really nothing you can do but move. I had a guy live upstairs from me. And him and his girlfriend were nympho's. I mean...every single night! It was a bit ridiculous and their bed was really loud & squeaky. Even when I went into the living room of my 800 sq. ft apartment i would still be able to hear them.

I asked the neighbor (awkwardly) if they could keep the sound down and it still continued. I never got a break!

This was in Atlanta, and when there was two inches of snow, I was stuck in the house! For 3 days!

I eventually broke down and had to move. Thus, breaking my lease.

[tickyul]

Earplugs!