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I moved into a brand new, top floor unit apartment about a month ago and there's this guy and his roommate that live in the top floor unit right across from me (our balconies look at one another) and he's very loud, especially late at night. I'll be in my room sleeping in the wee hours of the morning (typically between the hours of 1:30 and 3:00) and I can hear him on his balcony. He's either always on the phone with someone at an absurd time or it's him and his roommate out there. Even when I'm outside on the ground level walking my dogs, I can hear him talking and his entire conversation coming from the top floor--that's how loud he is. He often likes to take his laptop out there too and just sit out there all day/night.
I don't even know if it's worth complaining. I can't complain about someone talking on their balcony, can I? I don't care as much during the day but it's these late night/early morning sessions that really drive me crazy. I don't even wanna go sit on my own balcony anymore when he's out there because he's so loud it just ruins any chance of relaxation.
I moved into a brand new, top floor unit apartment about a month ago and there's this guy and his roommate that live in the top floor unit right across from me (our balconies look at one another) and he's very loud, especially late at night. I'll be in my room sleeping in the wee hours of the morning (typically between the hours of 1:30 and 3:00) and I can hear him on his balcony. He's either always on the phone with someone at an absurd time or it's him and his roommate out there. Even when I'm outside on the ground level walking my dogs, I can hear him talking and his entire conversation coming from the top floor--that's how loud he is. He often likes to take his laptop out there too and just sit out there all day/night.
I don't even know if it's worth complaining. I can't complain about someone talking on their balcony, can I? I don't care as much during the day but it's these late night/early morning sessions that really drive me crazy. I don't even wanna go sit on my own balcony anymore when he's out there because he's so loud it just ruins any chance of relaxation.
Listed in order, try these:
May be the acoustics between his wall and yours amplifies sound betwixt your balconies.
[*]Hang a heavy blanket, bedspread, rug over the balcony.
[*]Wear headphones.
[*]Holler across (try not to disturb your other neighbors) and tell him you hear everything he says very loudly and some nights he keeps you awake.
[*]Hang a sign.
[*]Tell your landlord
Listed in order, try these:
May be the acoustics between his wall and yours amplifies sound betwixt your balconies.
[*]Hang a heavy blanket, bedspread, rug over the balcony.
[*]Wear headphones.
[*]Holler across (try not to disturb your other neighbors) and tell him you hear everything he says very loudly and some nights he keeps you awake.
[*]Hang a sign.
[*]Tell your landlord
The OP might not be able to hang a blanket over the balcony, but hanging up some thicker, lined curtains inside should definitely help along with running a fan or adding some white noise.
I lived next to a neighbor who pretty much used his patio daily to grill and eat dinner with his wife/friends and sometimes they’d stay late if they had guests. I could really only hear it if the temperature didn’t require the AC to run, which was not that often since it was Florida. I had lined curtains and thick blinds over my window.
Most apartment complexes should have quiet hours. If this guy is in the same complex, I would say the OP should complain. He really shouldn’t be using his balcony for loud conversations within the quiet hours.
Yes, you can and should complain. This is in clear violation of the 'quiet hours' that i'm sure your complex has in place. This is not daily living noise, this is nuisance noise. Your balcony is not considered a 'living area'.
If you could him on his phone, in his unit, that might be different and nothing you could really complain about other than crappy construction and insulation.
good luck and update after you talk with the landlord; better yet...email them and talk to them.
Complain to the leasing office. Many years ago I lived in the ground floor apartment... two obnoxious clowns moved into the third level apartment and every 45 minutes one or the other was slamming the sliding glass doors open then closed to go onto the balcony to smoke... of course then the other would join. They'd talk at the top of their voices. they were pigs. When they knew I was on my patio - they'd spit off their balcony.... one day I asked them to keep it down and they threw trash, beer cans and plates of 1/2 eaten food off the balcony. One night at 1:30 am it started. they were on the balcony screaming at each other and somebody on the phone. It was horrible - woke me out of a deep sleep. I opened my door and said "keep your voices down". well then the swearing started - for 15 minutes both of them got louder about the B*#&$ downstairs crying about them being loud.. about 45 minutes later - they were back out there loud and obnoxious again. My Neighbor came out on her patio and yelled at them for waking her elderly mother. then they yelled and screamed and swore about the "old b*(*&@#"... at 3:30ish it started again and the entire area was up. they woke up people in the building across the yard - maybe 125 yards across the area. THere was an uprising... by that time several people called the police. small town in the Charlotte suburbs and the entire police force came - like 15 cops!! we were all out in the yard with the cops. I didn't go to work later that day to make sure the office was aware. I walked into the office and the Manager said "yes we know, they were arrested and we've begun eviction" The local sheriff escorted them into their apartment to get clothes and then management changed the locks. On Saturday they were escorted back in to move their belongings.
We had complained and complained, and called the police because there is a noise ordinance in that town and it was posted all over the parking lot, NO Noise outside after 9:00PM until 8:00AM....
There might be something about the acuestics that amplifies sound in a weird way.
You can file a complaint with your management, but if all he is doing is talking to a friend or talking on the phone, he's not really violating quiet hours. People don't have to stop talking at night. If he sat out there late at night playing his drum set, it would be different.
Apartments with a balcony cost more and people pay extra for a balcony because they intend to use it.
As a landlord, I can't really order a tenant to stop talking or forbid him to use his phone or to stay off the balcony he is paying more for.
The landlord can send him a note informing him that his voice is really carrying and request that he tone it down, but if that doesnt work, there aren't any other options. No judge is going to issue an eviction for talking at night.
Is it just this neighbor or other neighbors with balconies as well. I know my apartment balconies amplify every single sound and can make someone talking seem like the inside of a football stadium. Since my husband and me are the only ones on our balcony (everyone else avoids it because of the amplification) I know we stand out, although our neighbors know this and we try keeping our conversations civil and keep as quiet as we can during the night.
If other neighbors do go out and its clear that this guy is simply just loud I would tell management you're having problems and request they ask him to keep it down or avoid the balcony during the late night/early morning. I would also recommend heavy curtain simply because it can help in a multitude of ways for apartment dwellers that helps out year round (block sun heat in summer, insulate house in winter, keep the place dark when you need day nap).
I feel it always helps to ask the person directly first, that way you avoid them feeling attacked by an invisible entity or management that is threatening their housing (in all cases I've witnessed it just made relations between neighbors worse). If things get worse or they act out in retaliation to your asking I would go to management and complain. If management doesn't do anything then if you continue losing sleep I would consider looking at how you can break your lease (see if a noise rule is in the apartment by-laws or your lease) and get our before you spend any more money there.
Keep in mind that even if your neighbor does get reprimanded for making the noise or even gets evicted you might not see him leave for a couple months (depending on eviction laws in your location) and sometimes when someone gets forced out they can go overboard at making everyones life miserable while they get to stay there. So if it doesn't get solved soon I would move out fast.
You can check the city noise ordinances. In my city, decibel levels for various noise sources are listed, and human voices are included on the list during the hours of 10pm to 7am weeknights. This might help you if you decide to complain to building management.
Good luck with this. I have an old man next door who likes to hang out on his balcony and stare into my back yard. I asked him one time to stop (after years of him spying on me in my back yard) and he said he can look anywhere he wants to.
He also talks SUPER LOUD on his phone - all on the balcony. He hardly ever seems to go into his house.
Your only hope city or county noise ordinances, or like other people have suggested, ways to block him out of your vision and muffle the sound.
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