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I am trying to find out if I am being fussy or should consider speaking to my landlord.
Just a note, that I have no written lease, it's a unique situation in that I rent from two people I have known for about 15 years.
I have lived here for 5 years and am a pretty good tenant (yes, they feel so too). They are very particular, but I try to keep a low profile and am quiet and pay my rent because it's a good deal and it's hard to rent with 3 dogs. My apartment is the top floor of a 3 car garage across the driveway from their house in a quiet wooded neighborhood.
This was never an issue but since a year ago, when I began working from home, I have noticed how much noise is being made below in the garages on an almost daily basis. One of the individuals is semi-retired (mostly retired) and is always doing home renovations and projects, which I would not mind, etc except that many of his tools are in one of the garages (not in their basement or the small barn behind their house) so I often have to hear garage doors opening and closing multiple times a day (the other day I counted 11 times alone in just a few hours) and tools and a power saw below me. And not just for a few minutes, it's multiple times throughout the day, multiple times a week, if not daily.
I try not to complain but this has started to become frustrating. The noises make my dogs bark, whether it's the tools, or him clunking things below us, or the doors opening. It seems excessive to me, especially when it's multiple days a week, if not close to every day it seems like, for over a year now. I work from home M-F from 9am-5pm but also would just like to enjoy my apartment.
Thoughts? Do you think I have a right to say anything?
You chose a unit above a garage... a place that most people keep and use, their power tools. To expect quiet from a garage is unreasonable... especially during daylight hours.
You can say something, but what do you expect them to do? Tell the guy he can’t use his garage or tools because you’re working from home? That’s no one’s concern but yours.... and you don’t have a lease so tread lightly
That's background noise it seems anyway. The noise/activity that actually causes vibration in your apartment/unit is an issue. But if that noise is mostly during the day that's not too bad. I'm stuck with game players and partiers with amplied electronic noises that vibrates walls, china, glass etc. Noise is definitely an issue. Read some articles where there increasing noise compliants since virus started because people are home. Also many apartments are builty that you will hear doors open and close which can be annoying. I can even hear other microwave doors being closed. Have tenant above who's a stomper. Older buildings carry the most noise.
You have a sweet deal, and the only reason it's a problem now is that you're home during the day.
You don't have the right to expect that they won't use their garage. You do have the right to move, but it's going to be really tough with three dogs.
I'd look into buying your own little house, or renting a single family home, if you can find one that will take you with the 3 dogs. If neither of those is possible, could you go back to working in an office during the day? If not, you're just going to have to live with it.
If you ask them to not use their garage, you are gonna wind up with them asking you to move out.
Yes, you are being fussy. You are also the one who moved the goalposts, not your LL. This is their property and a garage is a reasonable place to use noisy equipment. The noise probably always made your dogs bark...you just weren't home to hear them. Be careful. They could complain about the barking but haven't. If the noise bothers your work, find another place to do it.
Sorry, but quiet enjoyment has nothing to do with noise. It means that as long as you stick to the terms of your lease and you don't cause trouble or break the law, your landlord is to leave you alone to live your life. In short, you have to be the one who is "quiet" (not causing any problems) and if you don't cause problems, your landlord is not to harass you.
You rented over a garage, so the noise is not going to be considered outrageous.
You just have to decide whether or not the cheap rent and the safe place to keep your dogs is worth living with the sound of power saws and doors opening and closing. If the noise bothers you that much, you don't have a lease and so you can give a proper notice and move to another place.
Adding: I don't know where you live, but if you were in my area with three dogs, you'd have a very difficult time finding another place to live. I suggest that you keep reminding yourself that you love your dogs and are willing to put up with a lot to keep them.
I've got dogs and I know for a fact that dogs can be trained to not bark at specific noises if the owner puts some effort into it. So you can't control the saws but you can control the barking.
No, I do NOT think that you are being fussy. If you're on top of a garage with the door opening constantly and power saws below you, that's not amenable to a productive work environment.
That said, you are in a bit of a pickle. The arrangement worked pretty well for the 3.5-4 years pre-COVID, so to some extent it is unrealistic to expect a change now. However, these are extenuating circumstances, first for the pandemic but perhaps also for the semi-retired person if that is an adjustment that happened within the last 5 years.
I don't think it would be inappropriate to express your appreciation for having had such a great relationship all of these years and ask if perhaps there is some kind of agreement that could be reached while you are required to work from home. Perhaps dedicated quiet times, alternating days, an offer to help move the noisy equipment to the barn for the time being, etc.? I wouldn't be surprised if they noticed the increased dog barking in response to their noise, so maybe they might be more open minded than you think.
If you feel like the other tenants are causing unreasonable noise that violates local noise laws,, can you call the police. As a tenant without a lease, the landlord can I ask you to leave at any time...no reason needed. Tread lightly
I don't think you're being fussy at all. You are renting an APARTMENT which is a living space. Some noise should be expected living over a garage but it shouldn't be like Grand Central Station either.
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