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We've rented several places in the 15 years my husband and I have been married, and also owned one home.
Renting is good in some ways, horrible in others.
Basically being at the mercy of someone else (if they want to party, you lose sleep..) is the worst thing. People who own can understand this a bit because if you have some neighbor who is noisy, it can ruin your homelife.
Renting in a 2 family house several times (upstairs 3 times, down 1)--we have had to endure slammed doors (on purpose after we complained about a 'person not on the lease' who squatted at his girlfriend's apartment all day (using up utilities WE helped pay for), 2) a drunk who made a lot of noise all hours of the night, and now...
The lady downstairs was here before us. Apparently we are 'paying' for the last tenants (a man, his wife, and child) being 'horrible' tenants. The landlord (offsite) is short and 'curt' with us, even if we ask 'basic things' anyone with half a brain has a right to know. The woman below us is an educated professional who is quiet all day (works) and even on weekends is very quiet but starts up her music/tv under our bedroom 10pm every night. It's on up to 11 and can vary from 'quiet' (this is an old house) to loudish...
This woman gets up again BEFORE 6 am and starts up the music/tv/news again--sometimes very loud, sometimes soft...? Doesn't go to work till nearly 9 am...
We are three people (our son is 9) and I say hi and bye to the lady but she doesn't want to be 'friendly' which I respect--(it's not like I'm 'stupid' myself--despite being a 'housewife' I'm educated too).
However, my rant here is 'what to do' when my husband goes on nights...he will need his sleep at 6 am. I also plan on working and will need my sleep at night. I know we cannot dictate when the lady does what she wants but I am so frustrated by this.
I try to tell my son 'keep your voice down' early in the morning and not to bang around over the lady's head but now I feel like just blasting my tv and not giving a damn...I DON'T want it to be the same 'head games' like where we have rented in the past...
If anything is horrible about renting it's the 'dominance' game tenants have to play with each other...if you mention something they (from experience) turn more vicious.
Any ideas or comments? PS sorry for rambling as it's early...
Or, offer to buy her some nice RC cordless headphones as a housewarming gift. She could tune into her music anytime as loud as she wants. It's a little over the top, but a nice neighborly gesture like that might make her more open to helping you out with the noise situation. The worst she can do is take you up on the offer and you're out $100 but in for a good morning's sleep.
This is actually an excellent idea. I own my own home but the house next to mine is being renovated. A fan work great but you have to find a loud one.
Lately though, I've been using white noise tapes. I went on line to purewhitenoise and purchased three tapes. Restful Rain, Calming Electric Fan, and Pure White Noise. As I said they work great and you can adjust the volume as you see fit since you play it on your own CD player. The key thing when purchasing a white noise tape is to look for one that plays for a long time. My CDs play for a full hour before they reset. Which is fine, but some of them only play for 3 to 5 minutes like a normal CD. Those are impossible to sleep to. The constantly resetting CD keeps you awake.
It is a bad situation when neighbors are not considerate of each other and insist on living their life as though they were the only people on the block.
Earplugs work wonders! I live in an apartment and wouldn't be without them.
One situation that arose when a new gal moved in downstairs. Her bedroom is directly under my bedroom and her first night in her apartment she was on the cell phone and I could hear every word she said! I thought, "Oh no, here we go again!"
I visited her the next day and welcomed her to the "neighborhood"...then I politely informed her that the walls are paper-thin and there is definitely no sound-proofing between units, and that when she is on her cell phone in her bedroom I can hear the entire conversation. Fortunately, she is very respectful of others and she was thankful I'd told her and the problem was elminated right then and there. I was very lucky that she was so receptive and cooperative!! I have had situations where neighbors could care less, and if you complain, it just gets worse.
Sometimes (but not often) landlords will help out...but again, once the offending party is chastised, they many times will just retaliate.
Unfortunately I can't use ear plugs because I have to listen at night for my son if he calls me from his room. Plus I do like to hear if something is going on..
If she is quiet by 11 (last night NO NOISE AT ALL??) I can't really complain. I'm more concerned for my husband when he goes on nights and won't be able to sleep past 6 with the noise...but I know he is pretty good about zonking out when he's tired. (even with noise).
I really have no idea how noisy we are so I will just deal with it.
Earplugs do nothing for me. I'm a professional musician, and I can't just not listen. It's almost impossible to tune things out. All that seems to work is keeping a huge fan going even in the dark of winter.
However, my rant here is 'what to do' when my husband goes on nights...he will need his sleep at 6 am. I also plan on working and will need my sleep at night. I know we cannot dictate when the lady does what she wants but I am so frustrated by this.
I am presently in this situation and have been before. I have found that the only true answer is to leave. You never win these battles unless you are willing to utilize a good attorney and even then you will have to gather evidence and employ scorched earth tactics that will leave you worn out and embittered.
Presently my wife and I, along with our three month old baby, rent a gorgeous two bedroom in a 50s highrise. The problem is it is full of post graduates and every night is a party. We hear everything- door slams, parties, sex, etc. The final straw is a girl upstairs who hammers something at all hours. We complain, she stops and then resumes the next day or soon thereafter. The manager says he cannot do anything (such as enforce the rules). We even went up to speak with her and brought our infant. She was umoved. I cannot imagine the level of a mind that thinks the way she does.
Obviously, its time to buy a house and we have done just that. So three more weeks or so.
Just leave. There are other rentals. Find one on the top floor of a walkup where you will have other buildings and thus barrier walls on either side. Put a rug as well as padding on the floor.
Wow...I can't believe how inconsiderate some people are in high-density housing situations.
I don't like to disturb my neighbors because I expect to not ever hear them. If I want them to be quiet and not disturb my peace, I have to be equally courteous.
This includes:
No shower radios or singing in the shower; that noise penetrates even the most well-insulated wall.
No loud music EVER at any hour of the day. I wear headphones.
The TV is on at a reasonable volume before 9pm, but after 9pm I turn it down lower. It's so low that I can't hear it in the next room.
I don't use the washer/dryer or dishwasher at night or early in the morning. Some people find the sound of water rushing through pipes to be annoying when they're trying to sleep.
I never use the vacuum cleaner at night or early in the morning; I don't know if my neighbors could hear it or not, but the vacuuming can wait until a sociable hour.
I never slam doors.
So far I've never had a neighbor come to my door and tell me I was making too much noise. My place isn't so quiet that you could hear a pin drop, but I try to be as courteous as possible. When you're living cheek-by-jowl with complete strangers, it makes life a lot easier if you don't have to deal with stereo wars.
We are in here till August or Sept (we have a lease). If it really becomes ridiculous I am going to go down and speak to the lady and just nicely explain I am not trying to boss her around but my husband is going on nights and he CANNOT be woken up by her loud music at 6 am (I have to get up with my son at 6 am to put him on the bus and go to a job eventually in the day--the reason my husband took a night job.
If she gets annoyed, well I did the adult thing.
Maybe she doesn't realize how loud she is?
As far as someone hearing another tenant having sex..that's just gross.
Moth, graduate students should know better...
I'd love to buy a home but we just moved here and there's no chance of that right now.
GypsySoul22
check your lease, some leases state a certain time when noise must be kept to a minimum
usually after 10 pm and before 8 am.
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