Apartment Insulation/Noise Help

[ATL Golfer]

If it is hardwood/laminate, code requires cork under the floor.

[Shellbelle8]

I am having the SAME PROBLEM at my apartment complex. I wonder if we live in the same place. I DID tell my upstairs neighbor - I wrote him a note because I was too chicken to tell him face-to-face. He was very apologetic and said that he would try to walk softer, and it helped - for about a day. It is still real bad, I can tell when he gets home from work (11pm), when he wakes up in the morning, when he does his laundry, etc. It is AWFUL. I have to wear earplugs at night when I go to bed. That has helped the most. Good luck!

[Somoso]

This is an all too common problem and is also why some condo HOAs require carpeting (mine did) in upper units. Your situation is somewhat worse in that the neighbor isn't really doing anything intentionally, thus it is unlikely he could change things to make it better for you. One of my first apartments was quite old and the floor above me made loud noises whenever anyone walked on them. I eventually made friends with the person above me who travelled a lot for work so I didn't experience the situation all the time. And once he became aware of the noise he did try to minimize it (e.g. taking off his shoes) but it really didn't help so much. I eventually became accustomed to it. Of course once the lease was up I moved out and made sure to keep this type of thing in mind moving forward.

Newer construction isn't immune from this problem either. I once lived in a new Post community that was constructed in the mid 90s and it had paper thin walls and creaky floors right from the
start. I could hear the neighbor's phone ringing from the next door unit. At night I could hear the above neighbor going to the bathroom. And it seemed that Tuesday night was sex night for them.

Later, I rented another apartment where I was the occupant on the top floor. It was carpeted with shag (I kid you not) so I figured no worries there about noise. Wrong. I worked the night shift so I got home around midnight. I was very careful not to make noise but the people below me complained to the landlord that I was "jumping around". I described my routine to the landlord who more or less took my side since the previous tenant had moved out in part because of the harassment from the tenant below. In my case I did the best I could but sometimes just me walking into my apartment and shutting the door would provoke a knock from below. Guess she wanted me to pay rent but not live there.

Lastly, I once lived under a woman who, and this is a kindness on my part, weighed around 270 lbs. You could hear her stomp up the stairs, into the apartment, and across the floor. When she moved in she "pre-apologized" for the inevitable noise. She reciprocated in that she didn't seem to mind my late night comings-and-goings or the music that I played. Since I wasn't home a lot during "normal" hours I didn't have to endure the louder sounds. But man, early in the morning when she got up ! It was LOUD !

Anyway I would try to negotiate a move to another unit - preferably a top unit though keep in mind that you might wind up being the one being complained about.