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Everything you describe sounds like normal living noise.
They are running their washer and dryer.
The wife, who has a TBI and is cared for by her husband, uses the treadmill, likely for therapy.
From your statements, it sounds like you are very sensitive to noise in shared living spaces and quickly become stressed out when you can have it very quiet. I understand this as I'm the same way. But I can't stress enough that if you are a sound sensitive person, you have to check yourself and make sure before you go tearing off to confront your neighbors and make them wrap their living unit in bubble wrap and insist they never make a sound, that what you are asking for is in fact reasonable.
In this case, if I were on a jury and heard someone complaining that their neighbor wanted to use their washer/dryer... yeah, no.
Same thing for being put out because a disabled woman needed to use a treadmill in her own unit. It's not like they're throwing wild parties up there.
I would suggest if you need total quiet, that apartment living may not be for you. If it is the only option, I would try noise canceling headphones or a white noise machine for when you inevitably hear sounds from those living around you and they cause you stress.
Everything you describe sounds like normal living noise.
They are running their washer and dryer.
The wife, who has a TBI and is cared for by her husband, uses the treadmill, likely for therapy.
From your statements, it sounds like you are very sensitive to noise in shared living spaces and quickly become stressed out when you can have it very quiet. I understand this as I'm the same way. But I can't stress enough that if you are a sound sensitive person, you have to check yourself and make sure before you go tearing off to confront your neighbors and make them wrap their living unit in bubble wrap and insist they never make a sound, that what you are asking for is in fact reasonable.
In this case, if I were on a jury and heard someone complaining that their neighbor wanted to use their washer/dryer... yeah, no.
Same thing for being put out because a disabled woman needed to use a treadmill in her own unit. It's not like they're throwing wild parties up there.
I would suggest if you need total quiet, that apartment living may not be for you. If it is the only option, I would try noise canceling headphones or a white noise machine for when you inevitably hear sounds from those living around you and they cause you stress.
IMO, it sounds like normal living noise, but just not all at "normal" hours. Maybe OP mentioned things, but I'd be interested to know if there are house rules on "quiet hours" at the OP's condo. 9-10PM to be doing laundry seems kind of late IMO
I owner-occupy my condo. The husband and wife above me rent. They bought a treadmill several months after I bought my place which they now use twice daily. The wife walks on it and I can hear the footfalls thumping through my ceiling. The husband runs on the treadmill. It sounds like a freight train down below where I am. I suffer from marked anxiety and it really raises my stress levels. Even after the noise ceases, my level of agitation lingers.
Their upstairs flooring in the living room is linoleum. They have no padding under the treadmill so the sound just amplifies right on through the walls and ceiling. I can't move my workstation out of the living room. The treadmill is portable and they take it down and use it right above where I must work. Both our units are identical floorplans. It's two bedrooms and two full baths.
I called the owner who lives out of state. No sooner than I introduced myself and how I was the new owner below her property she told me to not call again and hung up on me. I was taken aback and wondered who this rude lady was. She has a unique name, so it was easy to surf the internet about her. Turns out she was sued for bilking this couple out of money. In fact, she committed perjury on the witness stand. She was found guilty by a jury. She later lost her appeal and had to compensate the victims 125K. A fine sense of ethics she has!
I emailed the property management company and have not heard back as of yet. It's been a few weeks.
I decided to look into the Rules & Regulations for the property. Article IX is as follows:
"No activity shall be conducted in any Unit either willfully or negligently, which may be or might become an annoyance or nuisance to the other Owners or occupants of Units. No Owner or occupant of a Unit shall make or permit any disturbing noises nor do or permit anything to be done by others that will interfere with the rights, comforts or convenience of other Owners or Unit occupants".
Based on this statement, does this protect me from continuing to be subjected to this ongoing dilemma?
I mean, if my baseline for being irritated from certain repetitive booming sounds runs higher than the average person, does that still qualify as legitimate "annoyance or nuisance"? I have read on different threads from various forms where some members have this "live and let live" mantra. And would not interfere with how others conduct themselves in a shared living environment. While others claim they would be nothing short of "livid" if they had someone above them running on a treadmill and have in fact gone directly upstairs to confront their neighbor on the matter.
So, if the sound of the repetitive booming noise above my head is causing me great distress, would my grievance still qualify for being violated by my upstairs neighbors? Would I be perceived as making a petty complaint and trying to micro-manage others' lives to want them to move the treadmill away from the main living area, or to put rubber mats underneath the treadmill?
They have options to work with to address the matter. Me, not so much. Noise-canceling headphones, white noise machines, and even earplugs do not mitigate the thudding from low-frequency impact sound such as what I am experiencing.
Unless you're hoping to get ideas how to improve the soundproofing in your condo, a discussion about disputes with your neighbors seems best suited for the RE subforum. You've already received reasonable suggestions in your other thread on the exact same topic, including the comment that this could be considered ordinary living noise unless it's occurring during some codified quiet hours. If the condo board can't take action, your neighbors' landlord won't take action, and neither will the neighbors, guess the ball's in your court; including selling and moving someplace quieter.
Last edited by Parnassia; 07-02-2022 at 03:51 PM..
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Pounding treadmill above
