Room next to stairwell, noise ruining sleep (apartment, lease)

[shaun9]

I moved into a 1 bedroom in a walkup about two months ago and have been running into noise that has just been driving me nuts. The layout of the apartment has it so the bedroom is sharing two walls with the stairwell. Being on the 2nd floor of 5 means I get a decent amount of foot traffic coming by. What I didn't expect is how thin those walls were going to be!

Every time someone walks up/down the stairs their footsteps are incredibly echoy and it sounds loud enough that they might as well be walking inside my room. Depending on how hard they're walking it sometimes even shakes my floor which does a great job waking me up if the noise doesn't first. At least twice a night I get woken up from people walking by in the middle of the night at like 3am. I've tried sleeping with white noise machines, ear plugs, box fans but nothing seems to help.

Any one have suggestions on stuff to try, anything I can add to the walls to maybe block out the sound? Anyone ever gotten out of a lease in a similar situation? Not sure I can take 10 more months of this.

[Febtober]

Put a heavy blanket or curtain over the walls to dampen the sound maybe?

[Henna]

Have you tried sleeping in the living room?

[BugsyPal]

While have *some* pity for the OP again one wonders; don't persons think of these things *BEFORE* they sign a lease?


It isn't rocket science that if you live adjacent or even near a stairwell or even elevator you are going to deal with noise. Heck we don't live near the stairwell in our building and can hear persons going up and down, especially the young kids who seem to have been brought up in barn. That or females wearing high heels or those clunky boots/shoes.


Getting out of your lease? Good luck with that. Cannot see what the LL is supposed to do besides perhaps put up some sort of notice asking for quiet when using the stairs. It would be like blaming the LL for street noise.

[antinimby]

You should definitely bring it to your landlords attention first and foremost. Whether or not you think he will do anything for you is a different matter. He needs to know about it first.

Do that and then come back here to let us know what he said. We'll tell you where to go from there.

[Wells5]

You say that you've tried ear plugs. Were they Mack's or Flent's? One type of Mack's claims to produce 34 db's of sound deadening. Maybe you didn't insert them correctly?

I don't think that your LL can do anything about the noise short of tearing out the old wall and rebuilding it with lots of insulation and "Quiet Rock" dry wall. Even that may not be enough.

If this is ruining your health, my advice is to seek a lawyer who will plan a strategy for legally breaking your current lease. If you just move out of your apartment, your LL can sue you for the balance of the lease and put you on the tenant blacklist.

Are the stairs carpeted?

[macnyc2003]

BugsyPal, it's not easy to discern during a quick trip to an apartment what all the issues are going to be. You're distracted, you're looking at a million things at once. You may have a realtor standing with you, looking at her watch. Maybe other prospective tenants are looking at it too, and you have to make a commitment fast. A friend of mine was thrilled to rent an apartment recently, and it wasn't until she moved in that she realized that it abuts the garbage room. Oh, well!

[nightcrawler]

welcome to apartment living.
my bedroom is in the front of the building on the top floor. kill me now.


looking for an apartment is overwhelming, we forget to do little things like really take notice of where the bedroom is? what is next to it, look out the window, what do you see?

it is something you will either have to get used to, or move.

we all learn the hard way. I always get anxiety everythime the tenants move out of the apartment back to back with my bedroom, so for the teen boys isnt terrible, but 2 tenants ago...........boy could I tell you stories, but I wont...

[barkomatic]

Originally Posted by BugsyPal

While have *some* pity for the OP again one wonders; don't persons think of these things *BEFORE* they sign a lease?


It isn't rocket science that if you live adjacent or even near a stairwell or even elevator you are going to deal with noise. Heck we don't live near the stairwell in our building and can hear persons going up and down, especially the young kids who seem to have been brought up in barn. That or females wearing high heels or those clunky boots/shoes.


Getting out of your lease? Good luck with that. Cannot see what the LL is supposed to do besides perhaps put up some sort of notice asking for quiet when using the stairs. It would be like blaming the LL for street noise.

While I would consider street noise and nearby construction work to be a factor in making a decision, I don't think stairwell noise is on most people's radar. How would he even know unless someone was using the stairs during the time he looked at the place?

In fact, my own bedroom is adjacent to a stairwell, and I *never* hear noise--and I never thought I would. Then again, my building doesn't have cheap walls either.

OP, I'd consider sleeping in the living room for now and letting the landlord know about the problem. Perhaps some type of soundproofing can be installed in your room.

[Kefir King]

I am on a stairwell, but high up and for emergencies. Nobody ever uses it and it is cinderblock...complete silence. I wish I were surrounded like this on all 6 sides. Usually a stairwell is the most solidly built part of a building. It must resist fire the longest.


OP, I have found that after a while your brain "tunes out" this kind of noise. Be patient. I thought I wouldn't be able to tolerate my last apartment because at first I heard everybody's trash clanging down the garbage chute. After a while, I just ceased hearing it...it just didn't register anymore.


Of it continues to bother you, you have 10 months to line up something suitable. You will not be able to break the lease for this noise complaint.