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The big thing is that the new neighbors start to get extremely active at around 11 PM during the week, and will constantly walk back and forth until about 4 or 5 AM. It's very abnormal. Whoever it is will walk from one side of the condo to the other, stop for 10 seconds, return, then rinse and repeat.
but just for the sake of speculation- what in the world could they be doing? I ask because this has happened to us in several timeshares we have stayed in. This also involved rolling a heavy patio door back and forth repeatedly (oceanfront complex) I remember turning to my husband and saying wtf can't they just sit on the couch and play with their phone or watch TV like everyone else? What could they possibly be doing? Sorry Op we could head home after a week- you are really stuck.
Thanks guys - I appreciate the info/responses. I haven't seen them yet as they haven't been home (I don't think) when I checked. When I do catch them, I'll see if they would be willing to split the cost of carpeting between us as a potential help.
To respond to a few questions/comments:
Understood. The floors are definitely creating the problem and they should be able to live their normal lives. This is a big part of the reason I've just dealt with it for so long. But, I never had an issue with the previous owner the 4 years that I lived below her. She started her day at 4 AM and never woke me up, nor did she ever walk around enough (or loudly enough) to bother me in the slightest. Ever. These guys are constantly walking, and do so heavily with pounds and thuds. They sometimes jog across the floor. And they don't have kids. All between 11 PM to 5 AM. I guess I was hoping they could do something to reduce the noise during these hours and consider the fact that I also need to live my life. I know the floors are bad, but there must be something that they can do to be quieter.
I'm not expecting a positive outcome from a discussion because of the nature of the issue. It's hard to actually prove that walking is excessive or too loud, so they have the upper hand in a significant way. And the floors ARE bad, even though I never had trouble with the previous owner. They would have to have a desire to make a change in the way they're living, which based on an interaction with them I just don't see happening. But you are right in that I should not just make assumptions.
Honestly, I wouldn't expect them to go along with installing carpeting. First off, it may not be in their budget or their plans. Secondly, many people don't have carpeting due to allergies. I'm one of those people and carpets are so gross.
I'd work on soundproof my own unit. Yes, it will cost $$$, but if you're going to sell, it may help sell it!
Can you re-arrange your furniture so your bed is beneath a lower-traffic area? How about you, do you have rugs and wall-hangings and whatnot to make your own place less of an echo-chamber?
It sounds like you haven't even tried talking to them yet. Why not try approaching them in a non-confrontational manner? Either in person, or a friendly note.
"I know the big problem is the way the building is constructed, and not you, but I hear a ton of noise from your condo at night, and I'm a light sleeper. I'm not asking you to sneak around, but I was hoping we could work something out. I'd be willing to pitch in for rugs, if you don't already have them? And how do you feel about slippers?"
Depends on whether you own or rent, your commitment to where you live etc., but most commenters have given you the spectrum of replies except for the fight back option.
I am old, and in my life I lived many years in apartments and had the same problems. I tried EVERYTHING, from being sweet and asking, to calling the landlord, and even calling the police. I could rant for hours about how people have no consideration but I'll spare you. They just don't.
Anyway, eventually I saved up enough for the down payment on a house and for me that solved the problem. Start saving every penny, and buy a single family home in quiet neighborhood, with nobody living above you and no shared walls. It may take years and years but for me it has solved that problem at last.
Probably not in CT, but here in FL there are many condos that are single-story units. Luckily, mine is one of them. It's a "quad", meaning four units attached in the middle, so I have two shared walls. But the construction is concrete and I never hear a thing. My neighbors have also told me they never hear my dogs barking. I don't know whether to believe that, but I consider myself lucky to have such nice neighbors.
In some of the older two-story units in our community, it's wood construction and those folks hear everything, including the bathroom habits of their neighbors. We have a rule that if you install wood or tile flooring, you have to have it approved by the Board and also install a sound-deadening material. Well, easy to say but I'm sure people go around the rules. My friend says she is constantly bothered by her upstairs neighbors walking, scraping chairs, etc. She asked if they had the sound material and they said of course, but were kind of pissy about it. I told her to check (quietly) with the Board and find out if they had approval to install the tile, because I know the contractor isn't licensed. She won't do it. Too afraid of rocking the boat. She's just glad they're snowbirds and so she can have peace and quiet half the year.
I'd work on soundproof my own unit. Yes, it will cost $$$, but if you're going to sell, it may help sell it!
If someone were to point out all the soundproofing they had installed it would set off alarm bells with me. I would see it as an indicator of extreme noise issues. But, that is one of the many reasons I would never live in any type of multi-unit housing.
I live on the bottom floor of a condo complex, where I've resided for over 4 years. About 3 months ago, new upstairs neighbors (a couple) moved in. I've been having an issue with...you guessed it - lots of noise. Now, the floors in the building are sensitive and do creak excessively. Note however, that I've never once had an problem with the previous owner being too loud out of the years I've been here.
The big thing is that the new neighbors start to get extremely active at around 11 PM during the week, and will constantly walk back and forth until about 4 or 5 AM. It's very abnormal. Whoever it is will walk from one side of the condo to the other, stop for 10 seconds, return, then rinse and repeat. Often mixed in this, I will hear them loudly having sex. It shakes the ceiling loudly over my head. These things will continue on all night/morning, with little interruption. Now, I have a normal 9-5 weekday job where I have to get up at 8 AM to get ready for work. Because of the noise, I am generally getting 3 or so hours of sleep. Often, I just give up and pull an all nighter. To make matters worse, on the weekends they appear to have an opposite pattern and go to bed earlier/wake up earlier in the morning. They then choose to do renovations at this time, so along with the walking I get the added bonus of drills, hammers and sawing. This basically forces me to go to bed early on the weekend so I cannot even go out if I expect to have any sleep in my life at all.
I think this is beginning to effect my health as I've been getting comments on my appearance, that I look pale and exhausted with bags under my eyes. Also, aside from feeling lethargic, I've begun to develop major headaches and feel lightheaded all the time. I've started calling out of work once every few weeks in an attempt to get some additional sleep. This has been a MAJOR disruption in my life.
I've tried earplugs, noise cancelling headphones, a white noise machine and a fan, but since much of the walking creates vibrations, these methods have been ineffective. I'm not a confrontational person (or any good with talking to/approaching people), so I haven't spoken with them yet. There is also the issue that I'm really at their mercy since I can't really tell them not to or how to walk. But I think I have to say something, because the only other option for me is to move out. This is not something I am prepared for financially, but if I have to, I will do it.
Do you have any advice on how I can approach these people, and ask them to be quiet in the late evening and early morning hours? I am concerned that they will take my asking them the wrong way, and become passive aggressive which would make things worse. If you have any other information on how I may be able to block out the noise, that would be appreciated as well. I'm sorry for the long post, but I am just at my wits end and needed to put this out there to see if I can get any other suggestions.
You're dealing with people who are so self-centered, that they have no awareness of any others or the impact their activities will have on them. These are folks you'd hope would occupy a single-family home on a large lot.
How many units in your condominium? Is there a council of members, to air grievances? And have you considered getting noise-cancelling headphones? The latter might be your only option, besides selling and moving. The fact that they make so much noise in the first place, without considering the neighbor below, indicates that they're not likely to respond favorably to any requests for less of it.
If someone were to point out all the soundproofing they had installed it would set off alarm bells with me. I would see it as an indicator of extreme noise issues. But, that is one of the many reasons I would never live in any type of multi-unit housing.
I lived in a high rise in Minneapolis, on the 30th floor, but it was built back in the late 60's/early 70's, and they don't build high rises like this anymore, and never will. Concrete walls between the units, they don't do that anymore. Never was I bothered with noise living there, it was like living in a vault.
One of my massage clients, at the time, with a condo in Palm Beach as well, bought 2 2-bedroom units at the end of a hall in an older 1960's high rise, and he explained why he bought there, as he was looking for quality and a noisefree environment. He explained that when they built this building which will outlast World War III, the floors were 12 inches think, poured concrete walls between the units, where you could play the piano anytime of the day or night.
There's a reason that the older 20's/30's/40's co-op apartment buildings in Manhattan are so sought after, these rich people don't care what the outside of the building looks like, they want the utmost in quality.
The Dakota coop building on the western side of Central Park was built back in the late 1880's, and talk about overdoing it: 23 inch walls between the adjacent units and the floors were 24 inches thick. Let's see a bomb destroy that building!!!
Go watch how they build these new, so-called, luxury condo high rises going up today, see any concrete between the adjacent units, and how thin the concrete floors are! Luxury where art thou!!!
Yes, those thick concrete walls, and floors are terrific. In Colorado the 7 story low income apartments for seniors I lived in for a couple years had them, and they were very quiet. They called them "fire walls" as they were supposed to impede the progress of fires. Looks like they do double duty.
I'm planning to retire in Tucson and I will only buy one of those slump brick townhouses built in the 1960's/1970's. So what if I have to rewire the place, put in new plumbing, it would be worth it, as well as feeling like you're living in an oven in the summer time!
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