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Personally, I think you are entirely out of line. Basically, you have silence until 3pm each day. That's almost the end of the work day.
You have a number of options. You can start work earlier so you finish by 3pm. You can wear ear plugs. You can take a break and then work after the kids go home (I presume they go to bed at some point). You can choose to go somewhere else after 3pm. You can decide not to work at home at all.
Asking them to not ride bikes in the house might be reasonable. Asking them not to play in their own apartment (and it is one of the children's HOME), it absurd. Whether they share a nanny or not is none of your concern. Where they play - be in downstairs, upstairs, at the park, a friend's house - is none of your concern.
For whatever reason, the children like playing upstairs (probably better toys). Who are you to tell these little children they can't play where they want because you have chosen to work from home.
You can reasonably inform them that your light bulbs are coming loose and the trim coming off, but asking them to not play there is not reasonable.
You say you have gotten along well with everyone this far. If you tell these parents the kids can't play in their own home...that's all about to change.
Now that I know you have quiet until 3pm, I feel differently.
You can always ask about them toning it down, though. Let them know they're riding bikes, etc., and the light fixtures are coming loose. Just ask nicely if they could tone it down, or maybe play next door? Say it nice and sweetly. You might get lucky. If not, count your blessings it's only noisy after 3pm.
I hated living in a condo that i bought. I felt so stuck. The apts next to mine were both rentals and at least they came and went so it wasn't constantly terrible.
The guy above me here drives me nuts, but now that I hear your story, he's not so bad!
Well IMO, I feel it is rude to say there is a schedule to when they will play in one unit and then to have that schedule completely fall apart without letting me know.
Here is the email from my next door neighbor after I asked if the schedule is still valid (the previous email from them said the schedule)
"Since you work from home, we'd like to make your home office as comfortable as possible so you're not disturbed. Just so you're aware, although the schedule Stephanie gave you generally holds, Krassi has free rein to take the kids where they like to go play and Paul and Edye's place is a popular hangout. That said, in order to accommodate you, we could ask Krassi to keep them out of one of the rooms. I believe the bigger of the two smaller bedrooms is least used. Also, they would typically be upstairs between 3-5:30 Monday thru Thursday. Would that work for you?
Edye and Paul - please feel free to chime in as well."
So, there is a schedule, but there isn't a schedule..
I'm not saying where the kids can and can't play.. I'm just asking if they can go back to the schedule they told me about which they had in place when I moved in (and I would assume prior to me moving in). I'm asking as a kind neighbor hoping they will be considerate enough to oblige. Of course, they don't have to.
What happens next summer when the kids are out of school and choose to play upstairs all day everyday?
Don't get me wrong, I fully understand that this is my problem and they don't have to do anything to accommodate me
When I moved into the condo, there was a schedule (I assume) and everything was fine for about 2 weeks and then I noticed them always being upstairs so I asked if there was a schedule and they said there was. I said "great, that helps me schedule my work phone calls". From that point on, the scheduled has not been followed at all. All I am asking is if the schedule could be followed, or at least somewhat followed so I have an idea of when they will be above me. Why tell me there is a schedule and then essentially turn the schedule off the very next day?
I have a lot of conference calls for work, so I can't schedule them to later in the evening ( I do try to schedule them earlier than 3 when possible) and unfortunately there is no office for me to go to. So, I am basically offering to schedule my calls around the kids play schedules. I've considered renting the place out because of this issue as clients have actually asked me what in the world is going on with all the noise.. it is THAT bad.
Last edited by orange3324; 09-27-2013 at 09:29 PM..
You're talking about being inconvienced from 3 - 5:30 M-TH? is this true?
That's 2 1/2 hours. If that's the case, I think you're being unrealistic. This is a give and take situation, which means you need to give, too. If you want an office with no noise past 3pm, you'll have to pay for one away from home. Expecting more than that for a home office is unreasonable, in my opinion.
You're talking about being inconvienced from 3 - 5:30 M-TH? is this true?
That's 2 1/2 hours. If that's the case, I think you're being unrealistic. This is a give and take situation, which means you need to give, too. If you want an office with no noise past 3pm, you'll have to pay for one away from home. Expecting more than that for a home office is unreasonable, in my opinion.
I wonder if the OP is even allowed to run a home business out of the condo ...
You're talking about being inconvienced from 3 - 5:30 M-TH? is this true?
That's 2 1/2 hours. If that's the case, I think you're being unrealistic. This is a give and take situation, which means you need to give, too. If you want an office with no noise past 3pm, you'll have to pay for one away from home. Expecting more than that for a home office is unreasonable, in my opinion.
Yes that is true, but during the summer the kids will be playing upstairs 9-5 everyday. I guess my real issue here is I expressed my concern two weeks ago and they said there was a schedule. The very next day the schedule appeared to invalid as the kids were playing upstairs on a next door day. The kids have been playing above me every day since. And now they are saying there is not a schedule. Why break the schedule the very next day after I asked? They knew I had concerns. The people below my next door neighbor are gone 8-6 everyday so they would never be disturbed.
Quote:
Originally Posted by STT Resident
I wonder if the OP is even allowed to run a home business out of the condo ...
No one said home business. It is a home office.
Last edited by orange3324; 09-28-2013 at 08:00 AM..
The people below my next door neighbor are gone 8-6 everyday so they would never be disturbed.
The majority of apartment-dwellers are gone during the day so the noise of children playing or anything much else isn't a disturbance. I now work from home but one of my criteria when looking for a place to live was, amongst others, to be in a unit with nobody above me and in a quiet area. I was extremely lucky to find the perfect place where I can concentrate on my writing with no distractions.
As said before, you can ASK but you can't demand. If it doesn't work out for you then you have the option of moving once your lease is up and finding something more suitable. Good luck!
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