How to deal with noisy, rude, disrespectful up stair neighbors (CA) (apartments, lease)

[nnd315]

I'm a college student, I have been living with friends or alone for the past 5 years and; I never ever encounter with a noisy problem like this case.

I currently live under a family of 4, they have a 5-7 years old boy and 1-2 years old baby who just learned how to walk. They are the noisiest, rudest neighbor I have ever met in my life. They can't walk quietly, every footstep is stomping my ceiling which make my apartment shaking like 1 Richter earthquake. My apartment wall stick with the staircase so everytime their kids stampede the stairs my wall is shaking.

But, the baby is the pain in the a**, I understand that he is 1-2 year old and he just learn how to walk. But it doesn't mean that he can stomp the floor, jumping non-stop from 8a.m to 10 p.m every single day. Baby walking is a part of growing process but stomping my ceiling during study time, weekend movie time even my mid-day quick nap is disturbed by the baby. His parents has 0 control of the baby or they simply dont give a F about it. I told them to keep the baby quiet during 7p.m to 10 p.m because I'm also a human being I have to study,eat and sleep. I'm a quiet neighbor and I expect my neighbor to do the same. So I put a note telling them about my problem ( control their kids walking habit) and 2 hours later I found the note ripped in front of my apartment door. I told the apartment manager to give them a notice or warning. Guess what they escalated the noise to the next level. They allow their baby to stomping the floor anytime he wants to, idk what the heck is wrong with this kid; he never get tired or he was born with high level of steroid. I have to knock my ceiling everytime the baby is out of control, but they dont care. The lady upstairs gave me the lamest excuse that I should talk to the baby telling him to stop or she doesnt know what to do. She has the responsible to control her own kid, even if the baby doesnt understand the word, she should be able to control the baby. I have 2 years old niece too and I can tell her to stop jumping, running or making noises; she just sat down and play with her toys peacefully.

This is the first time I'm dealing with this problem, I really dont know what to do. Everyday is a war, my stress level is high every night when I'm doing my HW and the neighbor upstairs stomping the floor. Any advice. i dont want to create hardship tension between me and my neighbor but they have to control their baby behavior at least during my quiet hours time 7pm- 9pm so I can do my work.

[NoMoreSnowForMe]

Unfortunately, it isn't likely to change. So, start looking for a new place as soon as you can, and I suggest looking for a top floor unit. And in the meantime, you might have to go to the library from 7 -9pm.

I completely understand your frustration. I've had noisy upstairs neighbors before, and it's no fun.

[Podo944]

I learned decades ago... top floor! I can't stand feet clomping around above and especially children are next to impossible to control. The bottom floor is always a gamble and it sounds like you're on the losing end. But trust me, I've had a few problems with downstairs neighbors as well on occasion. It's apartment living.

[Standingroom0nly]

My husband and I were top floor renters once and the downstairs neighbors would constantly hit their ceiling with a broom pole (or something similar) almost every time we walked across the floor. Our walking was without shoes (on carpet) and being hyper aware that every noise was being apparently reverberated through to the lower floor. The ceilings must have been terribly thin because we made it a constant habit to literally tip-toe through our house and would still get "the broom"...The person below eventually left, as did we once we moved on to purchase a house.

I would say avoid the stress and find another place to live. The family above you is probably already under a lot of stress having two kids, being cooped up in a small apartment, probably financial stress too being they are in an apartment instead of a house or larger unit, and I'm sure they don't need the added bonus of yelling at their kids every time they want to move.

[DMenscha]

Get over it. You will find much worse in your lifetime.

[jbunniii]

I don't like loud neighbors any more than you do, but it's probably not a reasonable expectation to have "quiet hours" during the day or in the early evening. If this was happening late at night when you were trying to sleep, you might be able to have the apartment management do something about it. But if you want quiet in the daytime or early evening, the burden is on you to find a quiet place. By the way, moving out of an apartment and into a house won't necessarily solve your problem; indeed, it can be even worse in some ways. Would you rather have a kid stomping on your ceiling or some guy starting an all-day construction project in his back yard next door at 8am?

[zitsky]

Next time, try *talking* to your neighbor. Don't just leave a note on their door. Maybe you're shy or uncomfortable, but you're more likely to resolve the issue face to face.

[nnd315]

I have tried to talk to them about the problem she said that " I should talk to the baby telling him to stop or she doesnt know what to do"

Recently, I found out the reason why they couldnt keep the noise down. It wasnt the little walking baby, but the family themselves has the problem. Last night, 2:30 am I woke up because I heard someone slamming the door upstairs. It was the husband ( or someone else I have never seen before) slamming the door and punching the wall ( for 5 minutes). I told him to stop what he doing because everyone at sleep if they had a problem keep it inside their own family. The guy wasn't sober he keeps saying " I'm sorry" to me and he went back to what he doing. I had to call the police for the 1st time of my life because I dont know what to do. I dont know the guy, what if he armed with gun, knife; he wasnt at his best consciousness. The police didn't come ,but the noise stopped at 3:30 am.

I still have 7 months left on my lease contract, is there anyway I can tell my landlord to do something about this. If there are no law enforcement, they will keep fighting and stomping every single day.

[zitsky]

Originally Posted by nnd315

I have tried to talk to them about the problem she said that " I should talk to the baby telling him to stop or she doesnt know what to do"

Recently, I found out the reason why they couldnt keep the noise down. It wasnt the little walking baby, but the family themselves has the problem. Last night, 2:30 am I woke up because I heard someone slamming the door upstairs. It was the husband ( or someone else I have never seen before) slamming the door and punching the wall ( for 5 minutes). I told him to stop what he doing because everyone at sleep if they had a problem keep it inside their own family. The guy wasn't sober he keeps saying " I'm sorry" to me and he went back to what he doing. I had to call the police for the 1st time of my life because I dont know what to do. I dont know the guy, what if he armed with gun, knife; he wasnt at his best consciousness. The police didn't come ,but the noise stopped at 3:30 am.

I still have 7 months left on my lease contract, is there anyway I can tell my landlord to do something about this. If there are no law enforcement, they will keep fighting and stomping every single day.

Wow. You're really jumping to conclusions. You want to know if he has a knife or a gun? What gave you the idea that he's going to attack you? He kept saying "sorry". Yes, slamming the door and punching the wall are annoying, but I don't know if you can call the police for that.

Have you considered wearing ear plugs to bed, or playing some kind of relaxing music on your phone or stereo?

I know you want peace and quiet but when you talk to the police you should stick to the facts.

[thetrb]

A baby has to learn to walk and will make some noise. I actually find it ridiculous on your end to ask your neighbors to stop the baby from walking.

It's not your neighbors fault, but the fault of the crappy construction that many apartments here have. As others said, get over it or move to a place that has better sound insulation or where you can live on the top floor.