View Full Version : Noisy upstairs b
I've rented the same condo for 7 years. Good location, rent is a bargain, and has never gone up. The only fly in the ointment has been the chick who owns the unit directly above me. She seems to work non-traditional hours, because there's a lot of activity upstairs really late at night. I think she's a nurse.
Anyway, chick and her revolving boyfriends go through noisy spurts. I mean REALLY noisy - power saw running noisy, in the bedroom, directly over my head at midnight. Running the vacuum at 2 am (condo association rules say vacuum hours are 8am to 10pm). It's occasional enough that I just ignore it. The chick has a very active sex life and at least those sounds I can cover with the radio. She's LOUD. Until the headboard starts banging against the wall. There are wood floors upstairs, which make it worse that they got a dog within the past month or so. Looks to be some sort of boxer mix. They will play with the dog in the wee hours of the night, with some sort of ball. Sounds like the dog is dribbling! Sunday evenings seem to be throw down time! Chick and whoever the current guy is have fights like clockwork, she screams and screams. It sounds like he hits her, but I can't be sure. Certainly sounds like a body is being thrown to the floor.
Anyway, on 9/30, they just put me over the edge. Crazy day at work with month end and other stuff, so I went to bed about 9:30. About 11:15 I'm woken up by hammering upstairs. Keeps going on and off until 11:45. That's when I got out of bed as I'd had enough, got my mop, and banged on the ceiling very hard a couple of times. Amazingly, the hammering stopped, but I didn't get back to sleep until about 1 am. I shot off an email to my landlord telling him what has been going on, asking him to contact the condo association (they will only speak to unit owners, not renters). His wife told me that went she spent the night before they got married (and he moved to her bigger place), she would often hear the noisy sex upstairs. Landlord talked to the condo association the next day, who will be contacting the chick upstairs.
And for those who wonder if I'd said anything to the folks upstairs, no. Primarily because if there is domestic violence involved, there's no way I'm saying anything for the guy to turn on me.
It got a little interesting the next evening. I got home about 8:30. It took me multiple trips to the car to haul in my groceries. The chick's current boyfriend (I recognized his voice) was outside his car around the corner of the building, really pissed, yelling at someone, "F this complex, f this building, I'll be as noisy as I want to be. No one is going to tell me to be quiet." Over the edge crazy, not just someone venting. I was on my last trip, so I got inside before he saw me. It's pretty obvious I'm the one who complained about the noise. I always carry even when I run out to the mail box or to take the trash out. Put the door jammer on my door that I'd been lazy about not using lately.
Condo management called the chick the same day my landlord responded to me (they will only talk to unit owners unless there's an emergency such as burst pipes). They were following up with warning letter. Landlord forwarded me the exmail exchange he had with management. I am to call the police non emergency number when they are noisy between 10pm and 8am. If they persist, then call 911. Landlord told me that if I was scared of calling, to text him regardless of time, and he would call the cops (he doesn't know I'm a gun owner).
They've been pretty quiet upstairs.
Sorry about the title. My iPad posted thread before I had finished title!
sweetana3
10-12-15, 12:03am
I would hope she is embarrassed about the attention. But, I would call either the nonemergency number or 911 if I heard screaming. Let them explain it to the police.
Williamsmith
10-12-15, 5:17am
I remember getting these types of calls in my neck of the woods but typically at notoriously horrible trailer parks. So most of the complainants were just using us as a tool to torture the other park residents. Usually it backfired because the more time we spent in and around their places the more people got arrested for stuff we would have normally overlooked. But occasionally I saw a real need to solve a noise problem.
For instance, a drinking party with loud music and late at night. My partner and I give them the , "You need to be quiet talk." While we are explaining the concept of being a considerate neighbor, I'm getting the non verbal clues that indicate they are not paying much attention. We make sure the stereo is turned off and suggest they go inside and hit the sack. Before I leave, I look at the ring leader in the eye and say, "if we come back, you go to jail." He smiles back. I assume he was from the city and didn't understand the reality of that warning.
My partner and I get in our car and park about a mile down the road. Sure enough we get dispatched back to the same spot for noise complaint. When we arrive, I eyeball the ring leader and he sees I ain't back to talk anymore. He sprints into the trailer wih me right behind him. I tackled him on the kitchen floor and he grabs hold of the leg of the kitchen table. I pulled him and the kitchen table to the front door but both of them wouldn't come out. Now my partner is encouraging the guy to release his hold on the table by hitting his forearms with a very long and heavy metal flashlight. Eventually he comes out gets handcuffed and carted off to jail. A really long crappy night for us but No more noise complaints.
I know! So often calling the police isn't a great answer either. I don't think humans should live in such close proximity. We all need our own square mile of Savannah.
Oh man, people suck so much sometimes. My husband and I have had our share of neighbors like that over the yrs. One thing we invariably found, is when people act like that, they could care less whether or not they get a warning. They don't see themselves as the problem, they think you are just just being nitpicky. You can't reason with unreasonable people. Grrrrrr......I am angry just reading your post, thinking of what you are having to go through. You shouldn't have to let someone else invade your space with noise or fear. You are paying for that space, your neighbors arent. Stupid people......
Gee, that's much worse than what we put up with. Our neighbors are clean freaks---they vacuum every single day, early in the morning, late at night, whenever. The worst is when they use the canister vac in the master bathroom and drag some kind of furniture around in there. They also seem to like dragging and slamming furniture and shoes around the house. This is all in a senior development, so they have no kids (or pets-where is the dirt coming from?)
Thank goodness they don't have sex! I hear enough of their conversations, especially when they talk to each other in the bathroom. His comments about his bowel movements are a treat.
Too bad your neighbor owns her unit instead of rents. It's a shame you have to put up with all of that, especially since the bf seems pretty dangerous, and she's just rude.
Oh man, people suck so much sometimes. My husband and I have had our share of neighbors like that over the yrs. One thing we invariably found, is when people act like that, they could care less whether or not they get a warning. They don't see themselves as the problem, they think you are just just being nitpicky. You can't reason with unreasonable people. Grrrrrr......I am angry just reading your post, thinking of what you are having to go through. You shouldn't have to let someone else invade your space with noise or fear. You are paying for that space, your neighbors arent. Stupid people......
Thank you for your anger, lol. They've been pretty quiet the last couple of days. Is there anything I can do about the danged dog and them playing with him in the middle of the night with that danged ball?
One of our neighbors was a cowboy wannabe and he would clomp all over the apt. (over us) in his cowboy boots. And his two little wannabe cowboys wore cowboy boots also and would run back and forth constantly and at 2 a.m. would be jumping off their beds, screaming and whooping and hollering and would play with their "danged ball" in the middle of the night throwing it against walls and each other and bouncing it. We finally moved. The apt. mgr could care less because he was their maintenance man. I am so glad to be in a house now. I just love people......
My neighbors watched their son's dog for just two nights. They kept him in the master bathroom and in the morning he was so excited to get out....I could hear just how excited. Of course, all of their furniture was covered with plastic (my dad caught a glimpse). Our place is supposed to be soundproofed between the floors, but it's not.
Maybe she'll tire of the dog and it'll go to a new home. Lucky for you it's not barking all hours. If she doesn't clean up after it on its walks, maybe other neighbors will complain and she'll get rid of it.
This is not to say that Tradd's neighbor(s) aren't a bunch of noisy assholes, but as the landlord/owner of a second floor apartment, I have to say that sometimes, people just don't know. Before I moved out, I refinished the wood floors. Almost immediately upon rental, I got a complaint from management about my 2 adult 1 child family tenants making too much noise. They seemed so nice! Then I stood in the first floor apartment and realized what hell it was, even though it was simply the kid running back and forth and two adults walking around with shoes on. Thick padding and wall to wall carpeting ensued.
I agree with kib about wood floors and the amount of noise they transmit. A dear friend of mine told me a story from years ago when she was a young mother. Every morning she'd get ready for work and once she was dressed and ready to leave she'd have to run around forcing her son to finish getting ready, make sure his lunch was in his book bag and so forth. These last several minutes were spent walking around the apartment in the high heels she wore to work at the time. One day her neighbor downstairs told her in quite clear terms how f'ing annoying this was. She'd had no idea, but after that left her shoes by the door and didn't put them on until she and her son were literally walking out the door.
People upstairs are still very noisy. I've had to call the cops more than once. She was playing the piano at MIDNIGHT. I let my landlord know when I've called the cops, and he's contacted the management again. I'm told that since the original warning letter, she's been sent two more. I came home one night to see TWO dogs looking at me out the window from upstairs. The other is a pit bull looking dog. The noise is awful from the dogs. I want to take the danged ball they play with and force it down the girl owner's throat. Hide the danged ball so the dogs can't play in the middle of the night.
The girl and the boyfriend thump around all the time upstairs. Dropping stuff, hammering. This is before 10 pm (quiet hours are 10 pm to 8 am). I've been told by my landlord that she didn't have authorization to install the wood floors when she did it a few years back. I'm now on a campaign to get the association to either make her rip them out or cover them up with carpet.
They're probably making extra noise to peeve me up, but the noise pollution is horrible. I hadn't been sleeping well (waking up often in the middle of the night) when I was sick, and now to not get woken up by noise in the middle of the night from the danged dogs, I've experimented with Benadryl before bed. I do sleep through the night. Otherwise, I'd get woken up and be up for several hours.
We are very lucky, when we moved back to Texas and had to rent for some time, we lived in what they call garden apartments...no upstairs. Such a change from normal apartment living. Hubby has said no matter what, even if we have to build a hut, we will never live in an apartment again. We had our fair share of crazies- from the college students who partied all night and day, throwing beer bottles off the deck and mommy and daddy renting the place to them, to the timed fighting and make up sex of a couple who liked to vacuum at 3 in the morning. We had the old lady who accused us of not cleaning up after our dog. We feel we were targeted because of our dogs size but yet the poo in question was from a much smaller dog. People have really lost all common courtesy these days. As y'all know, experiencing the crazy neighbors I have and I am in a house, I feel for you Tradd, I really do. nothing worse than someone who is doing all that on purpose. Keep up calling the cops and making notes. I hope it all works out for you.
Tradd......can you consider moving? I was in a similar position (although not as bad), and it's so irritating and does affect your whole life. I even had clouds of smoke in my living room from the downstairs tenant's smoking, and got to listen to my upstairs neighbors sex moans on a frequent basis. I had to call the landlord once for a big loud party downstairs, and he came over........but then her guests started calling me on the phone with obnoxious, drunken comments.
I know moving is a real pain, but I think you would be so much happier. Those condos that you are in don't seem to have much sound insulation.
I hope you can soon get some peace.
SteveinMN
11-21-15, 9:47am
I let my landlord know when I've called the cops, and he's contacted the management again. I'm told that since the original warning letter, she's been sent two more.
Well, there ya go. If they've sent her three warning letters and nothing more has happened, she has to think that another isn't going to make any difference and that the HOA has nothing more it is willing to do. I know HOAs can be fairly powerless in such situations. But one would hope there's a way to escalate this beyond sending another ineffectual letter.
I've been told by my landlord that she didn't have authorization to install the wood floors when she did it a few years back. I'm now on a campaign to get the association to either make her rip them out or cover them up with carpet.
OK, I'm confused. If this is owned condos and she owns hers (does she?) and you rent one, I get that. But I've never seen an HOA that had the right to determine what you could put inside your place (beyond anything hazardous or illegal). She needed someone's permission to install a different floor?
Steve, any work beyond painting has to be approved. I know other people who live in condos who were not given permission to put in wood floors due to the noise issue. If you lived in a bottom floor unit wood floors were OK. But not if there were units beneath you.
SteveinMN
11-21-15, 10:23am
^^^ Interesting. All the places I've rented and I've never seen a contingency like that. Learn something new every day....
I think the Universe is telling you to buy your own place. ;)
Can't afford to buy my own place. Not nearly enough savings for that and to get something I could afford I would end up with something like a 90 minute commute each way.
Thankfully the upstairs folks are quiet today. I would have expected the opposite since we've got 7" of snow and many people are staying home today.
mschrisgo2
11-21-15, 6:07pm
Maybe they didn't get home before the snow fell...
Glad you have a quiet day.
Update:
It's been very quiet upstairs since about Thanksgiving. I didn't hear anyone upstairs until about mid-way through December, and then it was only a few voices. The dogs are gone, thank goodness! I only hear people a few times a week. The nasty boyfriend with the loud motorcycle is gone. I wonder if the dogs were his. Most reasonable explanation for the quiet upstairs is that the chick is spending a lot of time at the home of a boyfriend.
On the downside, my landlord is trying to do some work in my bathroom (replace vanity, sink, toilet, plus bathtub faucet), but can't do it without the authorization of the chick upstairs (note: she owns the unit she lives in). There is no master water shut-off for each unit. The downstairs unit water shut-off controls the water of the unit above it. Landlord has been trying to get approval since May (when I was on vacation for a week) from the upstairs chick. Condo association/management company said she has to give her approval for the water to be shut off before the work can be done. And she flat out refuses to give that approval. Landlord is on the point of hiring a lawyer to force the issue.
Williamsmith
1-13-16, 9:47pm
I would think that a simple notice from the landlord specifying date and time of shutoff and date and time of restoration would suffice. The vanity, sink and faucet should have their own shutoff valves under the vanity and behind the toilet respectively. Make sure he puts them in when he finally does the remodel.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4IRB0sxw-YU
The fine art of being an upstairs neighbor
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4IRB0sxw-YU
The fine art of being an upstairs neighbor
KILL!!! :devil:
iris lilies
1-20-16, 4:28pm
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4IRB0sxw-YU
The fine art of being an upstairs neighbor
Hilarious!!!
rosarugosa
1-20-16, 6:17pm
I think that video is one of the funniest things ever!
So what happens if you have a plumbing emergency, you just flood the entire premises? This doesn't seem like a realistic rule at all, and the condo association should be called on it.
I've been checking out other videos on the Above Average youtube channel (above link is from there). So funny!
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