What do you do?

[Holdfast]

What do you do?

Decide how much it bothers you.

If it's a minor nuisance, talk to them and see if things improve. If they do, great; if not, it's minor enough to ignore.

If it's a dealbreaker, talk to them and see if things improve. If they do, great. If not, decide what kind of hassle you want - if you feel like taking this head-on, start filing complaints with the landlord and get a noise-meter, start logging incidents & decibel levels in a diary, contact whatever the USA equivalent of you local area's environmental noise service, and generally make a major nuisance of yourself to everyone else and see if anything changes. At some point, they'll either reduce the noise or things will escalate to a point where you find the opportunity cost of doing all this in terms of your time (and potentially money) becomes too much to sustain.

At that point (or if you just don't want this sort of hassle at all), you'll have to decide to put up with it or move. Preferably to a top-floor apartment or a house, to reduce the chances of recurrence.

 

[kimc]

Apartments can be tricky. Luckily I knew the person below me. She didn't complain about my workouts and I didn't complain about the cigarette smell that would come up through the pipes. I only smelled it when getting something from under the sink so it was no big deal anyway.

One year the people above me got a treadmill for Christmas. They used it during reasonable hours so I didn't feel I could say anything to them but it was still annoying. Luckily their New Year's resolution ended by February.

Anyway, I agree with those who suggested you talk to them first. You just never know there may be something you're doing that's bothering them too. Getting to know your neighbors in an apartment building is always a good plan anyway not only for tolerance but safety reasons.

 

[Timby]

I have to echo earlier advice: Approach the situation calmly and peacefully.

Talk to your upstairs neighbors, describe your situation and your feelings, and see what they say. They may have dogs roaming about, they may have kids, or they may very well be unaware of the quality of the insulation between floors. It's a bit unreasonable to get mad at neighbors due to noise without speaking to them, first; at my first apartment, my next-door neighbors were constantly causing racket -- after I spoke to them, we discovered that if you rapped a screwdriver against their living room wall (which was opposite my kitchen wall), you could hear it vividly. We collectively spoke to the landlord about additional sound insulation between the units.

Two years ago, my now-wife and I lived in one of the bottom units of a four-plex in southern Wisconsin. The night before we got married, my groomsmen and I spent the night drinking, playing video games, shouting, yelling and generally making an ass of ourselves until about five in the morning. I had cleared this with the two upstairs neighbors, but I was unable to talk to my next-door neighbor beforehand, as he was frequently out of town (he was a logger).

At about 1:30 in the morning, there was a pounding on my door. I opened it up and encountered my next-door neighbor, and I immediately apologized for the noise.

His response: "I didn't care about the noise; we were partying next door and were just wondering if you guys wanted to join us!"

 

[mr.peany]

Kill them. Kill them all.

NAh seriously, talk to your landlord and if that gets you nowhere go directly to the source in a calm, non-aggressive manner. The worst that can happen is that they do nothing and the noise continues, in which case, more persuasive techniques to maintain order can be used....

 

[ria 75]

Do what I do about my downstairs neighbour who's constantly vocal when sober, and crazy animal-like when drunk (he's friendly when we cross paths, but I'm too afraid of him when he's drunk):

play music, play the TV, use earplugs for sleeping, and yell though the ceiling/floor once in a while when it's really over the top. A simple talk can help in some cases, when people are unaware of the nuisance they cause, but I doubt you can change their ways much.

Oh, and, give them directions to a low price rug store. Have any unused rugs in your cellar or something? Suggest they use some.

 

[Gertch]

what I should do.

Buy a house. They've finally come down in price where they are affordable for just about anyone. That's what I did.

 

[CaptainStoner]

Take up the saxophone.

 

[archeryguy1701]

NAh seriously, talk to your landlord and if that gets you nowhere go directly to the source in a calm, non-aggressive manner. The worst that can happen is that they do nothing and the noise continues, in which case, more persuasive techniques to maintain order can be used....

I would advise against going to The Powers That Be first. If Trekker visits the landlord before talking to the noisemakers, that could send a wrong impression. He needs to be willing to approach the people first, and if that doesn't work he can then try to get them in trouble.

 

[Mr Awe]

Leave a polite note asking them to at least hold back during the night while you're trying to sleep. If you explain it's distrubing your sleep most people will understand. They may be unaware as to how loud it sounds in your apartment.

Mr Awe

 

[Mr Awe]

find out their full names and put them on the mailing list for free stuff that they don't need so their mailboxes start getting inundated with junk mail. I do that with noisy neighbors who are noisy with radios. I send them stuff for Miracle Ear or other hearing aid products.

Doesn't accomplish anything. Just my passive-aggressive tactics at work.

Well, at least you acknowledge that it does nothing. Seems pointless to me. In general, if you try more productive approaches towards things your generel stress level should be lower.

Mr Awe

 

[Smiley]

Talking to them is always a good first step. If the behavior does not change, but they are still not breaking any legal code or apartment rules, then you'll have to make a decision. You can talk to them more sternly, find some way of lessening or blocking the noise, or get a top floor apartment.

For anyone who's not locked into a lease yet, I always recommend getting the top floor if the residence of choice does not have good sound insulation (which is most apartments, at least in my area). It is a major pain for only two days: move-in and move-out. The other days with less noise headaches more than make up for the trouble.

 

[Koinek]

Could very well be dogs then? Are dogs permitted in your building?

Dogs are permitted.

You may have spoken to the land lord...but have you spoken to the lord himself, your savior?



Sorry sorry couldn't help myself....