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LONG Dowstairs neightbor vent and a ?
DH and I have been living in our current upstairs apartment since August of last year. As a little back story we previously had a 2 bedroom with a roommate that was double the size and we were upstairs there as well. There were basically 4 of us living there because roommates gf was always over plus because it was bigger our cats ran around A LOT more. We never once had anybody complain about noise.The apartment we are currently in was previously rented by a single military guy who was NEVER home.
Within the first week of moving to this apartment we had 2 complaints by the downstairs neighbor. We had another in early December, and I think one in between those. All the times the resident manager spoke with DH and it was more of a "hey I know they just aren't use to having somebody above them so try to keep it down" type thing. However today DH was spoken to again and he said it was more serious, not sure how much so because I went over to talk to the manager and he was not home. We are moving in 3 months and are now afraid that this last more serious account may be relayed to whatever apartments we try to move to. The only thing I can think it would be is our cats running around, which they don't do very often at all because the place is so small there is not a lot of space to run in and we close doors to make it even smaller to prevent the running. Unless DH is doing some crazy loud stuff while I am at work all day, which I doubt, when we are both home we are generally just watching tv on the couch, nothing crazy.
The only contact we have ever had with this neighbor is one day when DH and I were outside last month. DH was practicing steps on the stairs for an upcoming agility test (mid-day, not some random hour) and the lady comes outside, asks what we are doing, then immediately walks over and knocks on the mangers door. WTF!? If we are bothering you SAY SOMETHING!
We constantly hear them yelling and playing loud music at all hours of the night and have never said anything to the manger because that's what you put up with when you live in an apartment. I'm going to talk to the manager and see if this is going to be told to any future managers when we try to find a new place and if it will be an issue I will let him know that DH and I will now be contacting him every time we hear the neighbors and complaining. I don't want to be petty but I think this has gone too far, that they think they are the perfect neighbors and we are these horrible people.
If you made it this far thank you, I know it was a lot. If you have ever been the downstairs neighbor can you maybe give me some insider info about it. Did you hear every step or conversation? Did they have pets and could you tell from the noise?
Re: LONG Dowstairs neightbor vent and a ?
I was the downstairs neighbor, and I'll tell you, we heard A LOT. Fortunately, we were friends with the upstairs neighbors, so it didn't bother us. There would be times, however, when I seriously thought the guys upstairs were having midget wrestling!
On the other hand, we were also the upstairs neighbors once, and they talked to me to ask me to be quieter once or twice. Sometimes, just walking around with heavy footsteps can be heard by the downstairs neighbor. Not much you can do about that one...
We were the upstairs neighbors in our old place. The woman below complained to us once. Seriously, we're pretty quiet people and thank God for her we stopped doing the Shred before she moved in.
We had dh go upstairs once and walk around while I stayed downstairs in her place. You could hear every footstep, accompanied by a creak of the floor board every time. There is literally nothing you can do about that, short of not walking. I mean, we had carpet!
Are you moving to another complex? If it's outside the current complex, I wouldn't worry about that affecting things. I think people are far too lazy to go to that much effort. Sounds like you just may have a case of thin floors.
We were the downstairs neighbors once. I think our neighbors were actually really loud (the people next to them complained too). Every day we would hear yelling, and what sounded like pots and pans being dropped on the ground and a basketball being played with on the laminate flooring.
I remember one night specifically when their kid had a bunch of friends over in his bedroom, which was right above ours. It's 2 a.m. and I can hear people laughing, yelling, music playing as if it's in the room next to me. Horrible.
It doesn't sound like you guys are being obnoxious like that at all. That said, as passanie pointed out, with a lot of these apartments it doesn't matter how quiet you are. If you have someone living above you, you're going to hear them. Sounds like this lady is just not used to it, and that really sucks. Not much you can do beyond what you're doing, but I think it's a good idea to talk to the manager and explain that you're being as quiet as you can and you're not sure what else to do! And that you hope this won't impact his reference if you ever have to move.
I've been both in the past. The worst was being in the middle floor of a very large 1920s building with all hardwood floors. I had upstairs neighbors and heard everything and I had downstairs neighbors who complained a ton. :S I am so glad we live in a townhome where we only have 1 neighbor who is on the side!
Expressing your sincere attempt to be quiet and your worries regarding references to the manager is a good idea. It might also be a good idea if you can ask the manager for more details on their complaints regarding the type of noise and time they say it's occurring. And I don't blame you for wanting to tattle on them! It's frustrating when you keep your mouth shut out of courtesy to someone and it's not returned!
Women don't want to hear what men think,
women want to hear what they think, in a deeper voice
I've been a downstairs neighbor and an upstairs neighbor. I would never complain about noise during regular hours (like unitl 9 on weeknights). That being said, I don't think I ever complained about noise except one time.
I lived in a downstairs apt once and upstairs was a family of 5 and the dad was huge! Tall and very muscular. I never heard them ONCE. They were the greatest neighbors. Then they moved. A single woman with a 2 year old moved in. I would hear her kid running around the house at 10 PM!!! Numerous times a week! It drove me nuts, she never never did anything to stop the kid. At 10 AT NIGHT!!! So, I would go knock on her door and she would give me this wimpy, lame @ss excuse about 'he doesn't understand'. Bull! You tell him not to run and you work with him. She never stopped him once. So, she I complained about (but only to her, not the manager). Thankfully, she didn't stay long.
Ok, now that my vent is over
I wouldn't complain about noise during the normal waking hours. I doubt your landlord will say anything about noise. Landlords understand it is as much about neighbor relations as anything else. Also, very few landlords call references.
Do your best to maintain a good relationship with the landlord, be respectful in your communications. Don't be afraid to complain about your neighbor but be respectful when you do.
I'm sorry for the stress, but I wouldn't worry about your chances with a new landlord. Good luck!
Lighthouse State Beach, Santa Cruz.