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Thread: Seriously, how loud should my upstairs neighbor be?

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    Default Seriously, how loud should my upstairs neighbor be?

    I have had a new upstairs neighbor for about two months. On the very first day of her lease, we had issues with her noise. We were really confused because we didn't know we had new neighbors, and she claimed it was all moving in noise. We felt bad for knocking on her door about it. But we have noise issues with her every single day now. I can tell you exactly where she is at any time in her apartment, because she walks so loudly our windows rattle. She took a bath at 11PM last night, got out at 11:17, then proceeded to stomp around hardly ever stopping till she went to sleep at 4:45AM. My alarm clock goes off at 5:15. I nearly got into a wreck this morning going to work because I was so exhausted after sleeping maybe two hours total, all broken up into 15- to 30-minute chunks. She stomps around then slams shit on the ground. It's like she's knocking over bookcases. She woke me and my boyfriend up at the same time at 4AM, and he had been waking up frequently from her noise too. We've called the courtesy officer, but last time he showed up, she didn't go to the door. Management has called, but she blames her son "playing" for the noise. Okay, you're letting your five-year-old "play" at 3AM? Seriously? Every fucking night? I know the difference between her and her kid's noises, so I know it's 100% bullshit, but she tries to guilt the landlords into thinking we're just crazy people who don't understand the joy of having a child or whatever.

    Anyway, they're trying to get her to transfer units so that she's not disturbing people, but one of the office workers is saying her noise is probably normal, and I'm just overreacting. We've been here for a year, but they're saying our other neighbors traveled a lot so we're not accustomed to upstairs noise. So does anyone have this amount of disruption from an upstairs neighbor and consider it okay? Is this really normal and I should just move somewhere to a top floor or a house? The flooring is that pseudo-wood stuff, so I understand noise will happen, but this just seems insane.

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    Default Re: Seriously, how loud should my upstairs neighbor be?

    It sounds like the units are really poorly insulated. If that's the case then there is probably not much that can be done abt it, short of her laying down thick(er) rugs or you tacking tapestries up on your ceilings to dull the noise. Then it might be worth moving yourselves to a top-floor unit.

    I have usually had top-floor units myself (more as a break-in deterrent than anything else), but the one time that I didn't, we certainly didn't have problems w/ noise. We could hear them walking around, but it nvr sounded like stomping. Is it just her walking around that you hear, or are you also having problems w/ loud music, cooking noises, water running etc? Maybe her footwear is also part of the problem i.e. wearing heavy boots vs house slippers.

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    Default Re: Seriously, how loud should my upstairs neighbor be?

    ^It's the stomping mostly. We have had issues with her having a party too on a weeknight--trance music, lots of people, lots of slamming noises, and it smelled strongly like weed. I mostly hear her kid running around for hours straight and her stomping. I grew up in a wooden-floored house, so I'm not just not used to the sound, I don't think. I wouldn't ever wear shoes in my room though, because I know how loud that is. It honestly sounds like she's wearing platform boots or something up there. I remember our other neighbors being gone often, but we didn't have issues on the nights when they were home, and they had an infant, so they were up at odd hours frequently. I could sometimes hear them in the bathroom with the kid, but it wasn't affecting my life like this situation is.

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    Default Re: Seriously, how loud should my upstairs neighbor be?

    I don't remember if I read abt it here or on another site, but this guy wrote abt how he dealt w/ a noisy upstairs neighbour: he took several speakers, positioned them on top of tall bookshelves pointing upward, right near the ceiling, cranked up the volume & then left for work. He & the neighbour worked opposite schedules, & after a day or two of that, they came to an understanding.

    ETA if there are problems w/ loud parties + weed as well, that's smtg I would put my foot down to the landlord over.

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    Default Re: Seriously, how loud should my upstairs neighbor be?

    Here is a download from the Texas A&M Real Estate Center on landlord-tenant law

    http://recenter.tamu.edu/pdf/866.pdf

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    Default Re: Seriously, how loud should my upstairs neighbor be?

    dont know how noisy this neighbor is or if it is 'just normal noise' or not.....

    but one thing you can do is earplugs, they are comfortable and they muffle most of the noise.

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    Default Re: Seriously, how loud should my upstairs neighbor be?

    Wow. That sounds horrible, & she seems to be way out of line. You poor thing. Lack of sleep is the worst! I hope you can have something done about her? I would stay on mgt/office or whoever, that's just above & beyond any normalcy.


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    Default Re: Seriously, how loud should my upstairs neighbor be?

    For earplugs, will they likely make me sleep through an alarm too? I am not a morning person, so I'm afraid of sleeping in and missing work. I've never used them... I will maybe pick some up tomorrow at the store.

    The manager mentioned the neighbor was issued "multiple lease violations" when we first complained, and she said she "believes there's an underlying issue from [her] observations," but even with that admittance, they're still a pretty bad management company and don't respond to issues well. Apparently one woman was running a daycare from her apartment, and they wouldn't address it, even with the noise of 30+ kids running around a 2-bedroom apartment. So... We have talked it over, and I think we might just gtfo and move asap. We've been complaining for a month and still only have vague "solutions." It would still be a 60-day notice though, so yay...

    @Aniela: we've totally considered retaliation after the worst of the nights, but she is some weird combination of hipster-ghetto, and I honestly wouldn't put it past her to do something classy like slash my tires. Given the sleeplessness, I would probably just black out and murder her in the parking lot, so I'm trying to not do anything that will end up with me serving 25 to life in the long run...

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    Default Re: Seriously, how loud should my upstairs neighbor be?

    [QUOTE=tuesdaymarie;2684623]

    Apparently one woman was running a daycare from her apartment, and they wouldn't address it, even with the noise of 30+ kids running around a 2-bedroom apartment. So... We have talked it over, and I think we might just gtfo and move asap. We've been complaining for a month and still only have vague "solutions." It would still be a 60-day notice though, so yay...

    [QUOTE]

    That "daycare" is against the law and should be reported if it is still happening

    https://www.dfps.state.tx.us/child_care/

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    Default Re: Seriously, how loud should my upstairs neighbor be?

    ^I don't think it is anymore, but I found it when I googled to see if other people were having issues with the management company. It's apparently common for women to run illegal daycare services from their homes. I remember reading about a kid dying in one a while back. No safety protocol, no one is trained in CPR or anything, etc. It's crazy.

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    Default Re: Seriously, how loud should my upstairs neighbor be?

    ◦Report child abuse or neglect or illegal day care to the Texas Abuse Hotline at 1-800-252-5400. The hotline is open all day, every day of the year. For emergencies call 9-1-1 or your local police. The law protects people who make reports in good faith from legal liability.
    ◦ If you have more general concerns, call your local CCL office or our statewide child-care information line at 1-800-862-5252. Local offices are listed at Local Child Care Licensing Offices.
    http://www.dfps.state.tx.us/Child_Ca...rk/default.asp

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    Default Re: Seriously, how loud should my upstairs neighbor be?

    Earplugs don't keep me from sleeping through alarms if I put my phone right next to my face on the loudest option + vibrate. Try it on a day you don't work just in case?

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    Default Re: Seriously, how loud should my upstairs neighbor be?

    I don't know what qualifies as normal noise, but I live on the ground floor of a 5 floor apartment building and I honestly never hear noise from my neighbors, and our insulation is not amazing, because my cat comes to the door and whines anytime someone opens the door to the building (hoping it's me) and I can hear him from the building door. But most of my neighbors are a bit older and not throwing wild parties or anything?

    Have you tried speaking to her about the noise? Maybe she could make some small changes like taking off her boots/heels/flats and see if that helps?

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    Default Re: Seriously, how loud should my upstairs neighbor be?

    ^We've tried talking to her personally three times, each time very politely. The noise stops for about an hour or two each time, then she just resumes. I honestly think she's on something because I can't think of any sober/sane reason for someone to walk nonstop for hours straight till 5AM. We just decided to give up and put in our notice today. Sigh...

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    Default Re: Seriously, how loud should my upstairs neighbor be?

    Yea. ^I know it's rough to do & it sucks, but that's prob. you're best bet. Sorry, & hope you can find a much better place soon.


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