It was at our second apartment that we had our first run in with noisy neighbors. We lived on the bottom floor of a large apartment building and they moved in directly above us a year or so after we did.
Shortly after they moved in, we noticed that they were stomping around a lot more than the previous tenants. My husband was in college and the constant stomping made it difficult for him to concentrate. A week or so after they moved in, they hooked up their surround sound- directly above our bedroom. It was no longer tolerable once their booming surround sound started shaking the pictures off my walls and kept us up all night.
Here are some tips on how we dealt with it and how you can deal with noisy neighbors of your own
1. Try Communicating With Them
This is the first thing we tried when we realized the noise problem wasn’t going away. I chose to write a friendly letter explaining how their noise levels were affecting us, and I slid it under their door. Our initial reaction was to bang on the ceiling to make them stop, but I thought a letter would be a nicer way of making contact. It may be that they didn’t realize how thin the walls or floor were and they may not have realized you were bothered by the sound.
2. Communicate Again
If your first attempt fails, try another method of communication before escalating it further. If you see them in the hallway, or outside, simply start a conversation about it. Be friendly and non-confrontational. Depending on the reason for the noise, try to work out a compromise. For example, if they are listening to loud music while they work out every day, see if they can use headphones. If they seem receptive to your complaint, wait and see if they lower the noise levels. If they are defensive about it, or refuse to respect your wishes, understand that communication probably isn’t going to work and you’ll need to take the complaint further.
3. Contact Your Landlord Or Management
If your methods of communication have failed, it’s time to speak to your landlord. Landlords have no problem dealing with noise complaints, and can send the noisy tenants a letter advising them to quiet down. Most buildings have noise clauses in the lease that the landlord can reference. This step is usually enough to get most people to lower the noise, for fear of being evicted.
4. Contact The Authorities
Most cities have public disturbance by-laws that require people to keep music and other noise levels to an appropriate level. I would only recommend contacting the authorities if your neighbors are blasting music into the early morning, partying loudly, or engaged in a domestic dispute. Chances are, the police are not going to do anything about loud TVs so make sure your complaint is appropriate. Always make sure to call the non-emergency line, unless there is an emergency situation happening.
Comment below and let us know if you’ve ever dealt with noisy neighbors! How did you handle it?
