Cats - Noise Nuisance

Fire_Fox

Glad to hear you feel a bit better about the situation, I'd leave the ball in the neighbour's court during the mediated meeting and ask her what practical solutions she is able to come up with. Fire doors should only ever be propped open if someone is moving house or receiving a delivery, I am not surprised the management company/ freeholder has seen fit to ensure that the door is self-closing as it is their statutory duty.

Lass

Hi Spearmint - her bedroom wall connects with the entrance to the stair and the opening and closing of the door when residents come home wakens her, apparently.

Firefox - I wouldn't hesitate to agree with you about firedoors, but this is the front door to the block of flats.


Lass x

RacyRed

Lass wrote: »

I know for a fact that the neighbour, despite having a 2 bedroom flat, actually sleeps in the livingroom
Lass x

If your neighbour rents from the council, lives alone, has a 2 bed flat and has told the councl she isn't using either bedroom because of noise niusance, she is probably soon going to find herself being "offered" a nice quiet one bedroom place more befitting someone of her age.

If she had any sense sh'd be keeping her own head down and not complaining about what anyone else would accept as the routine sort of noise you expect in multi occupancy buildings.

Doesn't she realise the risk she is taking?

Fire_Fox

Lass wrote: »

Hi Spearmint - her bedroom wall connects with the entrance to the stair and the opening and closing of the door when residents come home wakens her, apparently.

Firefox - I wouldn't hesitate to agree with you about firedoors, but this is the front door to the block of flats.

Lass x

I absolutely agree the obvious solution is for your neighbour to use her rooms for their designated purpose! If a door leads onto a stairwell which might need to be used a fire escape then it is supposed to be self-closing otherwise the airflow could potentially feed a fire. I'm certainly not siding with your idiot neighbour but with the freeholder: fire regulations change/ tighten up every couple of years.

We have closing devices on the external door to the block which leads onto a sort of 'porch' then closing devices on the next door in which separates the porch from the main stairwell. Our management company also put closing devices on the external doors that lead to the fire escape, even tho most are behind yet another door IYSWIM.

kitekat

Lass wrote: »

The meeting was fine, two syrupy sweet ladies who asked a bunch of questions - how long had we been neighbours, how long had I had the cats, what had my relationship been like with the neighbour yada yada.

Anyhow I explained to them that my options are extremely limited, in that there is nothing I can to to 'control' the cats behaviour. I told them about my thoughts on what I could do, such as shutting them in the hallway (in my opinion tantamount to animal cruelty, I'm in a very small flat) but that because it has laminate flooring through there, it would be even worse noise wise. They explained that they are not there to tell me what I should do, but to try to help us neighbours find a solution we can both live with. I explained to them that this is my concern, I can see no viable solution on my part and that I was afraid where it was all headed etc. They were very nice, I have to say, and I made them aware of exactly how I'm feeling about all this, close to tears at a couple of points, and they said that I shouldn't have to live like this either.

Upshot of it all, they've recommended a mediated meeting with my neighbour so that we can discuss solutions. They do this as if a solution is offered by us ourselves, we are more likely to 'stick' to it and they are therefore generally more successful - yep textbook psychology 101, I understand this!

I reiterated that I am happy to do so, but that I don't know what I can bring to the table. One of the mediators said that my neighbour may have to reconsider her sleeping arrangements and that perhaps I could - and I quote - "do some research, possibly online, to see how the cats behaviour could be changed".

Unfortunately, I can't see her being willing to change her sleeping arrangements now - long story short as I seem to waffle on anyhow, a different neighbour was trying to push through getting a lock on the front door as it could be propped open and he didn't like this - nobody else had a prob but anyhow not enough people agreed to it. Came home yesterday and discovered that the fire-door spring on it (if you know what I mean) has been replaced. Not only is the door now extremely heavy to open, but it can't be kept open and will always close itself. With a nice loud clunk. So not only am I now having to run up and down the stairs everytime kitty wants out, when I went to get her back in last night, I heard her miaowing at the stair door and of course, that is pretty much directly outside her bedroom window. I just feel that even if this got resolved, she'd find something else.

Anyhow, thank you for letting me blether on, I know I can't say anything succinctly lol. If you're still interested, lol, I'll keep you updated with how things progress from here.

Lass x

Re the outside door being shut and you having to run up and downstairs everytime your cat wants out.Could you ask your local council if you could install a cat flap in the outside door,i had to do this when the grump below me started complaining about the cold when i had to open the door to let my cat in and out,this was 5years after i moved into the flat and then when i bought the cat flap and paid a joiner to install it the grump then started closing the cat flap so my cat couldnt get in,but once my cat learned how to use the cat flap i took the lock off so grump couldnt keep it shut anymore.I prop my own door open just enough to let cat fit through that way he is simply coming in the cat flap and straight into the flat without hanging around other peoples doors.

Lass

Thanks for your replies folks.

Fire Fox - I guess if the door has to be this way, then so be it. Just another reason for me to dislike living here now!! Adds to the unlikelyhood that my neighbour will choose to move back into her bedroom though, as the noise aspect of the door will be worse now since every time someone comes or goes, the door lets it be known!

kitekat - the front door to my flat is completely glass, so no go there for a cat flap - to be honest I think it highly unlikely that the council would agree to putting a cat flap in the stair door, it would be a precedent as I have literally NEVER seen it done before.

I have an appointment for the mediated meeting with my neighbour tomorrow morning, so I guess I'll go along and just see what happens. Wish me luck, I'm really not looking forward to it at all.


Lass x

Fire_Fox

You know you haven't done anything wrong, so do more listening than talking and let your silly neighbour dig their own grave. Don't allow yourself to be backed into a position of either attack or defense, just nod and smile a lot whatever rubbish the neighbour comes out with. And in the meantime make sure you bang that fire door as often as possible, you never know the neighbour might move out!!

I would have thought a catflap would stop the external door being a fire door. A professional can install a catflap in a glass door, but you might need to be willing to put the door back as it was when you move. Good luck and post back the results!

PinkTiger

hi Lass, this must be so stressful for you. i would say that if you were allowing your cats to have their 'mad half hour' running around the bedrooms at night then it would be reasonable to ask you to confine them to other rooms instead but your neighbour has chosen to sleep in her living room. surely if none of her two bedrooms are 'fit for purpose' then she should be reporting that to the council. i'm sure one bedroom must be quieter than the other & also the positioning of the bed would make a difference.
maybe she actually wants to move & is using the noise as an excuse, also i am not sure of the exact details but i think that when you come to sell your home you have to disclose any neighbourly disputes to potential buyers which might cause you problems in the future, i am not sure if this applies in Scotland aswell.
good luck with the meeting & please let us know how you get on xx

Katie-Kat-Kins

Perhaps if your neighbour is such a light sleeper she should consider some ear plugs.........

Seriously, my friend is a VERY light sleeper and always wears ear plugs even though she no longer lives in a flat, helps her get a good deep nights sleep.

YorkiePud_3

I would buy some very heavy boots and then I would stomp round the place for 2 hours every night, wearing them.

If she said anything I would say that because of her complaining about kitty antics, you had started to chase round after them to try and get them to stop.

The silly moo might decide the sound of kitty play is more preferable than the sound of heavy boots stomping round the place ....

But then, I am evil and totally on your side .... *LOL*