Neighbour downstairs complaining - Your help needed

Wolfy_2

hello,

Just a quickie. Myself and my partner moved into a flat which I bought about 6 months ago. We are a young couple and very quiet and well behaved I like to think. We don't hoover our flat very often and work full time so have little time to.

One Fri night my partners parents were coming to stay the next day so we had a quick hoover. Started about 8:45 and the lady came up and said that it was too late to hoover (she was quite aggressive and confrontational) and said she was going to bed. I apologised and said I didn't realise she would be in bed at that time on a Friday.

The other Sunday we started at 7:15 ish and she came up again and had a go at us. It was probably 3 weeks since we last hoovered (we are too nervous to!)

I was wondering if you feel she is being unreasonable. She has a clock that goes off every hour downstairs that we can hear. She also smokes on her balcony and we can smell it. She also hangs her washing out when she isn't meant to. I havn;t said a word to her about any of this and don't intend to as don't want to be petty. I just want her to respect our privacy and allow us to clean our flat every now and again. We don't get indoors until 6:30 from work usually and I am sure she wouldn't want us doing it at 7 in the morning when we get up!!

Your advice is appreciated as to how to deal with this. Thanks.

TrickyDicky101

Assuming that your vacuum doesn't sound like a Harrier Jump Jet taking off then 7:30pm or 8:45pm is not too late IMO. It does rather sound as if both of your apartments have some sound issues though if you are being disturbed by something as innocuous as a vacuum cleaner/clock.

delmar39

Whilst I think your neighbour is being unreasonable she obviously has a problem with it. To compromise why not do it on a weekend? You shoudn't have to mind, but there's nothing worse than falling out with neighbours often these small things turn into bigger things like her banging her broom handle against her roof (your floor!). If all else fails next time you hoover and she comes round just leave the hoover on and pretend you can't hear her or give her a good tickle with your feather duster. Some people eh

womble12345

What is your floor made of? Paper?

Are your timings AM or PM?

My flats have a notice on the door that says you shouldnt make noise audible outside your flat after 9pm, that seems fair to me. I have substantial concrete floors and walls (it blunts my drill bits when trying to drill holes for new light fittings). The only time I was moaned at was when I was bashing tiles off my bathroom and when it got to 9pm someone knocked on the door, I hadnt realised the time but stopped straight away.

I say she is being unreasonable and next time she complains I would say 'I am very sorry but I do need to clean my flat, when do you suggest I hoover?', hopefully the following dialogue will make her realise how unreasonable she has been.

Horizon81

She is being unreasonable. I think there are laws on noise (any noise like DIY, hoovers, music etc) that interfere with neighbours but they only apply after a certain time, either 9pm or 11pm. In any case, the police wouldn't care, it's an environmental health thing which the council would need to enforce. But in any case, hoovering before 9pm can hardly be considered a nuisance. This woman needs to get a grip.

I rented a flat for a while and the guy below came knocking after I had my music on a very low level. I was polite and turned it off. Had the hi fi on again at a later date and again he came knocking. Looking back I was far too accommodating and complied with his requests to turn it off. After a while I got sick of this and told him I wasn't turning it down any more. I didn't have it on particularly loud so he would have to get used to it! He wasn't happy about it but we remained polite to each other and said hi whenever we met. From experience I would nip it in the bud now. Tell her firmly that you are not an unreasonable person but you will not tolerate being told when you can/can't hoover your house. The key thing is not to roll over and do whatever she says as she'll just take advantage of your better nature. Hoovering before 9pm is not unreasonable. Nip her in the bud now!

Modern flats do seem to have very thin floors/ceilings but when you live in a flat you should expect some noise. Tell her to buy a detatched house if she's that bothered.

Kyrae

I agree with the above posters. I lived in a flat and the couple upstairs were compulsive hooverers, they hoovered almost every day at all times from 9am until 9pm! Made us chuckle as we wondered how on earth their floors were so dirty they needed that much hoovering, especially as they didnt have kids, but we never complained. Your neighbour seems very petty to complain over something so small, i'd understand if you were hoovering after 9pm but the times you're hoovering are perfectly reasonable.

Explain the situation to her and why you can't hoover during the day, be polite, and tell her you will make sure you don't hoover after 9pm. Better to stay on good terms or she might try and make your life more awkward by banging the ceiling and other such neighbourly things!!

hbklea

the joys of neighbours! i dont think you're been unreasonable at all. some people just seem to like to complain. i had a neighbour who used to come in and decide to do her washing at 11pm, i never complained, she had her daughters baby round most wkends crying through the night, again it didn't bother me, she had a leak which ruined my newly decorated flat, and took her 6 wks to sort it out, only doing so when all my electrics started tripping out. again i was easy going about it, however when my gf came round with her dog and he barked about 3 times the lady saw me the nxt day and said she heard the dog bark. i thought she was joking, but no she was deadly serious. i wont even mention the lady above her, thats another story. i hate falling out with people but some just seem to want to create problems over nothing. dont worry about your neighbour, like me u want to get on with them but sometimes there is nothing u can do. just do as your doing and dont worry about her. sometimes been too nice leads to u been taken advantage off. good luck

firstaspect

I think they are being completely unreasonable. Personally I'd say anything between 9am and 9pm is generally fine. Our neighbours often hoover at about 9am on a Sunday, which while annoying because that's the only chance we get for a lie-in I would never complain about it as I think that's an acceptable time to be doing it.

diable

You should remind her of her obligations as these problems can sometimes be one sided. You should water your plants on your balcony when she pops out for a ciggie on hers ;o))))

rosyw

Totally unreasonable if you ask me! While I agree it's not pleasant if you fall out with the neighbours, you must politely make it clear that you do have to keep your flat clean. If you let her push you around over this who knows where it will end!! To put it bluntly, grow a pair and stand up for yourself!!

Hammyman

She can't do anything as long as its not between the hours of 11pm-7am.