Flat dwellers: how much neighbour noise do you suffer from?

JCD_Capulet

My neighbour is currently 'drumming' on my livingroom wall (about 2ft away from me) which makes his hallway wall.

Sometimes he'll play his TV at an extra loud volume.......and turn the TV set to face my flat *sigh* This is usually met what a not so lady like "WILL YOU TURN THAT F**KING NOISE DOWN! YOU A***HOLE!", from moi.

Othertimes I can hear him have sex, wouldn't be suprised if he did that louder on purpose too *shudders*

Horace

I live on the first floor in a block of flats that was built in the 1950s but refurbished in 2006. I get lots of noise from my neighbours - I can hear the kids in the basement flat crying when their parents have a party. I can hear the girls upstairs when they fight, use their sex aids and go to the loo (it sounds like a ruddy thunder box). I can also hear the neighbour who lives on the ground floor - I hear her telly, her cooing to her new child, the baby when it cries but he's quite good really considering he is about 6 weeks old. I don't hear my neighbour who is next door and I don't hear the folk in the other block which is immediately adjacent.

I used to have the neighbour from hell - he used to play loud music all day and all night so loud that my flat would vibrate but he was eventually evicted for non-payment of rent (I tittered when the landlord sent his heavies round to evict him) - he lived upstairs and on the opposite side to me. The chap who used to live above me kept pet snakes which he let slither around the floor - needless to say after the landlord's agent visited to do some repairs and spotted them slithering about, he too was given notice to quit - now replaced by the girls who sleep in the same bed above me (I am sure it is mega big and they are bi because sometimes they have chaps in there too and so I have to wear earplugs when they get going).

All the flats have laminate floors and some parts of my flat it has developed a loud squeak - apparently the floor underneath is uneaven so landlord claims not to be able to do anything about it.

I try and not have the tv on too loud, put my washing machine on some carpet to deaden the noise, have reclaimed rugs on my floors and wear slippers because there is nothing worse than hearing people stomping about:mad:

I must admit though when the girls have sex well as its always noisy, I start shouting and giving them marks out of 10 either that or urging them on towards a quick finish - anything to stop the bloomin' racket. Funnily, enough they go quiet as they obviously don't like their performance being judged. Once when they had a row at 3.30am (my OH slept through it), I saw them the next day and asked them if they were ok - they looked puzzled until I told them that I had heard every single word, door slam and slap then they looked a bit sheepish and somewhat embarrassed.

At my OH's place in London - he lives in a 1920's mansion block (it could be even older than that because Charlie Chaplin used to live in the flat upstairs). We don't hear the neighbour across the landing nor the person below but we do hear them upstairs - considering the woman is old and has bad knees so can't walk down the stairs unless she goes backwards - she makes a hell of a lot of noise stomping about. Plus, we occasionally hear the drug addled person next door screaming and swearing (too much cannabis has sent him loopy).

chriz1000

It’s interesting to read everyone’s experiences with regards to noise.
I’ve stayed over at friend’s flats in the past, and always heard doors banging, babies screaming and arguments from tenants next door. I know not all flats are like this but I swore I would never live in a flat unless I had no other option.
My question to you all is, what is the appeal with living in a flat? A lot of you have had bad experiences in the past, but still continue to move into them. These days there is hardly any difference in price between a terraced or semi detached house and a flat so what is it you love about living in an apartment or flat?

Lavendyr

chriz1000 wrote: »

These days there is hardly any difference in price between a terraced or semi detached house and a flat so what is it you love about living in an apartment or flat?

Er, depends on where you live. Where we live flats are massively cheaper than houses. For instance, you can buy a flat for under £100k here, but there are very very few houses for sale at under £160k.

I do agree with you that houses are preferable to live in though.

Mozette

I've read this with interest & horror, and massive, massive thanks for being in a detached house. I hate other people's noise, and you all have my sympathy and hopes for nice quiet neighbours in future.

VioletBaudelaire

chriz1000 wrote: »

It’s interesting to read everyone’s experiences with regards to noise.
I’ve stayed over at friend’s flats in the past, and always heard doors banging, babies screaming and arguments from tenants next door. I know not all flats are like this but I swore I would never live in a flat unless I had no other option.
My question to you all is, what is the appeal with living in a flat? A lot of you have had bad experiences in the past, but still continue to move into them. These days there is hardly any difference in price between a terraced or semi detached house and a flat so what is it you love about living in an apartment or flat?

I live in Central London (and I'm planning to move next year, probably to Bloomsbury or Clerkenwell) so, unfortunately, a flat - and a one-bedroom flat at that - is the only option. My best friend lives in Soho - for a one-bedroom flat there I'd be looking at over £500,000.

tomstickland

I bought my flat for £85K, whearas two bed flats were £120K and houses about £130K at that time. Living in a mid terrace house provides as much opportunity for noise in my opinion. I am very lucky in that I have quiet neighbours. Since I appreciate the peace then I don't make any noise myself, so I use headphones to listen to music and watch DVD's etc.

takoo

Hi Tomstrickland

Hope that your "problem"has settled down. In fact I was not sure of the meaning of "problem". As I understand it you had two episodes:

1. noise on moving in (cause - probably no carpets, noisy unsupervised child, removers...?) seemed to be short-lived
2. noise on redecorating (cause - no carpets, decorating equipment being shifted carelessly...?) seemed to be short-lived.

My guess is that the issues to be addressed by anyone are:

• loudness
• duration of noise
• frequency
• time of day
• structure and use of building
• existence and efficasy of any sound-proofing.

Big problems must be solved, so:

• Keep a diary of events.
• Try to get reliable witnesses.
• Attempt to measure with "decibel reader", eg a local college may be able to help.
• Go to CAB with advice.

Hope this helps some - will keep quiet now!!

Tatoo

• Volunteer Centre for volunteer witnesses.

wherediditallgo

My ex-neighbour was noisy from day one, & was a nasty piece of work to boot. God forbid that she go through the day without slamming every door in the flat, blaring her music so loud that it could be heard two floors down, trot in high heels over virtually every inch of the laminated flooring she'd cheaply put down with no underlay/quilting etc - she was a nuisance & I was so glad to move away. Where I live now has traffic noise, but the neighbours are much better. The old man downstairs has selective hearing though - he complained within minutes when I was drilling at 11am one Saturday morning, yet doesn't hear himself when he has the tv on loudly at night. :rolleyes: Luckily, they go to bed early, so it's not an issue after about 9pm. In the main, we get on fine, so I can't see me making any kind of official complaint about them.

Can't say the same though for the family who moved in the road that runs parallel to mine - their garden backs on to ours, & there's barely been a weekend (even in this brass monkey weather) when they haven't had the back door to the garden open, loudly treating us to the 'delights' of Leona's "Bleeding Love", Girls Aloud & Kylie for hours on end. For the last few weeks until last weekend, a couple were parking their car in our road (they don't live here) almost opposite my home, & playing music with a heavy bass beat until 2 or 3 in the morning while steaming up the windows, then having a kip until early morning before heading off. They've stopped parking here now, presumably because my note telling them they were being caught on security cameras & the footage would be relayed over the internet for people to rate their performance & try to identify them didn't exactly make them jump for joy.

If I could afford it, I'd buy a detached house. I'm not a noisy person & I'm very considerate towards my neighbours, so it's aggravating when they're thoughtless towards me.

Nicki

Sapphire wrote: »

Then about two years ago the couple next door adopted a baby (black man, white woman, caramel baby). The noise was shocking, since they converted the room next to my bedroom into the child's room. It would bawl very loudly and incessantly during the night and usually often during the day as well. I tried sleeping in the sitting room and even the conservatry, but could still hear it. I tried talking to them about it but they just got aggressive. Earplugs helped a bit - but then I didn't hear the alarm in the morning, and also you can't wear earplugs all the time you are at home. I got into a terrible state with the lack of sleep and luckily was able to move out and to a much nicer area and place.

Out of interest, what did you expect this poor couple to do? A crying baby isn't the same as a barking dog. You can't send it back to the Battersea dog home or make it sleep outside in the kennel. They were probably as sleep deprived as you were, and tbh unless you were coming to them with a reasonable suggestion about something they could do to make the situation better, I'm not all that surprised they were aggressive when you complained about the noise.

Did the fact that the couple were mixed race, as was the baby, make the noise worse btw? I missed the relevance of that bit.