Advice needed - neighbours

paddy's_mum

It's just occurred to me that your child can't be making that much noise or else your partner wouldn't be able to sleep during the day!

I think that others who have suggested that what noise there is, is travelling downwards, are probably correct. I can imagine that living beneath someone's laminate flooring is a bit like being inside a huge bongo drum with every sound amplified.

I still think carpet is the way to go. Why not approach the landlord again and see if he would rather install carpet than lose his tenant.

Maxwellcomp12

Sorry for not mentioning. I asked her yesterday about where she could hear it and she stated the hallway when my little boy runs there in the morning and bits in the day, I ordered another runner today to overlap the 2 I have up here to try and stop the noise a little.

The second place she said is in my lounge when my son dances to the TV, walks and plays with his toys.. I have moved the harder toys into his room as she stated she cant ever hear him in his room.

She said these are the only 2 places she can hear him. I have thought about trying to move rooms around and use a carpet room for the lounge but the rooms are simply not big enough to do so and also do not have telephone sockets or aerials we need for the TV.

I asked the landlord last night about the carpet but he said there is no way he will allow us to change it. He said he spent a lot of money on the laminate and he does not want to take it up and he will not allow us to take it up.

She has not mentioned about hearing my son in the toilet or the kitchen. He does use both rooms but they are both floored with slate.

Gordon_Hose

The OP should not be paying to carpet the house. Or asking her toddler to stop running around.

As already suggested the OP needs to direct any complaint from this woman to the LL. If the LL won't do anything there's little either the OP or the woman downstairs can do.

I certainly wouldn' be moving out.

19lottie82

I wouldn't move the layout of your rooms about OP.

You live in flats, you need to be used to some noise. If your neighbour isn't happy then she should move to a detached property.

By all means buy some rugs to put in the living room / hall, but beyond that I don't see what else you can do.

Tell the neighbour that you will put rugs down and you have spoken to your LL but he won't let you alter the flooring. Say you have done all that you can, but she is free to contact the Landlord and/or the council, should she have any further complaints.

nidO

Maxwellcomp12 wrote: »

I asked the landlord last night about the carpet but he said there is no way he will allow us to change it. He said he spent a lot of money on the laminate and he does not want to take it up and he will not allow us to take it up.

Frankly, this is the obnoxious bit about the whole situation.

Hard floors should imo be banned in properties with neighbours underneath if the structure of the building is not suitably soundproofed - My last flat had laminate flooring however the leashold required all flooring to have a thick sound insulating underlay and the whole building is so well insulated you'd barely know you have upstairs neighbours regardless of the floor type, but I also know from friends living in pathetically constructed buildings the living hell that is being only a flimsy uninsulated ceiling away from someone with a wood floor.

I can fully see why this lady could be getting driven bonkers from it, especially if her living there predates the landlord renovating the place and putting hard floors down, which in my view is an unconscionable act of selfishness on your landlord's part.

FTB_Doll

Ahhh flats gotta love em! I used to live above 2 children whos parents kept them indoors all weekend and god they were loud!!! They however were not in bed at 730 and were that loud the lampshades would shake! In the end I knocked on and politely told them to please be mindful they were in a flat and we couldnt relax cause of the contant banging they were reasonable and it stopped after a while I think the boys got too old and they moved out. Thing is living in a flat above someone you expect some kinda noise even in a house you cant control some noises from neighbours. I would go an listen for yourself then you may step back and think wow it is loud

Thing is laminate floor isnt great for noise

Hope you get this sorted soon xx

LADYXXMACBETH

It could be worse my neighbour told me not to read to my son because it disturbs her as she can hear me next door.
Anyway from personal experience problems can escalate into massive issues and the more and more you ignore them or defy thm the more mad the neighbour gets and then you could have legal issues on your hands.
I would ask the neighbour what she wants doing about it. Have a friendly chat and say I am trying to make things better but i am not sure what you are wanting to happen. If she says anything unreasonable for example to stop your son from walking about then that's unacceptable but i think if he is running about in the hallway then you should be telling him that it is better to walk and to play quitely or say that from 6-7pm he is allowed to run about but before that and after you will minimise the noise.
If the neighbour complains enough you may find that the LL isn't prepared to extend your tenancy after your contract ends because they cant be arsed with the hassle. The last thing you want is to have her complaining about anything and everything and Ive known neighbours to make stuff up to cause problems and this sounds like one of those neighbours.
i would look long and hard about what you think might be acceptable and what others migt. If she is old and doesnt come in contact with a lot of children then they might seem a bit more raucous than they were when she was a kid.
Don't let it get nasty and dont ignore her work with her.
Good Luck

I_have_spoken

There's sadly no way of reconciling such issues to everyone's satisfaction.

My parents have a GF flat but luckily they are hard of hearing as the thumps and thuds from upper flat drives me mad after a few hours when visiting - the occupants have a daughter who is beautifully behaved but heavy footsteps amplify on laminate floors like hitting a drum and you can't expect a child to creep about 24/7.

IMHO noise nuisance is far more aggravating if you feel the neighbours are 'not bovvered' and so many parents think their kids are little angels who can do wrong.

Ivana_Tinkle

Only skimmed threat so apologies if I've missed this, but surely the key point is that she's been complaining for ages? She's made the same complaint about other tenants, and your landlord has clearly argued with her in the past. This is emphatically not your problem.

I'd take your landlord at his word and, if she complains again, not get drawn in but ring him and make it his problem. Certainly don't get yourself into any pointless conversations about the fabric of the building, or go over to monitor how loud your son is. As a tenant, none of these factors are reasonably within your control. It's between her and your landlord.

Hoof_Hearted

You could buy one square meter of the thickest, plushest carpet and cut foot size pieces which could them be taped to your child's feet.

Lateral thinking, eh?