Advice needed - neighbours

Old_Git

buy her ear plugs

Mokka

Is your landlord a leaseholder? If so, he might have breached his lease, laminate flooring is often prohibited in flats, for exactly the reason you've described.
It's not your fault that your landlord installed laminate floors and your priority is your son, who needs exercise to keep healthy.
It sounds your neighbour is really difficult as you offered sensible options to minimise the noise. Do what you can (and can afford) to make her life easier- as you would like someone else to treat you if you were in the same position as her- but ultimately it's between her and your landlord.

calicocat

I would hate to live under someone with laminate flooring. I'm sure OP's family are doing nothing wrong, but the sound will just echo down.

How old is she? She may be a bit deaf soon with a bit of luck for everyone.

MaxTheCat

I had to deal with the exact problem caused by the OP's child combined with lack of carpeting in a flat that I used to own and it really is no laughing matter. I dealt with it by going out and leaving some soothing and loud heavy metal with lots of sweary lyrics on repeat. I decided if I couldn't have peace then neither could my neighbors. When they complained to me I told them what they need to do, at times I could even hear the woman crying so I turned the music up more. After a couple of weeks she learned to control the child only requiring the occasional reminder.

puppypants

I too can understand the downstairs neighbour's upset. I live in, and own, the basement flat in a converted 4 storey house and the noise from the 1st floor flat (ie one flat between mine and 1st floor) has been horrendous! The child is about 5 and 'gallops' everywhere, he has a scooter or rollerskates, or skateboard, which sounds like thunder. He too is awake until all hours and at times has played with a football in the flat! When the ground floor flat was being made ready for sale, the builder/decorator could not believe the noise level from above. The very first day the folks who bought the ground floor flat moved in,they had to go up and confront this family about the noise as they obviously had visitors too! The new buyers even said that they would never have bought the flat if they had known how bad the noise was from upstairs!

tabby_cats_mum

I find it quite horrible to read all the anti-children comments, adults can be noisy as well.

I had terrible trouble with noise from neighbours when I lived in a flat, ended up turning a bedroom into a living room to escape the noise. They were a pair of malicious pensioners who used to scream at me for walking across the carpeted floor, sadly I can't fly, turn their tv up full blast as soon as I walked in from work etc etc.

I now live in a terrace and although I can hear the neighbours either side it's just normal everyday things, it doesn't bother me.

Some people just can't bear noise and that's fair enough but they should accept they need to move to a detached house.

OP you are doing everything you can, refer the lady to your landlord when she complains, it's him who put the laminate in and him who should take it out.

Maxwellcomp12

Since posting this thread I have done everything I can to try and help the matter. I have purchased additional mats at my own cost around the laminate flooring to try and minimise the noise to her, I have been going out in the day, made my son play in his bedroom most days and taken any hard toys out of his toy box in the lounge. Unfortunately the women downstairs seems to want to do everything to upset us. I have had my landlord round to talk to her twice now and she will not reason with him. We have been told since day 1 when he bought the property she has had issues and wants to know the ins and outs of the goings on up here. She has now resorted putting her music up as loud as possible under our room which she knows my partner sleeps in as she asked when and what room my partner is asleep in the day. The funny part about this is the room is carpeted so why would she hear my son in that room? Why would she need to put her music up so loud it vibrates my floors and stops my partner from sleeping? My son doesn't affect her sleeping as he is in bed by 7.30 at nights so I find her to be the unreasonable one. I have also had her rubbish thrown on my bins as well as her blocking access to my garden with her rubbish bins and rubbish bags. This thread has alot of negative comments about children but if people did the maths, my son wakes up between 7.30 - 8am, eats breakfast in his highchair, gets ready, normally plays in his room or watches tv or we do crafts in my kitchen until lunch time, he then naps for 2 hours, wakes up... goes in his highchair again to eat plays, crafts watches tv and then eats dinner, has a bath and then cuddles up on the sofa... We also are going out for 2-3 hours a day. The noise ins't being made all day up here and he is in bed by 7.30 at night so I am now unsure what else I can possibly do. My landlord is still saying no about putting carpets in and we are also not allowed to.

JimmyTheWig

OP, have you actually confirmed to us that your landlord is the lady downstairs' landlord too?

Can you get a meeting together with you, her and the landlord?

Maxwellcomp12

Hi,

No they do not have the same landlord, I think she owns the property outright.

And I have already been round there, so has my landlord all she keeps saying is she wants carpet, anything else which we have suggested is not good enough.

JimmyTheWig

In which case, OP, I think I'd be tempted to move if I were you. Why stay put with a nuisense neighbour when you are renting and in a position to move.

Do you honestly think that carpet would make the woman downstairs happy? Or do you think she'd still complain / find something else to complain about?