Recently purchased flat. Noisey neighbours

Penelop26

Hi. I moved into a flat that I purchased on the 1st March 2018. As part of this i own the leasehold for my flat and a third of the freehold. I love my flat but upon moving in is where the nightmare began. My neighbours are lovely but the building has clearly no sound proofing. I haven't had one good nights sleep since moving in and it's now affecting my health. The lady above me doesn't go to bed until 11.30pm/12 am. I go to bed around 10.30pm and her stomping, constantly dropping things wakes me up. It sounds like she's about to come through the ceiling. This goes on for about an hour until she's in bed. She then gets up at least 4/5 times in the night, sometimes every hour. I've spoken to her and she said she try to be more considerate (nothing changed). I spoke to her again and mentioned that I think her floor boards needs screwing down (as every single one seems to creek) but that we also should consider sound proofing. She refused and said she's not taking her carpets up. 1) I'm shocked that she has carpets because it really doesn't sound like it and b) I now don't know what to do. I've never suffered from headaches but now i have a migraine every day. I need sleep but don't know what else i can now do. I feel like I'm living in hell especially when added to that she has two yappy dogs that frequently bark non stop when shes out.

Given we all share the freehold should we be sharing the cost? I need to soundproof between me and the lower floor but can't afford to pay for both floors

robber2

I find earplugs work really well for me in noisy hotels. Worth a try


Rob

Mickygg

Oh this isn't an easy situation.
Check the lease details to see if the flat above is complying. By having carpets maybe she is, but the fact she says she has carpets does she definately?
If you don't have her on board unless you can prove somehow she is doing something against the lease agreement you won't be able to force her to have soundproofing.
I had a flat years ago and I could hear the person above even having a wee so I know the stress this can cause.
I ended up moving, I had no other choice, and learnt the hard way to never live somewhere with someone living above me again.
But the fact you all own the freehold to me says you need to try a calm agreement amongst yourselves if at all possible. If not then a move may be needed!

Tom99

There is some useful info here:


http://www.noisestopsystems.co.uk/how-to-soundproof-floors


Maybe if you offer to pay the full cost, upstairs will comply otherwise earplugs and eventually move.

Doodles

Would it be a possibility of swapping your bedroom around with another room? I know maybe not ideal, but just an idea. Might help you get straight to sleep?

Other than than, you can try soundproofing your flat as much as you can, or you'll have to move.

I do sympathise though. My upstairs neighbour used to have a similiar thing where sometimes she couldn't sleep and would trot around, but also I could hear her go to the bathroom, and unfortunately really could hear what was going down in that pan!

Norman_Castle

Earplugs and white noise can help. Try a radio tuned to static.

shortcrust

It sounds like your neighbour is just living her life in a perfectly reasonable fashion. If I were her we’d have had a row by now. Please take a step back and think carefully about whether you might be harassing her.

You’ve bought a flat with no sound proofing. That’s your problem, not your neighbour’s. It should have on your list of things to investigate and you should have factored in the cost of sorting it. Spend some cash and leave the poor woman alone.

Norman_Castle

shortcrust wrote: »

It sounds like your neighbour is just living her life in a perfectly reasonable fashion. If I were her we'd have had a row by now. Is that reasonable? Please take a step back and think carefully about whether you might be harassing her.

Had complaints about your noise?


A friend has a similar problem with an upstairs neighbour who drags furniture around, drops heavy item and plays music from around 4am. I suspect she could argue its normal behaviour but its not normal to be disturbed in this way. People who live in flats need to moderate their behaviour or homes where possible if its causing a problem.

If you were experiencing it I doubt you would consider your complaint as harassment.

shortcrust

Norman_Castle wrote: »

Had complaints about your noise?


A friend has a similar problem with an upstairs neighbour who drags furniture around, drops heavy item and plays music from around 4am. I suspect she could argue its normal behaviour but its not normal to be disturbed in this way. People who live in flats need to moderate their behaviour or homes where possible if its causing a problem.

If you were experiencing it I doubt you would consider your complaint as harassment.

Oh give over. She doesn’t go to bed before midnight and she gets up a few times in the night. My god, the horror! If that’s causing problems then it’s a problem with the flats, not the neighbour.

Never had a complaint about my noise but I’ve complained about other people’s a few times. Thumping music at 4am, constant dog barking for five hours and stuff like that. Not because they dropped a spoon at 11.30pm.

Norman_Castle

shortcrust wrote: »

Oh give over. She doesn’t go to bed before midnight and she gets up a few times in the night. My god, the horror! If that’s causing problems then it’s a problem with the flats, not the neighbour.

I’ve complained about other people’s a few times. Thumping music at 4am, constant dog barking for five hours and stuff like that. Not because they dropped a spoon at 11.30pm.

The OP has stated the lack of soundproofing is the problem but the neighbour is doing nothing to help and the yappy dogs are likely to annoy anyone.


So your complaints were valid but the ops aren’t. Not sure why you need to underplay the OPs noise problem. Who mentioned dropping a spoon?

hutman

i feel your pain as a sensitive sleeper; any sound can wake you up, the anticipation of which can induce protracted insomnia.

Drastic step but... if selling is not an option, let the thing out and move into somewhere quieter?