Recently purchased flat. Noisey neighbours

Morglin

Penelop26 wrote: »

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

I've got a horrendously noisy 'sleeper' husband, and the bloke upstairs crashes about through the night.

As a temporary solution while you sort out soundproofing, these are very good. Much better than conventional earplugs:


https://www.amazon.co.uk/Macks-Pillow-Silicone-Putty-Plugs/dp/B003LZQGN6/ref=sr_1_7_s_it?s=drugstore&ie=UTF8&qid=1528358701&sr=1-7&keywords=silicon+ear+plugs+for+sleeping

Lin

westernpromise

The trouble with earplugs is that they also drown out the alarm clock.

Davesnave

There may be 'light' sleepers, but if people are as tired as the OP claims to be, few would have trouble snoozing through well-known, normal, everyday sounds.

As a young person, I could never go to all nighters and get through the night. Around 3am, my batteries just were just completely discharged and I 'had' to sleep. I wasn't alone, because at the club I went to, after the main act finished around 3am, quite a lot of us rolled out sleeping bags and kipped by the stage. At that point, some lesser band would be blasting out at 1000watts above our heads, but we didn't care. Nobody generally moved until they opened the fire exits at 6am and we were gently kicked into consciousness by the nice cleaners.

I expect those in the services, those who've been homeless for a while and many others could recount similar tales about sleeping in adverse circumstances when sleep is really needed.


Being in a state of sensitisation, especially where anger is involved, may be different.

armchaireconomist

You bought the flat and should've been aware and factored this in.


Going to bed at 11:30-12 is not unreasonable, nor is getting up to use the loo at night.


If it's that big a problem pull your ceiling down and soundproof it. How would you react if your neighbour wanted you to rip your floor up because they go to bed an hour before you?

Penelop26

Hi everyone. sorry for the late response. I didnt get any alerts so assumed there were no responses. But thank you for everyone that provided advice. To the person that said I'm basically harassing her....I am not. I have had two conversations with the lady in the hope that she'd be more considerate. The noise is constant. She makes smoothies at midnight which sounds like someone is drilling, her dogs yap constantly, she has her washing machine on late at night, often spinning around midnight or 1/2am. All of her floorboards creak loudly, I could go on. Given the building has clearly not been soundproofed surely common curtousey would be expected. E.g. maintain the floors, don't use machinery at night etc but the lady doesn't care and has literally communicated so. She's also said her dogs don't bark yet I've recorded them barking for three hours when she was out. I end up having to leave my property because it's so annoying. I'll be making some home improvements and selling because I literally can't cope with the constant noise. It doesn't matter what room I'm in, I can't escape it. I find it so frustrating that conversions like this are allowed/ approved when they're clearly not fit for purpose

corell

I feel your pain OP. I'm in a similar situation, except we are in a house not a flat. Our old neighbours had 3 little kiddies from newborn to 5 and we never heard a peep. New neighbours move in and we hear everything from furniture being dragged, to their footwork on the floor when they are fighting and throwing each other around the rooms and against walls. I could go on. My point though, is when it is bad we listen to "brown noise" on youtube. It drowns out the low bang noises etc and when it's playing I can't tell if it's the neighbours banging or the soundtrack! Worth a try. I couldn't possibly use ear plugs due to having tinnitus and also a young child to listen out for so this has been a good alternative. It does leave you feeling like your ears are sore if it's too loud though so try low.

Bossypants

You have my sympathies! I found myself in a similar situation a couple of years ago: Did everything I could to mitigate the noise and my reaction to it, but in the end ended up moving because I just couldn't relax in my home.

It's made me really paranoid now. In the past I have lived in flats and semis perfectly happily, both as a child and an adult, but for the current move I'm attempting, I was almost ready to put in an offer on a lovely semi, only to find I was already worrying about the 'what ifs' in regard to neighbour noise in a way I never would have done before I lived in THAT flat. In the end I didn't offer and was lucky enough to find a detached bungalow which actually ticked more boxes for me anyway, but not everyone has that possibility. I hope you are able to find a peaceful place with your next move!

ashe

As you’ve raised issues with the neighbour you’ll probably have to declare it to any buyer

Penelop26

Ashe I asked my solicitor about this, purely because the 'disputes' between upstairs and the previous owner weren't declared and they said a) proving the so called disputes is difficult and b) the definition of a dispute is sketchy. Apparently because I haven't formalised anything, I don't have to declare anything. Doesn't make it right but shows that those questionnaires that are completed as part of a sale aren't worth the paper that they're written on....unless of course, you're wealthy and can afford to take the previous owner to court.

Corell. I'm the same as you, I have tinnitus too so ear plugs aren't a solution for me. I definitely need to leave. Everyone should be able to come home and relax in their own home or at least have neighbours that are considerate and willing to work together so that everyone can have a nice life

Murphybear

We lived in a converted house and the girl who lived above us used to practice tap dancing :eek:

We had a chat with her (tried G_Ms tea and cake method) and she was horrified, she had no idea how bad it was. She was very apologetic and found somewhere else to practise.

On the bright side, she loved my favourite Delia recipe cake