Noisy neighbours

-taff

Find out what your lease says about flooring.

DottieDam

Without trying to sound harsh these aren't noisy neighbours they are people living their life in a flat with bad soundproofing by the sounds of your post.

They aren't partying all night, playing loud music, and they aren't probably aren't jumping around to annoy you. And if the main noise is the children surely it can't be disturbing your sleep?

What kind of complaints are you expecting to drag up!? A complaint to management company that a young family are moving about in their house? What would you expect them to do? Ask them to tie their children down and not run about?

I'm just posting this because I think fixating on chasing up old complaints is going to make you hate the place more and more. Maybe if you are really sound sensitive and the noise finishes at kids bedtime, think of it as an opportunity to join a group on in the evenings to get you out more.

Or try to not focus on the noise and you might find you soon accept it as background noise and it won't get to you as much.

I know you must be feeling awful but embrace the positives of your first buy instead of thinking of the negatives (it's what I am telling myself daily at the minute but my problems are much different to yours!)

firebubble

I live under noisy neighbours, in an old building with zero soundproofing, and I really sympathise. Don't beat yourself up - you could have done all the investigations, established you had a silent neighbour and they could have moved out the very next week.

As others have said, your first stop is the lease to see if there is a requirement for carpets, as that would be worth contacting the landlord to enforce (be aware though, that if you have hard floors, even if there is no one below you, you could end up having to get carpet as well).

You also need to 'desensitise' yourself to the noise as far as possible - in time, you will get used to it. So get headphones and ear plugs for when you're in the flat. Try and get out as much as you can. Also try and get to know your upstairs neighbours, and their children - if you see them as normal people ("Ah, that's little Johnny tearing about - goodness, he's a terror!") it won't feel as oppressive. If they see you as a human being, they may calm down a bit. Also remember that children grow up - they won't always run about. Do not let yourself sit at home stewing on it and waiting for the noise to start, that will just make you frustrated. It will get better in time, and this is what living in flats is about.

Also, google noisy neighbours and read some real horror stories, to give yourself some perspective. And look at this: https://youtu.be/4IRB0sxw-YU

mdori003

You have my sympathy. When we were in our old flat we used to think our upstairs neighbour was loud until the downstairs family moved in. They replaced a single doctor who was literally never there.

They were nice, and it is true if you get to know them it is easier to forgive, particularly as the sounds are not malicious - people have a right to make a reasonable level of noise, and at least they aren't partying all night.

Look into soundproofing, or white noise or earplugs - there are solutions, and you may acclimatise to a degree as well. In all likelihood everyone will have the same issues so will hopefully be wary of it. You could suggest that you had found rugs and carpets had really helped you if you wanted to be subtle!

staffie1

You have my sympathy, it must be driving you nuts. Give it 12 months, then see if you can move.

cybervic

OP, I totally sympathise your situation. Don't beat yourself up, even if you were careful you probably won't be able to find out about the noise problem.

I bought a flat recently and viewed the flat at different time of the day. We spoke to several neighbour before we exchange, all said this is a quiet block, rarely hear any noises.

On the completion day we got our key at 4.30pm, we were so excited went to the flat at 5pm, only to hear next door neighbour's children screaming and running like there's no tomorrow. My partner and I were frozen, our heart sunk like there's no tomorrow.

It turned out we had a tenant neighbour and even thought the building has thick and solid wall, it's still not enough to stop the screaming noise. We ended up having to sound proof our party wall, luckily, we only had to deal with one type of noise so the cost wasn't too bad.

Try speaking to other neighbour and see if they experienced the same noise issue. Invite your upstairs to your flat and let them hear what it's like. You have take a peek at their floor whilst speaking to them. Perhaps discuss with their landlord about sharing sound proofing cost too?