Neighbours complaining about my kids running...

Nj04

Hello,
We have recently moved into a flat with wooden floors. We have 2 kids, aged 6 and 1. The 6 year old is at school however the 1 year old is at home during the day. Our downstairs neighbours have complained about our kids running. We have made the kids wear soft slippers and stopped the older one running. But how do we tell the 1 year old to stop running?! We have explained the situation to the neighbours, who also have kids but they don't seem to understand. They have now gone and complained to the freeholder of the building who we also explained the situation to. The kids go to bed by 8pm and don't wake up till 6am. So the nights are quiet.
We also have noisy neighbours and they have kids. We understand and have never complained. I feel harassed by the downstairs neighbours and don't feel I can enjoy living in the flat as I feel any little noise, they will complain. I have lived in london flats for years and never faced any complaints and this is really bothering me! Has anyone faced a similar situation? If so, how did you deal with it? Thank you

G_M

it can be VERY annoying having neighbours upstairs with wooden floors!


What does your lease say? Many leases require flat owners to have fitted carpets or similar. Or are you a tenant? If so, ask your landlord what his lease says.


But irrespective of that, common courtesy suggests you take action. Buy some cheap rugs and cover the floors.

Nj04

Thank you! We are the tenants. I will ask my landlord. Meanwhile looking at rugs now.

zagubov

Absolutely do this. Wooden flooring's the enemy of flat-dwellers (unless you're on the top floor in which case stairs are the enemy).

singhini

Also think about keeping a diary of dates, times, who and what was discussed and actions you have taken i.e. in this case you are looking into buying rugs and have also contacted the landlord (keeping a diary might come in handy should the situation escalate and some sort of third party mediation is needed).

[Deleted User]

I have purchased some very nice shaggy rugs second hand on ebay. To deaden running feet, they need to be quite thick. But you also need to think of safety (trip hazards) for the owners of those little running feet. I'd also be at least enquiring if the LL would make a contribution as they left the wooden floors in place rather than carpeting.

Depending on the size of the rooms, you could also look at buying carpet remnants which would be bigger and cover more of the floor.

I know it can't be an easy situation for you.

Flobberchops

I had a similar situation in one of the places I was renting several years ago. Living in an apartment building with crepe-paper walls, there were several rules on the books regarding minimising noise (many of which the other tenants routinely ignored, annoyingly). Our downstairs neighbour went through a period of frequent complaints about noise through the wooden flooring - the rules dictated carpeted floors, and my landlord when renovating the place had had the bright idea of laying wooden laminate OVER the existing carpet, reasoning they would be fulfilling both the spirit and letter of the rules. In practice it achieved neither. Eventually the building management intervened at my moany neighbour's request and made the landlord fit carpets at their expense.



So, to echo what others have said: put down some rugs or runners as a courtesy, but also look into the position of the tenancy agreement, and get your landlord to take action if they're required to.

AdrianC

You've lived in flats for years... but not with two small children.

And they're up at 6am? That's earlier than many people rise...

princeofpounds

Having been underneath children in a wooden floored flat myself - get some rugs ASAP!

It can be a total nightmare. What sounds like cute tippy-taps from above can sound like a herd of elephants below. And god forbid they drop a marble on the floor...

Seriously, don’t underestimate this. There is a good chance you LL was never supposed to put wooden floors down in the flat - many leases forbid it for these reasons.

I only managed to solve the problem by complaining in person every time, and then finally convincing them to come and actually listen. One listen and they never pushed back again.

rach_k

Carpets, rugs, slippers but also, a one year old can be parented. Would you allow him/her to run in the kitchen while you're carrying hot pans around? Doubt it. So you can tell them to not run all day in other rooms too.

I do have kids and I know they need to be active, but take them outside (there's no such thing as bad weather, only insufficient clothing!) for an hour in the morning and afternoon and they might not need to run around as much in the flat. Give them plenty of things to do, as well as some physical activities that don't include stomping or banging for inside.

Boozle

It's a very tough one. We had upstairs neighbours with 2 kids of a similar age to yours and wooden floors and the noise was horrendous. As another poster mentioned, it really did sound like a herd of elephants running around from about 5am to 9pm every single day. For context, they moved out and four adults moved in (2 sisters and their partners), and we rarely hear anything now (that was nearly 4 years ago). I have no idea how tiny kids are so much more noisy on their feet than fully grown women and men, but there we go. You might be underestimating how bad it really is.