Noisey neighbours, friendly advice on what to do.

Zoe1345

Ramouth said:

I know this might odd, but have you considered offering to pay for the neighbours stairs and upper hallway to be carpeted / re-carpeted with a good underlay?  It would reduce the impact sound considerably and may also help to absorb some of the airborne sound.  If you are lucky and the doors open over the carpet they will be slowed by it and will not slam.  If not, some pads could be added to the door frames at the same time as suggested in a previous post.

While it seems strange to be spending money on someone else’s house it could make a big difference to your environment and it seems like you have done everything you can on your side.  Even if you sold yourself place tomorrow you would be there for several more months and it seems like it is having a major effect on you.

Suggesting this to your neighbour  is unlikely to be considered as a dispute.

I guess its something we could keep in mind and in the play book for negotiations. They've got a beautifully decorated hall (they've got one of those spotless looking, brand spanking new, ultra modern show-home types of style going on) with new wooden floors... so I'm pretty sure we would get told where to stick that suggestion, even if we were paying. 

Scotbot

Zoe1345 said:

Norman_Castle said:

Hannimal said:

I had a neighbour like this (to be clear, like the OP). He complained to me about my cats running in the flat, about vacuuming (even though it was in the day time) and even DEMANDED me and my partner go to bed before 10am or at least avoid using the living room where the wall was adjacent to their bedroom. He admitted he always had problems with the tenants who lived in the flat we were renting and then he bullied us until we moved. Luckily we were renting so it was easy to leave.

The OPs complaints sound entirely reasonable unlike your previous neighbour who sounds beyond reasonable making your prior neighbour nothing like the OP.

@Norman_Castle . 
 Although, as I've a cats myself - I'm fully aware of how much they can sound like rhino's when crashing around... so perhaps your neighbours had a point? (To clarify... that was a joke.)

Well there is your answer. Train the cat to crash around from 6 am till 8am 😊

Zoe1345

Scotbot said:

Zoe1345 said:

Norman_Castle said:

Hannimal said:

I had a neighbour like this (to be clear, like the OP). He complained to me about my cats running in the flat, about vacuuming (even though it was in the day time) and even DEMANDED me and my partner go to bed before 10am or at least avoid using the living room where the wall was adjacent to their bedroom. He admitted he always had problems with the tenants who lived in the flat we were renting and then he bullied us until we moved. Luckily we were renting so it was easy to leave.

The OPs complaints sound entirely reasonable unlike your previous neighbour who sounds beyond reasonable making your prior neighbour nothing like the OP.

@Norman_Castle . 
 Although, as I've a cats myself - I'm fully aware of how much they can sound like rhino's when crashing around... so perhaps your neighbours had a point? (To clarify... that was a joke.)

Well there is your answer. Train the cat to crash around from 6 am till 8am 😊

Ever tried to "train" a cat? That's not how they roll. I firmly believe cats train humans. 6 am till 8 am is feed me time and then sleep time. 

Scotbot

Zoe1345 said:

Scotbot said:

Zoe1345 said:

Norman_Castle said:

Hannimal said:

I had a neighbour like this (to be clear, like the OP). He complained to me about my cats running in the flat, about vacuuming (even though it was in the day time) and even DEMANDED me and my partner go to bed before 10am or at least avoid using the living room where the wall was adjacent to their bedroom. He admitted he always had problems with the tenants who lived in the flat we were renting and then he bullied us until we moved. Luckily we were renting so it was easy to leave.

The OPs complaints sound entirely reasonable unlike your previous neighbour who sounds beyond reasonable making your prior neighbour nothing like the OP.

@Norman_Castle . 
 Although, as I've a cats myself - I'm fully aware of how much they can sound like rhino's when crashing around... so perhaps your neighbours had a point? (To clarify... that was a joke.)

Well there is your answer. Train the cat to crash around from 6 am till 8am 😊

Ever tried to "train" a cat? That's not how they roll. I firmly believe cats train humans. 6 am till 8 am is feed me time and then sleep time. 

Lord no, I am one of those people from the dark side - a dog person. I am also completely clear on who is pack leader and it isn't me!

Zoe1345

@Scotbot when we do move, we will be introducing a dog to the team, hopefully. *Ssssshh* we've not told the cat yet! 

Hannimal

Zoe1345 said:

@Hannimal You sound like you had a beyond reasonable previous neighbour. A bit like we might do?

I thought beyond reasonable meant very reasonable. I hope I am misunderstanding this. Either way, it sounds like all this is just a part and parcel of having neighbours and hearing sounds of life. I understand it can be annoying when the sounds of life are disrupting sleep, but I don't think it's reasonable to think people shouldn't shower before bed or that cats should halt their olympics.

Zoe1345

Hannimal said:

Zoe1345 said:

@Hannimal You sound like you had a beyond reasonable previous neighbour. A bit like we might do?

I thought beyond reasonable meant very reasonable. I hope I am misunderstanding this. Either way, it sounds like all this is just a part and parcel of having neighbours and hearing sounds of life. I understand it can be annoying when the sounds of life are disrupting sleep, but I don't think it's reasonable to think people shouldn't shower before bed or that cats should halt their olympics.

Beyond reasonable - used in the vernacular to mean one step further than reasonable, ultra-reasonable perhaps. Anyway, seems semantic wires were simply crossed. I'm very much not asking them to not shower before bed, but instead to perhaps make an effort to not slam the shower door, bathroom door, every cupboard door, throw things at the tiled wall (only explanation for some of the noise) at 12 am (1 member of the house) 12:30 (the next member to shower) 1 am (the third member), 1:30 am ... you get the point. Or have a  screaming match at 2am, or indeed run up and down their stairs when they are capable of walking it with little noise disruption. And even as such, only weekday and only after 11 if possible, if they would kindly consider it. These are my perfect civil requests. Alas these are not the first neighbours I have ever had, so I am accustomed to having them 

As I've outlined though, this was not a post to get people to say how terrible they are but for people to help us find a next step solution now that we have exhausted all the rest. For the back, our neighbours are good people, with very annoying life style habits, living in a poorly constructed terrace house, and no desire to consider the neighbours... its a !!!!!! situation for all, and its effecting my health (and unlikely theirs) but I fully support their right to shower. *Showers for everyone!* 

KxMx

We once rented a 3 bed semi, family next door were two adults and 4 boys. They were incapable of shutting a door without slamming (causing our cupboard on the non adjoining wall to rattle, this was disbelieved by LL), going up/down stairs normally, screaming swearing matches, you get the picture. 

We had the same LL, we spoke to neighbours direct, we got LL & Environmental Health involved, nothing ever got better, it was definitely one of the reasons we moved.

Now mid terrace and we hear either side very softly occasionally, but that's it! 

Zoe1345

KxMx said:

We once rented a 3 bed semi, family next door were two adults and 4 boys. They were incapable of shutting a door without slamming (causing our cupboard on the non adjoining wall to rattle, this was disbelieved by LL), going up/down stairs normally, screaming swearing matches, you get the picture. 

We had the same LL, we spoke to neighbours direct, we got LL & Environmental Health involved, nothing ever got better, it was definitely one of the reasons we moved.

Now mid terrace and we hear either side very softly occasionally, but that's it! 

Ah I'm glad your mid-terrace is working out better. It seems some older ones, pre 1940s are far better sound proofed. I shouldn't put terraces down based on this one it seems. But I think I've been well and truly put off buying another for now! 
 If these neighbours were like the other side it would be wonderful here! Funnily enough we are fully attached to the quiet side, but staggered with the noisy side, yet the noise is so loud that it travels throughout even the non-attached rooms (kitchen and husbands office)! 

Hannimal

Zoe1345 said:

As I've outlined though, this was not a post to get people to say how terrible they are but for people to help us find a next step solution now that we have exhausted all the rest. For the back, our neighbours are good people, with very annoying life style habits, living in a poorly constructed terrace house, and no desire to consider the neighbours... its a !!!!!! situation for all, and its effecting my health (and unlikely theirs) but I fully support their right to shower. *Showers for everyone!* 

Sure, that's beyond reasonable (?). It's hard because this is the situation I had with my old neighbours as well - due to poor construction of the building and due to the flat being split in two at some point, we shared floor boards and you could literally hear everything from their flat to our and, I think, vice versa. Just like I had to switch the TV up when they vacuumed, they too heard my vacuuming. While I do agree that your neighbours' habits are a bit annoying being so late at night, it doesn't sound to me like they are doing anything unreasonable. So I am not sure there is much you can do if they want to keep trotting at night. 

By the way, the sounds of the cat running up and down the stairs might be really quite audible to my neighbours. But I can't stop him, he is too fast!