Noisy Dehumidifier ? Tenants upstairs thudding and banging ... long post

another_casualty

I'm struggling for a better discussion title regarding the above , and I'll try to explain best I can.
I'm a leaseholder of gd flr Victorian conversion. 2 flats above have tenants. 

Flat A no issues so far 🤞Flat B not so good .

Flat B was purchased by a buy to let investor approx 3 yeas ago, and he decided to install wooden flooring . Very nice of him to do so in an upstairs flat . The tenants had random drug parties in 2020 while I was isolating as I was in the vulnerable category .
I complained ( long story but let's leave that there). The tenants found out it was me who complained but parties stopped 🤞.
To their credit they both work and leave early in the morning . 

Now to the actual situation / question : on Sunday I heard a lot of moving around of furniture ( I assume ) around 10.30 pm
Fair enough . No big deal . 

Tonight around 10.45 I heard more noise and then what sounded like thumping n my ceiling.
I do have iPad in bed played really low . However, I have a dehumidifier which I use during the winter. It is in my bedroom .
I have a feeling that they have rearranged their bedroom as  thumping noise was above my dehumidifier .
So I turned it off. Thumping upstairs stopped ! 

So , would the noise of the dehumidifier have travelled up to flat above? Should I just use it in the day instead ? 

The positive thing for now, is that they never knocked on my door . They know I want nothing to do with them.
Maybe I'm over thinking this .

Thanks for reading ..

elsien

Surely just asking them is going to get you a clearer answer than any speculation we might make on here? 

Norman_Castle

Presumably the humidifier makes a humming or buzzing sound. Noises like this can travel through the walls to different floors.

Le_Kirk

another_casualty said:

So I turned it off. Thumping upstairs stopped ! 

Did the thumping stop instantly as if the dehumidifier was causing the noise or did it take a few minutes as the upstairs occupant realised their thumping had had the desired effect?

Bigphil1474

Probably was the dehumidifier annoying them. Perhaps the moving around you heard was them trying to find where the noise was coming from. My next door neighbour used to have a fish tank in his bedroom (weird but hey ho). Unfortunately it was right next to the wall that our bed was against, and the buzzing was so annoying. We had a word and he moved it to another position, no more buzzing. 
I used to work in the noise nuisance team, and usually the best place to start with noise issues is speaking to neighbours. If you can speak to them, ask them if it's causing a problem, and if it is, arrange with them suitable times when it wouldn't bother them - either because they are out or not in bed. 

Martin_the_Unjust

Bigphil1474 said:

Probably was the dehumidifier annoying them. Perhaps the moving around you heard was them trying to find where the noise was coming from. My next door neighbour used to have a fish tank in his bedroom (weird but hey ho). Unfortunately it was right next to the wall that our bed was against, and the buzzing was so annoying. We had a word and he moved it to another position, no more buzzing. 
I used to work in the noise nuisance team, and usually the best place to start with noise issues is speaking to neighbours. If you can speak to them, ask them if it's causing a problem, and if it is, arrange with them suitable times when it wouldn't bother them - either because they are out or not in bed. 

This ^ is the right answer, take a cake with you when you go to have a chat with them.

another_casualty

Thanks everyone for your input . 

Normally the easiest and most straigtforward way , would be to go upstairs and ask them.
Alas that is not possible as the woman now despises me for complaining .I'm okay with that though , as I made the silly mistake of being too close to them by being over helpful and ended up being treated as a doormat with the random parties . Never be too close to tenants in a converted building . With druggies it is always someone else's fault .
I'm happy with the arrangement now as if they don't see me they don't know me .
The chances of taking a ( hash ) cake are zero 😼

I think  it may well be the dehumidifier as mentioned above , and it looks like you have hit the nail on the head @Bigphil1474. It probably sounds like a noisy fridge or fish tank to them. 

I turned it off and the banging stopped . 

I have turned it on just now, but will turn off sometime in the evening . 

Hopefully that should be issue solved and all well.

I'll leave it there for now ..

Grumpy_chap

another_casualty said:

So , would the noise of the dehumidifier have travelled up to flat above? Should I just use it in the day instead ? 

It is quite possible that the hum from the dehumidifier may have travelled and caused a nuisance noise - even if it is not that load, certain frequencies of noise can penetrate deeply into and through building structures to then vibrate out into the next open space as a very annoying noise - especially if the neighbours don't know what the source is.

I would have though that in most cases operating a dehumidifier just through the day is sufficient to achieve control of any damp issues and will save running costs (dehumidifiers are expensive on electricity).  Often the dehumidifier will have a rating as to how large a volume it will dry out the air in what time period.  Try running it just during day time when at home and it may suffice and be just as effective as leaving it running overnight.

If you still have a damp issue even with the dehumidifier running ay times, the root cause may be something else that needs to be looked at.

another_casualty

Thanks @Grumpy_chap
Obviously had a full survey done etc . I viewed an empty flat in January , completed in March and spent 3 months getting new kitchen / bathroom / furniture etc.
One or two unpleasant surprises , and the carpet being wet around the window was one of them which was spotted in October of the year of purchase . Hence getting dehumidifier which is worth its weight in gold so to speak . 

No more damp issues so far 🤞, but I use the smart EBAC which does its thing and container emptied every 2-3 days ..

TELLIT01

If there is damp is that not something the freeholder should be addressing?

another_casualty

Just a quick update ..
No banging noises from upstairs , which probably means that it was the noise of the  dehumidifier travelling upstairs . 

Regarding the freeholder @TELLIT01 not sure but issues were raised on survey about that and suspended floor etc. It was allegedly fixed before I moved in . 

I'll leave it there for now .