absurd neighbors - advice needed!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Sorry OP, you are wrong and your neighbors are right.

They have every right to do what they want with their doors and floors.
They are correct that if there are rules about recycling bins, you must follow them. (They didn't need to be rude about it, however...)
It's just one of the discomforts of living in community housing. You have to share walls and floors with people whose schedules don't match your own. Cheap building methods mean you feel and hear everything.

If I were you, when my baby cries at night, I would go rock her in the bedroom closest to THEIR bedroom!

And meanwhile, save your money for a single family home.

Agree with this post. Your neighbors sound unfriendly and rude, but they aren't really doing anything wrong, and they certainly aren't "harassing you" by using their own garage!

No disrespect, but it sounds like you didn't do due diligence in checking out the noise level/pattern when you rented. (That would have been the first thing I would have done, before signing a lease.) Your neighbors may be unfriendly people, but they are completely entitled to use their own garage whenever they choose, and if there are in fact rules about the recycling bin and you didn't follow them, then you are in the wrong about that.

[Anonymous]

First off, I don't think there is much you can do. It's not like they are hosting parties and playing loud music.

As far as your DC is concerned, typically babies get used to the sounds around them and will block out noise to sleep. Everyone is so quiet during nap time or sleeping hours with their first kid. Once you have a couple of more, you'll realize that the house is rarely quiet and the baby (and you) won't even notice the noise. To help your child sleep for now, buy a white noise or nature sound affects machine. My son had a Fisher Price fish tank thing on his crib that played songs or water sounds. Worked like a charm.

[Anonymous]

The "asshole" responder is right, and not overly rude, in my opinion. You are all making noise that the other party needs to tolerate. You can't keep your baby quiet, just like they can't keep their dog from jumping on the floor. This is one of the reasons people move out to the 'burbs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Sorry for the long rant, but not sure what my rights are.

So, we leased a condo (stacked townhouse) from the owner in September. Our lease is a year, and we are in the lower unit (we have the first two floors, and there is someone on the top two floors). When we first moved in, we began to realize the place had issues. For one, each condo has a 1-car garage, but the garages (theirs and ours) are under each of our two guest rooms. Our neighbor's garage door opening and closing is absurdly loud. Not really sure why, as ours isnt that loud, but it literally shakes the floor of the room above it. Ours is still noticeable, but not as loud. Anyway, when we moved in, we didnt realize this and moved my daughter into the room above their garage. Well, because of the design of the building, it is admittedly more convenient to use the garage door to leave, and that is what the neighbors do 100% of the time. And they have a dog that they walk very early in the morning and late at night.So, up and down the garage door goes at all hours of the day and night. I actually spoke to them about it soon after moving in, and they said they'd 'try' to use their front door more, but nothing changed. They havent use it once (and we would know because their front door is within eyesight of our couch). Anyway, it was so loud we had to move my daughter into the other room about 3 weeks after moving in (even though the original room was completely set up and painted for her!). And though I bit my tongue, we just dealt with it. You can still clearly hear their garage door in my daughter's new room, and their dog jumps up and down on their wooden floor above her room conveniently at bedtime, and it has definitely kept her up many nights. She's only 10mo so I cant just explain to her what the loud noises on the ceiling are.

But, due to a recent incident, I'm not longer interested in just dealing with it. In summary - they left us an extremely rude horrible note on our door tonight about another unrelated issue (they were upset we had left our recycle bin outside and told us to keep our 'crap' inside from now on and they were calling the management office and we would be fined - keeping in mind this was the first time they had mentioned anything about it bothering them).

So, my question is, is there anything we can do about the noise? It isnt past 9pm and it is *their* garage door and their wooden floor above our condo, so they can do whatever they want with it, I would assume. But is there really nothing we can do (file a complaint, call the cops) when they continually keep my daughter up? Clearly talking about it with them and asking nicely is out of the question, not to mention we already tried. Any other advice? I assume ringing their doorbell every night when my daughter gets up would be considered harassment, but isnt it harassment that they are keeping her up??

Sigh

Call and email the landlord about the garage door. Both should sound the same if they have identical mechanisms. Look in your lease about carpeting/floor covering ratios. Since there are 2 guestrooms-1 for your DC I assume there is a master. If all else fails switch the DC to the master bedroom if it quiet. The whole place is a temporary rental unit anyway.

The other tenants are entitled to leave by any of their doors. If you have been leaving out recycling as it fills then they might be concerned with spillage, appearance, or vermin.

You never really know a "house" until you live in it. There was a show about potential buyers doing overnights to test houses. If a jumping dog causes the floor noise then something sounds wrong. How big is this dog?

[Anonymous]

I don't think the neighbors are being absurd about using a door to go in and out of their house. I think if you take a deep breath and think about it - you will realize you are getting mad because they are using...a....door.

I completely understand about the noise issue. I do. It's really annoying. I've come close to losing it when my son couldn't nap or sleep due to loud noises (lawn services, construction, [artoes. people ringing our door bell).

Noise is a factor of living in close quarters and any time of apartment/condo amplifies that problem. But its not like they are having loud parties or blaring the stereo. They are using the door to let their dog out. You have asked them to change their behavior and they haven't, so you need to find another solution.

1. Wait to see if it really is an issue. My son's bedroom appears to amplify the neighbors dog barking (barks all night). My son no longer even hears it.
2. Move your daughters room. You said you choose to put it there, which implies you had other options. Or switch rooms with her.
3. Talk the landlord to see if someone can look at the door. Maybe there is some work that could be done or insulation put in to minimize the noise.
4. Not sure if you mentioned it, but is your daughters floor carpeted?

Actually, one final one for the neighbors. Ask them to come over, sit in the room while the garage door goes up and down. Maybe if they hear how loud it is, they will go out of their way to help you. Sometimes it's hard to imagine how loud something can be until you hear it for yourself. Also, fully comprehend that you are asking them to go out of their way to help you. Don't word the request as in they are doing something wrong. Word it so that they understand you are asking for a favor. People are more willing to do something if they aren't put in a defensive position.

[Anonymous]

OP, I didn't think you were right when I first read your post. After the burn in hell thing? I think you're nuts.

[Anonymous]

OP here,

In my own defense for those claiming the neighbors were right about the recycling bin, it was outside for 3 days as we have asked the county to come and take it away and they said to have it outside. They would only specify a several day window, so we were just trying to get our (empty) bin removed, and it was sitting outside of our garage. If the neighbors had even asked, we would have happily explained why it was there and that it would be moved no later than today. Instead they put a note on our door threatening to sue if we didnt move it immediately. On a side note, in the meantime they have piles of dog-poop bags strewn about everywhere.

My husband was the only one of us that saw the place and signed the lease. We were moving new to the area (and the goal was to rent for a year before buying) and I didnt have a chance to see it first. Trust me, I've learned my lesson on that front.

We will talk to the owner and management group to see. The owner was a single guy and I didnt get the impression he was around a lot when he lived here, so he probably didnt notice. You can only hear the door in the guestrooms. Yes they are carpeted, and yes we have a white noise machine and yes DC will have to get used to it. But when MIL stayed for two weeks over thanksgiving and she stayed in the room over their garage, she could not believe a garage door could cause so much noise and it woke her up all night too. I am not exaggerating.

I know they have every right to use their garage, trust me. But if someone told me that I woke their child up every night using it, you can bet I would go out of my way to use the front door. They walk their dog out of their garage door, around the building, and past their front door to the grassy area there before turning around and coming back in again. Yes it is your right to do whatever you want. But sometimes it'd be nice to think people could actually be considerate to their neighbors. Or at least not be spiteful, which is what they are.

Thanks for the suggestions.

[Anonymous]

Some people are not meant for condo living. You are one of them. Other people's schedules do not revolve around your child's bedtime. Save your money and move.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sorry dude...you moved in with a baby and you expect your neighbors to change their lives to accomodate the kids schedule? Uh, no. When you live in an apartment, you have to adjust to some noise. Your neighbors are dealing with your noise, like the baby crying...should they call the police about that?

I expected nothing less than an asshole response like yours when posting on DCUM. At least I got some helpful responses too, so thanks to everyone else!

It is nice to know that I wasnt unlucky enough to have the rudest neighbors in the world. You sound just as equally if not more so unpleasant, and I am grateful you aren't them.

I hope you burn in hell.

I also hope you learn to spell. People will take your ridiculous responses more seriously.

And finally, I hope that when you are trying your best to get an overtired little one to sleep you have someone keeping them up as well. For three straight months.

All of my sympathy has now evaporated for the OP Princess Bitch.

[Anonymous]

Sue you for a recycle bin? Um, now it sounds like bullshit.

Yawn.

[Anonymous]

Let's see. If someone's first interaction with me was to complain about me using my door, yeah, I'd be more inclined to post nastygrams about you leaving your trash in our common area.

OP, have you had any other interaction with these neighbors, or is it just to complain about noise, etc.?

[Anonymous]

OP - In the meantime get a white noise machine for your daughter's room and turn it all the way up. That should help drown out some of the noise.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, I didn't think you were right when I first read your post. After the burn in hell thing? I think you're nuts.

No kidding. I would now like to hear the neighbors' version. I assume that you have made your insane anger issues known. I feel bad for your child.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sorry dude...you moved in with a baby and you expect your neighbors to change their lives to accomodate the kids schedule? Uh, no. When you live in an apartment, you have to adjust to some noise. Your neighbors are dealing with your noise, like the baby crying...should they call the police about that?

I expected nothing less than an asshole response like yours when posting on DCUM. At least I got some helpful responses too, so thanks to everyone else!

It is nice to know that I wasnt unlucky enough to have the rudest neighbors in the world. You sound just as equally if not more so unpleasant, and I am grateful you aren't them.

I hope you burn in hell.

I also hope you learn to spell. People will take your ridiculous responses more seriously.

And finally, I hope that when you are trying your best to get an overtired little one to sleep you have someone keeping them up as well. For three straight months.

Show me the spelling errors?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sorry dude...you moved in with a baby and you expect your neighbors to change their lives to accomodate the kids schedule? Uh, no. When you live in an apartment, you have to adjust to some noise. Your neighbors are dealing with your noise, like the baby crying...should they call the police about that?

I expected nothing less than an asshole response like yours when posting on DCUM. At least I got some helpful responses too, so thanks to everyone else!

It is nice to know that I wasnt unlucky enough to have the rudest neighbors in the world. You sound just as equally if not more so unpleasant, and I am grateful you aren't them.

I hope you burn in hell.

I also hope you learn to spell. People will take your ridiculous responses more seriously.

And finally, I hope that when you are trying your best to get an overtired little one to sleep you have someone keeping them up as well. For three straight months.

My goodness, OP. I was the one who wrote this suggesting that you need to adjust to noise when you live in an apartment. I don't think that's a ridiculous response. You sound like the absurd neighbor!