Shared wall and small kitchen appliance use at 6 am weekdays

[Anonymous]

Buy him a white noise machine? Probably not really an appropriate offer, but they work great!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Buy him a white noise machine? Probably not really an appropriate offer, but they work great!

I think it should be part of the social contract with your neighbors that everyone has a white noise machine or sleeps with a fan on in a condo or apartment. It's the least you should do before griping about noise from neighbors. DDs room abuts the neighbors living room. When the white noise machine is off, you can hear every conversation and everything they're watching on tv. With the white noise machine, you can tell there is some noise coming from the neighbor but it's not enough to bother her sleep in the slightest.

Honestly, I side eye the heck out of anyone who claims "oh no, white noise doesn't work" in relation to normal neighbor noise. I can't help but think they are LOOKING to be pissed about noise from neighbors so are listening for it. Unless the neighbors are bumping their bass like crazy, the white noise muffles it just fine.

[Anonymous]

Yeah, this is part of living in a condo/apartment where shared walls exist. 6am coffee grinder and blender in the kitchen are reasonable. He needs to use sound machine or ear plugs if noise is that much of an issue. I would put a towel over the blender/grinder but that would be the limit of my actions to mitigate the sound.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Buy him a white noise machine? Probably not really an appropriate offer, but they work great!

This is what I was going to say

[Anonymous]

Grinding coffee is really loud. I had an automatic coffee maker with a grinder years ago that would go off with a timer. I had to get rid of it because it was too jarring. It would wake everyone up in the house and they were not light sleepers. A white noise machine won’t do anything to cover that sound.

6am is a little early for grinders and blenders with paper thin walls. I use a blender every morning but we are in a single family house and everyone is up.

[Anonymous]

I would just ignore the neighbor. You're making normal getting ready for work noises at a normal time. I doubt throwing a towel over the coffee grinder would make a noticeable difference. Don't open pandora's box and continue the conversation. Agree that the neighbor should run their own white noise and try to deal. Welcome to living with shared walls!

[Anonymous]

This is one reason why people buy houses.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is it inconsiderate to grind coffee or use a blender to make smoothies before 7 am on a weekday if you share a wall with another home.

Our neighbor sent us a note that we wake him up. He must be extremely noise sensitive as the walls are not exceptionally thin, his bedroom doesn’t abut our kitchen, and these small appliances run for maybe 3 min tops. I can’t hear them if I’m in my bathroom on the same floor! We are very quiet otherwise, minimal talking, no tv or radio, and we’re out the door by 7 typically. In my opinion, the loudest sound we make in the kitchen is opening and closing the patio door to water plants and that is only 1/3 of the year.

I’m unsure about a next step: respond verbally, ignore/don’t respond, explain the above in writing?

I simply don't believe this.

[Anonymous]

Is it one of those cuisinarts with the build in grinder? I do not know why but those sound like an airplane taking off. I have a mr coffee burr grinder and it’s about one-tenth of the volume.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would just ignore the neighbor. You're making normal getting ready for work noises at a normal time. I doubt throwing a towel over the coffee grinder would make a noticeable difference. Don't open pandora's box and continue the conversation. Agree that the neighbor should run their own white noise and try to deal. Welcome to living with shared walls!

Completely disagree. A coffee grinder and blender at 6am are not normal getting ready for work noises. They are extras that I'm sure 90% of people wouldn't consider an everyday part of their morning routine.

I'm just baffled that if the neighbor was disturbed enough to mention the noise (politely, I hope), OP wouldn't do something to fix the problem.

[Anonymous]

On the surface, I'd say that grinding coffee is not an unreasonable morning activity, but I also lived for many years in a thin-walled 1960s building where I could hear EVERYTHING from next door. If I was being woken up by the sounds of a neighbor's small appliance, I would not be a happy camper. Plus, even if the bedroom doesn't abut the kitchen, others have noted that sound can travel in really strange ways. I suggest either grinding your coffee the night before or doing it in another location that maybe won't create noise transfer.

[Anonymous]

Who are you people? Just because you get up by 6am doesn't mean the whole world is. Making Loud noises (e.g. Blenders are about 78-85 dB) before 8 a.m. is rude -- weekday or weekend. If you live in a shared space, you *should* be extra vigilant.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would just ignore the neighbor. You're making normal getting ready for work noises at a normal time. I doubt throwing a towel over the coffee grinder would make a noticeable difference. Don't open pandora's box and continue the conversation. Agree that the neighbor should run their own white noise and try to deal. Welcome to living with shared walls!

Completely disagree. A coffee grinder and blender at 6am are not normal getting ready for work noises. They are extras that I'm sure 90% of people wouldn't consider an everyday part of their morning routine.

I'm just baffled that if the neighbor was disturbed enough to mention the noise (politely, I hope), OP wouldn't do something to fix the problem.

+100

[Anonymous]

I don't think it's weird to have him over and be friendly, but you get to use your kitchen at 6 am. If he's tried white noise and ear plugs and it's still a problem, maybe he can soundproof with cork on his walls.

I share a wall and can only hear my neighbors in certain rooms - in our spare bedroom I can hear their water and pipe noises, but never anything else. It may just be quirky construction.

[Anonymous]

Many people have to be up at 6. If you are that noise sensitive then you need to find accommodation that doesn't involve shared walls. I also agree that the neighbor needs to buy a white noise machine, but no way would I purchase it Op. I use mines every night and it works great for me.