condo noise: help, advice, please?

[Anonymous]

The condo above us is occupied by a young family who have toddler twins. At first I thought it was cute to hear pitter-patter in the evenings when I return from work, but last night I just couldn't take it anymore when they ran around, and around for at least two hours while I tried to finish a report. Basically, these neighbors are noisy anyway, but the older the twins get the noisier it gets.

What should I do? Anything at all, or chuck it up to city living?

[Anonymous]

I would first try and talk to them and politely explain the situation. They may be unaware of the noise to neighbors below. If, after you first talk, it continues or they don't do anything about it, you might look into talking to the condo board.

[Anonymous]

basically, i'm your upstairs neighbor - same situation. fortunately our neighbor has a basement he can also use and he's very tolerant. i know we drive him bonkers (and we're looking for a house...). imo, you bought a lower level condo...should have taken upstairs noise into consideration. you cannot stop toddlers from running around, so i don't see any good in talking to them - if they're anything like me, they're already aware and feel really bad! i would wear ear plugs...and they should do you lots of favors.

[Anonymous]

I think you can try to talk to them but really there isn't much they can do except for ask the children not to run or wear shoes. They might be able to put down more rugs with pads. Toddlers will want to walk around and the parents can't really control that. Even walking only won't really take away the sound of their feet.

I doubt the condo board would do much. I have only heard of some NYC boards being aggressive about this. I honestly think part of this is a hazard of city living. Have you tried white noise machines in your house or earplugs?

Also ask yourself if you might make noise that bothers the upstairs people. I am sure my toddler drives the downstairs neighbors nuts with his trucks and feet but their TV/music and guitar playing at all hours after the children are asleep also drives me nuts. I haven't said anything to them since I figure its a two way street and part of living on top of one another.

good luck!

[Anonymous]

Unless they are breaking the rules (no floor coverings or noise after a certain time) there is not much that the condo board will be able to do. I would not even talk to the parents, they are kids and are going to move around even if the parents say no. You will just have to suck it up and try to cope.

Good Luck.

[Anonymous]

OP--I am the misunderstood, "noisy" upstairs neighbor of our buildings basement unit.

I have named the mom who lives below me "TBB" the b**** below." She once told me that she could hear me shower, left me a note about how the "noise is a problem," etc. This woman has a baby---a loud one at that, but I would never dream of complaining.

My DD is 1.5 and we are home at least 3 mornings out of the week. We have a play date or book club meeting here or there. We are in bed, like most parents of toddlers by 10 pm, never have loud music.....I bought new rugs, disallowed riding toys in the house, moved things around, taught my DD to tiptoe after dinner time.

TBB sent me an e-mail submitting that she hopes I don't have a playdate scheduled for _____ date when she is having an open house. I ignored it, but made sure I was out.

The situation is an uncomfortable one for me. I am from the south where cordiality is standard--I am going crazy "not being liked by my neighbors."

OP-noise is part of condo-living! Especially, basement living (TBB has lower ceilings than the rest of the building---not my problem) + if you are a parent you should be more understanding

[Anonymous]

OP here: thanks for the insight.

[Anonymous]

I lived below a couple with a baby before I had kids. Woke me twice a night howling. Daytime later was a nightmare as it sounded like my ceiling was crashing down. To be honest, it was 100% the reason I next bought a top floor unit--so I wouldn't hear the noise above. But that said--I never complained or made my neighbor feel bad. Not even when she called me at 8 am to tell my husband to stop singing in the shower. Kids are noisy.

Then my son was born and we were the noisy ones. It's impossible to not let a toddler run. I wore myself ragged and took him outdoors twice a day for noisy play. We ended up buying a SFH and now we love the space and privacy and not having to worry about noise.

FWIW, I was on the condo board--there isn't much they can do unless the noisy people don't have carpets or unless the noise is illegal. Even then, we had a lady who swore her apt was 70 covered with carpet, we checked and later she removed them. Sorry to say, this is condo living.

[Anonymous]

My problem isn't upstairs-downstairs noise, but inside-outside noise. My neighbors hang out on their porches, sit in their cars with music blaring, honk their horns, etc. And of course, there's also sirens, car alarms, and freakin' Marine One which flies about 7 feet over my roof at least once a day. Just the usual urban cacophony, right?

I would go bonkers without white noise. It obviously doesn't work if I'm trying to watch TV, but for reading or sleeping, I always have a fan running. I know that with upstairs-downstairs noise, the vibration is as much a problem as the audible noise, but really, try running a fan and see if it doesn't lower your annoyance quotient. It has sort of saved my sanity in the city.

[Anonymous]

You might try talking to the parents nicely. I think most moms on this board would agree that we'd make some effort to remind children to be gentle in the house, especially after an agreed-upon hour. Maybe your neighbors can do a little more with rugs or removing shoes, as was suggested. There are noise insulation systems that you can install, although these will lower your ceiling a little.

I'm a fan of city living, multi-family building density, and hardwood floors. A certain tolerance for neighbor noise is required, but neighbors should make an effort to agree on rules for living together!

[Anonymous]

Sorry, OP, but I think you're going to have to get used to it. We live in a top floor condo with a 1 year old and we do everything we can to keep her quiet (no shoes, in bed by 7, no running in the early am, etc) but there is only so much you can do. The reason we chose top floor is because I knew I couldn't handle noise above. Look at the bright side, there really are worse kinds of noise that toddler feet. Our downstairs neighbors are 60 year old newlyweds who shag like wild animals several times each night and morning, so believe me it could be worse!

[Anonymous]

What are the laws where you live regarding floor coverage? The condo assn can make sure they are compliant. That's about all you can do.

Of course, it is tough in the new buildings with thin divisions between households, so some "sucking up" is in order. I personally know what I am like, and would never have bought into a building young enough for drywall.

As a longtime Brooklyn resident, I can tell you though, there's a VAST difference in the way noise carries when people have area rugs versus just stark floors.

[Anonymous]

an exhause system was installed in the incerator room, which happens be be right under my living room and kitchen. It is emitting a loud humming sound that has made my apt. not fit to live in i have to retreat to the bedroom where the noise is still heard buy minimal. Ive talk to the board and management. i have wrteen three letters and ive got nothing but we ll look into it. It has been three weeks now with noone looking into it. what can i do

[Anonymous]

i think you have the right to ask the upstairs neighbors, kindly, if there's anything they can do to help. if you've never addressed it with them before, they may not even know it is an issue. ask if the kids can wear socks or slippers instead of shoes, ask if they can put down more carpets, etc.
also, are you in a new building? we were in a small, newly converted building a few years ago and the noise was terrible. turns out the developer didn't insulate/baffle properly and the condo board was able to get him to pay to get more insulation sprayed into the walls.

[Anonymous]

I think that you can let the neighbors know you're hearing it, ask if they have carpets down, etc., but basically you're out of luck. When you live in a condo, apartment, townhouse, duplex, etc, noise is part of the deal. Most places have certain hours that are supposed to be quiet hours (typically 9pm to 8am or something) where you should have loud music, loud tv, parties, musical instruments, etc, but outside of that normal noise from "life" is to be expected and is just one of the down sides to living this way.
Sorry!