The cookies are in the oven, now, what do I say?

[Anonymous]

Keep in mind, OP, that they probably have no idea the noise from opening their balcony door (for example) is as loud as it is for you downstairs, so I'm not sure it's fair to say they're being "disrespectful". You can certainly try talking to them but if the soundproofing in your building is as bad as it sounds I doubt it will do much good. You might be better off focusing your efforts on other ways to reduce noise. If you've signed a year-long lease on the apartment that you're reluctant to break, I'd look into the possibility of switching to another unit, on the top floor. I know it would be a pain but if you're really that bothered by the noise issue it might be worth it.

[Anonymous]

As I said, we picked a corner unit in the first floor for this reason. We don't share walls with anybody and there's nobody under us.

My children STTN and they're not in the crying phase anymore.

I don't think it's unreasonable to ask them to do laundry during the day or to not run/jump on top of my kids' bedroom late night. I wonder why they make so much noise! DH think they exercise or play wii after dinner until they go to bed.

Anyway, any suggestions on how to approach them? I'll knock on the door and say what? I just hate such situations...

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP again.

They keep opening and closing that door late night with the TV LOUD. We have fans on all night in all rooms and a white noise machine in each room. Still I believe it's disrespectful to act likethat at midnight, sometimes later.

Their screen door is fallen resting on the gate of their balcony that's why I think they keep opening and closing the door late night so often like that.

As I said I don't care about their everyday noise between 8am and 9pm. What's bothering us is the late night traffic, running, vacuum and laundry.

Well, maybe ask them about the screen door issue and tell them you can hear them closing the door even though you have fans.
But you have no right to tell them not to open and close their balcony doors, even if it is midnight. Its their door and their apt!

In our condo bldg we have only one cpl with a baby - and sometimes I can hear him crying when I get off the elevator.
What if their neighbor asked them to keep the baby noise down? Would that be reasonable?

[Anonymous]

Do you all really think OP is going to make some cookies to the neighbor?

Nobody understood that OP is actually the angry mom from Starbucks? yes! that one who got really upset with the kid breaking the cookies.

OP...stop being obsessed with cookies!

[Anonymous]

OP - Maybe they work and can't do their laundry in the day? Then what?
Do they have to wait until the weekends to do their laundry?

We often turn the washer on as we leave for work and put everything in the dryer when we get home at night.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
I don't think it's unreasonable to ask them to do laundry during the day

Yes - it is!

[Anonymous]

For the love of god, OP. People HAVE given you suggestions of what to say. If you're looking for the magic words that will

[Anonymous]

ooops... hit submit by accident

If you're looking for the magic words that will make them see the error of their ways, they don't exist. The fact is, they are well within their rights to open their screen door, do laundry, or play on their Wii any time they want. You can politely request that they keep the noise down, but they are under no obligation to comply with your wishes. You said you chose that apartment for a specific reason... well, that apartment comes with people upstairs who are going to make noise. If you refuse then you are going to have to live with it. The perfect solution you are looking for does not exist.

[Anonymous]

I meant to say, "If you refuse to move"

[Anonymous]

As I said I don't care about their everyday noise between 8am and 9pm

Maybe you don't care because those hours are compatible with your schedule. Trouble is, not everyone works your hours.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As I said, we picked a corner unit in the first floor for this reason. We don't share walls with anybody and there's nobody under us.

Sounds like you should've picked a corner unit on the top floor instead. I've learned the hard way that there's always more noise from people above than from people below.

[Anonymous]

First, OP is not being unreasonable for not wanting to hear a washing machine or vacuum cleaner at 10 PM or for thinking that noise that she can hear in her apt. downstairs at 2AM is out of line. Really, it is. I've lived in apartments my entire life and never had to put up with that. If you think about it, you'd be really irritated, too. As for telling her to move, are you serious? OP should move because the noise is unreasonable upstairs? Come on. That's ridiculous. Why should she have to move? So her options are listen to noise at crazy hours of the night or move? Please. OP, I would introduce myself to the neighbors and say that you're having some trouble with your LO sleep schedule and are hoping they can help. It seems the walls are pretty thin, and you can hear vacuuming, etc. Any way they can help you out? And BTW, are they hearing any noise from your apt.? (You may be surprised to find they are!) Hope it works out for you!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:First, OP is not being unreasonable for not wanting to hear a washing machine or vacuum cleaner at 10 PM or for thinking that noise that she can hear in her apt. downstairs at 2AM is out of line. Really, it is. I've lived in apartments my entire life and never had to put up with that. If you think about it, you'd be really irritated, too. As for telling her to move, are you serious? OP should move because the noise is unreasonable upstairs? Come on. That's ridiculous. Why should she have to move? So her options are listen to noise at crazy hours of the night or move? Please. OP, I would introduce myself to the neighbors and say that you're having some trouble with your LO sleep schedule and are hoping they can help. It seems the walls are pretty thin, and you can hear vacuuming, etc. Any way they can help you out? And BTW, are they hearing any noise from your apt.? (You may be surprised to find they are!) Hope it works out for you!

Except it's not entirely clear that the noise is unreasonable.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Sorry OP - at first I was with you but you're pissed they watch tv and enjoy their balcony at night??? I get the washer thing, I get the vaccuming and other things that most people don't do late at night. But come on lady, they can't watch TV past a certain time because of the noise? You really shouldn't be living in an apartment or condo building. You need your own house where the neighbors are far enough away that you can't hear anything. Get a grip. Buy a white noise machine to tune out the TV.

This!! YES!!! I am currently on the other side of this (I seriously wondered if you were MY neighbor until you said you were in a pet free building. You CANNOT ask for someone to stop everyday activities because you might be able to hear them.. first of all, it's not their fault the walls and floors are thin and aren't properly insulated, and secondly, your apartment complex, and the world, do not revolve around your family. I understand vacuuming, that one is obvious.. I might even be able to go along with laundry, and dishwasher.. but if they're not blasting their television at unreasonably loud volumes, or jumping up and down on their balcony, you cannot fairly ask them to cease these things.
I know with me, (as I said before, my neighbor is just like you..) evening time is quite literally THE ONLY time I ever get during the day, and I do watch television during that time, and even sometimes, heaven forbid, work on a little bit of housework. Welcome to living in an apartment. I suggest you get used to it.

[Anonymous]

We lived in an aparment like this but were the "noisy" upstairs neighbors. Actually, we were really quiet but the building had terrible soundproofing and our downstairs neighbors could hear every time we put a glass down on the table. They came to us and asked us to "keep it down" and we did everything we could think of. I tried to stay sitting on the couch in the evening and then tiptoeing to bed. But, I worked all day and I did have to run the dishwasher, do the laundry, etc in the evening sometimes just to keep my life going. My DH came home from work at 1:00 am (really their biggest complaint) and he would take his shoes off at the door and walk gingerly across the apartment. Even after we did all of this and took a big hit to the quality of our lives, the neighbors kept complaining because the problem wasn't really with how we were living but with the structure itself.

It sounds like the building is more of the problem than the neighbors. We eventually told the neighbors we could do no more and suggested that they get earplugs for sleeping. They did this and things did get better.

If you are stuck in this apartment, invest in some earplugs for you and the kids.

BTW, I don't get the "pet-free building" thing because your kids will be starting to walk. How does other people in the building having pets impact your kid's ability to learn to walk?

[Anonymous]

LoL pets dont keep my kids from learning to walk. We picked a pet free building because of the noise. Our community allows big dogs and I didn't want to live with a barking dog next door.

We know kids make noise thats why we picked a corner unit with no neighbors in either side.