The joys of apartment living—noise mitigation strategies, please advise!

[Anonymous]

Posting for a friend who lives in a smaller, older apartment building. My friend can hear everything the upstairs renters do at night—walking around, opening, shutting drawers etc.

Friend has tried white noise machine and ear plugs and they aren’t helping at all. She has mentioned to the upstairs renters about the noise issue. She is not getting enough sleep and is at a breaking point ready to break the lease.

Please share your wisdom—is there anything my friend can do short of moving out? Maybe special ceiling panels or even fabric? I don’t know, would just like to help her in some way.
Thanks in advance

[Anonymous]

Use a white noise machine.

If it was a condo she could see if there were regulations requiring carpet to dampen the sound, but if she's a renter, moving out is it.

[Anonymous]

I will follow this, in the same situation. Except I also hear bed squeaking and amorous moaning at all times of day and night. They moved the bed away from the wall when I told them the walls were shaking.

I play music using my bose noise canceling headphones and sleep with white noise next to my head in the guest room (they don't use the space above that).

[Anonymous]

Has it been a long time since she’s lived in an apartment? Are the upstairs neighbors always up in the middle of the night? I am having a hard time understanding how a proper white noise machine wouldn’t solve this issue—and I’ve had some LOUD neighbors.

She can also try hanging acoustic ceiling tiles and, of course, have as much “noise absorbing” wall hangings as possible. In addition, would check to make sure all windows are sealed. A lot of time noise is actually coming in through those.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I will follow this, in the same situation. Except I also hear bed squeaking and amorous moaning at all times of day and night. They moved the bed away from the wall when I told them the walls were shaking.

I play music using my bose noise canceling headphones and sleep with white noise next to my head in the guest room (they don't use the space above that).

Sounds like your neighbors are at least having a good pandemic.

(Also, sorry, that sucks.)

[Anonymous]

In most apartment buildings the layouts are consistent vertically. Is she in the master bedroom and hearing noise from the people above her in their master bedroom? Does she have an apartment with more than one bedroom? Since it seems like her problem is sleeping, has she considered changing bedrooms?

One final thought...if she is hearing "drawers opening," which is not a loud activity at all, then she seems super sensitive to noise. Does she use earplugs? Other than that she will need to grin and bear it until her lease is up and then she needs to move to a place where she is on the top level so no one is above her.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Use a white noise machine.

If it was a condo she could see if there were regulations requiring carpet to dampen the sound, but if she's a renter, moving out is it.

"But I can't afford to buy rugs or carpet" says the new owner above me.

[Anonymous]

I live in a newer apartment that was made quickly and I can hear lots of noises. It is dependent on location in building (I've lived on different floors within the building and the sound transmission varied) and of course neighbors. I use a fan that is also on the louder side to produce a white noise type effect. It works well for me.

[Anonymous]

But a carpet for tenant above

[Anonymous]

Memories of misery... still cause me anxiety.

The only thing that will solve this is moving to a SFH, like I did.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Memories of misery... still cause me anxiety.

The only thing that will solve this is moving to a SFH, like I did.

Same here. And some noises vibrate through your very bones, it's not just the ears. Years ago I had a beat up old fan that made a horrific amount of noise I would sometimes resort to. White noise as usually thought of didn't cut it. Especially when I lived in a place where I swear they maxed out the distance between joists, no insulation between floors, it was like living in a goddamn guitar body the way the noises would reverberate.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:In most apartment buildings the layouts are consistent vertically. Is she in the master bedroom and hearing noise from the people above her in their master bedroom? Does she have an apartment with more than one bedroom? Since it seems like her problem is sleeping, has she considered changing bedrooms?

One final thought...if she is hearing "drawers opening," which is not a loud activity at all, then she seems super sensitive to noise. Does she use earplugs? Other than that she will need to grin and bear it until her lease is up and then she needs to move to a place where she is on the top level so no one is above her.

And that would have been me.

When I was a teenager, my mom bought some cheap plastic coffee cups. I insisted they made crackling noises when heating up coffee in the microwave. Nobody else could hear it. Then they started springing leaks you couldn't even see. The sound of someone playing a video game (this was in the 90s, Zelda and such) with the sound turned down a few rooms away could drive me nuts. I hardly ever play music or have the radio on when I'm home alone.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Use a white noise machine.

If it was a condo she could see if there were regulations requiring carpet to dampen the sound, but if she's a renter, moving out is it.

"But I can't afford to buy rugs or carpet" says the new owner above me.

Many apartments have bylaws that state 80% of floors must be covered. Your friend should look into this.

[Anonymous]

Better ear protection. I wear the headphones and ear plugs I use for target shooting when I’m home alone and awake.

[Anonymous]

I'm really surprised a white noise machine or two wouldn't help significantly. I have a cheap (noisy) box fan that I run all the time to help mask noises from my basement neighbor, and it helps a lot.