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Noisy neighbors...are there any reasonable solutions?

penkosey

penkosey

Well-Known Member
Not sure there's much that can be done about this, but figured what the heck...

So I'm living in a pretty old rickety duplex. The place adjacent to me was empty for quite a while. About a week ago I started noticing lots of footfalls next door and realized some people were moving in. Immediately this place has turned almost into a nightmare to live in. Constant stomping. Vibrations. Apparently there is a child (children) who is constantly, constantly running back & forth from the front of the house to the back. Running! It shakes everything. Also, these people just always walk around with pretty heavy footsteps in general. They walk around so much, they must be getting miles of exercise. And, they are always dragging/scooting/moving things around--I don't get it. I can understand this kind of stuff occasionally, but not consistently. They are just noisy. There are always random loud noises...like, out of nowhere, it will suddenly sound like something very heavy has been dropped/crashed. Or just some obnoxious scraping sound along the baseboard. I'm baffled as to why some people need to make SO. MUCH. NOISE.

The deal with this house is, even if you're a fairly normal-to-quiet person, you can hear if someone is walking around next door; you can hear a muffled voice if someone is talking. This is totally understandable and reasonable. But when someone is running back & forth nonstop, it shakes the entire place. How people can not be aware of this is beyond me.

I will admit that I have a sensitivity to noise. I'm obviously a music lover since I'm on AudioKarma....but often what I need is silence. Often I can't concentrate with my favorite music in the background. So if I were to try to drown them out with my stereo (and with my speakers, I could totally make them miserable if I wanted) I'd really just be creating more chaos. Also, I'm afraid having my stereo on loudly might encourage them to do something similar like blaring their TV or something, in addition to all the noise they're already making. So, in other words, oddly, I'm finding myself trying to be extra quiet, out of fear that any noise they might hear from me might make everything escalate, with them thinking, hey, he's noisy, nobody cares, this is a free-for-all...

There was a point the other day where I was trying to get some computer work done, and the running back & forth/scooting heavy objects around was going on for so long that I was about to explode. It was making my blood boil and I was completely unable to concentrate on what I was doing. It was everything I could do to attempt to be polite and I'm sure I was unable to mask the disgust on my face, & my hands may have been forming fists. I knocked on the door and struggled for the right words to point out the constant running back & forth, how it was shaking the walls, how it was giving me headaches...this apparently made an impression for a total of one (1) day.

I'm pretty sure I overheard the woman on the porch yesterday, on her cell phone, telling someone that I was an a$$hole. So it's pretty clear that to these people, since I pointed out this excessive noise one time, they're in the right & I'm in the wrong. I do not want to make enemies & I also do not want to feel invaded. It's crazy...I walk quietly, do not listen to loud music, etc...but I bet every time they hear a peep from me (gently closing a cabinet, carefully putting dishes away, etc) they probably think I'm being just as noisy as them.

It's pretty clear to me that these people aren't going to change, and that the only real solution is to move away. Which I would like to do as soon as possible, but it is just not an option right now as I'm very busy.

Just wondered if anyone knew of any little helpful ideas to make the situation a little more tolerable. For example, I'm sensitive to noise enough that I have to sleep with the white noise of a fan on....otherwise I'll hear every little thing & I'll lay there awake. So, I thought about buying some big industrial fan or something, lol, and having it running all the time. But that seems kind of ridiculous (energy-wise & more) and it's not going to drown out the lower frequencies of stomping around. I'd walk around with headphones on all the time, if not for the fact that I often don't want to listen to music, much less have it blaring in my ears.

I don't know if there are any, uh, noise-cancelling machines out there, or anything. Guess I'm just writing this on the off-chance that anyone has any interesting or effective ideas on making the situation more tolerable...who knows! Thanks...
 
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My problem is the constant leaf blowers, lawn mowers, and chain saws running in my little neck of the woods. When I need it quiet, I just install foam earplugs. Usually the loudest thing I heard with them in is my heart beating.

I also use them when I am running the leaf blowers, lawn mowers, and chain saws...and on the motorcycles!

http://www.earplugstore.com/eeasudirebo5.html
 
I have one neighbor who will cut his grass 8 hours a day!
The one on the other side has a crane, payloader, bulldozer, Bobcat, half a dozen tractors, etc. etc. etc.
Both have Master's Degree's in Psychology, specializing in annoyance!
I figure they have no lives...
I Just turn the stereo in the garage up louder!
 
all you can do is turn up your sounds until they stop and then call it your time ..or go and talk with them . step carefully you will need to try and befriend them first . all neighbourly like .. not easy to advise really as not there in person ..
 
Duplexes are a bitch. The older the building the least the soundproofing. I lived in one for 6 years in the early 80's during my late 20's. It was on a slab so there was no reverberating thunder from the floor. But, occasional hits on the walls and loud talking, partying, loud music would come through fairly easily so, soundproof it wasn't.

The first year it was ME that was the asshole with the rock band. I knew the guy next door and he knew me long before we shared the common wall. And, I told him what he was up against before I moved in. He said he was cool with it. He wasn't. He moved out about a year later.

The next year, or so, it was vacant next door. Which ROCKED (except for the frozen pipe that winter in the common wall)!

Then, I got a partial payback. A couple late-teen roommate guys moved in. It was party central at both our places but theirs lasted MUCH later into the night than mine did. A couple of times I went over at 2am to explain they were too loud. It did no good. They wound up getting evicted after my second year. Not my fault- they did it themselves for non-payment of back rent.

Then, peace and quiet... A married couple with a young kid moved in. I toned myself down mainly due to embarrassment. :D

But, then I got my real due. Another couple of late-teen jackasses were there during my last 6 months. It was sheer hell. And, I had a live-in girlfriend at that time so had to listen to her complain, too. These guys also got evicted on their own accord. For bothering the people across the street, the landlord told me! Wow!

So. Duplexes are a bitch. You never know what you'll share a wall with. :no:

Knowing what I know and if I were in your shoes I would (as Pete also stated) get to know the neighbors as best you can. Both of you may become congenial and start to understand your limitations and those of the building and make allowances and adjustments for same.

And, look at it this way. If they are renting, renters tend to not stay in the same place too long.
 
Yeah, totally. What sucks is I'm dreading going over there a 2nd time & feeling rude about asking again, when they're the ones subjecting me to all this stress. And it's hard to find a polite way to say how much noise is being made. Right now it sounds like someone pacing back & forth on the other side of the wall in high heels while another person randomly throws a heavy boot at the floorboard (I have no idea what it is that could actually be going on in there). It just amazes me at some peoples' indifference to how they may be affecting others.

The pattern I'm noticing so far is that the noise escalates to a point where my adrenaline is bursting and I'm so frustrated that I'm finding it hard to form polite sentences.
 
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Another optimistic thought is that the noise you're hearing is them getting their possessions arranged and pictures up on the wall. Once there are done it may quiet down... :dunno:
 
When I was in college, I rented a small apartment where the bedrooms of the adjoining apartments shared a wall. A couple who had just got married moved in to the one next to me. Every Saturday night it was "thump thump, tee hee hee, thump thump, tee hee....."

Thank God he was "quick on the draw", so to speak.
 
gotta go with petehall and Blast on this one.
They may very well be 'setting their turf' for a while and might settle down after they feel comfy. After all, THEY have just uprooted and moved in. You might grow accustomed to their noises (their place was empty for a while, right?).

Give 'em some time, find a good weekend and make 'friendly'- you might find a level of commanility there.

Having written the above; in college I comtemplated BURNING down our apartment complex, due to a neighbors excessively loud 'love making' and excessively LOUD music (Stone Canyon Band). I could almost forgive the ah. . . hourly/daily/nightly 'events', but RICK NELSON and "The Garden Party", over and over? Ugh!
 
Man, I feel your pain! You appear very patient to the neighbors and in that case they'll continue to do as they do. It's like them thinking "hey, our neighbor never complains about us no matter what we do".

I would move no matter how busy I were. That would be the most logical solution.

Or buy some noise cancelling ear buds.

Buy a couple of those speakers that attach to a wall and make the wall vibrate with bass tones. Wait till the middle of the night....

Get something illegal and put it in their mailbox and call the cops.

It's really sad when people are so thoughtless. Good luck.
 
Pray, pray that they don't get a dog. I suffer with perfectly quiet common wall neighbors that for some reason have to have one of the loudest and most ignorant animals on the planet. This thing will bark itself hoarse if left outside, and is set off by about anything while alone during the day.

And of course little "Foo Foo" can do no wrong. Any training or corrective action is well beyond the comprehension of the owners.

Our civilization is defined by a__holes.
 
Tapehead47 said:
You appear very patient to the neighbors and in that case they'll continue to do as they do. It's like them thinking "hey, our neighbor never complains about us no matter what we do".
Click to expand...

This is kinda what I'm afraid of. Seems a delicate balance of being too nice = appearing as though they can walk all over you.... vs. Being too aggressive = coming across as a jerk.....

Tapehead47 said:
Buy a couple of those speakers that attach to a wall and make the wall vibrate with bass tones. Wait till the middle of the night....
Click to expand...

Yeah, seriously, I've thought of stuff like this, to demonstrate how it feels when the tables are turned. Not wanting to get into a pissing match though....

Tapehead47 said:
Get something illegal and put it in their mailbox and call the cops.
Click to expand...

Hahahahaha!
 
A lot of people couldn't care less about how they are affecting others. If it was me, I would wait a bit to see if they quieted down (like a couple of weeks) and if it didn't settle down, I would point my speakers at the wall and crank up Motorhead Ace of Spades in the middle of the night.


www.youtube.com/watch?v=qYO4zLY-Nag&ob=av3n
 
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