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Noisy neighbors...are there any reasonable solutions?

Yeah, seriously, as the problem is you hear everything the problem is a bitch. If the noise levels are not the result of more than normal activity, then if you are renting contacting the landlord of the noise and document it. As it is a duplex, does he own both sides. Older common wall homes can be unreasonably expensive to fix.

If it were me, I'd have a simple fix. If the noise hits, turn the k'horns so they face the wall and max out the volume control on the McIntosh MC2600s. A few times and maybe you'll come to some accomodation.
 
You can't fight noise with noise. Move, or just shoot 'em.

I had terrible neighbors, I moved and let some one else deal with the problem.
 
I'm with Fisherdude; if you are that sensitive to noise, you need to live in a house, preferably one in the boonies. Of course, then the crickets and frogs might bother you.
 
penkosey said:
Now it's like someone's scraping another part of the wall with a broom handle. Crazy.
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I lived in a 4-plex for a while and I could never figure out the sound occasionally coming from upstairs. I imagined that the woman living there was rolling a big solid cube across the floor. Thunk, thunk, thunk.
Seems you need to find a new place or adjust to the sounds.
 
Invite them over for a beer. Get to know them. Kill them with kindness, and perhaps they'll decide they were wrong about your being an a-hole, and start trying to be a little more considerate. It doesn't mean that they will start being considerate, but you do tend to catch more flies with honey...
 
I feel your pain. I have been dealing with a similar situation for FIVE YEARS!

Turd moved in next door IMMEDIATLY started being an asshole toawrds me and it has gone downhill since then


As I figure it, some people have more right to BE an ASSHOLE than I do to say anything about it.


IT SUCKS!
 
mayidunk said:
Invite them over for a beer. Get to know them. Kill them with kindness, and perhaps they'll decide they were wrong about your being an a-hole, and start trying to be a little more considerate. It doesn't mean that they will start being considerate, but you do tend to catch more flies with honey...
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Possible, possible.
Are you single or married? If single make a move on his wife....
 
Moving to a house is your best option. I doubt that your new neighbors know you well enough to be actively messing with you. Just as you are entitled to the peaceful enjoyment of your domicile your neighbors are entitled to theirs. None of the noises you've described sound like above the noise limits contained in most municipal codes as to nuisance behavior. I would suggest you go on to your city website and if you still believe that they're in violation you will need a good decibal meter to prove it.

After all of this you'll have some irate neighbors next door whose kids or their friends will gleefully egg your house every Halloween.

By your own admission it appears that you are too noise/neighbor sensitive to live in a duplex. That isn't the neighbors fault or problem.

Sorry if this seems insensitive to your plight.
 
That is why we rent a house in a nice quiet neighborhood.We got sick of the apartment thing real quick after I got married!
 
I had an audio engineer friend back in the late 70s who had a neighbor from hell. Everyday, when he would leave for work he would send an 18K tone through a very large PA system in his apartment with the speaker in his closet facing their apartment. The 18K was so high that it could not really be heard, but at the Db levels he used, it would drive a person crazy and they would not know why and since it could not be heard, it was never a noise nuisance. The people left after a month.
 
Been awhile like many years ago for me but when this sorta thing happen, I moved to a house. You will never get rid of a noisy neighbor, only make it worst by complaining. This has more to do with the buildings construction and the fact you had it all to yourself for so long. Then add kids and pets to the mix and your life will suck!



Barney
 
KingBubba said:
I had an audio engineer friend back in the late 70s who had a neighbor from hell. Everyday, when he would leave for work he would send an 18K tone through a very large PA system in his apartment with the speaker in his closet facing their apartment. The 18K was so high that it could not really be heard, but at the Db levels he used, it would drive a person crazy and they would not know why and since it could not be heard, it was never a noise nuisance. The people left after a month.
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Ha. I was actually thinking of something like this, just wasn't knowledgeable on what frequencies, etc.
:)
 
I know several people here mentioned me being too sensitive to noise. Thing is, I'm aware that in a duplex there's going to be noise. I don't mind reasonable noise. I expect to hear people walking around & hints of human life next door. What I cannot understand is constant stomping. Constant running in an endless loop that shakes the house (running! ????) Scraping sounds along the wall....I have never had a reason to scrape something along someones' wall. These are not reasonable sounds to be making repetitively. It ends up not just being about sound but shaking & vibrating.

luckyed said:
I lived in a 4-plex for a while and I could never figure out the sound occasionally coming from upstairs. I imagined that the woman living there was rolling a big solid cube across the floor. Thunk, thunk, thunk.
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Totally! It's like...wtf?

stereofanboy said:
I'm with Fisherdude; if you are that sensitive to noise, you need to live in a house, preferably one in the boonies. Of course, then the crickets and frogs might bother you.
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Not at all, man; it's just that there's a huge difference in signs of life next door vs. wondering if they're doing construction work/gutting the rooms, what with all the banging and stomping!
 
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Speaking as someone who is in the trades, there are set times of day that you can make noise of a certain level. Get a db meter, hold it 4 feet from the wall and report back your findings. It can't be against the wall. You'll need to exercise a little patience in that they only been in the house a week.

Another question, is the place carpeted or wood floors?
 
penkosey said:
- Wood floors; it's like an echo chamber.
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That's tough. Here's to hoping you find another place, it's not worth the aggravation dealing with the problem. Unless you can convince your landlord to install carpeting next door there isn't a whole lot you can do.
 
The truth of the matter is some people are just assholes. They'll be dragging furniture around and" getting situated" from now until they move.
 
I went through the exact same thing in several apartment buildings, but I lived in one in 2007 that was, by a wide margin, the worst of them all.

I lived above a man, a woman and a dog who had no concept of reasonable noise levels. The dog barked all the time, but you can't blame the dog for that.

They had a gigantic flat-screen television with a sound system that was on 24 hours a day. Often times they would watch an action movie at 3:00 am and it would keep me awake. If I pounded on the floor, they would turn it up higher (clearly, to them, I was the bad neighbor).

The worst was the way they never closed a door; they slammed those doors shut. I could feel the floor shake and I would wonder how many cracks their door frames had in them?

I complained to the management about them and never heard back.

My solution? I moved and my blood pressure went back to normal. You can't change people who live like animals.
 
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