Problems with neighbours

[filthiestfis]

Dont know where to post this really. Im feeling quite shocked, angry and upset at the mo. Just got a letter slipped under my door from the neighbours downstairs complaining about the noise we are making.
I am shocked because we do not think that we are making an unreasonable level of noise.
My partner and I moved in a couple of months ago. Last night, at 1am I walked briskly from our bedroom to the living room to turn off the internet hen we heard some loud banging which sounded like it came from our own house. We immediately felt like it was directed at us.
Anyway, the letter says that we have been making excessive levels of noise late at night and early in the morning and that they are unable to sleep until we go to sleep and that then they are awaken by us. Also complaints that we should not open the front door at night to smoke outside as this wakes their son up.
I feel that We do not use the washing machine beyond 9.30ish and we do not play music at all or watch tv late at night or make any noise other than talking to each other and walking about. I think that it is unreasonable to accuse us of this and we are now made to feel like prisoners because we cannot even walk around the house.
At 6am my partner gets up to go to work and she just walks to and from bathroom/kitchen which I do not even hear! They want us not to walk around then?!
Im just feeling really confused and I know we will have to go and speak to them about it, just wondering how to handle the situation.

[joannewatson]

I work at a property management company and have to deal with this all the time. Its a really fine line between a polite word and a war! Flats are a nightmare, I would never live in one due to this problem alone. Personally I would pop down and have a friendly word with them. Aknowledge the issue, say you will do what you can to try and keep the noise down and maybe get a rug and a runner for the hallway. I would try and avoid making this into an issue as it could make your life a misery.

[Pelly8910]

I have neighbours like that! Don't listen to them, I bet its because they're bored and want to moan abut something. it will probably stop but if they can't take it, they would move, right?

[Selfridge81]

I totally agree with Pelly. They might be bored and look for something to moan abt. That noise is no big deal. As i had trouble with my neighbours below a year ago (they have moved out few months ago). They didnt come and knock our door but called the management instead and received the letter regarding complaint abt the puppy barking. So we had no choice but had to sell him but his barking had got better and less as trained him to stop barking, it wasnt that bad. Now they have moved out. So, if it keeps bothering them, they should use earplugs! But surely this is not as much noise as puppy barking, isnt it? They shouldn't treat u like this. Its not ur fault..! This is life..! So, hope everything goes ok for u.

[saxy_jag]

If you like, I could bring my saxophone choir round one evening to practice ... there's only a dozen or so of us, lol!

[chairmanmiaow]

These people are ridiculous by the sounds of things. You would be wise to follow the advice here and be as conciliatory and approachable as you can be whilst expressing the reality that you can't be expected to refrain from walking through your flat. (What if you need to go to the loo? Do you have to just sh!£ the bed to avoid waking your delicate neighbours?!! ) If the worst came to the worst and they made a complaint to the council they would be shown up to be mentalists. Of course you don't want this kind of hassle having just moved in, I feel bad for you. I hope it gets sorted out and you can enjoy your time there despite these oddballs.
Good Luck !

[ayabrea38]

Horrid noise that you think you are not making but because of the way the house is converted you may be.Noise insulation could be at fault,maybe the council will outline this.They may be moany,they may not,,but speaking face to face may establish this.I wonder why they live in a basement flat anyway if they are that bothered by noise?
Having a chat hopefully will resolve this,you never know,they may be scared of confrontation(They seem to know your habits so it would of been easy for them to nab you)
Good luck,stop smoking,talking washing and watching tv for now!

[suzie1]

filth, did you sort this out then? What was the outcome

[bushbaby_de]

It sounds to me like a lot of the people who have replied on here have never lived in a flat and experienced noise nuisance. You may well be causing more noise than you realise, which whilst it may not be your fault if you think you are behaving reasonably, can be incredibly stressful for whoever is suffering (if it is a genuine complaint - they may of course just be moaning minnies!) I think the suggestions that one of you goes downstairs whilst the other one walks around is a really good idea, so you can tell if they are being oversensitive or if noise really does travel more easily than you realise.

I would be interested to know if the flat conversions had planning permission or not, because usually there is some kind of sound proofing and it doesn't sound like you have any. Think of sitting in a normal house when someone is upstairs and the noise that makes - at least if its your own kids you can tell them to shut up!

I would also say, try not to be too miffed that they wrote you a letter. At least it was polite, and they wrote to you directly rather than Environmental Health, for example. Visiting someone at their home to complain about them can seem confrontational, and it may be intimidating for them if they don't know you and therefore have no idea how you may react. I would suggest popping down to talk things through with them and ask if you can do a 'sound test' from their flat.

Please do keep us posted and I hope you sort something out.

[Stargazer]

"I regret that the first communication between us is in this form...we felt that a polite note was less confrontational than coming up to your flat to complain directly."

If this was taken from their letter, it shows that they are approaching the matter in as friendly a manner as possible.

"Walking briskly at 1.00 am across the room to switch off the internet" may have been the incident that prompted them to write to you, as it probably was very loud if on floorboards and in the still of the night.
Carpets are the answer, if you can afford them, also is it necessary to wear shoes in the flat? I always kick my shoes off when I come in to keep my carpets clean and like walking about in socks anyway.
I am so glad to not have this problem, living in a detatched house, but I noticed that my daughter and son in law were really noisy in the way they closed doors in their middle terrace after they got married. The front and back doors were always (to my ears anyway) slammed rather than closed and I felt worried that the neighbouring houses would be disturbed. My daughter and hubby were unaware of the noise that they made which was quite unecessary. Let us hear how things go.

[society]

Filthiestfis sounds like you and Tweenyb are neighbours. lol
http://www.theanswerb...w/Question881924.html

[Sam-In-The-City]

hey there, just come across this, we live in a similar set up and upstairs makes one hell of a racket, and we do believe most of it is unintentional, walking about late at night when things are quiet elsewhere does create much more noise than walkin about during the day, walking about in shoes is also louder than when she wears her slippers, all these olld houses are full of creaks and groans and sometimes its very frustrating when you are trying to get to sleep and upstairs is merely wandering about to go use the loo/get a drink/ fuss about in the kitchen. People are cautious tho in approaching other people, when we tried to approach her she became rude and the noise levels doubled :( she has a friend come round at 7am with a dog and they throw a ball for it up and down the hallway, which is great fun for me as i dont get in from work till 4am and by that time have usually just managed to go to sleep ARRGHHH, anyway my point is that maybe they have been on the receiving end of some rudeness from previous tennants, i think you should approach them with softly softly, remind them that its up to you where you smoke and if this wakes thier son then apologise but explain that its your rights to smoke outside, i do think that they may be being a little oversensitive xx