New Neighbors - Hypersensitive to noise?
July 13, 2010 10:23 AM Subscribe
I think we had new neighbors move in downstairs. The building manager has come to us twice with noise complaints.
But - we've got the music and tv turned down quieter than a conversation. No sound producing device is on the floor, or against a wall. The noise from outside (passing cars, the club down the street, other neighbors) is louder to where WE can't hear our music or TV.
I'm thinking i'm going to have the manager come up and hear how LOW we've turned things down and ask if we're being unreasonable. I've been in the same place for 5 years and this is the first time I've had noise complaints.
Any suggestions?
Do you know that the complaint was about you? I've gone around with friends who are RA's in the dorm while they do rounds and if there's a noise complaint without the complainer for lack of a better word naming a source, everyone room withing a 2 or 3 room radius was "warned" about it.
posted by theichibun at 10:33 AM on July 13, 2010
posted by theichibun at 10:33 AM on July 13, 2010
"I've been in the same place for 5 years and this is the first time I've had noise complaints."
Mention this very salient fact to the landlord, then ask how long the new neighbors have been living there. Then -- if they moved in very recently -- ask how many noise complaints the manager received in the many preceding years. And, finally, if they don't clue in by that point, you could mention that the problematic tenant is probably not you, but your neighbor.
(Also, the source of complain might be your footsteps rather than TV/music. Some people stomp with every step without realizing it.)
posted by astrochimp at 10:34 AM on July 13, 2010 [1 favorite]
Mention this very salient fact to the landlord, then ask how long the new neighbors have been living there. Then -- if they moved in very recently -- ask how many noise complaints the manager received in the many preceding years. And, finally, if they don't clue in by that point, you could mention that the problematic tenant is probably not you, but your neighbor.
(Also, the source of complain might be your footsteps rather than TV/music. Some people stomp with every step without realizing it.)
posted by astrochimp at 10:34 AM on July 13, 2010 [1 favorite]
Start with what brain said, or ask your super to arrange that, and do ask him to listen to the sound levels in your space.
But let's assume that maybe the old neighbors were deaf and/or the new ones particularly sensitive, and there actually is some noise coming through. The easiest transmission of sound is via bare floors, whether or not the "sound producing device" is on the floor — if it's on a piece of furniture standing on a bare floor, it might as well be on the floor in terms of sound transmission. The trick is to interrupt the transmission path. Best option: thick wall-to-wall carpeting. Assuming that's out, though, find ways to interrupt solid connections to the floor: neoprene pads or other cushioning under furniture legs, or a soft pad (folded towel, for example) between a speaker and a bookshelf, etc.
posted by beagle at 10:39 AM on July 13, 2010 [1 favorite]
But let's assume that maybe the old neighbors were deaf and/or the new ones particularly sensitive, and there actually is some noise coming through. The easiest transmission of sound is via bare floors, whether or not the "sound producing device" is on the floor — if it's on a piece of furniture standing on a bare floor, it might as well be on the floor in terms of sound transmission. The trick is to interrupt the transmission path. Best option: thick wall-to-wall carpeting. Assuming that's out, though, find ways to interrupt solid connections to the floor: neoprene pads or other cushioning under furniture legs, or a soft pad (folded towel, for example) between a speaker and a bookshelf, etc.
posted by beagle at 10:39 AM on July 13, 2010 [1 favorite]
Best answer: Seconding going to talk to your neighbors. All of them. Tell them that you've been in the building for five years and all of a sudden the manager is coming to you with complaints. Ask them point blank to come to you if noise is bothering them. Give them your phone number so that it's extra easy. Be super friendly and neighborly about it.
What you may also find out by doing this is that you aren't the only neighbor suddenly being called on the carpet by a new arrival. And if that's the case, maybe that fact needs to be brought to the attention of the building manager.
Do you have hardwood floors? Do you walk around with your shoes on inside? Some people (like me) are annoyed by that kind of thing, but then I also make it my responsbility to only rent a top-floor apartment so I don't have people clomping around above me.
posted by ambrosia at 10:42 AM on July 13, 2010 [3 favorites]
What you may also find out by doing this is that you aren't the only neighbor suddenly being called on the carpet by a new arrival. And if that's the case, maybe that fact needs to be brought to the attention of the building manager.
Do you have hardwood floors? Do you walk around with your shoes on inside? Some people (like me) are annoyed by that kind of thing, but then I also make it my responsbility to only rent a top-floor apartment so I don't have people clomping around above me.
posted by ambrosia at 10:42 AM on July 13, 2010 [3 favorites]
You can turn down the volume, but lowering the bass is what makes a difference.
Also, your new neighbors may be more sensitive to noise than your old neighbors. While they have a responsibility to manage that sensitivity, it's also your responsibility to make sure you aren't treading too heavily, have rugs/carpets on bare floors, consider the time when you may be loud (and everything else is quiet), etc.
A good test is to have one of you stay in your apartment behaving normally and ask your neighbors if you can sit for a few minutes in their place to see if you can both recognize and identify issues. What you consider a non-issue may be HUGE for them, and you just don't know it. Going by prior history of non-complaints is meaningless, what matters is how things are NOW.
I am hyper-sensitive to noise, and I always feel like others' right to loud music, etc. end where my walls begin. Everyone deserves a place where they can exist undisturbed. However, the responsibility to manage one's space and needs begins within that space. If your neighbors have made a good-faith effort to block out your noise, then you owe them the same by managing your expression of it.
Peace!
posted by kidelo at 10:52 AM on July 13, 2010 [2 favorites]
Also, your new neighbors may be more sensitive to noise than your old neighbors. While they have a responsibility to manage that sensitivity, it's also your responsibility to make sure you aren't treading too heavily, have rugs/carpets on bare floors, consider the time when you may be loud (and everything else is quiet), etc.
A good test is to have one of you stay in your apartment behaving normally and ask your neighbors if you can sit for a few minutes in their place to see if you can both recognize and identify issues. What you consider a non-issue may be HUGE for them, and you just don't know it. Going by prior history of non-complaints is meaningless, what matters is how things are NOW.
I am hyper-sensitive to noise, and I always feel like others' right to loud music, etc. end where my walls begin. Everyone deserves a place where they can exist undisturbed. However, the responsibility to manage one's space and needs begins within that space. If your neighbors have made a good-faith effort to block out your noise, then you owe them the same by managing your expression of it.
Peace!
posted by kidelo at 10:52 AM on July 13, 2010 [2 favorites]
Response by poster: Yeah, we have carpeted floors, shoes-off inside, and the complaints were specifically re: music/tv.
I base my volume levels on whether you could hear it outside the room with the door closed or not. If not, I assume it's ok.
I'll put together some nice letters w/my phone number and talk to the manager and neighbors.
posted by yeloson at 10:59 AM on July 13, 2010
I base my volume levels on whether you could hear it outside the room with the door closed or not. If not, I assume it's ok.
I'll put together some nice letters w/my phone number and talk to the manager and neighbors.
posted by yeloson at 10:59 AM on July 13, 2010
Do you have a subwoofer?
posted by jwells at 11:10 AM on July 13, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by jwells at 11:10 AM on July 13, 2010 [1 favorite]
If it is the people downstairs, they may be hearing something very different through the floor than you are hearing when you are in the next room from your TV. You are hearing the noise come to you through the air, but they are "feeling" it come through the floor and walls. I assume you don't have your speakers sitting on the floor.
I am sensitive to sound, but when I was an apartment-dweller, I certainly didn't expect total silence. It's nice of you to be trying to solve this, and if I were the complainer, I would definitely give you the benefit of the doubt for starting the communication.
Maybe you could also have an arrangement where you have the sound levels down really really low after XXPM. I used to have a neighbor who was just as loud at midnight as he was at noon.
posted by Knowyournuts at 11:15 AM on July 13, 2010
I am sensitive to sound, but when I was an apartment-dweller, I certainly didn't expect total silence. It's nice of you to be trying to solve this, and if I were the complainer, I would definitely give you the benefit of the doubt for starting the communication.
Maybe you could also have an arrangement where you have the sound levels down really really low after XXPM. I used to have a neighbor who was just as loud at midnight as he was at noon.
posted by Knowyournuts at 11:15 AM on July 13, 2010
Seconding jwells. If the complaints were specific to music and TV, my guess is subwoofer. Bass travels through walls very easily. You would naturally be basing your perception of volume on the overall frequency, but only low frequencies will be heard by your neighbor. So even though you think the volume is low, it is a constant low rumbling in your neighbors flat.
posted by whiskeyspider at 11:25 AM on July 13, 2010
posted by whiskeyspider at 11:25 AM on July 13, 2010
I've decided that my tv just has lousy speakers because I seem to need to crank up the volume more than usual, especially in summer when the windows are open. So now I turn on the English subtitles as a matter of course.
No, drat it, I am not going deaf.
posted by TWinbrook8 at 11:30 AM on July 13, 2010 [1 favorite]
No, drat it, I am not going deaf.
posted by TWinbrook8 at 11:30 AM on July 13, 2010 [1 favorite]
I base my volume levels on whether you could hear it outside the room with the door closed or not. If not, I assume it's ok.
Seconding Knowyournuts. Although I think a lot of it is probably super-sensitive new neighbors I know that what I can hear from my apartment in the hallway with the door closed is different from what I can hear through the walls and through the floor. Insulation is different with doors, walls and floors.
I'm friends with my upstairs neighbors and I can hear bass a lot but not lyrics in her music. When I go up to talk to her the music sounds totally different inside her apartment and in the hallway. She's a heel walker on wood floors too, which is annoying, but it doesn't annoy me as much since I know her. Good luck!
posted by Bunglegirl at 11:41 AM on July 13, 2010
Seconding Knowyournuts. Although I think a lot of it is probably super-sensitive new neighbors I know that what I can hear from my apartment in the hallway with the door closed is different from what I can hear through the walls and through the floor. Insulation is different with doors, walls and floors.
I'm friends with my upstairs neighbors and I can hear bass a lot but not lyrics in her music. When I go up to talk to her the music sounds totally different inside her apartment and in the hallway. She's a heel walker on wood floors too, which is annoying, but it doesn't annoy me as much since I know her. Good luck!
posted by Bunglegirl at 11:41 AM on July 13, 2010
we're going through this exact thing. new downstairs neighbor, suddenly we have noise complaints. we've been here a couple years, we're quiet people. we just keep pointing out to the office that we have zero idea of what they are complaining about and that we've never gotten a complaint before. to add to the frustration - the office doesn't even know what the complaint is over. apparently every morning they hear a loud bang. we've decided that they're ninnies and if they have an actual complaint they can come talk to us.
posted by nadawi at 11:55 AM on July 13, 2010 [2 favorites]
posted by nadawi at 11:55 AM on July 13, 2010 [2 favorites]
Are you sure the noise is coming from you? Sound travels in weird ways and building managers can be lazy. You need to trace the source of the sound... and then every time you can find it you need to call and complain about the guilty people's noise. This is the only way you are going to prove you are not the guilty party. (Alternatively... maybe you could cooperate with the people underneath you to try to 1) make sure there are no weird sound sources 2) Then track down who is causing the problem). But you are now guilty until proven innocent.
posted by An algorithmic dog at 11:56 AM on July 13, 2010
posted by An algorithmic dog at 11:56 AM on July 13, 2010
Response by poster: You need to trace the source of the sound... and then every time you can find it you need to call and complain about the guilty people's noise.
We live in downtown Oakland.
Typically every night:
1. Club down the street.
2. Street cleaner
3. Cars playing music in the parking lot outside
4. Neighbors who come home late and start dinner at midnight
5. At least one neighbor with a surround sound system
6. At least one neighbor who watches tv at night.
7. At least one neighbor with random booty calls every few weeks.
Which is sort of why I'm amazed -I'm the one- getting complaints. Tracking down the "source" would be basically pointing to 3-4 noises at any given time.
posted by yeloson at 12:08 PM on July 13, 2010
We live in downtown Oakland.
Typically every night:
1. Club down the street.
2. Street cleaner
3. Cars playing music in the parking lot outside
4. Neighbors who come home late and start dinner at midnight
5. At least one neighbor with a surround sound system
6. At least one neighbor who watches tv at night.
7. At least one neighbor with random booty calls every few weeks.
Which is sort of why I'm amazed -I'm the one- getting complaints. Tracking down the "source" would be basically pointing to 3-4 noises at any given time.
posted by yeloson at 12:08 PM on July 13, 2010
I have a crazy downstairs neighbor. Fortunately I knew the previous tenants in my apartment and they warned me about her. She complains about the noise that my boyfriend and I make. We are quiet people (no shoes indoors, no parties, no loud music, etc). I made an effort to decrease the noise but still got the broom banging from her. I stopped trying when I heard that she was complaining to the super over Thanksgiving weekend when we were out of town. Your new neighbors may be hypersensitive or used to living someplace extremely quiet. They will likely adjust within a few weeks.
Put down something under your speakers if they're directly on the floor. Know that the noise may be coming from somewhere other than your apartment. Ask the building manager if s/he can give specific examples of times when your neighbors have been bothered. Be cooperative with your building manager: tell him/her what you've told us here and make it clear that you're baffled but trying to fix the problem.
If you live on a high floor, noise coming from lower down apartments or the street can be amplified for people on high floors and can be hard to figure out where it is coming from.
As mentioned before, ask your next door neighbors if they've had any problems with noise from your apartment. Most people won't actually tell on you to the building manager unless it is really egregious.
Do you play music or watch television before 8am or after 11pm?
posted by sciencegeek at 12:13 PM on July 13, 2010
Put down something under your speakers if they're directly on the floor. Know that the noise may be coming from somewhere other than your apartment. Ask the building manager if s/he can give specific examples of times when your neighbors have been bothered. Be cooperative with your building manager: tell him/her what you've told us here and make it clear that you're baffled but trying to fix the problem.
If you live on a high floor, noise coming from lower down apartments or the street can be amplified for people on high floors and can be hard to figure out where it is coming from.
As mentioned before, ask your next door neighbors if they've had any problems with noise from your apartment. Most people won't actually tell on you to the building manager unless it is really egregious.
Do you play music or watch television before 8am or after 11pm?
posted by sciencegeek at 12:13 PM on July 13, 2010
I'll put together some nice letters w/my phone number (yeloson)
I think you're going to do this, but just to make sure: talk to your neighbors; don't just slide a letter under their door (lest it be seen as passive agressive).
posted by ocherdraco at 12:17 PM on July 13, 2010
I think you're going to do this, but just to make sure: talk to your neighbors; don't just slide a letter under their door (lest it be seen as passive agressive).
posted by ocherdraco at 12:17 PM on July 13, 2010
Response by poster: I think you're going to do this, but just to make sure: talk to your neighbors
Definitely. Part of it is that some of my neighbors don't get home until very late.
posted by yeloson at 1:14 PM on July 13, 2010
Definitely. Part of it is that some of my neighbors don't get home until very late.
posted by yeloson at 1:14 PM on July 13, 2010
I thought a lot of cities and apartment complexes had policies on what hours the noise is supposed to be reduced, like 7am to 11 pm. Otherwise everyone's allowed to live their lives and make noise. I'm all for staying on everyone's good sides, but if the complaints are during normal hours then I wonder if you should remind your landlord of this and ask him to stick up for you there - like you say, this is the first time you've gotten complaints.
posted by lizbunny at 1:37 PM on July 13, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by lizbunny at 1:37 PM on July 13, 2010 [1 favorite]
Seconding Lizbunny.
Especially if you are making an effort, then too bad for the neighbors. You do not owe downstairs neighbors a sound-diligence level that involves you creeping about like mice. Too bad, it is a society, learn to live in it, hyper-sensitives. If you can't hack it, don't live in a populated area.
That's how my mind would go. Yes, it is annoying to talk to the manager, but it seems extremely doubtful you owe them even the level of consideration that you've already given them. Morally or legally, my guess it you are completely in the clear.
Sure, talk to them, but my bet is they are going to have to learn to deal with it.
posted by Invoke at 2:24 PM on July 13, 2010 [2 favorites]
Especially if you are making an effort, then too bad for the neighbors. You do not owe downstairs neighbors a sound-diligence level that involves you creeping about like mice. Too bad, it is a society, learn to live in it, hyper-sensitives. If you can't hack it, don't live in a populated area.
That's how my mind would go. Yes, it is annoying to talk to the manager, but it seems extremely doubtful you owe them even the level of consideration that you've already given them. Morally or legally, my guess it you are completely in the clear.
Sure, talk to them, but my bet is they are going to have to learn to deal with it.
posted by Invoke at 2:24 PM on July 13, 2010 [2 favorites]
My husband and I had that same exact problem when we moved in to our place. It turned out that our new downstairs neighbor had never ever lived in a flat, let alone a downstairs one. After talking to her and with her boyfriend coming over and explaining to her this was normal noise in a flat, it solved the problem.
You might just be encountering neighbors that have never lived in flats; if you ask them directly for specifics of noises you should find out about what bothers them.
posted by tweemy at 3:02 PM on July 13, 2010
You might just be encountering neighbors that have never lived in flats; if you ask them directly for specifics of noises you should find out about what bothers them.
posted by tweemy at 3:02 PM on July 13, 2010
There's always the possibility that it's not even you making the noise. I nurtured a minor seething rage against the people upstairs with the cellphone that constantly plays this dopey song. That is, until I was outside the building one day and heard the song coming from an arcade across the street. Even now that I know where it comes from it still sounds like it's coming from the ceiling.
posted by clockwork at 6:32 PM on July 13, 2010
posted by clockwork at 6:32 PM on July 13, 2010
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posted by brain at 10:26 AM on July 13, 2010 [1 favorite]