I live in an apartment building in Lakewood that is pretty old. It's a nice place generally. I pay $625 a month, which seems to be slighty above average for 1BRs in the area... My friends pay in the $550 range. It has hardwood floors and radiator heat, etc. Obviously, as it is an older building, it has a bunch of noises that come with the territory: Wood floors creak and thump when people walk on them or sit in chairs; the walls moan; when the metal windows close, they slam loudly, etc. I can deal with this ambient noise.

 

However, I have an additional problem that is outside the normal "old building" stuff. The guy who lives above me is extremely rude. He HAMMERS at 1 a.m. on weekdays; He drops things that sound like bowling balls and shouts "DAMN IT" all night; and on the weekends, OH, the weekends, he brings home his big-mouthed friends at 3:30 a.m. to play music on the stereo and talk loudly. I've tried white noise and earplugs to no avail. The bass from the music always gets through and makes me crazy. I've complained to the building owners twice now, so we'll see if that makes any difference. I'm hoping they'll convince him to party elsewhere. Try Denny's. That's always worked for me after a night of boozing.

 

I've read on the Internet that people suggest going up and saying hello and asking, kindly, to shut the 'f' up. I'm never going to do this because #1. We all remember the artists who were killed this summer for asking a lunatic to turn down the radio. You don't know who is going to answer the door when you bring cookies and helpful tips for being quiet. #2. If I go up there and talk to him, I'm afraid I might try to strangle him. #3. I am wondering if he and the friends do drugs. It's hard to say as I don't even know what this guy looks like. #4. I don't want him knowing what I look like.

 

What do you all do in circumstances like this? I suppose my only hope is that the property company here will see value in keeping me as a tenant and convince him that his behavior is not beneficial to the building. Otherwise, I guess I'm going to have to keep testing earplugs and whitenoise for the next six months. I don't wanna move again! I hate packing and carrying my couch!

Thats how it was in the apt I use to live in. I couldn't understand why the hell people above me would keep dropping things, moving constantly causing the floor to squeek, and then there was the constant sound of deep bass from their stereo. It was a nightmare. I mean literallly..it sounded like bowling balls were being dropped on the floor non-stop. Did these people install a bowling alley in their apt and not tell anybody? That was the only conclusion I could come up with. Glad Im not there anymore. I guess the best thing to do is complain to the landlord/building manager.

 

Or..figure out who it is, and be really friendly to them. Establish a friendship. Then when you ask him to be a little more quiet he won't feel as threatened by your request since you have a friendship. Keep your friends close but your enemies closer! Someone in the mafia said that.

Noisy neighbors certainly isn't soley an urban problem. Our 2400 sq.ft. ranch is centered on an acre (150 ft frontage) screened by privacy fences, hedges and mature trees. Yet, we still are awakened in the night by our idiot neighbors. I would be much more tolerant of this in an urban enviroment. 

I live in an apartment building in Lakewood that is pretty old. It's a nice place generally. I pay $625 a month, which seems to be slighty above average for 1BRs in the area... My friends pay in the $550 range. It has hardwood floors and radiator heat, etc. Obviously, as it is an older building, it has a bunch of noises that come with the territory: Wood floors creak and thump when people walk on them or sit in chairs; the walls moan; when the metal windows close, they slam loudly, etc. I can deal with this ambient noise.

 

However, I have an additional problem that is outside the normal "old building" stuff. The guy who lives above me is extremely rude. He HAMMERS at 1 a.m. on weekdays; He drops things that sound like bowling balls and shouts "DAMN IT" all night; and on the weekends, OH, the weekends, he brings home his big-mouthed friends at 3:30 a.m. to play music on the stereo and talk loudly. I've tried white noise and earplugs to no avail. The bass from the music always gets through and makes me crazy. I've complained to the building owners twice now, so we'll see if that makes any difference. I'm hoping they'll convince him to party elsewhere. Try Denny's. That's always worked for me after a night of boozing.

 

I've read on the Internet that people suggest going up and saying hello and asking, kindly, to shut the 'f' up. I'm never going to do this because #1. We all remember the artists who were killed this summer for asking a lunatic to turn down the radio. You don't know who is going to answer the door when you bring cookies and helpful tips for being quiet. #2. If I go up there and talk to him, I'm afraid I might try to strangle him. #3. I am wondering if he and the friends do drugs. It's hard to say as I don't even know what this guy looks like. #4. I don't want him knowing what I look like.

 

What do you all do in circumstances like this? I suppose my only hope is that the property company here will see value in keeping me as a tenant and convince him that his behavior is not beneficial to the building. Otherwise, I guess I'm going to have to keep testing earplugs and whitenoise for the next six months. I don't wanna move again! I hate packing and carrying my couch!

 

As someone who lives in an older apartment I can't understand how you can hear anything.  I had major construction going on in my apartment and the people upstairs and downstairs heard nothing except for when the pluming in the ceiling was rerouted. My neighbors next door gutted their kitchen, I didn't hear a thing.  Is your building prewar?

 

How long have you lived in your building?  Do you know other neighbors?  If you know other neighbors, in confidence, you might want to inquire about the neighbor in question.  The person making the noise, might not know he is a nuisance to you or others.  Findout this information gives you the upperhand as there is safety in numbers.

 

You've notifed the building owners, what about the manager/supervisor of your building (if they are seperate from the mgmt. co.) these people might now the residents better than the building mgmt.

 

I think you might be "over reacting" a bit, the murder of the artist was an isolated situation.  I agree you should be cautious and respectful, but the neighbor needs to realize that he/she isn't the only person in the building.  I just thought, could your neighbor be an artist?  What would make you think he uses drugs?  I'm an insomniac and I'm up at 3/4 AM making noise around the house, BLASTING music.  I do my best work in the weee hours of the morning.

 

I'm pretty laid back and shy and I had the very same situation, with my upstairs neighbor when I rented in downtown brooklyn.

 

This is what I did and suggest:

- Send as certified letter to the building mgmt stating your concerns.  Make sure you have exact dates, times of the situations as that will benefit you.  If possible, use a camcorder to record the "disturbances".  This will put the situation into perspective so they can understand just how disturbing the situation is to YOU.

 

- Talk to your neighbors and see if anyone else has had issues with noise, particularly this neighbor.

 

-  Evaluate the pros/cons of what other neighbors have said.  Then, USING RESTRAINT, go up to the neighbors crib and explain your situation, it's the only way to break the ice.  You will get to know something about your neighbor - who might actually be a nice person.  If you're uncomfortable about discussing the situation face-to-face, write a DETAILED letter explaining how you feel, and include the exact dates and times YOU have been inconvienienced.

 

-If after you've spoken to or written your neighbor, the disruptioins continue, call the police and fill out a police report.  THEN send your landlord and housing department, via certified mail, a package each that includes: a) the previous letters to the landlord and a NEW letter stating you will not pay rent until the situation is corrected to YOUR satisfaction b) the police report c) the recording(s) of the disturbance(s) d) tell inform the other neighbors, as no QUALITY tenant wants to feel like they are giving their HARD EARNED money to a landlord who doesn't care.

 

Good luck and let us know how things turn out.

I'm an insomniac and I'm up at 3/4 AM making noise around the house, BLASTING music.  I do my best work in the weee hours of the morning.

 

Are you guys neighbors?

 

 

This won't work in an apartment building, but I once lived in a three-family, and when a housemate of ours was out of town, his boyfriend came home drunk, blasting the stereo, 2am or so.  Knocking on the door between songs worked - but the next step was going to be turning off the breakers to his apartment.  His drunk ass never would have figured out what happened...

 

(And then for bonus points, we could have turned them back on around 7:30am!)

 

^If you have access to the power, I love that solution.  I have long pondered why scientists haven't invented a device that will silence stereo systems.  I even googled it once and found out that people are working on it!

 

The case has been made generally that incivillity has ruined the urban experience.  People feel it is their right to listen to loud music, and law often supports them.  Same with other anti-social behavior that was once illegal, like loitering, littering, and swearing.

I dont really care about loitering and swearing to an extent but deep bass can permeate through ANYTHING. Wear some damn headphones!!!!!!

I'm an insomniac and I'm up at 3/4 AM making noise around the house, BLASTING music.  I do my best work in the weee hours of the morning.

 

Are you guys neighbors?

 

 

This won't work in an apartment building, but I once lived in a three-family, and when a housemate of ours was out of town, his boyfriend came home drunk, blasting the stereo, 2am or so.  Knocking on the door between songs worked - but the next step was going to be turning off the breakers to his apartment.  His drunk ass never would have figured out what happened...

 

(And then for bonus points, we could have turned them back on around 7:30am!)

 

 

Naa...I'm on Shaker Square.  But if I blast my house music loud enough, you might hear it in Lakewood!

 

I didn't do that when I lived in the apartment in Brooklyn or London.  I think that is just rude.  When you live in a multi-unit rental building, being courteous to your neighbors should be "a given".

 

My apartment here on the square is an end unit, so nobody can hear me...unless I have the windows open and even then, the only people to benefit are those at the rapid station.

 

River...turning off the breakers sounds like a good idea, for Jamiec!

I dont really care about loitering and swearing to an extent but deep bass can permeate through ANYTHING. Wear some damn headphones!!!!!!

 

OH....I love my deep house music.  I've got it blasting right now!  :-P

You make good points MTS. I don't know what he does for a job or if he has a job. I don't think he's an artist however. He comes home every weekday at around 7 p.m. Maybe he's an insomniac; I'm not sure.

 

Honestly, during the week when he makes the racket all night long by himself, I can handle it. It's annoying, but I get to sleep -- well, except for this Monday when I went to work after sleeping two hours. I was pretty pissed then. But my beef, and what I'm complaining about, is the fact that he is bringing at least five people back to his apartment at 3:30 in the morning  to basically have a party. I pay rent too, and it's unfair that I am getting stuck staring at the ceiling at 5:30 a.m. to adjust to his social life. I have stuff I want to do on the weekend, but when I get 2 hours of sleep, Idon't even want to get out of bed until 1 p.m. This morning I was inline at Lowes at 7 a.m. with all the contractors because they were still screwing around. The main reason I have complained to the management is, I don't want to deal with him. If he was blaring music at like 9 p.m. so loud I couldn't hear myself think, then I'd be more inclined to handle it myself because he may not know how loud the music is. However, it's pretty safe to assume that 3 a.m. to 7:30 a.m. is not a good time to be having guests and playing music. They don't even take off their shoes and he has no rugs! I'll let the management handle that.

 

What really sucks is, if he lived right next to me, I bet I wouldn't able to hear him at all. My neighbor across the hall has parties regularly, and the only time I SORT of heard was when they collectively cheered during an Ohio State game. There is another apartment with a window I could seriously reach out and jump through, and I have never, ever heard a peep out of whoever lives there. The way this guy's apartment is situated, it curves out and his living room window is directly above my bedroom window. These are thin windows that just open and close. Nothing fancy. So, I can hear their conversations and their music and their footsteps. I can even hear him urinating in the bathroom, which is particularly gross. Not much to be done with that, obviously. I can only assume the person above him can also hear the noise. But I don't think the people around him can hear.

 

I've started a spreadsheet with the date and times of his parties (those are what I'm concerned about), and I'll be updating it. I hope I don't have to do all the stuff you outlined MTS. With six months left on the lease, I'm probably more inclined to just move somewhere else.

 

edit: haha, I read about shutting off the power. I don't think i have access. I'll take a look. These apartments have the breakers in each unit, though. Off topic, but I have a whole bunch of problems with the company I'm renting for. When I moved in, someone had taken one of the breakers out of the wall so I had no power. The tub was so dirty, it took me literally three hours of scrubbing to clean. Yech. I've learned some lessons with this place!

I dont really care about loitering and swearing to an extent but deep bass can permeate through ANYTHING. Wear some damn headphones!!!!!!

 

Exactly! I found out that if I turn my radio to whitenoise, I can block out most everything. Even the footsteps and urinating. But I'm still stuck with *thump thump thump thump* and then you are focused on it.

Dude/Dudette,

 

What the hell kind of building do you live in?  I say withhold your rent.  Why should you be inconvienienced for the next six months or so.  If your landlord wont respond to your letters, I gaurantee they will respond to NON PAYMENT!

 

Also, if you never met this person, how can you come to the assumption they have no rugs, etc.  I suggest leaving out "assumptions" when complaining to management.  Listening to someone in their bathroom....is not sexy.

 

So where are you thinking of moving? 

The breaker thing would have worked for me because the guy was debilitated drunk, and horribly embarassed the next morning...but I probably wouldn't recommend it with someone who might figure it out and get pissed...

In the 1970's Rossville, there was a disagreement between a family and a tenate they rented their basement to. He retailated by unscrewing all the fuses. Later he shot and killed one of them on the front lawn.

In the 1970's Rossville, there was a disagreement between a family and a tenate they rented their basement to. He retailated by unscrewing all the fuses. Later he shot and killed one of them on the front lawn.

 

And you said I was overreacting, MTS!

In the 1970's Rossville, there was a disagreement between a family and a tenate they rented their basement to. He retailated by unscrewing all the fuses. Later he shot and killed one of them on the front lawn.

 

And you said I was overreacting, MTS!

 

It was the '70's...he was probably high!   Besides, Rossville is some lil town, you're in progressive Lakewood!

 

Thanks Inki    We're trying to help in this situation and you go and throw that out there! :x  You little stinker!  LOL 

 

 

What the hell kind of building do you live in?  I say withhold your rent.  Why should you be inconvienienced for the next six months or so.  If your landlord wont respond to your letters, I gaurantee they will respond to NON PAYMENT!

 

Better yet, the city may allow you to pay your rent to them in escrow.  You put the money in an account with the city while you dispute the landlord, that way you can't be evicted while your dispute is investigated.

What the hell kind of building do you live in?  I say withhold your rent.  Why should you be inconvienienced for the next six months or so.  If your landlord wont respond to your letters, I gaurantee they will respond to NON PAYMENT!

 

Better yet, the city may allow you to pay your rent to them in escrow.  You put the money in an account with the city while you dispute the landlord, that way you can't be evicted while your dispute is investigated.

 

NICE

 

I haven't thought of this.

 

I don't really want to move. I figured I'd spend two years in this place and hopefully have a little more money to play with in 2008. Where I'd move...I'm unsure! Visually, I like the rehabbed neighborhoods of Ohio City because they remind me of Hudson where my parents live. That may be an option. I'd really like to buy something. But I don't have any money, and it's probably going to take me some time to raise the money....Maybe 5 years?

What the hell kind of building do you live in?  I say withhold your rent.  Why should you be inconvienienced for the next six months or so.  If your landlord wont respond to your letters, I gaurantee they will respond to NON PAYMENT!

 

 

Better yet, the city may allow you to pay your rent to them in escrow.  You put the money in an account with the city while you dispute the landlord, that way you can't be evicted while your dispute is investigated.

 

NICE

 

I haven't thought of this.

 

I don't really want to move. I figured I'd spend two years in this place and hopefully have a little more money to play with in 2008. Where I'd move...I'm unsure! Visually, I like the rehabbed neighborhoods of Ohio City because they remind me of Hudson where my parents live. That may be an option. I'd really like to buy something. But I don't have any money, and it's probably going to take me some time to raise the money....Maybe 5 years?

 

5k deposit is all you need for a new home.  not to boster shaker square again, but there are some very nice apartments for as little as $45k around here. 

^Very true.  Hell, you can buy a home without any money down if you want.  A friend of mine closed yesterday on a home with an 80/20 mortgage.  $500/month would buy you probably around $70K - $80K at today's interest rates, with taxes and insurance.

 

In the past, I've had similar issues with neighbors being noisy and I don't care if people think I'm a "noise nazi", I need my sleep. Their right to be noisy ends at my eardrums. Don't get me wrong, I put on a fan at night and quiet music for "white noise". However, I have no qualms walking down to the on-site manager's place no matter what time of night and waking them up to have THEM take care of a rude tenant. I don't pay my rent on time, every month, to do their job.

 

Fortunately, my current neighbor is good about keeping it quiet during prime sleep hours (11pm to 7am). jamiec, you have rights as a tenant - I suggest you look into the escrow option.