apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

do NOT approach. i am living through a hellish experience as i write this with my living situation. albeit, i live in a rather seedier area then is probably being discussed...i have a MAJOR problem with a family above me that plays insanely loud rap constantly (think, 4 am?) and has children that run across the floors seemingly jumping from couch to couch. so, i took the suggested steps (from my local precinct): call 311, make an official noise complaint. then 2) tell your super and landlord. they are your last line before calling the cops directly. i went up and asked them to be quiet after steps one and two and they threatened to, no joke, "kill me" if i knocked on their door again. when i called to report this lovely incident the police officer informed me that, because of nyc laws, I (not him!) can be charged with harassment for going to their door to complain (no matter how nice i was). so, use your landlord/super first, then go to the cops. 75% of the time when you go to knock on their door it makes the situation worse (accord. to my cop friend).

good luck!

grace

I'd say you might as well talk to the tenant first, but my experience is that if they didn't notice how noisy they were being in the first place, it's because they don't care. I've just had two consecutive upstairs neighbors who I swear liked to rearrange their furniture at 2am, and when I asked politely (I'm a 5'3" female with a very soft voice) if it could perhaps wait till daytime, they both were immediately hostile. Oddly, when I called 311 I was told I couldn't file a noise complaint without the police showing up. But I called some housing office and they told me to keep a log of the noise for a few weeks, then send a registered letter to the landlord explaining the situation.

I sure wouldn't talk to the tenant about carpeting, though. Get the landlord to do it; it probably says something about that in the lease anyway, since it's NYC law. If the carpeting doesn't work and it's a true nuisance, you should keep sending registered letters to the landlord. If there's still no improvement, you can go to housing court. My last landlord was very cooperative; I think the kind of tenant who disregards others tends to be a source of aggravation for the landlord as well.

I have been through this in two different apartments within the same building. The first place was a third floor unit that was incredibly quiet when I saw it during the day, but at 6:30pm the neighbors upstairs (a couple) got home and were incredibly noisy. They would stomp around in shoes for hours and roll their office chair up and down the living room, oblivious to the fact that it was loud. I panicked and was furious at how misleading this building was (they only show during the day and have a sign outside advertising 'renovated' suites, while the walls are paper thin) and called the property manager. I told her about it and asked her if there were any top floor units and asked her not to speak to the people upstairs and that I would leave them a note. She called them anyways and they were furious that I complained when I tried to deal with them. They were quiet for a while, but after a month the noise reached it previous level and I was once again being woken up early and had to listen to them all evening. I even offered to buy them a few rugs and they told me to stop harassing them ‘cause they hear noise too and just put on the stereo. Very passive aggressive people.

I moved up a couple floors to another unit and found that there was another stomper above that place. The guy had wall-to-wall carpet in his living room and I could still hear him walking. In the summer I could dismiss it because he was only one person and left the apartment more often than the previous neighbors who were always home. Now that it’s getting cold and the windows are closed the noise is more noticeable ‘cause the traffic isn’t drowning everything out. My friends think I am crazy (or unlucky) at this point, but I left him a ‘carefully’ worded note that was succinct (I tend to over-explain, hence the length of this post) and the noise has been better. I decided to pick my battles and chose to ask him to walk lightly in the bedroom, hoping that he’d take it as a hint that he’s loud everywhere. I started the note with “I realize you wouldn’t do it on purpose, but…” and “we seem to have very different schedules”, being as meek as possible ‘cause people immediately take offense when reading a letter because they can’t hear your tone of voice. I wanted to tell him he was an ungraceful oaf, but I think it’s better to kill them with kindness. Go visit with a bottle of wine or leave it with a note if you’re not comfortable meeting them. Sometimes anonymity is a good idea.

I have a similar problem in that my new building has drywall-thin walls and dogs. These people down the hall from me let their dogs run wild in the halls as they take them out for walks and they fight and growl and bark their way past our door. One night the small dog barked for virtually hours on end. Our cat, who used to like to occasionally roam the hallways himself and now can't, is not very pleased. How do I tell someone to get their dogs to shut up? If I left a note they would know it was us since we're the newbies on the floor.

well shortly (in some areas) that letting dogs and cats roam freely will be taken very seriously.
in my area: wash. d.c. if ya let yer dog go unatended... esp. if the mutha gets mean with ya an' bites ya the owner will have to pay the dues for it big time.

and plus it's unsanitary, where the hell is the management? maybe call animal control and talk to them about what's going on...

I live in a very large apartment complex and my neighbors have two children and let them play all day Sat. and Sun., up until sometimes 9 p.m. right below my windows and the noise is unbearable. There is a rule here in the policies that states that children are not allowed to play outside of the tenants windows, but only in the playground here, and must be supervised under the age of 10. These people DO NOT care. They have been sent numerous letters from the management and they still continue to harass me. They have even gone so far as to make up a petition to get me out of here for complaining, and have harassed other tenants to sign it that don't even know who I am! Last week I videotaped the kids screaming and yelling for 6+ hours and I also recorded them for a few more hours. I brought all this to the office then I found my new car with crayon marks all over it! I called the Police, filed a vandalism report, also called the manager, and asked the Policeman to go over and tell them to stay away from my property and me. He went over, didn't accuse them, but asked them if they knew anything about it and of course they said, "no." Now they are harassing me even more and I am at my wits end. The office gives me no concrete answers, just that "it can't happen overnight." Whatever that means. Please give me advice on what to do.
Pat

THIS IS JUST A SMALL FRACTION OF WHAT I'M GOING THROUGH, AND I HAD LIKE 6 POLICE REPORTS , AND YOU WANNA KNOW WHAT KIND OF RESPONSES I'VE GOTTEN ATLEAST 3 TIMES THAT THEY THE COPS ANSWERED MY CALLS , WELL ONCE THEY TOLD ME TO MOVE FROM MY CONDO , AND ANOTHER TIME THEY REPLIED ME WITH THESE EXACT WORDS " WHAT DO YOU WANT ME TO DO " IN RATHER HARSH TONES, AND ANOTHER TIME THEY WAS JUST SO NASTY THAT THEY JUST PISSED ME OFF AND THEY DIDN'T DO ANYTHING , NOW DO YOU SEE WHAT'S WRONG HERE , 1. IF SOMEONE VERBALY HARRSSES YOU THEN LEGALLY YOU NEED TO HAVE PROOF OF THE INSULTS ,ETC. that means recording and or video. that's just one solution , BUT NO NO NO . I'M BEING TREATED LIKE GARBAGGE AND THEY'RE PLAYIN INTO MY STALKERS GAME BY THEIR REPLIES TO ME , . I DON'T KNOW DOES THAT MAKE SENSE , ANY OTHER ALTERNATIVE FEEDS THOSE STALKERS TO ME .


This is some pictures of what idiots where i live vandalized my 4 X 4 , and this along with stalking me , harrassment and other stuff and it keeps on going on different forms of it .. and these situations and events go on with the more knowledge from GREEDY PROCASTINATING SHARON - ISTA TYPES . and the police are so ignorant and haven't done anything for me involving stalking ,etc. they're inept .

Wow! In a way, I feel better after reading all these posts; now I know that I'm not alone! I recently moved into an apartment in an area where apartments are difficult to obtain. The location is extremely convenient for me, and I don't want to move since the closest other apartment to my workplace requires a 40 minute commute. Unfortunately, two (or three?) college students (males) live above me. All I hear throughout the day and into the late night are stomping feet and what sounds like heavy furniture being moved. Some nights it even sounds as if they're rolling bowling balls across the floor! I stopped by two times since I've been here to ask if they needed help moving, telling them that I heard a lot of banging coming from above me for the first month. (I hoped they'd take the hint to quiet down.) The replies I got, even while being "Mr. Nice Guy with a smile" were less than ideal. The stomping did decrease for two days after each of my "visits", however old habits die hard. The worst noise always seems to occur on the weekends, too. I have a job that requires me to be up at 6:00am on Sundays, so this is extremely annoying. These boys don't play loud music or shout, however, but stomping at seemingly random times turns my ceiling into a 24' bass drum booming at double forte! (That's enough to make anyone jump!) Because so many college students live in this building (unfortunately) noise complaints are practically useless. I've invested in ear plugs and those things guys who mow lawns wear over their ears to keep the noise level down. The two in combination seem to work well at night, however sometimes the bangs of moved furniture or dropped weights are loud enough to cut through even this much ear protection! I guess that's my introduction to the wonderful world of apartment living.

I've been living in my basement apt. for 3 years. The lady above me moved out the end of sept. and the new tenants moved in a month later. In this month span the landlords pulled up all the carpets and stripped the hardwoods, loud within its self. So this single mother moves in with her 9 year ol and just gives er hell. Constant stomping at all times. These people dont sit down. You'd think someone as overweight as her would lose some effin weight stopming around like that constantly in motion. So when they do the big bangs I get out my trusty hockey stick and just whale on the ceiling a few times. This kinda makes them angry. But atleast I let them know that someone is living below them. I complained to the supers after a week, but things havnt changed at all. You'd think while she was moving in she would have consideration for any tenant living below her or next to her. I could go on and on. So know i've implacated a plan. I hooked my stereo up in my bedroom, below her little ones. I'll just give 'er at 3am every morning, for the rest of her time here
kev

My family & I recently moved into a two-family apt. Its absolutely beautiful. This is the first time however that we live on the first floor - and it will be our last. There is a couple who live upstairs - they have to be in their late 20's - early 30's. They come home fro work around 11 pm and act like no one else lives in the house. She constantly walks around in her f---in pumps. He walks like he weighs 300 lbs. but is no where near that weight. And they have a dog who they like to play with at that hour so all you hear is him running across the floor. She will think nothing of vacuuming after midnight. They walk all over their apt. like they are running from one room to another. She never ever takes her f---in shoes off. I dont get it. The first thing I do when I walk in is kick off my shoes. But just like someone said above, its not that they dont realize what they are doing - they just dont care. They are a pain in the ass.

Hi. I just read the horror stories about stompers. I think stompers pretty follow similar patterns:they stomp about,make some banging noises,go quiet,then they start up again. They usually do it as if they can't function without doing it. They are aware,unless they lack any kind of common sense. I am dealing with a stomper myself. I left him a note addressing the problem; it was very polite. He didn't stop. I addressed it to the landlord; he has done very little about it....he even passively faulted my writing the tenant ,as opposed to offering him a beer and face-to-face chat about the problem. The tenant is a loser! I can no longer give him the benefit of the doubt. His stomping and banging is fairly random,but quite frequent. To drown it out,I play my music loudly or wear headphones......I still hear him,though. I'll eventually move,because he's driving me INSANE!!!!! Any good advice would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

I live on the 3rd floor of a 3-floor apt bldg and am constantly worried I'm making noise, because I've lived through that, and it's awful. I know, though, that no matter what I do, I'm sure my downstairs neighbor is going to think I'm being obnoxious. Every step I take, even with shoes off, makes the floor creak (to the point that it bothers me!). Because this neighbor chain smokes (which ends up in my apt) in a nonsmoking building, I don't care as much...but I think in old buildings, it can be really hard to stifle normal living noise!

The girl who lives upstairs from me is the sweetest and kindest person and I really do like her. However, I honestly think all her shoes are made of cement!! And she probably doesn't weigh more than 100lbs!

That being said, I never complain about the noise (to her anyway....) because I feel like it then voids my option to be noisy. I like to have friends over and we like to play Pat Benetar and dance at 2:00AM. I have a small dog and though he isn't a big barker, he does bark and run around a lot. The guy downstairs never complains, bless him.

People in glass houses....

*A while ago, we had a few fellas living above us with 9pm-3am daily disco dance party issues. After repeated friendly discussions, the last of them, resulting in none-too-causal physical threats, I had become fairly angry, as the neighborly talks were falling on deaf ears.

One night broke the last straw and I trudged up the back stairs and pounded on thier door. They obviously couldn't hear me, as Pasha was beyond the wood door or something, which made me more furious. I banged so hard the door burst open. We both stood - shocked - looking at each other. I told them to get down stairs and hear how loud it was. They came down and finally understood.

After that, our relationship was lovely, until the DEA showed up and dragged them off to prison for trafficing.

Ahh, goodtimes!

*Not that this is an ideal solution, but perhaps worth a chuckle.

If you have a nice neighbour, talk to them. Otherwise, move out, it's not worth the hassle. Although like Christine, having lived with noisy neighbours in the place above me and now having moved somewhere quieter, I worry that I'm making too much noise and so I'm always turning the stereo down/creeping about in socks, etc.

I just moved into a basement apt, and have come to call my upstairs neighbors Stompy, and Leadfoot, for it seems like they would really have to make an effort to make as much noise as they do. My roomate mentioned to them that their dog dragging a rawhide bone all around their hardwood floor was rather irritating, so they had the brilliant idea to replace that toy with a hard rubber ball, that bounces all over the fuggin place.
I don't know that anything can really be done about this sort of thing, apart from the situation represented in a prior posting, where the upset tenant demanded that the upstairs people come down to witness the noise. But that's a pretty extreme request. It's hard to not come off like an asshole, especially when you're as exasperated as you are when listening to this kind of stuff.
Whoa...I think I just heard the girlfriend upstairs yell at her boyfriend to be quiet. Cool. It is one in the morning, after all.
In fight fire with fire situations, my I reccommend the bands Pig Destroyer, Opeth, and Obituary. Turned up to a loud volume, they probably won't help the situation, but will at least provide a grim satisfaction.
Rock on, Downstairsers.

Lets face it! Houses,triple deckers etc. all are poorly constructed. Look at those Hurricanes blowing houses to pieces. That wouldn't occur in
well built houses. Point. There is no sound construction. Its two by four's and sheetrock.It's ridiculous. Always get a place on the top floor. Research the neighborhood.That is real important and if you live below a family your screwed. They will just think your anti-family if you take offence at the rug rats running
up and down for hours at a time. Also you don't know who you are dealing with..you could get your head blown off complaining...advice..research the
premises beforehand always get a unit on the top floor or rent a house out with space between you and your neighbors.....live near senior citizens not college kids or in the ghetto where not only do you have to deal with misogynistic satanic garbage rap but semi-automatics going off in kids
hands who don't even know who there daddy is.....

hello, i can completely relate to all the posts here. The guy upstairs from me sounds like an elephant. What has helped me was earplugs at night combined with a portable air conditioner/fan, in addition to an air purification device that makes a lot of noise to block out sound. The hamilton beach allergen reducer makes a decent fan sound that helps block out sound and will help you sleep.

Now this guy has developed a wicked cigar smoking habit. So thats been terrible to deal with. If anyone would have any advice at all, i would be more than grateful.

it's good to know I am not alone. there is at least comfort in the fact that there are other kind spirits out there, not just a bunch of stomping jerks. It is a mystery to me what these people are actually doing. I have never in my life needed to engage in any activity that would produce such resonant pounding and banging, and even if I did, would feel way too guilty to do it knowing I would be disturbing other people. I don't even practice cello at home because it might annoy people.
Does anyone know what they're doing up there?

I am pleasantly surprised that there is a discussion on this subject. It's a sore subject, but nonetheless, if you've lived in a lower floor of an apartment building, you've been furious with a stomper upstairs neighborhood. We live in a small building, where everyone's relatively cordial. My upstairs neighbors are sensitive to our requests when they moved in, but on Friday and Saturday nights, from 7pm to 3am, it's party time.

This has worked for some time, although I've had to remind them every once in a while. My advice is, NEVER be hostile during your complaint to your neighbor. Say it with a smile, like "I'm sorry to be interrupting, it's kinda late and we are trying to rest/sleep. Would you mind walking lightly or taking off your shoes after 9pm?" They'll be somewhat annoyed (as you would be too when someone tries to tell you what you can or can't do), but they'll take your "niceness" into consideration.

The police reports, as I've read in these replies, is not a good recommendation. That only escalates the situation-- and ANY possible reconciliation is gone. They'll make more noises just to irritate you then. Being nice but firm will work in your favor.

I feel much better having read the above. Found this site by Googling "noisy clomping feet upstairs condo"

It is amazing this tiny woman above us makes as much noise as she does, a nice career girl with no pets, we should be thankful that is all the noise she makes. Back and forth, back and forth non stop with shoes on, heels hitting the floor first. The clomping NEVER STOPS or slows until midnight, then 4:30 a.m. it starts up again til the door slams as she leaves for work.

It would feel so good to grab her one day, give her a few whacks. I get so mad. I wonder how much hostility up there, is rubbing off on me down here. I'm not normally like this. Since we like to consider ourselves too civilized for violence our discussions down here are, "could this intelligent attractive "classy" woman be that ignorant and uncaring?"

What we have seen is, this woman has extremely poor communication skills - pleasant enough on the outside, but as most rude people; really and truly, does not acknowldedge others existing around her. She would never contact others to ask for advice or help like we do. She wouldn't consider inconveniencing herself to wear slippers and step lightly toe/heel.
Help or consideration is not in these peoples vocabulary. Ask one of them how someone could help someone and see what you get.

My advice is, get an air purifier like the people above - it helps us sleep through the night also.
We have not mentioned the noise, though she reminded us strongly the people before us were loud. We figure this woman has issues, social conversations with her end in abruptness. Ugh. Why bother.

She may give herself an aneurism. She can finally sit in one place for a while.

Well, it sounds like it sorta sucks to live up north, esp. in a NYC. Either that, or people just love to complain.

Try moving somewhere in the Southwest, where new, affordable apartments are still actually being built- and almost all of them come with carpet, standard!

The other clue: don't live in a building that allows pets, at all. Cats and dogs are for people with a house, at least a rental house. Apartments are like shoeboxes- we may have to live in them, but why put a pet through that torture?

I came to the conclusion that I live in an honest-to-goodness ghetto. I really hate moving, however, and legally breaking the lease will be a chore. Every time things get really loud, and I swear I will move, the problem suddenly goes away... for a day... then the noise resumes (even louder than before); my upstairs neighbors, aside from liking sports that involve flinging furniture at odd hours, also bought an electric guitar last week. To make matters worse, they haven’t learned to tune it properly. A group of wannabe rappers moved into the basement apartment underneath me at the beginning of the year, making their “crib” the nucleus of their drug network which sells to nearby college students. To avoid being overheard while making shady deals, these bad boys turn up their rap music so loud that it vibrates the floor and shakes things off tables. The other weekend eight police officers raided their apartment and fifty some-odd college kids poured out of every possible exit (including windows) to get away from the “fuzz.” Not wanting the police to find anything on them, this mass exodus of doped-up flesh emptied their pockets of all drug paraphernalia outside the building and in the hallway; I’m still finding needles on the ground near the entrance. Although the basement “boyz” now play their rap music less-frequently, I still have to worry about stray bullets and standoffs at 4:00am.

My next-door neighbors, however, are saints--actually, they’re a group of six sorority sisters. The guys who like to party live down the hall, along with a bunch of college kids who live it up all night long and leave their used condemns on the sides of the mailboxes. (At least they use protection.) The guys above me, as you know, make me think about suggesting the addition of a new rank to the Boy Scouts of America--Thunderfoot. Then, there is the crack whore. No joke. She moved in a few weeks ago. I don’t know how many people live with her, but she keeps a steady stream of guys flocking to her bed every night. She’s got some messed-up friends who make the off-color remarks one of my autistic buddies says suitable for use in children’s picture books!

Because of the incessant, late-night stomping I invested in an army cot so I can sleep in my bathroom--so far the quietest place here! Even in the bathroom, however, massive ear protection is a must if I want to fall asleep and stay asleep. Before the new year I came down with a painful case of shingles because my body was so exhausted from months of interrupted, dreamless sleep. (Not having adequate rest impairs one’s immune system.) In short--and my doctor agrees--this place is terrible for my health. I paid to live in an apartment, not a dormitory or drug haven. Believe it or not this building is “supposedly” in a good section of town. It certainly “looks” nice during the daytime. I’m leaving here in the next few weeks to stay with a local priest and his family until I find another apartment; I need the sleep and stability right now.

I have a lawyer who is looking to see how I can break my lease legally. When I find out how to get out of a situation like this I’ll repost on this message board. In the meantime, here are a few of Big Matt’s do’s and dont’s for apartment selection:

1. Live on the top floor.
2. Visit the area many times during the night to see if undesirable elements manifest themselves after dark.
3. Don’t live anywhere near colleges, especially college dormitories or college-owned apartment buildings!
4. Get to know your landlord personally. If he or she is decent you’ll be able to confront him or her about issues and have more say if a less-than ideal situation arises.
5. Don’t move into a building if the current tenants scare you; trust your gut feelings.
6. Make sure the area does not turn into a weigh station for big trucks after dark.
7. Ask current tenants in the building (not just those living in the apartment you plan to rent) about the place.
8. If you have to live underneath someone else, make sure their floor is carpeted. If it is not, save yourself the aggravation an find another apartment.

Happy hunting!

What can I do about a neighbor of mine in an adjacent apartment that keeps her television turned up to what seems like "a rock concert level" at just about all hours of the day and night, disturbing what I want to do, (especially me being able to get any sleep at night, which is wreaking havoc with my epileptic seizure control, among other things), but I would like to get this stopped!! I've tried talking to the apartment manager, to the caregiver of this person, and also to our local Police Department, and she is still doing this stuff!! What can I have done so that I don't end up moving away from my apartment that I've lived in for nearly three years??

James,

Cut the power to her apartment. Usually you can find breakers in the main basement. When it's late and she's rockin' out to TV Land, cut it. Even if it controls part of your apartment, you won't be needing it while you're sleeping anyway, right? If she finds out how to turn it back on, turn it off again. This should send a clear message. It's your health over her inconsiderate nature. Also, most cities have noise ordinances. Use them to your advantage. KEEP calling the police over and over again. They'll eventually get sick of responding and (hopefully) put pressure on her to knock it off. If you know anyone in a hefty government position, have them send a letter on your behalf to your landlord. When times are desperate pull out the big guns. (That's a figure of speech.) Good luck.

We live in the lower unit of a nice old building in Los Angeles. That is, it used to be nice until the landlady pulled out the carpet ustairs. Since then we have had a stream of thundering clubfeet. The landlady claims she has told the upstairs tenants to put down rugs, and I think they have - alleged rugs. Or maybe they're just towels. They must be made of silk and moth's wings. When I causally asked one of the upstairs caffeinated late-night furniture movers if they had rugs, she said Yes! But, you see, they don't want every square inch covered, they LIKE hardwood floors. Isn't there a law?!!! I know in NYC you have to have floor coverings on hardwood floors - what about LA? Mr. Writer, or rather, Kangaroo Jackrabbit, has installed his "office" above our bedroom. He must be on east-coast time because he likes to start dropping lots of writer-related objects on our ceiling bright and early. Life sure would be better if Kafka up there had some padding.

I am a night shift worker and I love it. The trouble I have is that I had neighbors (one across the hall and next door) that played their t.v.'s or radioes tooooo loud at all times of the day, roughly mornings. I have called the police on several occasions and had made a complaint to my landlord, and she told me to call the police. Now Sunday morning 3/26/06, I knocked on my next door neighbor's door to ask him if could turn his televison down and he got pissed off at me for asking him to. Not only that, he knows I sleep in the daytime, because I asked him once before and he did ok for several months and then started back again Sunday morning 3/26/06. What other step could I take, because I don't any problems with my neighbor or any body else. Please help !!!

A women moved in above me. She's having her friends over again. They are behaving like idiots, running around the apartment and I think they are either really fat because I can hear their every step or wearing cheap platform heels. She also has a treadmill that she uses at midnight on a regular basis. I've tried talking to her.. her response is that she is just walking and it's just the treadmill noise. Let me just say, I have never seen my whole apartment tremble that much before... even the pens on my desk were moving. Earplugs don't help when your whole apartment is shaking. I only have a few months on my lease left, so the next apt I rent will be on the top floor.

My problem isn't neighbors ABOVE me...it is the ones next door. I work night shifts and usually sleep early in the day if I can but sometimes I have to sleep in the evening after these people get home from work. (sometimes they are there so often I wonder if they work at all.) There is a basement under our apartments that connects and allows all the slamming to conduct through the floor literally vibrating my apartment. The walls are not very thick and one of the beer swilling idiots likes to use the phrases "Git-R-Done!!!" and "WHOOOOOO!!!" for everything from "I won the lottery" to "I got a burrito" so I hear that at least three times a day. I have spoken to the landlord and he tries to help. I have called the police on them when they were slamming things around and yelling at 2am because I thought they were fighting but the cops arrived and nothing happened. I have personally confronted them at thier door and returned to my house to hear them (through the wall) threatening to kick my tail...(I almost wished they had tried at that point.) ASAP I am hoping to not only move out of this apartment but to another state just to get away from these idiots. I feel for you all and hope things get better.

As a sleep deprived new resident of Cold Spring NY in Putnam County I can sympathise. I moved into an area I thought was Quiet and it is. The issue is my stomping upstairs neighbor between 3am-6am 7 days a week. Like some of the above posters she starts and stops and since I complained to the board actually denies to them after admitting to us she is a stomper. There are Laws guys and small claims court/civil court but it takes time to build up your ammunition. You need to build a log of the daily disturbances, Tape the offending noise. Of course get a hitman/lawyer to go after them. They will not stop until you make them legally and even then it might take the stomper a night in jail before it ultimately ends. Write the various powers that be -state attorney general, department of environmental protection- (noise pollution),HUman Rights Division- to prove to the court(s) you have attempted to deal with the issue. PLease do write and make them aware that noisy -air polluting, health hazardous neighbors are a NY, NY STATE issue.

What a waste of time to knock on someone's door and ask them to tone down their stereo because it's vibrating into your apt. I work as a doctor and doing my intern....so I work different shifts and I brought my first condo not knowing who my neighbors were only to find that the next door neighbor blasted her stereo and surround sound into my condo causing the wall we share to vibrate disturbing my life and sleep! I knocked on her door many times without any luck of reducing the volume. I finally went to management to report her and got knowwhere with the management company or board. In fact, the board told me to hire a real estate lawyer that deals with harassment cases. Can you imagine paying all that assessment every month and get an answer like that. Well, I did hire a lawyer and the stereo harassment went on for months,causing me great stress and enjoyment of my condo. Well, I finally decided to sell.....guess what happend to the young doctor? Since I spend thousands of dollars re-doing an 60's condo it sold in two days. But wait, there is more. The new owner sued me for not disclosing stereo,surround sound harassement from the neighbor and I had to sue the hostile neighbor. It was a nightmare!I now rent, and if this happened t me again, I would call the owner and explain the problem to him. If he didn't do anything about it I would move-out and break the lease. Forget about knocking on the neighbor's door. They know it's loud, they are just selfish!!!

I live in a 4-plex appartment complex, downstairs, however, the upstairs neighbors - very young adults ( 18-21) with two children - a terrrible two year old - star runner - and an infant. I can put up with the children but when the adults stomp round - like the two year old - then there are issues. Several times I have asked him in passing in the hallway - to be a little more quiter in the late night hours, and while we were discussing the noise, he actually could hear his daughter running - and said " geeze, I didn't realize it was that loud. Thought it would stop after hearing it himself.....guess again... it has only gotten worse. After the bars close they bring several folks home with them - and the noise pollution - is much worse. He does, come to my door - awakens me - and tells me - am having a party - insert your ear-plugs. In short of wanting to punch him....his girlfriend yells down to him - from up stairs - just tell her to get f--ked, and the partying continues, after me telling him - show some respect for your neighbors during the wee hours of the morning, or face having to deal with the police tonite.

My upstair neighbors really suck!!! Young punks - cant seem to pay their rent. Stomp constantly, slam cupboard doors, drink excessively - sit out on the upper balcony - throwing their cigarette butts over the railing - down on the lawn in front of my appartment. They dont walk into this complex - they run and run up the steps. Our walls in here are paper thin - so I hear every word they say. And guess what - he got fired....imagine that - dont show up for work - because of getting drunk night after night...his girlfriend doesn't work has a couple of kids - that run and stomp constantly. Now, the loosers just had some of their friends move in too with them - to help out with the rent.....hmmmmm - stomping is really bad - sounds like pro-wrestling up there. I can only hope they cant pay the rent for next month - or the month after.....ahhhhhhhhhh the good life is nearing. Just let'em party one more time.....yep, will definatly call super/police. and it's back to jail for him. ( ha! ha! )

I am the only female in a 6 unit complex. I have only one neighbor who is a selfish, spoiled and vindictive person. I asked him to turn his head-banger music down, and of course he did not. So, I called the landlady, and she drove thru and caught him with the music blasting. Now he is vowing revenge. First, he tied a chair to his side of the porch, so I cannot get my bicycle thru. Then, then, last night, while I was gone, someone (him no doubt), locked my screen door from the OUTSIDE, so I could not open it. Now, I am tempted to do it to him, or something equally as stupid, but it would only escalate. I don't want to keep calling the landlady. I'm thinking I could get some limburger cheese and throw it thru his bedroom window, under the bed.

Seriously, I want to send a message, but not be a bitch...This is a challenge, any ideas out there?

I have lived in my apartment for a little over a year, after I moved in a single guy moved in next door, he would blare his music at all hours, last summer I complained and management said they would
talk to him, thru out the winter I could hear doors slamming, people outside talking, music playing. . this being around 1-2am, I work second shift so I dont get home until 12mn, this last Sunday morning at 3:53 am he turned on his loud music, I went to the living room and could still hear it there, I have again called management, they again said they will call him. I know he is due to renew his lease and pray he does not, we have alot of senior citizens here in these apts.
Ive been thru this before when I had little children, neighbors were drug addicts, yelling, coming over and asking me to call the cops, breaking windows. . I begged management to move me or evict them, when I finally broke my lease as I could not take it anymore, they put that on my credit report and the people were still there
when I moved out. In these apt leases it states that loud noises are not to be going on. .is that
something they just put there to fill up space or what? Believe me if you complain. . you are the bad guy for doing so. What legal recourse do we have? Does anyone know?

Well,it's me again. This time,I have pair of stompers living above me; the other stomper (Stompzilla) moved out. The new neighbors are the Stomps. Their favorite things to do: stomp back & forth,drop heavy things and move furniture around....all of them on a daily basis. Such nice assholes they are.

ok. it's clear. we all have "fat","lead-feet", "inconsiderate" assholes living above, under and/or next to us - oh, and- with or without "overstimulated" rugrats who are doom to carry on their parent's

When I first read all these comments, I felt better knowing I wasn't alone in my frustration. But after a few chuckles later, I am back to feeling very indignant. What really gets me is that hardworking people who pays their rent or buys their place gets treated like SHIT and the lazy, blood-sucking, ones get protected with laws/ and rights. I have the same problems, which I am sick of complaining about. With new developments popping up all over NYC, this problem is only going to escalate. There must be something we can do.

From what I've read, these are my suggestions.

For those of us who have "nice" but ignorant neighbors, I agree just talking does not good - even the nicest person will be slightly offended. I do think bringing them down to your apartment so they can truly hear what you are force to live with, will only help. I've lived above others in my college years and it was only until I lived on the first floor under varies types of neighbors (good and bad) that realize how walking around with shoes or tapping your feet to music could sound like stompping, or moving a chair back to sit can sound like dragging furniture, and even while you may be having quiet, private sex, your bed is loudly broadcasting to your neighbors. Some guys can go on and on and on - jackhammering away:) Just thinking back makes me sorry for my ignorance.

For those of us living with bad renter(s), I have a question. If they are as much of a problem for the landlord as they are for you, why would the landlord renew their lease? Can you help the landlord find someone else? Surely they prefer you that them!

For those of us who own our place and therefore, moving is not an easy option, what is our options? 1.)I am going to take one of the writer's advise and write to our government and district leaders. This problem is not going away - I want to know exactly what laws/rights we have. (i.e carpeting, it that city, state or just individual condo rules?) 2.) I need a good lawyer. I hired one previous but he was as passive as I am - who needs to pay money for that?! I can sit around and do nothing on my own! I need a real shark. Any recommendations?


that's a load off my chest. thanks!

oops, sorry, lots of typos and incomplete thoughts..but you guys get the jest of it.

i have had the same problem with stompers and didn't realize that there were so many other people out there that have been suffering. I have been living in a studio apt in the valley area of l.a. for a few years. the first 3 people above me (all single males) were quiet and i had no problems.

Then enters leadfoot "stefan". He was overweight and was loud all hours of the night. I don't know what he was doing but i heard him up there all hours of the night with loud "thumps". I ended up sleeping in my walk-in closet many nights on the floor to get some sleep. I complained to the landlord several times and sometimes he would be more quiet but overall it was pure hell and it never got better.

Well he finally moved out but i didn't get anything better. i heard loud banging noises one day shortly after he was gone and i saw that a family had moved in upstairs (IN A STUDIO!!!) and was putting together futons or something. I was really upset and complained to my landlord about her allowing a mother/toddler son (and who knows who else!) in above me. She said it was just her and her son but there was a guy there helping her put stuff together so i doubt that it was just gonna be her. The building only allows 2 people in a studio so if i see more than that living there i guess i will report it.

so far it's been a little better at night in terms of sleeping but during the day and weekend they are almost more "stompier" and louder than Mr. Leadfoot was. It really is frustrating and the management in my bldg will not let me move to an upstairs apt unless i'm upgrading to a one bedroom, etc...which i can't afford.

I too cope by putting loud bass-induced music on when they are loud. I have the works: earplugs on, headphones on, a sound machine, my air-conditioner on all the time and i can STILL hear them! It really sucks. I also use my pool stick on occasion and hit the ceiling to let them know they are being loud. Nothing really works though and in my experience nothing much does work period. The best is do be loud yourself (with loud music) and if they complain just say to them well if YOU want it quiet then freakin be quiet yourself! ugh... i so want a house of my own...

Hi. I just read Danneka's stomp report. Stompers will not stop or change their stomping ways. I guess it's a power trip for them to hear themselves. My stomper,Jimmy Stomps,gets a kick of stomping and making noise; when I do the same in response, he becomes upset and harasses me. He's a bastard. I did complain to management. They did nothing. I posted a note in the building asking all tenants to be considerate of one another and to use common sense when going about their business. I hope that'll work, though I doubt it will.

I, too, am sooo happy to read this string of complaints. We are not alone! ;) My upstairs neighbours--well, it's funny. I never tell anyone about them, I wait until they come over and are seated happily in my living room. Inevitably it'll happen, WHOMP WHOMP WHOMP! Someone's walking from the bedroom to the kitchen upstairs, and it sounds like we're all gonna die. EVERY single visitor to date has jumped off the couch, they were so freaked out.

I've christened the dude upstairs Stampy. It gets better, Stampy is an "industrial metal" musician. He likes to write "music" on his keyboard. Good f**king lord... I've taken to singing to his obvious chord progressions at the top of my lungs. It makes me feel better, ahh that smug sense of superiority.

Stampy and his group of elephantine friends seem to be partying tonight, they must be watching hockey. Everytime there's something good (or bad?) happening, they drum their feet. Excellent.

The fine folks that used to live up there, well, I could write a nice novella about them. The one time I went up to complain (1 am, he had been bouncing a basketball for 2 hours), Orest came to the door completely naked and told me that "I don't know vat is you are talking about. Ve have cat. Maybe is cat." o-o-o-kee.

In the last month he lived there, he took to pacing. He would walk circles around the living room pounding the walls as if he was looking for studs FOR THREE HOURS AT A TIME. I only wish I was joking.

I suppose the only solution for me is to sell this place (hopefully it shows when Stampy's on holidays or something) and find me an ivory tower somewhere, or at least a top floor unit of a newer building.

I've taken a lot of heart from reading all of your trials and tribulations. I wish I could move into a building with all of you--we could tiptoe and close our cupboards gently and turn down our stereos and not invite our string quartets over to rehearse... and we'd know that the effort was being appreciated. ;)

Yes,Anna,that would be great if we could all live in the same building. No stompers. Mr. Stomps is predictable like Stampy. When he stomps and bangs his way around,I mock him. The guy is pathetic. I put a nice note up in the building asking that all tenants be considerate of each other. Stomps prefers to be inconsiderate. I do my best to be thoughtful,even towards Stomps. I use headphones when cranking music and watching movies. I still hear the stomping and banging when using headphones. There's no avoiding it. Oh ,Mr. Stomps, you do suck.

found this page while googling "upstairs neighbors making noise." oh anna, i wish we could do just that. your post made me smile. in fact, just about all of them made me smile (except for the one that mentioned something about kids not knowing who their daddies were...so not necessary). however, i live in tx (and i really think it's true, everything's bigger in tx - esp. my upstairs neighbor). i'm a military person who works swings (afternoon to after midnight) but right now i'm home on convalescent leave. i swear, the people above me... i'm about ready to scream, i'm so frustrated. it's a two bedroom apt, but there must be about 6 people living upstairs (the parents and 4 kids). constantly, they pace across the floor...but i don't know where they could possibly be going, the place is not that big. they drag their kitchen chairs across the floor at all hours (you'd think they'd be fat, since they're always eating, but nooo.....they can't be since they're walking marathons in the apt).
i'm at my wits end, because the noise is constant. i'm trying to recover from surgery, not to mention take online courses for my master's degree, and i have this to contend with. the last time my mom was in town, she went upstairs to ask them nicely to be a little more considerate, and that lasted all of a day. like someone else mentioned, i'm scared to say anything, because they might blow my head off (we've already had one killing in the complex).
it sounds like there really isn't much to do: the vote seems split on confronting them nicely, and going to the apt manager. i've gotten so mad that i've screamed at the top of my lungs for them to shut up, and i've banged my kitchen cabinets and pounded on walls, but they must think i'm trying to join in the fun. unfortunately, this is the second time i've moved (i - stupidly - moved from a 2nd story 1 bed to a 1st story 2 bed, due to lack of room and another surgery), and it seems so unfair to have to move again. but it looks like that's what i'll have to do (my mom is out now, checking out a newly-built place). i know for sure, next time, i'm going to ask what the stupid building is made of, who the hell is living above me - IF i get an apt not on the top level, and all sorts of other questions. i know when i was upstairs, i was scared as heck about making noise and i always tiptoed around. i even would keep my workouts at a less intensity so as not to bounce on the floor (unless the people below me had their tv/stereo up, then i'd jumping-jack away).
why do people have to be so inconsiderate? i mean, jeesh, don't you think your kids jumping off the bed makes some sort of noise? or the chair being dragged across the floor causes a ruckus?
thanks for letting me vent. it just seems to be a shame that i have to give up the convenience of where i live for a little peace and quiet.

Dear Apartment Therapy,

I can echo everyone of the complaints above, and after two months of appealing to my landlord/owner of the building to have the upstairs neighbor carpet their apt, I still have no resolution.

I am continuing to contact the landlord to bring this to resolution since the tenant agreed to carpet six weeks but has not yet.

Regardless, how can I step this up without taking on the expense of a laywer?

Are there any tenants' right's associations in NYC (Manhattan) that can give me advice?

Are Community Boards of any use in situations like these? I called the NYC Rent Guidelines Board and they sent me my Community Board who sent me to 311.

In the end, I am doing much of what the individuals above have done (certified letters, etc.), however I need to step this up.

Your advice is very much needed & appreciated. Thank you.

Wow, I feel so much better reading all this, but Imagine my problem............. I own a condo very close to the beach in NJ. Pay almost a half mill for our piece of heaven, sacrifycing a lot to get this for our family........... above me is an owner and her husband, nicest guy, dies suddenly............ The surving owner, " the wife" rents her place out 24/7 to summer shoobies who want to party all week long, I do not blame them ..... work all year long for a week at the shore BUT are they loud! Doing wash at 2 in the morning, running vacumn at midnight and letting their kids start running at 6am........... What am I suppose to do ? I sit and cry about my investment..... My life dream cannot take shape because of the noise.............. I tried approaching renters but it is always the same thing, louder and threatening ! Help? I actually started to play tennis on the walls and ceiling around 12 am to get even. Sortof helps but I am feeling really bad. Any ideas??????????????

Stompers!! We used to have a great upstairs neighbor. Even when she came home late, we'd only know because her car was in the driveway in the morning. It started off badly with the new neighbors (a couple in there early 20's) The first night they moved in, they were moving and sliding the stuff all over the hard wood floors untill 2:00 in the morning. You'd think they'ed like to make a nice first impression. Since then it's been almost nightly stomping around and moving stuff around after 10:00. Every night he gets home between 9:45 and 10:15 and slams the door. Is it wrong for me to want quiet after 10:00? It makes me feel like I'm weird for wanting some quiet time at night. Sometimes he'll hammer stuff in his kitchen, or clean out his closet and drop the heaviest stuff on the floor. Like alot of stopmers,the stomping goes on for 15 minutes and stops. Just when you think thet might have actually gone to bed, BANG!! And it starts all over. At least these stompers aren't total night birds. They finally stop stomping around 11:30-12. Feel bad for people who have stompers going ubtill 2 or 3, but I wake up early, so I like to be sleeping by 10:30 or 1100. I've done all the fans, humidfiers, etc to drown out the noise, but after 3 months I want out of here.
Finally tonight at 10:30 pm, he decided to take out all his disposable water jugs (about 10 of them) and leave them for pickup. He dropped, slid, scraped them across the entire upstairs, then dropped them all down the stairs then dropped them agai on the deck outside. When he was done, I rang his doorball and asked if he could please stop the noise. It's been quiet since, and I'll let you know how it goes in the future. I didn't want to resort to calling the cops or the landlord. I feel I should have confronted this a long time ago. We'll see.The only thing good about this ordeal is that it has motivated me to strictly budget myself, so I can save up for a down payment on a house. I thought I'd want a condo, but now I'm scared of neighbors!!!

Reading everyone else's experience makes me feel silly for complaining, but I have a case of downstairs doorslammers. It is the most jarring and anxiety-producing thing when they slam the door because it comes out of nowhere and my entire apartment shakes. I have never heard so much noise from a downstairs neighbor (he is a big guy and when he walks it rumbles our unit; I can't imagine what it sounds like to the people below him!) I am worried to complain about the door-slamming because I fear it will open the door to them complaining about our noise because we are above them. Even though I don't think we are unreasonable, I have no idea of knowing what my noise sounds like downstairs....

thoughts?

I moved into my apartment in July 2006 so i've lived here happily for about 6 months. During the first 2 months, things were pretty quiet around here. After that, the lady upstairs that I have come to call "Rosie the Riviter" started staying home more often than not. This lady is totally anti-social, we never see her outside to speak with her, she never comes around to talk to anyone else but she lives over us in the apartment upstairs. I must add that the other 3 tenants who live in this building dont make a peep and no one complains about them. Everyone including my husband and I are very considerate. Rosie, on the other hand, has these rolling table chairs that it would seem that she likes to ride across her apartment day and night. She is often awake all night and asleep for the later part of the day. During the time she's awake, she wears freggin combat boots and thumps our ceiling to the point that the paint cracks off and our vents fall out. Ok, well, having put up with this for about 4 months, I decided the other night that if she kept banging on my ceiling with her hammer that I was going to go up there and knock on her door. I felt that she was doing it intentionally....well, my husband and i asked her VERY nicely if she could lay off the thumping. I believe our exact words were something like "Im sorry to bother you, but whatever you're doing up here is causing our paint to chip off the ceiling downstairs and we dont want to have to pay for that" She was pretty nice about it and was actually quiet for the rest of the night for the first time in a long time. I might add here that when she leaves for a week or a few days that we dont hear any type of noise at all. I have asked our next door neighbor if she hears the man who lives atop her apartment and she doesnt so the place is insulated pretty well...this lady is just loud...ok, well last night, she leaves her TV BLARING so loud that it keeps us awake and on top of that she stays awake all night tromping around up there. I think she's doing it because we asked her nicely to not thump. Sometimes her thumping is in all seriousness comparable to dropping a bowling ball. Oh, and she also spins her wheels on her truck for no good reason and throws chunks of asphalt up from the ditch onto my vehicle if I park on the road beside the apartment where the designated parking places are. I normally have to park in a church lot across the street in order to avoid this. I never said anything to her about that or even let her know that I was pissed off about it. I suspect that she even attempted to take our kitten once. Her door is above our bedroom window and I heard the door close and saw our kitten walk down the stairs one day while I was folding clothes on our bed. I think she had her inside the apartment or something.

Anyway, I'd like a few ideas on what to do. Obviously my next step is complaining to the landlord or at least documenting the paint cracking off the ceiling as a direct result of this lady's behavior....but I doubt that he will take any sort of action about it because he's about 80 years old and he doesnt care about anything unless he gets his rent.

This has been very informative & thanks everyone for your posts . Currently I am having trouble with a upstairs neighbor who is deliberately stomping & throwing HEAVY things on the floor .
She is deliberatley trying to start a confrontation/fight with me . Yes I could easily kick her ass but I'm a peaceful man who respects the law . My solution is to record her sessions of childish behavior & sned a copy to the local police/DA & also see about litigation.
If I can sue her in court & get a judgement ,when she notices her paychecks being garnished until the legal jusgement is fulfilled & the damage done to her credit rating (legal judgements are bad on credit) this should have a profound change in her behavior .
Wondering how much a lawyer is going to cost me & I wonder if I can sue the Owners/Landlord for not dealing with this problem ?
Hitting people in the paycheck does wonders for adjusting attitudes I've found .
My advice is to consult an attorney & see who can be found legally accountable to sue for your suffering .

I do understand what all of you are going through. I live in washington, dc and i have a very immature neighbor that lives in the apartment next to me. I am not exaggerating when I say he plays his music very loud from 7pm to 2/3am and sometimes extending until 6am, 7 days a week. The walls are very thin in these apartments and I can hear everything. His girlfriend(s) and his boys come over every night and party. The music is so loud that the vibrations come through the walls and I can hear this even when I am sitting in the livingroom watching tv. I have knocked on his door a few times and have asked him politely to turn the volume down, he will do that for a while and then turn the volume back up. I have gone to the landlord several times about him, and the landlord has spoken to him. After that, he would play his music at a decent volume, then a few days later the volume would return. I have called the police and they have spoken to him, afterwards he turned the volume down for a few days, but lo and behold the volume would be turned up again. This inconsiderate tenant causes me to loose sleep and wake up with headaches. There have been times when I have nodded off at work, because of this lack of sleep. I get up at 5am and get ready to go to work, but since he moved in (6 mos ago), I have been getting very little sleep, when I do fall asleep it's usually between 2am and 3am. I have been using earplugs and running a fan/heater so I don't hear this, but it does not help. My landlord has given him a noise disturbance notice (in which he will be evicted if he continues to do this), but he still have not taken heed to this, so I see that I will have to continue to call the police. I have tried to be nice and respectful towards him, but that is not working either. I have lived here for a number of years and have not experienced this until the "neightbor from hell" moved in.

You think you have it bad. Try this one on for size. I live below an obsesive-compulsive wacko.
I have to be up at 5am during the work week. The problem is that the bathroom waterpipes run through my bedroom. This nuts wife gets into the shower at 10pm and finishes a half hour later. The wacko husband then takes his shower which lasts for 3 hours! EVERY NIGHT! I kid you not. He also flushes the toilet three times every time he uses it! I can't get to sleep until 3am sometimes cause it sounds like I'm living under niagra falls...HELP WHAT CAN I DO?

Man, it's crazy how many people have rude, obnoxious people living above them. I actually asked my loud neighbor to keep it down a few months ago, and things were alright for 2 months, but it seems things are back to normal. Actually now they are worse. It turns out that the landlord found a cat in there apartment. This apartment doesn't allow pets, so I guess the landlord is asking them to leave at the end of the month. This happened on the first, so now it's gonna be a month of crap. I'm pretty sure that they think that I called the landlord about the cat, because some of the noise sounds like it's done on purpose. Being extra loud when getting home and slamming doors extra hard. I only have about 2 more weeks of this so I'll deal with it. It really bothers me though, that 6 months of my life were effected by loud inconsiderate people. Hopefully the new tenant will be more like the previous 2. People who have common courtesy. If not, I now know that you have to deal with the problem as soon as it starts. Last time a waited 2 months before I talked to them, building up a lot of anger, and like I said, to an extent, it helped. I'm only 32 years old, but I do feel like the more you look around at society, you really see a lot more inconsiderate, obnoxious, selfish and rude people around. Now I'm just venting. Anyways, good luck to all in dealing with the infamous upstairs neighbor from hell....

Hello again. It's been a while since my last stomp complaint. I live in another apartment, but Stompzilla is still roaming above me. Boom! Boom! Bang! Bang! Those are the soothing,refreshing sounds I get to hear each day and night. My landlord doesn't think I could possibly hear such noise from above, because there's supposedly 8" of solid concrete between each floor. Next, he'll tell me of some lovely swamp land I should buy. Stompers don't care about the tenants beneath them; they are too self-centered to care. It's highly unlikely they will change. They like how they are. They especially like the sounds their heavy feet make. Oh so soothing......

Well, I moved into my first apartment in a building after having lived in private houses all of my 41 years of life. It's a co-op building. Very clean, mostly quiet and full of working people. I've been there going on two weeks now and I noticed that I seem to have an 800lb person living above me. They stomp around the floor above my bedroom usually between 6am to 7:30am. I don't hear this stomping anywhere else except my bedroom. They like to get up on Saturdays and Sundays and play a small clock radio at 6am. I can hear this radio as if it's in the same room with me. This co-op has a 80% floor covering rule and it doesn't seem as if this person put any carpet on the bedroom floor. Being that I'm new, I don't want to have to get ugly with anybody, at least not so soon because I can really get mean when I need to. When I walk around my place, I'm usually in bare feet and I have plush area rugs all over the place. I don't tip toe around my place, but I also don't make a lot of noise, as I consider the people who live beneath me. This morning, however, as I was just walking normally around, I hear three quick taps on either my floor from below or my ceiling above, I wasn't sure. Now, here I was, just walking normally and not stomping. After tapping back and talking very LOUDLY about not appreciating the taps, it dawned on me maybe the 800lb person above me isn't really stomping at all, it just sounds that way. I'll use ear plugs in the early morning and that should resolve the only problem I have with the noise. This is the first apartment in a building I've lived in and will certainly be the last. I plan on buying a home within the next two years.

I have a great suggestion; and nope, I don't work for the company I am going to tell you about. I just feel for people with noisy neighbors and want to help. I have very noisy neighbors downstairs and I purchased heavy duty sound machines - called Sonet QT Voice Privacy. They are expensive, but to me they were worth every penny. They are excellent in blocking out voices, screaming, dogs barking, babies crying, TV's and music. I would have had to move if not for these machines. Now I go to bed and simply say "aaahhh" and fall asleep. The machines sound like air conditioning and nobody even noticed it when they walked in my apartment; they simply thought the A/C was on. It also comes with a knob to adjust the volume. The only thing they do not block is stomping noises; because you're dealing with vibrations with footfall; however it does help to drown it out a bit but not completely.

http://www.speechprivacysystems.com/pages/Sonet_Home

I think the quality of construction really, really matters. I live in a newer building in the Northwest and even when the upstairs neighbors are vacuuming the sound is very muted. I know I could get more space for less money elsewhere, but living in a quiet studio is worth more to me than living in a noisy 1-Bedroom. Of course the apartments all have wall to wall carpeting, and while I sometimes wish for hardwood floors for aesthetic reasons, I know it makes a difference. The only problem I've had is with the people next door, and then it's not cause the sound comes through the walls, but because their patio is at a 90 degree angle to mine and the sliding doors aren't insulated like the walls. Drapes mostly solved that problem.

Here are some facts and research about noise and health. I hope it helps some of you in your quest for relief.
http://www.freewebs.com/noisefacts/

I know this thread is from awhile ago, but I am surprised that so many people think that the person above them is stomping around to antagonize them.

People should be upset at their landlords for not insulating and soundproofing the building, not at the tenants who are just trying to live their lives.

I just moved into a new place yesterday and my downstairs neighbor knocked on our door, I thought to say hello and introduce herself, but actually to ask us to turn down our music (at 6 p.m.). We apologized and were upset that we had bothered her and turned the music super low right away. Later that evening (around 10 p.m.) we were bringing the final little things over from the old place and as we're walking up the non-carpeted stairs this woman screams from her apartment for us to "stop walking up and down the f-ing stairs".

Maybe try to see things from the other person's perspective before you become infuriated with them because the acoustics in their place are different than yours.

I must be passive-aggressive in a mild but very devious sort of way. I don't want to bother my neighbors and want them to tell me if I am bothering them so I can stop whatever it is. However, I figure if I treat them nice and they respond by being rude,well then that's what they want, rudeness. I'd rather not bother the police with something I can probably quietly take care of myself. My thoughts are to train them like you'd train a dog. Don't say anything, just do it back to them but do it in such a way that they will subconsciously understand. Then if they complain, be genuinely apologetic and act innocent about it. But when they need a little dose, give it back to them. Most likely they won't say anything, especially if you do it just subtly enough to get the message across. It's kind of like conditioning them by reinforcing to them that their bad behaviors are going to cause them the same loss of sleep or annoyance that it's causing you. If they are keeping you up all night with drinking and being loud, then you know they'll be sleeping when you're up and about. Soooo, why not do like my brother suggested to me.

After reading some of the posts here, I feel fortunate that my neighbors aren't generally obnoxious on a daily basis. Mostly it's the neighbors below me, but it used to be the neighbor above me. She's evidently a barmaid/bar-fly who comes in at around 3:00 A.M. and then runs all over her apartment some nights for hours. It's not even that loud, but it's constant and she sometimes likes to open and close her dresser drawers off and on plus random slamming doors or dropped items which, even though I sleep with a fan running, sometimes disrupts my sleep. She woke me at 3:15 the other morning and kept me up until 6:00 A.M. at which time I finally went back to sleep for a short time before I had to get ready for work. This aggravates me. The noise isn't extremely loud, but she's heavy footed on the floor and I think it's feeling the vibration almost as much as the faint sound of it. She's not been too bad lately, but the neighbors below me are sometimes horrible and have parties almost every Sunday night. They like to repeatedly slam and I mean SLAM the apartment door so that it vibrates the walls and floor and they SLAM the heck out of the cabinet doors just the same. Then there's the screeching of the woman who lives there that is almost like fingernails on a chalkboard. She's gotten quieter, for the most part, except when people are over. I think they all take a dump when their friends come over too, because I always get a heavy butt beef smell in my apartment on those nights. Lovely, eh? They were doing this stuff so much,with such force and so loudly a few weeks ago that I decided they were going to get a dose of inconsideration right back the following morning. As my brother suggested, I placed my two phones (1 in the bedroom and 1 near the kitchen) in my one bedroom apartment on the floor. Turned up the ringers to high and then covered them with boxes which were then covered with pillows and blankets. I didn't want to bother the woman above me. Not this time, at least. Then I took my computer speakers, which are in my bedroom and placed them on the floor and covered them the same way. I was going to make them listen to death metal all day while I was at work as they would be trying to sleep off their drunk from the party. Then I remembered my Uncle's homemade cd of religious bluegrass music and decided that for their listening pleasure they were going to be treated to something much more nerve-grating.

The next morning I set the CD to play over and over and over again. It probably played over 8 or 9 times while I was gone. I turned it up to what I guessed would be just loud enough to disrupt their sleep, but that was only a guess. I don't really know how loud the volume was for them cause it was muffled by the box and pillows? Then I went to work with a big evil smile on my face. Throughout the day I dialed my home number and let the phones ring and ring and ring. I did this at random intervals sometimes two or three times in a row to make sure that it would disrupt their sleeping patterns. Aren't I evil? You would definitely scream "YES" if you were unfortunate enough to hear the "priceless" aforementioned cd from my Uncle. My other Aunt laughed like crazy when I told her what I made them listen to and she said that I was "very evil" for subjecting them to that music over and over again like I did

It's funny, when I came home, I came in very quietly and listened. I felt really guilty doing that to them as I know it was really mean, but just as a child learns that one of their actions causes unpleasant results, so would my neighbors. I could hear "Free Bird" playing at a pretty loud volume and couldn't exactly tell if it was from above me or below (my target audience). Anyway, I left it play for a short time and then turned it off. Funny thing is, shortly after I turned off the lovely bluegrass cd, the other music stopped. Somehow, I don't think they cared for their treat. What a shame! Not!

Anyhow, they had their usual Sunday party the following week, but they refrained from the over-excessive slamming of everything. Lately, I've hardly heard them at all. Ah, what goes around comes around especially when you help it come around. Big Grin! I hope this will help some of you to at least give a little dose back without having to be confrontational. Remember to always be very sincere if they approach you, or just deny it if you can. Some of you could also leave your alarm clocks going off or set them to go off when you know the ingrates are trying to sleep and then act innocent about it and apologetic. I, personally like the phone idea. You could prop a box close to the ceiling for upstairs neighbors fun-time while you're at work.

My other idea is to make a cd of random noises. Screeching tires, sirens, glass breaking, fingernails on a chalkboard, explosions, screaming, baby crying, howling dogs or whatever you can think of and make a cd that spaces the sounds at 20 or 30 minutes or just random intervals and then set that to play throughout the day. make the sounds just long enough to wake them up, but not long enough that they will know what it is. So that just when they might be getting comfy again and falling back asleep they get woke up again. After all, isn't that what they're doing to you? This would be good for all night partying neighbors. After all, who wants to continue drinking when they feel like crap the whole next day cause they couldn't get any peaceful rest? Yea, that's what I'm talking about!

You could also have them listening to constant crying baby or howling wolves at a just low enough volume that they can barely hear it but can't tell where in the world it's coming from. I'm not sure how you would guess the volume, but it's just a thought. Maybe set something like that in the closet for added concern on their part?

Okay -

It's not that it is so severe as other stories I've heard, here and elsewhere, but, like others - I have a youngish woman above me who is a "hard walker" wearing heavy shoes or high-heels, but even noisy without them. She will return home and right away, begin a routine of clomping back and forth for hours like she is speeding around, maybe "caffeinated" The only time it is quiet is if she is gone or sleeping, since she doesn't seem to sit for long, scraping chairs across the linoleum, as it screeches. (Yeah, the management should have installed carpeting in the dining, but I think they have begun using more linoleum - which was a mistake). It is a main "walk thru", also.

I waited a bit until she was settled and then decided I wanted to "nip things in the bud" - going to speak with her in Sept. '08. I asked if she might put those little pads under her dining chairs as to prevent screeching.. she seemed open and friendly and I felt good about the conversation.

In December, when I had been aware that she had not made any alterations and was driving me nuts with her hyperactivity (she vacuums every two days, not that people shouldn't clean.. just making a point that she seems "obsessive"), I got up my courage to speak to her again. This time, she couldn't open the door, speaking through it. I politely said I needed to speak to her about the noise. She said "What noise"? I explained about the screeching of chairs, loud banging and hard walking. She defended herself by saying.."I'm not having people over..or playing music". I replied that "THAT was appreciated".. but, there is this constant flurry of racket.. she said .."Well... I'll try AGAINNN".. (I thought to myself.. "again"?) Anyway, I thanked her and later, saw it was a bit quieter, but she was gone a lot at that time. January I ran into her and she said "I've been trying to be quieter.." I said "Yes.. thank you.. I've noticed.." and were both friendly.

Of course, it started up again, never resolved the chair thing and I felt she just doesn't give a ____ . Also, since she has had a boyfriend, when he arrives, they just have to use the couch (apparently) to ____ on, making my wall shake and my window rattle. One night, I was compelled to press on my window in such a way that they would know.. or something. I was just frustrated since it happens a lot - and living in "Quake Country" in Los Angeles, I don't want to hear a quake being replicated.

I have previously had quiet neighbors up there, except for one and he was asked to leave. Also, she was living in another unit here above someone else, prior and THAT downstairs neighbor had the same complaints - speaking to her, also. You'd think she would "get it", but I think at the root, some people are just inconsiderate.

It appears I am stuck, since I have attempted to speak with her and I know it would be unhelpful to speak to the managers and could make it worse. it's not like there is loud music.. and she does have a "schedule". I just don't appreciate the "tension" I feel she generates that I have to put up with while quietly trying to enjoy my own space.

I am so relieved to have found this thread, I could almost cry. 2 1/2 years ago my husband and I moved from Brooklyn to Berlin, Germany. We moved into a beautiful apartment that I absolutely loved. That is until our horrible stomping neighbors got started. The stomping was relentless and out of control and all hours of the day and night. Their dogs barked for up to 4 hours at a time. TV blasting all day and night. Occasional stereo, etc. They started a renovation project that was still going on almost a year later when we finally moved. Of all the disturbances, the stomping was by far the worst. So my husband and I made sure that we moved into a top floor apartment. We told both the previous tenant here and the new landlord why we were seeking a top floor apartment. Well, the day came that it was time to come clean up our new place once it was empty so we could move in (another horror story but it's too long to go into). As I was cleaning I heard it. BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM!!!!! What was that?!?! Then there it was again. There was no mistaking it. It was the echoing boom of a Stomper. But we're on the top floor!?!??! How is this happening??? You guys, I kid you not. We have lived in this apartment now for 1 year and 12 days. The stomping has been just as horrible and loud here as it was when we lived underneath someone. We learned not to try to deal with it face to face in the last apartment as it only made things worse. Both landlords here are/were worthless and no help. A few months ago, I started really stomping back HARD and flew into total rages, screaming and all, whenever she started her stomping. Today, the Stomper is moving out. I am holding back my joy because until the next person moves in, I am too scared to hope for better. For anyone who has never lived with this problem, they would not possibly understand. It feels like being put inside a cardboard box and someone just beating on it, it's like being trapped and I can't even enjoy the few moments when she's not doing it because I know it's going to start again... - and I agree, their patterns are all the same. What ARE they doing in these limited spaces? It is mind boggling. It has nearly destroyed my life as my nerves are shattered and my sleep disrupted. It has also caused so much stress that my husband and I are on edge and end up fighting. I would never have believed that this could happen to us living on the top floor. But it sure did. There are 5 units in this building and a total of 9 people living here and it was this ONE PERSON and no one else doing it (you can see into the other apartments in the windows of the building reflecting across the driveway). One person. Out of 9. God please let the next tenant be NORMAL!

By the way. Carpeting does not work. It's not magic carpet. And these people who slam their feet through the floor with every step they take can not be stopped by any carpet.

It is very interesting reading all of the comments. I live on the top floor of my apartment building. I recently received a note from my neighbor who lives in the apartment below mine. She was angry about all of the noise that I make, especially in the morning. I was not aware the I was disturbing her. I always walk around in my bare feet. Since then, I have tried to be quieter. I can't use carpeting because I have allergies. That was one of the reasons that I moved into this apartment, there are hardwood floors. I honestly don't know what to do to correct this problem. I also have a disability and always walk with heavy footsteps. I'm open to any and all suggestions about this problem.

You just have to help yourself and soundproof your apartment. This Soundproofing Article is a good place to start.