Downstairs neighbour constantly banging on their ceiling but only normal house noise

dandroid89

Myself and a friend moved into a rented apartment about 3 months ago. All working out well and we are only really there 3 or 4 times a week due to work commitments etc.

Basically the only problem is the people below us keep knocking up and it is starting to drive us insane.

I have a 3 year old who lives local and he comes over a couple of times a week. We were watching the toy show the other night and he was running around and playing on the floor with play doh. They were banging up constantly.

This morning my friend was up at 6.30 and getting ready for work. He was not even wearing shoes until he got to the door....they were banging up again and again obviously with a sweeping brush or something.

We don't play music loud, or have any parties and we do hear the people upstairs to us walking around etc... Obviously we cant prevent them from walking around the apartment they are probably paying ALOT of money to rent and it would be absurd to bang on the floor for this.

What do I do? Because something has to happen as it is starting to drive me insane.

My worry is that if I knock down to them and ask them what there problem is that an argument will follow and I don't particularly want there to be any tension.

Should I call my landlord and get him to sort it out? Can he sort it out?

The problem is that we can't do things any differently. We walk around our apartment and these people have a problem with it.

intheclouds

Why dont you just go down and ask why they keep knocking up?

If they say its very noisy then apologise and tell them you will get onto the landlord re soundproofing. And then do that.

You might just need to get some mats put down to deaden the noise.

dandroid89

intheclouds wrote: »

Why dont you just go down and ask why they keep knocking up?

If they say its very noisy then apologise and tell them you will get onto the landlord re soundproofing. And then do that.

You might just need to get some mats put down to deaden the noise.

I absolutely get where you are coming from and I will do just that. As I said, I don't want to have an argument with these people as I have to live over them.

The thing is, will it really change anything? I already have mats down in the living room and hall but I certainly will not apologise for walking around my apartment or for my son playing with his toys on the weekend.

Cuddlesworth

dandroid89 wrote: »

I absolutely get where you are coming from and I will do just that. As I said, I don't want to have an argument with these people as I have to live over them.

The thing is, will it really change anything? I already have mats down in the living room and hall but I certainly will not apologise for walking around my apartment or for my son playing with his toys on the weekend.

Wooden floors throughout the apartment?

WoollyRedHat

Maybe their cats can't sleep?
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ritLRY6_1BI

dandroid89

Cuddlesworth wrote: »

Wooden floors throughout the apartment?

Yep, tiles in the kitchen!

jester77

Have they ever approached you at your door? I hate that type of passive aggressive nonsense. Just go down and knock on their door and ask them why they keep knocking on the ceiling instead of coming to your door, and that in future if they have a problem to come directly to your door. Otherwise I would make a complaint about them to your landlord.

Cuddlesworth

dandroid89 wrote: »

Yep, tiles in the kitchen!

Badly fitted wooden floors in apartments can cause nightmares for tenants below, with you being aware of none of the noise. Vibration through the walls and ceiling turns their living space into a giant speaker.

Since its not actually your apartment, that makes things difficult.

Arbiter of Good Taste

jester77 wrote: »

Have they ever approached you at your door? I hate that type of passive aggressive nonsense. Just go down and knock on their door and ask them why they keep knocking on the ceiling instead of coming to your door, and that in future if they have a problem to come directly to your door. Otherwise I would make a complaint about them to your landlord.

Yeah,because this won't escalate the situation at all....

OP, these are not "bad neighbours". They're the ones who have to live with badly insulated flooring. It's not their fault. Go down and explain that you are trying not to make noise, but there's not much more you can do.

Having lived through it, there's nothing worse than a toddler running around half the day. So try and have a bit of patience with your neighbours.

See if your LL will put down some sound insulation. But reporting the neighbours to your LL? I can only imagine what the LL will say....

eladnova

It's amazing how sound travels with wooden and tiled floors. Your 3 year old is probably generating a lot of racket just by playing with plastic toys etc.

Having been on the receiving end of this before it can end up being very stressful. In our case, our neighbors son in the house next door seemed to be rolling marbles against the skirting board. The sound (to them) was probably a few light clicks. To us, the result was a loud bang which began to get stressful. I ended up knocking on the walls a few times but felt bad. The guy probably had no idea how his games were affecting our evenings and TV watching.

You sound very reasonable and completely conscientious. They could do a lot worse. Instead of just dropping round, have you thought of dropping in a letter first and asking them if you could all sit down and chat. Maybe there's a way you could hear things from their apartment (get your mate to walk around etc). But I think just arriving on their door mightn't be a good idea. A letter first worded properly will show them that you're reasonable and possibly stop them getting defensive or aggressive etc

Lux23

It's the height of ignorance to bang on a ceiling like that, would it kill them to come round at least once and explain the problem they are having. Until they actually got off their fat bums and tell me what the problem is I wouldn't be too concerned.

dandroid89

Lux23 wrote: »

It's the height of ignorance to bang on a ceiling like that, would it kill them to come round at least once and explain the problem they are having. Until they actually got off their fat bums and tell me what the problem is I wouldn't be too concerned.

Absolutely, and this is where I am at with the situation. My kid doesn't live with me so I literally get to take him once (Sometimes twice) a week. I felt like I was giving out to him for walking around because they kept banging up.

He literally was standing at the coffee table playing with play doh. He was not banging or anything.

I think the letter is a good Idea. Might get them to understand.

Whosthis

Drop into them and explain the situation, if they seem reasonable invite one of them up to yours and one of you stay in theirs for a few minutes just so each of you can get an idea of what the other is living with. It won't do anything to solve the noise issue but at least they might understand you're not giving tap dancing lessons 7 days a week.

justsomebloke

Lux23 wrote: »

It's the height of ignorance to bang on a ceiling like that, would it kill them to come round at least once and explain the problem they are having. Until they actually got off their fat bums and tell me what the problem is I wouldn't be too concerned.

Do the people down stairs know that there are new tenants in the apartment above them? Unless the LL or tenant have gone down they could be oblivious to the change in occupant and maybe just basing their reaction to people they have talked to before

dandroid89

justsomebloke wrote: »

Do the people down stairs know that there are new tenants in the apartment above them? Unless the LL or tenant have gone down they could be oblivious to the change in occupant and maybe just basing their reaction to people they have talked to before

The apartment was empty for around 4 months before we moved in. It's just really annoying that they have not said anything too. I was walking in with my son on Saturday morning and she was walking out and didn't say anything at all.
This did not happen for the first two months though so I don't know why it's a problem all of a sudden

eladnova

dandroid89 wrote: »

This did not happen for the first two months though so I don't know why it's a problem all of a sudden

Maybe the people downstairs are only there two months?

Call me Al

Are you wearing shoes on the floors, or do you go into your socks when you come in the door?

dandroid89

eladnova wrote: »

Maybe the people downstairs are only there two months?

Nope, seen them the day I moved in. I am going to write a polite letter up today and leave it in their mail box. Think its the only way forward and then I will contact my landlord and fill him in on what has been happening. I can't force him to change the floors because of the people downstairs - it is his call.

sKeith

Banging on a celing is a very poor way of communicating. It may be slightly understandable if there was very loud music on, then bangs, you lower music, all good. But for the noise a child makes while playing with playdoh at a coffee table, under supervision, banging on the ceiling only adds confusion to your situation as you dont know why they are banging. For all you know, they could have burnt toast and are banging at a smoke detector.

dandroid89

Call me Al wrote: »

Are you wearing shoes on the floors, or do you go into your socks when you come in the door?

Obviously sometimes of course we wear shoes/runners in our apartment. A lot of the time though we wouldn't. The issue is not this, it's that they are complaining about something that we can't do anything about. We aren't going around on roller blades or dancing or playing bowling or running around like lunatics. It is simply if we walk in from one room to another they bang up. I would say on average about 10 times per night. I walked from the living room to the kitchen and poured a glass of water. And they banged up.

It could not be that bad. We do hear the guys upstairs walking around and stuff but it certainly would not disturb me from watching a movie or anything.

looksee

Are you sure they are banging? It couldn't be something like a door being closed or similar, could it?

dandroid89

looksee wrote: »

Are you sure they are banging? It couldn't be something like a door being closed or similar, could it?

100% they are banging the ceiling. You can actually feel the vibrations. It is like they using the handle of a sweeping brush. We initially thought it was something like that.. But it is definitely them banging up.

Cuddlesworth

dandroid89 wrote: »

100% they are banging the ceiling. You can actually feel the vibrations. It is like they using the handle of a sweeping brush. We initially thought it was something like that.. But it is definitely them banging up.

They could just be difficult people and used to nobody above them. Or your landlord could have got a shoddy job done in the past(or in the 4 months it was empty). I'd try to verbally talk to them first and scope the situation before approaching your landlord. If your neighbour is unreasonable, then you approach the landlord and let him know of the situation.

Giblet

No point in changing anything if they don't bother to say anything to you directly. Most apartments aren't supposed to have wooden floors on any floor but the ground floor, the management company usually has this specified somewhere as well.

dandroid89

I have just printed this out and will post it in their mailbox later.

Hello,
This is your neighbour from above.

We have noticed you are knocking on the ceiling regularly due obviously due to what you perceive to be us making noise purposely.
We are not doing anything other than walking around our apartment which we are very much entitled to do. On Friday I had my 3 year old son over who stays once a week, twice max. He was standing at the coffee table playing with play doh and you continued to knock up over and over again. I am not going to give out to him for walking around his Dad’s apartment.
This is becoming an issue that I think we need to address now. I have contacted my landlord and told him of the situation and asked him if there is anything we can do ie. Soundproofing etc.
Until he gets back to me with a solution… there is unfortunately nothing we can do to limit the noise on the floor. We have the same problem with our neighbours above so we do understand the situation and we would like to move forward without any difficulty or issues.

Warm regards,
----

I am at a loss as to why they have not knocked in although its easy to say not to change anything until they speak to me they are bugging the absolute hell out of me.

Clearlier

If they're banging on the ceiling they're not likely to be doing it for the good of their health. A poor way to communicate for sure but you can rise above that. Contact them by letter in the first instance by all means but you need to talk to them face to face too and establish a relationship. It's very possible that they're living a total nightmare at the moment.

If you can arrange to be in their apartment while your friend walks around in yours it'll give you an idea as to whether they're over sensitive or not and you can subsequently decide whether you need to make a complaint about your neighbour or if your landlord needs to do something about the sound insulation.
I understand the frustration of having to deal with such a passive aggressive form of complaint but it doesn't mean that there isn't a problem that needs to be solved and you may have a role to play in that which would hopefully alleviate your frustration at the ceiling banging with the brush.

Stheno

dandroid89 wrote: »

I have just printed this out and will post it in their mailbox later.

Hello,
This is your neighbour from above.

We have noticed you are knocking on the ceiling regularly due obviously due to what you perceive to be us making noise purposely.
We are not doing anything other than walking around our apartment which we are very much entitled to do. On Friday I had my 3 year old son over who stays once a week, twice max. He was standing at the coffee table playing with play doh and you continued to knock up over and over again. I am not going to give out to him for walking around his Dad’s apartment.
This is becoming an issue that I think we need to address now. I have contacted my landlord and told him of the situation and asked him if there is anything we can do ie. Soundproofing etc.
Until he gets back to me with a solution… there is unfortunately nothing we can do to limit the noise on the floor. We have the same problem with our neighbours above so we do understand the situation and we would like to move forward without any difficulty or issues.

Warm regards,
----

I am at a loss as to why they have not knocked in although its easy to say not to change anything until they speak to me they are bugging the absolute hell out of me.

I'd soften the tone of that note if I were you, it comes across as a little confrontational.

listermint

Stheno wrote: »

I'd soften the tone of that note if I were you, it comes across as a little confrontational.

Looks alright to me, I dont think its overly confrontational its to the point.


Banging on the ceiling daily with a brush is confrontational.

dandroid89

Stheno wrote: »

I'd soften the tone of that note if I were you, it comes across as a little confrontational.

Yeah I was thinking so too...Thanks for the advice.

Clearlier

dandroid89 wrote: »

I have just printed this out and will post it in their mailbox later.

Hello,
This is your neighbour from above.

We have noticed you are knocking on the ceiling regularly due obviously due to what you perceive to be us making noise purposely.
We are not doing anything other than walking around our apartment which we are very much entitled to do. On Friday I had my 3 year old son over who stays once a week, twice max. He was standing at the coffee table playing with play doh and you continued to knock up over and over again. I am not going to give out to him for walking around his Dad’s apartment.
This is becoming an issue that I think we need to address now. I have contacted my landlord and told him of the situation and asked him if there is anything we can do ie. Soundproofing etc.
Until he gets back to me with a solution… there is unfortunately nothing we can do to limit the noise on the floor. We have the same problem with our neighbours above so we do understand the situation and we would like to move forward without any difficulty or issues.

Warm regards,
----

I am at a loss as to why they have not knocked in although its easy to say not to change anything until they speak to me they are bugging the absolute hell out of me.

To be honest that's a bit of a PFO letter. Fine if that's what you want to say but if were me I'd remove the 'entitled' bit - it's a little defensive. I'd also offer to show them what you're doing and to listen to the noise that they have to. I'd seek to empathise and appear open to any solutions that they may have to offer.

N.B. The noise that you hear from your neighbours above may not be at the same level as what your neighbours experience.

dandroid89

dandroid89 wrote: »

I have just printed this out and will post it in their mailbox later.

Hello,
This is your neighbour from above.

We have noticed you are knocking on the ceiling regularly due obviously due to what you perceive to be us making noise purposely.
We are not doing anything other than walking around our apartment which we are very much entitled to do. On Friday I had my 3 year old son over who stays once a week, twice max. He was standing at the coffee table playing with play doh and you continued to knock up over and over again. I am not going to give out to him for walking around his Dad’s apartment.
This is becoming an issue that I think we need to address now. I have contacted my landlord and told him of the situation and asked him if there is anything we can do ie. Soundproofing etc.
Until he gets back to me with a solution… there is unfortunately nothing we can do to limit the noise on the floor. We have the same problem with our neighbours above so we do understand the situation and we would like to move forward without any difficulty or issues.

Warm regards,
----

I am at a loss as to why they have not knocked in although its easy to say not to change anything until they speak to me they are bugging the absolute hell out of me.

Don't send it. Instead, knock on their door and explain your predicament and ask for their help/advice on how to overcome it.

If that fails, then send the letter.