Neighbors complaining about noise

Sarn

It would be interesting to see if the neighbour still had problems if you went away for the weekend. Fortunately our block is fairly well built but it can be hard to place where some of the noise is coming from. Maybe they are picking up on some of the other neighbour's noise?

Satriale

the_pen_turner wrote: »

that's the problem with internet forums.
we can only go by the facts the OP tells us and have to take them as fact.


a few years ago I was reading on a tiling forum and this woman posted about a problem she had with her tiler. he refuse to use the tiles for some reason. I think it was a problem with the backing on mosaics . all was going great for the OP until the tiler popped in . he was one of the main posters on the forum and had thousands of posts to his name.

there was a big debate about it
turns out he was right.

OP was happy . tiler was vindicated .
it was a great thread because both sides were represented fiarly

Cant find the thread, but didnt it happen recently as well with a car accident (or a close call maybe)? OP posts a story and the other dude popped in after a few pages. Always good to get the two sides.

I'm leaning towards the OP being in the right here though, at the very least, bad building isnt his/her fault.

Birdyblue

Thank you all for sharing your thoughts and advice. To me it was really important to also understand how people see things like these. I'm not Irish and some things I (we) deal with for the first time ever. Like specific house rules or even these apartment buildings using water pumps.
I realize I am personally accustomed to a rather high level of noise coming from neighbors (not that it happens here, but it's how i've been living). Maybe I don't realize how loud it gets sometimes, but I do know how it is to not be able to sleep because of excessive noise. I am genuinely concerned about not making my neighbors life hard, troubles is the least thing we would want because we like it here. But I also feel we have improved and compromised and I feel I need to draw the line at my toilet's need to be flushed before 11 or 12 in some cases.

I know the house rules about 10 pm. I read tenant's rights and domestic noise regulations. And what we have concluded now by also reading around here is, basically:

1. our neighbors have the right to have a quiet time for sleep/rest
2. we as tenants also have the right to have "sanitary facilities supplied with hot and cold water"

So the question still standing is whose rights prevail?
I also understand that if our pump really has some problems (if it's too loud then maybe it's broken?) it is the landlord's responsibility to ensure it's proper functioning. So then, this means I have no obligation to change anything further until my landlord fixes the pump? there is also the fact that we had 2 plumbers "fixing" it already, one sent my our landlord, the other recommended by my neighbors.

Just to be clear, I will still switch off my pump at or at about 11 pm.
But then again comes the question: if something were to happen one night and I would need the water pump, would it be okay to temporarily switch it on?

My priority is to find out the level of noise my neighbor hears. Since it's just close above the entrance door, I think I should be able to hear it from the hallway downstairs in a similar way that it hears from her apartment.

On a side note, now that we are concerned with this, we started to pay more attention to sounds coming from our neighbors. I realized there are some other pumps around, we can barely barely hear them but by the sound and duration they have i think they are just the same as ours. Now the thing is these pumps do not "start" only when you have the water flowing for some reason. Sometimes we don't use the water but the pump still goes on for 2 seconds or so. We've been told by the plumber that it does that when it detects a low level of pressure (inside the pump?) and it basically switches on to regulate the pressure. The moment we switch it off from our new switch, it stops going on randomly.

Sorry for the block of text.

P. Breathnach

Birdyblue, I admire your wish to accommodate the demands of a neighbour who might be unreasonable.

Frankly, I don't think you should have to switch off your water pump at all. You are entitled to have water pressure in the middle of the night should you want to use the toilet.

I suspect the problem is the quality of construction. Many Irish apartments are poorly soundproofed. I get the impression that what is happening is that you are behaving properly, but the building is not. It's really a problem for your neighbours and their landlord to tackle. That said, if you want to help a bit, respect is due to you.

[Pumps usually do have pressure switches and can kick in briefly to maintain pressure.]

Eric Cartman

I think this is madness and comes up time and time again. How anyone expects to live in an apartment in Ireland without there being some noise is beyond me.

Now I'm not for tenants partying till dawn etc… but if you are the type of person who the hum from a shower / water pump / footsteps / doors opening would wake you up then you shouldn't be living in an apartment in Ireland, the country soundproofing forgot.

Sleeper12

OP I'd love to have you as a neighbour. You seem to be very considerat

Lantus

As others have said block number on phones now. You have no obligations to this person. The fact you have tried to be nice has just played into her believe that people will just do whatever she asks.

IMO having my toilet disconnected at certain times is unacceptable. The building was designed like this, that's nothing to do with you. You sound like quiet people and there is no evidence except for the unsubstantiated opinion of one person that the noise is related to you or your apartment.

You and your landlord have jumped through hoops without asking any questions or gathering evidence. Stop doing this or you will becomes victims at the hands of this person.

zzfh

You are doing more than enough here op. Having to look at films without volume and going by subtitles is ridiculous. like mentioned above,change your number or block the neighbors number, toughen up a bit with them. Tell her to contact the landlord if there is a problem.

redbel05

Decibel meter on your smartphone.
Record noise levels both beside your pump and in her bedroom at the same time preferably at night with three outcomes:
1. Her room is noisier than your pump= your pump is not causing the noise that's keeping her awake. Not your problem.
2.Your pumps noise level is below normal conversation level= she has no right to stop you having conversation level noise in your flat. Earplugs ate her only option
3. The pump is genuinely above acceptable noise levels in both places= evidence for the landlord that he needs to replace.

Swap places, and take multiple readings to verify. Pitch it to her as a means to try and get the landlord to change the pump.

evolving_doors

redbel05 wrote: »

Decibel meter on your smartphone.
Record noise levels both beside your pump and in her bedroom at the same time preferably at night with three outcomes:
1. Her room is noisier than your pump= your pump is not causing the noise that's keeping her awake. Not your problem.
2.Your pumps noise level is below normal conversation level= she has no right to stop you having conversation level noise in your flat. Earplugs ate her only option
3. The pump is genuinely above acceptable noise levels in both places= evidence for the landlord that he needs to replace.

Swap places, and take multiple readings to verify. Pitch it to her as a means to try and get the landlord to change the pump.

It would appear that using logic and evidence for this neighbour would fall on deaf ears.

Sarn

Gebgbegb wrote: »

would fall on deaf ears.

The OP should be so lucky!

niley

Gebgbegb wrote: »

It would appear that using logic and evidence for this neighbour would fall on deaf ears.

If it was falling on deaf ears there may not be a problem in the first place

Mrs OBumble

Sarn wrote: »

The OP should be so lucky!

Except that some people are born to whinge.

With this neighbour, if it wasn't noise, then it would be something else.

Potatoeman

How do they explain the washing machine they claimed to hear at night when you didn't have it on?

EmmaMurray2016

The dreaded noise. I'm living in my apartment 4 years, a noise like a hammer started banging at all hours of the night randomly. I put up with the banging for about 3 months, I just presumed it was going to be fixed. It was waking me up so much I just lost it once morning and rang my landlord.

New tenants had moved in below me around the same time as this noise started but the banging just got worse.

My landlord went down and spoke to them. They first said it was from their apartment. They turned on their shower and toilet and the banging started. But then they said it was 'normal' I said I think I know what normal noise is at this stage as that wasn't normal. So they got plumbers out and they could find nothing then they banging stopped, it lets the odd bang which I don't mind once it's not waking me up loads at night.

Anyways a year later it's still banging when they have shower on as you can hear shower motor reeving. Don't know why it's stopped at night, don't even know why it was banging hourly in the middle of the night at one stage. It's banging as I type lol. This wasn't banging previously for the first 4 years.

The couple below gave me their number but the last thing I want is to b annoying ppl. So I won't be texting them. Plus they are quiet thank god

Plus I'm a top floor apartment I hear noises from above me and there's not a thing on top of my apartment. So it's extremely hard to pin point noise.

I do be sneaking around in the morning because I don't want to be waking people up as these apartments are paper thin. I can hear neighbours talk even. I feel I can't have friends over for a few drinks even they are so thin walls and floors. Shame really. I'd move only my rent is good but looking to buy next year.

So I was probably that annoying neighbour, but wouldn't anyone if they were been woken up every night by unexplained noise.

hellyeah

I lived in an apartment for 5 years after constant problems ie partys, noise, flushing toilets, banging doors , arguments etc i gave up and finally sold the place as it was not worth my sanity in 2014. I hated going home near the end. Would never live in an apartment again.
Some nights i was going to sleep in my car. Management company were usless , no support
etc My problems were with owner occupiers.
People who bought my apartment sold it within the year.
Was in a very well to do area also.
Lesson learned. Move.

Spanish Eyes

Just say I was buying an apartment.

How the feck would I know about noise?

Anyone buy and figure it out before signing on the dotted line, or is it something you might live to regret?

I live in a house now. No noise whatsoever. Good neighbours, but then that's only two of them either side!

In an apartment depending on the floor you have neighbours left, right, above and below.

Must be the luck of the draw.

But soundproofing should be no. 1 in these builds. Guess what? It wasn't.

GreenFolder2

People can also make unreasonable complaints.

I lived in an apartment that had a window that faced into a side entrance which had a bedroom window of a neighbouring building in it.

One morning the guy from nextdoor followed me out from my hall door and started yelling that it was unreasonable to keep putting the light on as he couldn't sleep!!!

The kitchen had a fairly normal light and I had done a few late nights studying at the table with the blind down!

Anyway I told him that there was nothing I could do about it and he would need to invest in blackout blinds if he was that sensitive to light from windows.

He wrote letters of complaint to our management company who wrote similar responses about blinds.

Then his cat started to come in our window which was a bit annoying but she was friendly. Nothing would keep the cat out. She'd just jump in the bathroom window or any open window. We didn't encourage her and actually usually put her straight back out as she was really pestering.

Anyway he saw his cat sitting on our window sill (inside) and lost the plot altogether bashing on door and threatening to call the guards.

My flatmate was terrified and moved out and in the end I had to too and lost deposits.

Just beware of neighbours like that. They can make life miserable very fast and they can be utterly ridiculous and things can escalate fast.

slavetothegrind

just an observation on the pump noise at night. For not too much money a plumber could fit a large expansion vessel to act as an accumulator which would give you a store of pressurised water to allow for a flush and sink usage during the night without the pump coming on at all.

Also fairly easy to prove it's not you if you isolate power and water for a night or two and see if they still complain?

Don't envy you , i am in a semi-d and can hear coughs next door. Could tell you who was on late late show if i turned off my tv...:-(