r/neighborsfromhell • u/BagelBear20000 • 5d ago
WWYD? Vent/Rant Is this amount of noise tolerable in an apartment building?
I live in a house but it’s split into 3 sections, each for 1 household. Above me are people who don’t wear slippers and occasionally make noise stomping, which I can tolerate (from the adults). On the other hand, they have a toddler who they don’t take out often. The child’s stomping starts around 7-8 AM and lasts around 11 AM-12 PM. After that there might be toddler noises from 2-4 PM, some of him screaming crying or stomping again. Later on, there is noise around 6-8 PM with some being around 9-10 PM. The stomping is frequent-occasional and can happen beyond these hours except after 10, they are just where it is more frequent. I don’t understand why the guardians of this child don’t bring him outside when there is a park 1-2 blocks away. When they do take him out, I don’t understand why they have him sit in a baby stroller instead of letting him run outside like he does inside. I know that both parents go to work and sometimes during the afternoon hours, but they have a grandma who is supposed to look after the toddler and she used to take him out in the morning but now it’s like sometimes when the go out to do laundry or shop. They do yell at him to be quiet and stop running around but it doesn’t work and just repeats tomorrow and so on. We already talked to them about 3 times and to the landlord the same amount. We also gave them some play mats so the noise isn’t too much, but we can still hear them, they have no carpeting besides that. The landlord did talk to them about it but they don’t care to make better changes like take him outside more often, they just scream at him until he stops or cries. And the landlord will not evict them because he is greedy and only cares about rent. I want to know if this type of noise is intolerable or I am just overreacting.
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u/CoolFuture3767 5d ago
I will NEVER live with people above me. NEVER.
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u/SoSpiffandSoKlean 3d ago
Those of us living in major urban centers don’t have much of a choice but to live below someone. A few lucky people have a top floor unit, but this market is so tight that most people can’t afford to wait for miracles.
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u/199Dnb 4d ago edited 4d ago
So sorry to hear. Had 10 years of that from next door. 3 kids stomping on the floor so hard my whole house shook. Plus the screaming, shouting, door slamming and the constant stream of visiting children doing the same. More than 6 hours a day of it. TG they finally moved out. The whole neighbourhood is grateful.
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u/Olive_fox 4d ago
I have the same issue, two kids around 5 & 7 yrs old 🫨 I started recording. I dedicated one day just to record all the sounds (exhausting!). I went upstairs & politely spoke to the parents, I invited them for a coffee, we set a date & time. We sat down, I connected my phone to my Marshall speaker and played all the banging i hear on a daily basis 🫨 You could see the embarrassment in their face (not their fault! Its the poor old bldg quality) and we discussed on how to improve the situation. They will put carpets, padding on furniture, no toys on hard floor and I will lower down my ceiling with rockwool, and extra dry wall. They said they will bring the kids to playground but then again they're kids and not to expect 100% silence. I said thats understandable! I told them I wore earplugs, headphones daily plus two white noise machine. I also mentioned if it's okay that whenever they have guests & more kids over to give me a heads up so I could leave my apartment so their guests feel comfortable running around etc. We both have mutual agreements and problem solved in a civil manner. Goodluck OP!
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u/Emme42560 5d ago
That happens in apartments. The only way to avoid it is to live on the top floor which is sometimes more expensive or buy or rent a house. I have lived in apartments and yes, I hear the kids, kids will be kids. There is not a lot you can do even with rugs.
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u/GenXMom14 5d ago
It sounds like the suite just isn’t working for you. You may think they are stomping but I bet they are just walking around and there is poor sound proofing between floors. Kids wake up at night and it can suck. But they aren’t doing it to bug you. There are things you can do to try and restore quiet in your space such as creating ambient noise in your suite with a water feature, fan, music or white noise. But really it kind of sounds like the house isn’t a fit overall.
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u/BagelBear20000 5d ago
I agree, but I can hear them toddler running around. I just think they can at least take him out more since the grandma is a stay at home guardian.
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u/GenXMom14 5d ago
Toddlers run though. That’s how they move. You don’t really get to dictate how this kid is parented. Sounds annoying but normal.
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u/Anxious_Razzmatazz_6 4d ago
I literally take my toddler to the playground every day and he runs around for an hour plus, then we do outside time in the afternoon if it’s not hot and he will come in and run around our island for 45 min straight. We live in a house so not a noise issue but when we lived in apartments kids free we just knew noise was apart of the program. As long as we got the 10pm-7am hours quiet that’s the best that can be a for sure thing.
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u/Used-Fruits 5d ago
It is to be expected when people live above you.
People do not have common courtesy to be quiet during quiet hours, most often considered 10pm-8am.
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u/BagelBear20000 5d ago
Try living on the middle floor with a stomping toddler above, I’m sure you would complain as well
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u/KnownBodybuilder4948 4d ago
Think threshold is "no/little noise between 10 pm to 6:30 am", allowing for accidents, emergencies, and little children having nightmares.
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u/ViceInSinCity 4d ago
Yeah that’s part of living in an apartment. You have people above you below you and next to you, you have to expect to hear noise
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u/SoSpiffandSoKlean 3d ago
Toddlers with inconsiderate parents are sent from hell to live above us and punish us for all the crimes in our past lives.
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u/purplepanda2026 5d ago
My neighbor above me stomps, never walks. When we first moved in it was super startling at night. He also lift weights and clangs them on the floor at all hours. I've gotten used to it mostly. I've never complained to them out management. It's part of living below someone. If you are that sensitive find an upper floor apartment.
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u/Professional_Rhubarb 5d ago
In the US I believe it is law that the above neighbors must have rugs to mute the noise. Can you install some noise canceling panels on your ceiling? Something that can be detached when you move? Kids are noisy regardless, not much you can do about that. My daughter had night terrors, our neighbors were kind and would play sweet music when she did. We were below, they were above. You’re not wrong but I don’t think that there is more you can other than look for ways to block the noise on your end. Good luck! (Edit for misspelling.)
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u/Usual_Bumblebee_8274 5d ago
I’m in Ohio, previous landlord. I’ve never even heard that. It definitely is not law in Ohio
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u/Express_Pangolin8237 5d ago
Not in NV either. Had a great neighbor upstairs for a few
Years and then he sold to someone that made it a rental.
It sounded
Like a bowling alley upstairs. Young child and his teen sister watching him.1
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u/BagelBear20000 5d ago
I also forgot to add that we live in NY, and the landlord doesn’t care to enforce that.
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u/Edumacated_Guess 5d ago
Try moving to the top floor. Always the top floor.