Who would have thought that a typically noisy kid from a very noisy family, and whose sister is likely one of the loudest people on earth, would turn out to be so sensitive to noise.
We have new neighbors, and unfortunately they’re living directly above us. The quality of the people living at our rental property has made a dramatic drop in recent months since they announced the sale of the property, which will eventually be torn down for redevelopment into “exclusive” townhomes. Mind you we live in a beautiful property in a beautiful part of town. Our apartments are about 60 years old, but amazingly well-maintained and exuding tons of character that you can’t find anywhere else (hardwood floors, large wood-framed windows, common spaces and courtyards throughout the property, etc.). Once the property is finally closed for demolition, a conservative estimate of 90% of the current tenants will no longer be able to live in the neighborhood. But all of that is a discussion for another post.
Back to our new neighbors. They are some of the loudest people outside of my family that I’ve ever encountered. The main difference is that their noise production isn’t made with their voices as it is in my family.
Just last week, my head was vibrating with the sounds of power tools upstairs that were shaking my walls. It was 10:15 AM on Sunday. This was after the neighbors pruned the trees in the backyard at 7:30 AM dropping limbs onto the porch, the windows, and my plants. In itself the pruning of trees might not have been so bad had they not woken us up at 11:30 PM the night before by vacuuming their entire apartment. The nighttime penchant for vacuuming has already occurred on several occasions.
Yesterday afternoon we had to endure the thunderous sounds of a movie/tv/radio being broadcast through what must have been a high-tech surround sound stereo system. Again the walls vibrated. I understand the appeal of high-tech stereo surround sound, but I would appreciate it more if the entire building were not being surrounded by that sound. The four units in my building are all only 670 square feet after all. Who needs surround sound?
On a daily basis we get to listen to their nighttime television watching from their bedroom (directly above our bedroom)—usually until past 11:30 PM. Again, I have no problem with people’s individual habits. Good for them if they have multiple televisions that they like to watch at various times and from various places in their apartment. However, it sure would be nice if it weren’t a group activity.
We have tried to be patient; understanding that moving in a getting settled can take some time. We endured their late night move-in over several nights with furniture and boxes being moved in and thrown about the apt. into the late hours. We have been awakened on more than one occasion to the sounds of hammering and power screwdrivers being used after 10:30 PM.
And yes, we have spoke to them as we moved our plants off the porch to prevent their being further crushed by falling limbs. We have pounded on the walls and ceiling in the night hours when hammering and drilling were going on. When can we expect that this noise will let up? When can we expect that our new neighbors will learn what it means to be good neighbors. I certainly do not think our expectations are unreasonable.
1 year ago