nice one

nice blog . you must be appreciated.

funny slippers

nice blog. must be appreciated. writer is the best one i guess.

funny slippers

To the person who sent the neighbor a letter telling her that he will sue for aggravated harassment, exactly what kind of charges can you press against her? We are in a very similar situation, except that our neighbors have gone further. They filed a civil complaint against us, and we will have to go to trial.

I agree with your sentiment about people who don't want any noise and who choose to live in communal communities. It has been very helpful for me to read your posts. Thanks.

I knew I was in for trouble when my downstairs neighbor moved in with speakers the size of law office bookcases. The speakers were placed up against the wall in the bedroom right below mine. The theme to Saturday Night Fever would blast all night. I was wondering if I was the only one who heard that racket. I went down at 2am a few times to complain. I would knock and ring the doorbell. The music stopped long enough for me to walk back upstairs. I am basically a quiet non violent person but when push comes to shove......... I complained to the 'super' of the building but it fell on deaf ears, he told me I was the only one who complained. I needed at least 3 other tenants to back me up. I told him the next time their music wakes me up I was going to ring his doorbell and wake him up. He had a few choice words for me.

The wheels in my head were turning. I went to the novelty store and bought liquid stink bomb. I took the syringe I used for my cats medication and squrt a fair amount under their door. The music stopped. For the first time since they moved in I had a decent nights sleep although I had a sneak suspicion they knew I was behind that hideous smell.

Two weeks later the tenants were out of the building. It was well before their lease would expire. For the next few weeks the smell of rotten eggs remained in the building but I was happy.

The apartment was then warehoused and would remain empty for another 2 years.The problem with my upstairs neighbor is another story.

Lemonade out of lemons. Thanks to those lemons.

Almost 30 years ago my wfe and I both worked in NY and went to grad school at NYU. We lived in the lower apt in Garden Apts in Bergen County. It was very convenient; nearby the train to Hoboken; nearby family, also nice neighbors above, etc. Then the nice neighbors above moved and the neighbors from hell replaced them. Loud, barking dog, skratching it's nails on the un carpeted floors above us, late hours in and out, sitting on the bed directly above then just dropping his calf high boots onto the floor, again directly above us. I could go on.

Requests turned into serious discussions and serious discussion went down hill. But my wife and I decided instead of fighting them we will move. Now a home was not at all on our radar screen at ths time. We were just starting out. But long story short we bought a home after pooling all of our liquid assets for a down payment. That enabled us on the real estate rising tide early on.

Our real estate has done well since then; 3 homes and almost 30 years later.

I say thanks to those lemons.

This goes to "Amazing Jason" I hear your complaint load, I meen Loud and fat, I meen clear . (Please take the time to read into the above statements before casting judgement) If that's not the case then they might be trying to tell you some Jason .

I once had a neighbor like that . At first, I really didn't notice the guy (As in he wasn't bothering me ) Then things slowly began to change, He had a very active social life and that wasn't the problem . I have the same type of social life so I know how it goes . This guy had two, three different chicks in his apartment every two days . The problem was ( And to this day I got nothing but love for the guys game )When he would "Digg thier backs out " You could hear not only the women screaming, You heard the bedframe creaking,& rubbing upagainst the wall ! This chick I was seeing at the time could handle it and that affected he getting my "Workout" on. Come to findout he was bisexual and most of the moans,& groans were from shemales ! In that building we had a lot homo-haters so you can imagine the backlash when the secret got out ! Anyway, I got tired of it, The rent was going up, And I finally got to buy me that home that I was looking for so I guess it worked out for me .

Amazing: I had an upstairs neighbor knock on my door & explain that she and her girlfriend were learning flamenco dancing & needed to practice and what would be the best time of day for them to do that so they wouldn't bother me? they got home from work at 5, i barely got home at 7, so they practiced when they got home from work. i once left a note when i was home sick asking them if they could skip practice that day and they came downstairs with a can of soup.

it is possible.

My upstairs neighbors are heavy stompers. When they walk on the hardwood floors, they produce loud banging and hammering type noises. They would occur at random times all throughout the day. I initially thought it was a structural issue, but when I spoke to my downstairs neighbors, they told us that they never hear a peep from us. The simple solution to the issue is to wear a pair of slippers or refrain from forcefully pounding your heels into the ground when you walk. We complained to him a month after we moved in, and he was hostile and uncaring towards our polite request. It sucks, but since I'm self-employed and work from home, I had to purchase earplugs and earmuffs. If any of you are interested, check out http://earplugstore.stores.yahoo.net/ and http://www.amazon.com/H10A-Professional-Hearing-Protector-Reduction/dp/B00009LI4K. I wear them in combination and it works well in blocking out most noise. As for earplug discomfort, I suggest trying out one of the sample packs because earplugs come in various sizes, shapes and textures. I have smaller ear canals, and the ones that work best for me are the Peltor Next No-Touch, the Peltor Next Nitro/Tattoo, the Hearos Super Soft, and the E-A-R Classic.

I told my neighbors about the noise as a courtesy. I could have not said a word, never answered my door and been a jerk. instead, i was nice, polite and told them of my working hours. As for the woman downstairs, she wasn't up for compromise. she wanted no noise all day. I can't compromise with that.

The reason I worked the 830-330 was i wanted to get it done as fast as i could. My main concern was of the couple next door with the baby, not an older, grump, mean, nasty, woman downstairs with 3 large rooms (more than anyone in the building) who by the way, i'm sure made plenty of noise when knocking down walls and redoing her apt.

My reasoning for calling a lawyer was very simple, she was calling the cops on me on a daily basis, this was my only legal and best option.

In the future I have opted to soeak with the board. Their answer was this: Any tentant is allowed to work with noise from 8am - 4pm on renovations, a permit is needed when doing structural work such as engineering etc.

"You owe me two dollars for the shampoo you used."

Bwahahhahahhahahah!

My temporary roommate says that her upstairs neighbors have crazy sex and you can totally hear them. It's been two months...where is it?

In my last apartment, the upstairs neighbors would have wrestling parties all night in which they would violently throw each other around while drunken girls cheered them on. I'd actually see dust shaking down from around the light fixtures, and on more than one occassion thought the ceiling would come crashing down. When I'd go beat on their door, they would crowd around the door and look through the peep hole and hiss to each other "damn, she looks really pissed" and "be quiet, maybe she'll go away" until I told them I could hear them and they sheepishly opened the door. I had to threaten to get them evicted (the damage I could see from the door in the apartment was extensive).

Then my downstairs neighbor was learning to play guitar right below my bedroom, and he'd put the teaching DVD on SO LOUD it would grate my teeth. I don't know how he could stand to be in the same room with it. I had no problem with his playing, just that stupid DVD.

The tenants downstairs blast the bass until 2am frequently. My good side tells me to ignore it or slip them a note. My bad side tells me to go out, get some jungle drum music/electronica dance music, and blast it with my 200watt system.

edEx - I was going to say that if you didn't let your neighbors know what was going to happen by giving them a heads up, then you're an a-hole. But, it sounds like you let everyone know your timetable, hours of work, etc., and this one woman was having the problem. The best way to deal with these types of people is to ask them what a good time would be for them and then try to coordinate, but in her case, it sounds like no time is a good time.

I've done some construction in my apartment, but I just let me upstairs and downstairs neighbors know when I'd like to use power tools, checking to see if there's a reason it would bother them more at some times than others, and we reach a compromise. As a result, when the woman upstairs does aerobics every other Saturday morning at 8 am, I don't complain.

It's all about compromise, and I have to say that from your last post, it sounds like you're being reasonable enough (I also hope you warned your neighbors about the hallway ventilation).

Another story - I used to live above a guy who smoked constantly and played his guitar at a billion decibels, and I kept fuming about it. I finally went and talked to him about it, and he didn't realize he was being such a pain. After tham he only smoked with the windows open, and he would warn us when he had his bandmates over to practice. After that, we got along great.

Some neighbors, though, can't compromise, and your downstairs neighbors sounds like that.

#53:

While I see your point, I’m going to have to agree with drillman... the world rises to the sun, thus we work during the day...

The woman downstairs is a chronic complainer. She complains about every neighbor and every person in the building. I did exercise some silence where I could and was nice to her, in the beginning when she did come to my door, knock and ask what I was doing. The police never gave me a summons because I was doing nothing wrong or illegal. In fact, I even had a permit for the construction.

The walls and floors in the building are plaster, lathe (lathe which is wood acts as a silencer) and brick, which also acts as a silencer. Power tools do not come with silencers they’re inherently loud. I used power tools infrequently, but they were needed.

I was working Monday thru Friday from 830am - 330pm during the appropriate hours of construction. It would be a lot different if I were coming home from work at 8pm and starting up my drills and power saws... I would understand complaints at these later hours.

---

Explain to me the difference:

A cop, nurse, surgeon, they all live suburbia working the night shift(s). You live next door and your landscaping crew is mowing your lawn... or you're putting in a pool and you have to blast rock, or your power-washing your deck... same thing, same hours, more noise. There's no difference.

---

I do think about the neighbors or mothers with children or cops and nurses who have night shifts, but I'm not going sit my life wasting it with silence because a neighbor hates noise. I used to work a night shift, it sucked but I would deal with it… was I bitching when the woman upstairs from me was walking around in her heals at 8, 9am? I sure as heck was not, why? Why bother? If it was all night into the morning, then yes I probably would complain. Did I get mad when my neighbor was renovating during the day and I was at home working from home? No. Why? Again, it’s daytime and noise is acceptable during the day.

You are (people as a whole) a selfish person to want to live your world in total silence all the time expecting everyone around you to follow you... There are other people out there trying to make things better for themselves, sometimes noise is a factor.

On an endnote, my downstairs neighbor was the only person to complain… Why? She is crazy. The husband and wife who live next door to me with, at the time, an infant, never complained once. In fact, I was over there to tell them of the future construction and they didn’t blink an eye. “Hey, it’s New York, what’s the city without noise?”

drillman--I work days but I have the foresight to see that others may not and, indeed, we all might need the help of many who do work nights--emergency services don't stop at sunrise or sunset. And my comment referred specifically to the selfish renovations discussed above (especially his words about no silencing necessary when it was obvious a neighbor was being disturbed by jackhammering).

Still, I think my point stands: be tolerant, share the city, avoid excess and unnecessary noise when you live in close proximity to others. Be aware that your actions impact on their lives.

If I was having emergency surgery or needed a cop, I'd like one who could concentrate on doing their job well because they had slept. And that doesn't mean we all have to live in silence or work loudly all night either, but use discretion and seek compromises. And avoid getting angry when our selfishness upsets others.

edEx, now known as Big Baby.

The more you know.........

i once got a note from someone that complained that my tv was too loud (i don't think it was) and that he could hear me typing on my computer keyboard.

i think it was during the spring/summer and we both had our windows open. but to complain about the keyboard seemed very strange. he apparently had bat-like hearing.