Running Child Upstairs
Hello. I have been living in my condo for 5 weeks. Immediately upon moving in, I realized that the child in the apartment above mine runs the length of the apartment–whose layout is the same as mine– anywhere from a few minutes to as many as 45 minutes at a time. About two weeks ago…
Hello. I have been living in my condo for 5 weeks. Immediately upon moving in, I realized that the child in the apartment above mine runs the length of the apartment–whose layout is the same as mine– anywhere from a few minutes to as many as 45 minutes at a time. About two weeks ago after having to listen to that for 45 minutes, I went upstairs, introduced myself and politely stated that running for 45 minutes non-stop was jarring and that I couldn’t even hear my TV. The father asked me what he wanted me to do. I told him that the solution was up to him and his wife. I remained polite but clear about the noise being unnerving. He insists on my giving him a solution. I noted that in cases like this carpeting seemed like the solution. He said, “I won’t install carpeting. Anyway, I don’t think it will matter.†I told him not be so negative after pushing for a solution. He wanted us to agree on a schedule. I said, “It’s obvious I’m not home all week from 8 am to 8 pm. However when I come home, I’d like to be able to relax and hear my TV or just read.†He said, “That seems reasonable.†For the most part, there hasn’t been running after 8 pm during the week. The thing is, the weekends are unbearable with that child. I came home on Sunday night around 5 pm and by 6 pm I had to put in earplugs. Ditto for tonight. What would be my next step? He has said NO to carpeting. Am I being unreasonable? Should I stay quite about that noise? Should I just go to the condo association? Try with him again? I’d like to get along with my neighbors but it has to be a two-way street. The only thing, I am obviously the one in the weaker position. Thank you!
Simple answer:
1. Upstairs neighbor needs to put down carpeting. Quite possibly required by law or condo bylaws anyway.
2. Neighbor does not need to forbid child to run on weekends, and you need to accept that kids run, jump, make noise, etc.
Until you BOTH make these reasonable concessions, you’re going to have a miserable time of it.
bitter, why don’t you put a cork (floor) in it?
Biff, Maybe this is why your house is the quietest on the block. ; )
Biff, btw, I think Mrs Champion would ask the Champettes to take it easy but you would feed them more sugar…
“We have hardwood upstairs and our bedroom below has cork floors which greatly reduces any noise for the people below”
I find hard wood in the bedroom often increases the noise in the bedroom itself.
this thread is funny. whenever someone posts something like, “my neighbor listens to music too loud,” or “the old dudes on my block are outside drinking and making noise until 2am,” the response is always “grow up whiner, you live in brooklyn, get used to city life and deal with it or move to the suburbs!!” but just throw the word “children” in there and the sanctimonious preachers all come out. (some of the responses are reasonable, but most just make clear the self-righteousness is much less about how we affect each other than it is about judging parents.)
Brighton,
We have hardwood upstairs and our bedroom below has cork floors which greatly reduces any noise for the people below.
Our neighbors, with whom we share a common wall (their living room and our bedroom) are extremely noisy but since they’ve laid down 60% rugs which is our co-op’s policy there is nothing we can do short of flinging sh*t in their windows. ; ) PS, being nice didn’t work with her because she is Whisky Tango.
A lot of posters have mentioned “quiet use and enjoyment” but I think it actually refers not to any right to quiet but to the right to use your apartment in a reasonable way without harassment or interference from landlord, neighbors, etc. ?
I’m not a lawyer, but this probably means the kid has every right (legally speaking) to be playing indoors, though the parents should be doing more to reduce the noise. Sounds like you have pretty reasonable expectations. (Good luck!
As above, suggesting (nicely) some area rugs might be a good idea. As a parent, I know that with very young children, the time just before supper is the witching hour, and that’s the time when it’s most likely that they’re going to go wild. After age 4 or so, it’s much easier to teach them to control their behavior in this regard. And yes, from a young age, we’ve trained our child to be reasonably respectful of the neighbors who live beneath us.
Honestly, the noisiest neighbors I’ve ever had have been young couples–heavy shoes in the house, loud parties, and cats that run a bowling alley in the hallway overhead.