Fridge hum - next door townhouse

Hi all,

I’ve already posted about this twice already, but as they say about third times.

To recap – I have a garden level tenant in a townhouse in Bushwick. For the last few months, he’s been complaining about a persistent buzz/hum in his bedroom. After a ton of investigation, we’re certain it’s a fridge on the other side of the wall on the adjoining townhouse. I gave the landlord anti vibration pads, and he put the fridge on them. Which did absolutely nothing. After that, he refused to do anything else – and continues to refuse. So I tore down the Sheetrock, put in double Rockwool insulation, a layer of MLV, and used green glue. I thought this would finally put this issue to bed. But no – they can still kind of hear it, especially at night.

I told my tenant I’ve done everything I can possibly do as a landlord, the issue is now with him and the neighbor/landlord next door.

Am I in any way liable for further mitigating this noise? Is this effectively a neighbor noise issue between my tenant and the neighbor/neighbor’s landlord?

Thanks!

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restorationcontractor | 4 years and 6 months ago

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I agree with Urbandad, replacing the refrigerator is absolutely the easiest, cheapest way to go. I don’t see why they would refuse.
Bottom line is you as a landlord would be responsible to take care of this. As you have already replaced their wall you have admitted there is a problem. If you were to go to court they would have a reason to ask for reduced rent or not pay any rent. I think the legal term is “Quiet enjoyment” of the apartment.

As you say it is the garden level have you checked the area between the joists in the cellar? There could be a penetration, missing brickwork etc. allowing the sound to come through. Could even be a loose joist or piece of framing that is resonating. Even if you have to open up some ceiling it would be worth it to check.

Many years ago I was working for another contractor constructing an engineered sound attenuating ceiling for a large bar on Manhattans upper West side. This was a serious very expensive sound engineering firm designed job, acoustical lead sheeting, engineered spring hangers, etc, etc. the whole nine. It had to be d one due to noise complaints from the large co-op apartment building above. First night they turned on the sound system, relatively nothing had changed. The owner and the general contractor were freaking out so I took it upon myself to take a good look around (I had never been asked to and was only working as a subcontractor). I gained access to the large locked courtyard where I found a 36″ square air intake that ran directly under the sound stage! Clearly the source of the problem. I reported what I had found to them and did not hang around for the fallout.
Bottom line do a thorough inspection.

hkapstein | 4 years and 6 months ago

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Well one thing you could do, which your neighboring landlord might not refuse, is to buy him a new fridge. I had this problem once. I replaced the fridge, and the new fridge caused the floorboards to vibrate and buzz. This never happened with the old fridge, it was something about the design of the new fridge, and the way it interacted with my particular floor. Ultimately, the problem was solved by shimming some floorboards to prevent the from vibrating. However, if you are certain it’s the fridge, a quieter unit might do the job.

Now from a liability perspective, you’d have to talk to a lawyer. But imagine you are a tenant, and there is a buzz that is barely audible that you want repaired. Is it likely you would be able to recover damages from a landlord, who has made a good faith documented attempt to eliminate the supposed buzz? I think, and this is just my opinion, it would be a tough case to win even in this landlord/tenant environment. However, the tenant could always move out, so that may be more of a concern at this point.