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I have TWO noise machines running in my master bedroom and I still hear them STOMPING around.
I am running out of patience!
I'm tired and cranky.
:-(
Take it your on talking terms?
Just go around and knock, explain you can hear them walking around and this disturbs you.
Most people are reasonable if they take no notice take legal action.
Providing they agree and after a few days take them a little something to say thanks, bunch of flowers or bottle of wine etc etc.
If that fails then play Laurie Andersons "Oh Superman" on continuous repeat for a week - he will surrender eventually.
:-))
Trying to be polite and assuming they would take notice of the problem, I put up with this dog activity for two years. Finally I just called my city's offices to find out how my local ordinances read related to this topic.
Having the facts in hand I just called my neighbors and told them that the dog thing either stops or I persue things through the city by way of making a formal complaint. Ultimately we would both end up in front of some sort of city judge with our respective stories. A fine could be involved.
Things are drastically better for me now.
There seem to be two general categories of people. Those who don't want to impose upon their neighbors and those who are so ego centric that they either don't notice or don't care how their lives impact others. Sure, be polite and see if they will provide you with the courtesy you deserve, but bottom line these are selfish people who only think of themselves and what is easiest and most convenient for them. They don't care about you at all.
But seriously yeah just approach them and ask nicely to keep it down.
It was bad enough listening to the music, but one of the "roadies" who controlled the volume liked to spike it up and down for particular parts of any given song. It was so loud at times that my windows actually reverberated!
After dealing with it for more than a year, I finally went down the hill (3 separate times) and asked them politely to keep the levels down to the point where my windows wouldn't shake and to stop increasing and decreasing the volume all the time. I was ignored.
So, after a few more months, I snapped and went to the police. I was ignored. Sigh.
So, I rented the biggest speakers I could find on the island and hooked it up to my stereo system. I then played Ann Murray, Gordon Lightfoot, Joni Mitchell, John Denver and several other artists VERY LOUDLY for nearly 4 hours. People from the restaurant came and knocked on my door at 9:42pm. I ignored them.
The police came and knocked on the door at 10:30 pm. I answered.
Policeman: "Good evening."
Me: Good evening."
Policeman: "We have received complaints about your loud music ..."
Me: "Yes ... and?"
Policeman: "Well we'd like you to turn the music down."
Me: "I'm sure you would!"
Policeman: "Well?"
Me: "Well what?"
Policeman (getting annoyed): "Well please turn it down!"
Me: "Oh, I don't think so."
Policeman (Getting quite annoyed): "What did you say?"
Me: "I said ... Oh I don't think so."
Policeman (Sputtering mad): "Did you just tell me that you are not going to turn the music down?"
Me: "Yes I did"
Policeman: "Do you want to go to jail?"
Me: "Well why would I want to do that?"
Policeman: "There is a noise abatement law here you know?"
Me: "Oh yes, I am well aware of the law."
Policeman: "Well then I am ordering you to turn down the music."
Me: "I will most most certainly do so.
Policeman: "Good"
Me: ... At presicely 11:59 PM I will most certainly do so ... as that is when the noise abatement law comes into effect. Until then, I thought I would let the entire valley enjoy my music for a change as we know that the restaurant down the hill has been very generous in sharing their music every Wednesday night for the past couple of years!"
With that I bid the policeman goodnight, closed the door, and he drove his squad car down the hill to his aunt's restaurant. The following morning, just as the rental company came to pick up their speakers, the young policeman's aunt walked down my driveway. She said something to the driver which I couldn't hear but I saw the expression on her face when he said, "Oh no, miss Liane has a standing order for these speakers every Wednesday night for the next 4 months."
She glared at me and said, "OK ... you win!" She turned on her heels and walked back up the drive. I have never heard from her since. :)
Fight fire with fire. Get yourself a recording by "Stomp" and play it (VERY LOUDLY) every time they start "stomping" around. I imagine it will only take three or four go-rounds until they figure out your message.
If they don't get it soon enough, send them a gift wrapped copy of the recording with a card asking them to add some sort of beat to their stomping so that you might at least enjoy some entertainment value out of the din they frequently create!
If that doesn't help ... move! They are just too dimwitted to deal with.
Aftall you can hardly tell them to stop moving, the problem then is with the house rather than with the occupants.
Wait until they stop making a noise and then make some yourself.........They'll soon get the idea ;)
Maybe not...
Fight fire with fire. Get yourself a recording by "Stomp" and play it (VERY LOUDLY) every time they start "stomping" around. I imagine it will only take three or four go-rounds until they figure out your message.
Some neighbours are way too thick to get the message. Ours likes to shout and scream at her family all day, so we played "Shout" very loudly every time she had a go. She didn't get the message.
Now she gets drowned out with Nickelback :) I'm sure the rest of the family know the words by now...
Use screen windows with slits for cover. Just get them on the hind quarters and watch out for the eyes.
You should also add... if you're caught doing that, be prepared for legal action, arrest, or in worse case scenarios, dogs being let loose on you (that might jump right through screens or windows), or a neighbor who will return fire. Wimpy neighbor with small dogs and no money is one thing, K9 officer is another. :)
What is the nicest way to tell your neighbors they are too loud without starting a feud?
Make friends with them. If they just plain don't care, there's probably not much you can do. I've never had people living above me where noise wasn't an issue I had to tolerate to some extent, even roommates. That said, they may have no idea.
Some weeks later I get the neighbour on the phone, a very well to do lady, explaining that she had had enough of teh noise and boughtthe family carpets for teh whole house.
Which was a novel way of ending the problem, and her first contact with people living on benefits.
;~)
One night, the talking awakened my Corgi. Being awakened, he decided that he had to go out and do his bidness. I let him out and he immediately starts barking at the neighbors. I say out the door, "Grendel, HUSH!" I said the dog's name more quietly than the "hush" and my neighbor started whispering! He thought I yelled out the door for him to hush!
Well, that torqued him. I'd see him and he'd give me dirty looks. I really didn't get why, because I didn't put two and two together that night that I told my dog to hush. I thought he started whispering to stop distracting my dog.
I had my dog out front with me one day when I was doing something outside and the neighbor walks to his mailbox. Of course, Grendel starts barking. I told the dog to hush again and the guy says something about I'm lucky that he doesn't listen to me. I figure if he's THAT ignorant or paranoid or whatever that he thinks I'm telling him to hush rather than my dog, he deserves to be torqued.
In the end I moved.
When the noise gets unbearable, go downstairs and turn their power off. I have used this trick before and it seems to work really well, but it pisses them off something fierce.
You really have to make sure there are more than a few tenants though so they don't know who to be pissed at. At the very least this tactic is hilarious.
One of the worst noises I've had to put up with was when I was in East London and had to put up with car stereo's turned high, cars with exhuast pipes modified to make a noise (!), and motorbikes making an awful noise when they pass. Phoned the police a few times - they said there's nothing they were willing to do about it. Apparently a loud exhaust or car stereo isn't illegal. Wrote to my MP with a view to making them illegal on the grounds of being unable to hear emergency vehicle sirens and diminished concentration, but no support from there either. I moved out of London before I got to the level of scattering nails on the road.
I play guitar and occasionally have rehearsals in my apartment. I try to arrange them during the late afternoon and things always start off quietly. But, of course, they generally end up getting a little loud and finish, sometimes around 11:00 pm.
I'll always apologise to my (few) neighbours, yet to my amazement, they usually reply that they enjoyed the music and not to worry:) In fact one couple who lived opposite me used to come out onto their balcony and enjoy the free live show with a BBQ. LOL.....
OK the guys I play with aren't bad (actually they are usually very good), but it never ceases to amaze me.
I will make sure I am well rested just in case I run into one of those fiestas!
That won't be too hard! There's usually one (or several) going on somewhere in Spain pretty much every day ;)
They are machines that make noise to drown out the "other" noises. Some sound like a "fan" running. Others have nature sounds to them like rain, waterfalls, beaches, etc.
I have two "fan" noise machines and I also keep the fan running in my bathroom. It helps a little with the surface noise, but nothing can take care of the stomping since you can feel the vibrations.
Oh well, their lease runs out in 2 months. Maybe they won't renew.
Keep notes as to what you've done, and/or agreed on.
Then, if they won't change, go to the local authorities, still keeping a record.
If the authorities can't or won't help, _then_ you can get creative.
If you react aggressively at the beginning you've lost the moral high ground. They can say "but _he's_ being noisy _too_!"
Oh, and don't take up the carpets in your apartment or house. The floorboards may look nice, but they're very noisy, and they scuff easily.
Especially if the carpet has sound insulation underneath; that's very useful, if you like a quiet life.
Some twits I used to live with did this; ripped up the carpet and sound insulation. I could hear them bonking at night.
Otherwise, just make sure you're on the top floor of any apartment block you move into!
When we'd knock on their door to ask them to be quiet, they wouldn't answer the door. We'd pound on the walls, and that didn't make any difference. We complained to the landlord, and he got them to quiet down... for a couple of days, and then they were back at it.
We just ended up having to move.
[earthquakesound.com...]
Fun tip: go to the shore on the weekend and leave a digital rap channel playing with the sub on full blast for 3 straight days - bye, bye problem neighbor...
;)
