How to deal with noisy neighbours ?

C

csj

Registered User
The joy of living in an apartment building: We have new neighbours who moved in the flat right above us about 1 month ago. We've been living in our flat since 2 years already and while we never really heard the previous tenants, the new ones are VERY noisy (or the floors must have thinned out in between...)

We haven't met them yet but by hearing all the noise coming from upstairs we know that they have:
- 1 young child/baby that cries a lot
- 2 small dogs that yap a lot
- a drilling tool that seems to works overnight shifts
- a hammer that works when the drill is off
- some kind of strange device that rolls all around the apartment, all day long until wee hours of the night --it sounds like a ball (think cannon ball) or another kind of heavy object being dragged on the floor, or I was also thinking of the baby using a walker but until 1-2am ?!
- the occasional fight when the husband comes home late from the bars at 3am or later
- They go to bed quite late (usually after 1am)

I can't blame them for the baby because I have one -- although mine does not cry near as much as the upstairs neighbour's, but the other things are just driving me insane. The most annoying is in the evening and night when my baby is sleeping and the noise is so loud sometimes that it wakes him up.
Sorry for the long post but if you've encountered similar problems I would really appreciate some help in finding a diplomatic manner to resolve the noise problem. I was thinking of doing the following:
1/ Go upstairs and try to discuss with the neighbours about the noises (with risks of being rejected and getting even more noise as revenge) ?
2/ Write a letter requesting to reduce their noise and place it in their mailbox ?
3/ Notify and file a complaint with the management office ?
4/ Ignore and live with it ? -- not sure if I can do that though as it's been 1 month and I cannot stand it anymore, and we cannot really move out easily as we own our place
5/ do something else ?

Thanks!
 
I would notify the management office. I think there is a noise ordinance that prohibits a certain level of noise past 11pm. Of course there is probably nothing that can be done about the baby or dog, but the rest should be stopped especially if it bothers your child! In fact our building's mgmt office just recently sent out a notice to all apartments reminding us to keep the noise level down past a certain hour. You never know, if the noise is as bad as you say, someone else may have complained already! Good luck!
 
I think they're your neighbours and you have to live with them and may need their help one day. So I would go with your first option first, then if it doesn't turn out well, then send a letter to them and give a copy to the management office. Maybe they don't realise they're being so noisy.
 
I think we might have the same neighbours! Ours also have the cannon ball sound to the point I am almost convinced they are ten pin bowling up there. Plus there is another sound which sounds like a table tennis ball bouncing along. I have not done anything about it as yet as our bay is still young enough to sleep through most noises (other than the drilling, although thankfully they limit that to the daytime but almost always just as the baby has just gone to sleep) but if it starts waking her I will be going up to speak to them.
 
I'd say inform the management office and see if they would be able to resolve this for you by talking to them on your behalf.
 
It is better to call management office than dealing with the issue by yourself. They should have a 24 hour service to deal things like this.
 
What IS that noisy ball noise? Our upstairs neighbours have it too - although it makes me think that they're playing marbles with heavier balls - it drives me CRAZY!! I told my husband that one day, I want to go up and knock on their door, just so I can see what they're doing in there!! I've talked to other people and a LOT of people have said that they've heard it too - so it must be something common... but I'm clueless!!
 
I used to hear a lot of that "noisy ball" sound at my previous place. I later found out that my neighbour's kids were playing with golf balls!
 
That's just so annoying having noisy neighbours; we got them too. Piano all day and till 00:30 occassionally. That directly above my sons rooms. Luckily it doesn't bother him. The washing machine runs every day, all day long! Not that you hear the machine itself but the water pumping you hear. And they go to bed really late 1-3am! Then they usually take a bath or so, lots of loud splashing right above our bedroom. First time, and only time so far we told the concierge about it. Since then the night baths got better. But if it gets too noisy we complain with the management office. I wouldn't deal with it myself unless you really know them, otherwise that's what the MO is for.
 
Hi, i think that rolling thing is luggage wheel sound which they might drag at night time to take clothes out or something that i can assume. One flight attendent use to live just abov my flat and use to come late for which i complaint too with the management.

Yea, there are pple like tht...at 1.00 clock in the morning hah!!!
 
I think getting management involved right off the bat is a little heavy-handed.

I would talk to them about their noise levels personally as a courtesy. You know...be neighborly. They might not realize the sound is reverberating in your apartment.

When our upstairs neighbour let us know that our drilling was happening during their baby's nap time, we would just double check with them before we drilled.

I think it is better to try and sort things out between ourselves and assume most people are lovely and kind. Assuming that our neighbours are terrible people who have no regard for our well-being robs us of the opportunity to create community and it makes the world seem so much more awful.

My 2 cents.
 
we had a neighbour once who blasted opera at 2am... it drove me crazy. at one point, i did get up and march upstairs. the reply, "TOO BAD!"

as for the "ball sound".... that seems to be a very common complaint. i wonder if there is more to it? i had the same problem. to me, it sounded like someone was coming home and dropping all of their loose change onto the floor. wonder if it's pipes or something because it is one of the most common complaints there is?
 
Well, having been the "noisy neighbor" I would have to say that I would go to the neighbor first before getting management involved. Of course, we didn't think we were being noisy, our child doesn't cry much and isn't loud or rowdy at all. But he does like to push furniture around, and we honestly didn't know how loud that was for the people downstairs. We were annoyed, frankly, to get a knock on the door from the management, and though we immediately put felt on the bottom of the chairs to minimize noise, we did so grudgingly. If they had just come up in a friendly way and let us know, we would have felt differently about it.
 
I wouldn't bother confronting them directly as that probably won't do any good. Do what most people in HK do that live in an apartment building, complain to the management/security people--that's actually their job--to maintain peace and order in the apartment building. In this way you can remain somewhat anonymous (because they wouldn't know if a neighbor on the same floor complained as well). So, get your money's worth (you do pay a management fee to pay the security/management of the building, right?) and have them handle it. If you complain and the problem still remains, just keep complaining--eventually something should be done. Here in HK, people don't deal with their neighbors, generally (a lot of people don't even know the people in their apartment building after living there for a decade or more--for example my in-laws). So, it's actually not really your jurisdiction to go handle it by yourself--that could create more problems than its worth.
 
BTW, there is a cat toy that has a tail on it that is battery operated that rolls around on the floor-meant for a cat to chase. I think they are quite popular as toys in HK because my in-laws' neighbor gave one to them for my son when he was a bit smaller. That thing can and will roll all over the floor, all day long if its turned on. It's kinda fun to watch so that might be the rolling sound you're hearing. I am SOOOOO glad I don't live underneath anyone in an apartment complex. I'd have my broom stick and would be pounding on the ceiling all the time--that's how we handled it when we lived in Mainland China.

This is exactly what the cat toy looks like:
http://addins.kwwl.com/blogs/cubbietails/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/wild-creature-003.jpg
 
Oh, and to the people who think it might be common courtesy to go tell the neighbors yourself--I think that all depends on how well you know the neighbors and if they aren't Western or you aren't Western, how well you speak their language. It might be utter confusion if you go up there to talk to them about something only to realize that you can't communicate with them. You run the risk of insulting them as maybe you don't understand the right or polite way to tell them. It's better to let someone who is in authority be the middle person--that is how I see things. In HK, it seems that things have their order and the same social graces that might apply in your home country aren't the way things are done here. That's just my experience.
 
Thanks for all your replies and the links. I'm really surprised to learn that the 'cannon ball' noise is so common here as I thought drilling the walls at 1am was more popular!
I think I will go to the management office and complain so they send a notice to all residents because I'm sure we're not the only ones in this situation --and yes, the management fees should serve their purpose!
If things don't change after that, then I will go upstairs to talk to them and perhaps hopefully find out what that cannon ball sound is, which I would let you all know if I finally do find out !
 
oh my...this is my story exactly...the canon ball noise..the drilling..the hammering all of it... WHAT are they doing???? we've been living with it for 7 months now since we moved here...we've complained to the management office numerous times...i even went to the extent of calling the management officials home at 12 at night just so they would hear exactly how loud it really is and we're not just being fussy...they've gone upstairs and tried to tell them to keep it down - but no luck. I know they have kids and I have one too so I completely understand about the noises during the day but for the rest;;...??? the management finally told us that they're very uncouth and we could call the police if it gets too loud. I went upstairs for the umpteenth time and told them that..and it has been better since...
sorry for the long post but I feel so relieved knowing there are other people too..
 
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