Noisy Neighbor

[Kestra]

Okay, here's the deal. We have a noisy neighbor. He plays music at a really loud volume at random hours and it's gotten to be more than slightly aggravating. I can put up with it in the afternoon, but not at 1AM. I just took the GRE this morning and I was getting really aggravated this past week with the distraction when I was trying to study, but I didn't want to do anything because I thought maybe I was just under a lot of stress and especially bitchy.

It's really loud though, and I've decided I'd like to try to do something about it. I have two issues though; I can't be certain which apartment it is coming from and even if I was completely certain, I'm not sure what to do.

I've included a pic for your amusement. Our apartment is kitty. My main suspects are Apartment A and Apartment D based on where I can hear the music in our apartment, but really it could be any of the other ones as well. I even went as far as walking around in the hallways to see if I could tell, but all I got for my trouble was nearly getting stuck in an elevator in my pjs.

I'm inclined to think it's the person beneath us since the people in Apartment A don't seem like the music blasting type, but like I said I can't tell.

Do I go around knocking on doors and politely ask the person to keep their music down? Leave a note on the door? Is that too passive-aggressive? Do I need to just deal with it?

The music thing has only become an issue in recent weeks so I'm not sure if there's a new tenant or what, but one of the things I liked about this place is that it was so quiet. I don't want to stir up trouble if I'm just being too spoiled though, either. Anyone deal with a similar situation and have some advice?

 

[Amaris]

Aw, kitty.


Wait, what? Oh.

The best thing you can do is notify your landlord/office manager. Let them know that someone is playing very loud music in the wee hours of the morning. Usually they'll stick a notice for all to see to curb the music in the wee hours.

If that doesn't work, it's police calling time.

 

[Kestra]

Oh no, I'd never call the cops unless someone was actually doing something that made this a dangerous environment. I didn't think complaining to the leasing office would make a difference since it's a huge complex. We're 1/7th of a larger group of apartments but I think my building alone houses something like 300 units. Also doesn't it make more sense trying to work it out ourselves first?

 

[Gaith]

Have you tried jamming your ear against walls/floors? It's awkward and uncomfortable, but yields great clarity in such matters, IME.

'Course, if you leave a politely-worded note under all nearby doors, you may find that you're not the only aggravated party.

Good luck!

 

[Kestra]

Have you tried jamming your ear against walls/floors? It's awkward and uncomfortable, but yields great clarity in such matters, IME.

Yes! The problem is I can hear the music if I put my ear to the wall we share with A, but I can also hear it through the floor, I think. I have a really bad sense of hearing and I have trouble telling where sounds come from (I've actually tested this in a lab experiment) so I don't trust my own sense of hearing. Walking through the hallways didn't yield me much of anything, unfortunately.

I didn't know if the note thing would be too rude, or overkill or something.

Good luck!

Thanks!

 

[Gaith]

A politely-worded, friendly-tone note is hardly ever rude, and is certainly not if you're being kept up at night.

 

[Amaris]

Oh no, I'd never call the cops unless someone was actually doing something that made this a dangerous environment. I didn't think complaining to the leasing office would make a difference since it's a huge complex. We're 1/7th of a larger group of apartments but I think my building alone houses something like 300 units. Also doesn't it make more sense trying to work it out ourselves first?

Ah. I didn't know the complex was that large. That said, while I would prefer not to involve the police, you have no idea the source or how to approach it. It's always better when two people can peaceably resolve a situation like this, but where do you start? You could ask your neighbors, but they may take offense.

 

[Kestra]

So I shouldn't include my cowboy hat pic?

 

[An Officer]

Communal living has its own issues, and it is rare that you will find apartment living as irritant free as a detached residence. You have the right to peace and quiet of course, but your neighbour has the right to enjoy themselves and be free and happy in the privacy of their home, since they pay to live in their apartment fair and square too, I assume.

If however the playing of music is at a decibel and/or times which are against the law, then you have the right to call the local government department which deals with noise pollution/anti-social behaviour. I would reasonably assume they keep your complaint anonymous, which will save you having tense relations in the future.

I would refrain from dealing with it yourself, that can cause more problems than it solves if the individual doesn't take it well. If you knew the resident, and had pleasant relations with them already, then yes, it would be better and more decent to drop it into a conversation as a "by the way" after you've exchanged pleasantries, whereby you could personally make sure there are no hard feelings.

If you're happy to wait to resolve your problem, and want to deal with it yourself though, perhaps you could make friends first (which is always a good idea with communal living), then drop it in later when you're more comfortable with one another.

I figure, when I have bought and paid for a detached home, then I will have all the right in the world to demand absolute silence. Personally, I have trained myself to phase out noises completely at will (many people are able to teach themselves this), my neighbours have an enormous TV directly below my sleeping area, which they apparently switch on at any time between 1am and 5am apparently. They regularly play music to such decibels that I can actually hear the lyrics and sing along, the floor actually vibrates. However, this is not every day, and they are really sweet people who have helped us out of a bind more than once. I am sure we do things to irritate them which they don't mention, part and parcel if living in close quarters. We've even flooded their kitchen, and they refused payment for repairs. You never know when you'll need your neighbours and vice versa, best not to murky the waters if the situation is not intolerable if you can possibly avoid it.

 

[Pingfah]

Oh no, I'd never call the cops unless someone was actually doing something that made this a dangerous environment. I didn't think complaining to the leasing office would make a difference since it's a huge complex. We're 1/7th of a larger group of apartments but I think my building alone houses something like 300 units. Also doesn't it make more sense trying to work it out ourselves first?

You should ask the leasing officer who has moved in recently though, that would help you identify which flat it is coming from.

 

[Captain Shaw]

So I shouldn't include my cowboy hat pic?

Are you friends with anybody else who lives in the building?
Maybe they know who is making the noise and what sort of person they are.

 

[SicOne]

First step is calling the apartment complex's management office. It may very well be that they have the loud guy or gal on a list already from previous complaints and if so then they can deal with that person appropriately without further involvement from you.

If they have no record of previous complaints of excessive noise from your general area, then they are still in a good position to advise you on the proper course of action.

If all else fails, Kestra, the military uses a very thin sheet of plastic explosive (Detasheet, I think it's called) that can be slid under doors and detonated. That'll shut off the frakkin' noise. After a fashion.

 

[Robert Maxwell]

If all else fails, kill everyone in the surrounding apartments, then enjoy the peace and quiet (at least until the cops show up.)

 

[SicOne]

^ Be certain to leave evidence suggesting it was done by another resident you don't like. Most people who engage in a gigantic killing spree don't premeditate it out far enough to toss "reasonable doubt" in there as a potential defense, and there's usually an orgy of evidence that leads the authorities straight back to the offender.

 

[Robert Maxwell]

So you're saying Kestra should get this thread deleted, pronto.

 

[Captain Ice]

Count me in amongst those who think you should call your apartment complexes leasing office. They may already know who is causing the noise. At the very worst, they can put out a notice to all residents in your apartment block to keep the noise level down at night.

 

[SicOne]

So you're saying Kestra should get this thread deleted, pronto.

Nope. It's way too late for her to erase any electronic evidence (and nothing put out on Teh Internetz ever completely vanishes, anyway, as the whole WikiLeaks debacle teaches us...), but merely that she should seek to ascertain that she herself did not ask this question or review this thread, but rather someone stole her TrekBBS password and, acting under her name, created and accessed this thread, thereby demonstrating conclusively, Your Honor, that she, the actual Kestra, was set up by an unknown miscreant.

Additionally, it's very, very important that at the moment the Detasheet did its nefarious duty and returned the apartment complex to blissful silence (after its earth-shattering KABOOM, that is...), Kestra was a hundred miles distant with an ironclad alibi, surrounded by a dozen reliable witnesses. She was the woman who could not possibly have been there...

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

It's obvious what's happened here. TrekBBS itself has become sentient and is actively seeking revenge on Kestra's behalf. The board sticks up for those under its rule.

And as for her own situation, I think Kestra should just take a cue from Jack Handey: take a standard sized watermelon and place it in front of the offender's apartment door. The watermelon would of course have a knife stuck into it with a note attached saying "You." After that, she'll feel better, and no harm done.

 

[TheBrew]

Play a reverb frequency to blow their speakers.

 

[Kestra]

Maybe I just print out this thread and slip it under the door?