Is my neighbour being an idiot about noise from my flat?
- Thread starter oulton
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I know it's not exactly helpful to the OP (He's got some great replies here anyway!) but - I've got a pretty loud sound system, pretty much using it all the time at 'decent levels'. We live in a terrace house with from what I gather thin walls (I can sometimes hear their kitchen cupboards slam etc.) and in the last 2 years we've had no complaints. I've been expecting a knock on the door sometimes when I've been a little unreasonable with the levels late at night.
Not a peep from them! It is nice but I wonder if they might just not be the type to complain. I've thought about just asking them but don't want to unsettle the peace! Makes me feel a little guilty as I never hear TV/Music from them.
Not a peep from them! It is nice but I wonder if they might just not be the type to complain. I've thought about just asking them but don't want to unsettle the peace! Makes me feel a little guilty as I never hear TV/Music from them.
Why play it loud enough to penetrate the floor in the first place? I see no reason why music ever needs to leave your property. If you want to play though a big-ass sub-woofer then buy a detached house first. Are you a teenager and do you listen to Radio 1?
There obviously needs to be a bit of give and take and if there's only a few floorboards between your and a neighbour there is going to be some noise from pretty much everything you do, you don't need a 'big-ass sub-woofer' or loud volume for someone else to hear it either. I'm glad I don't share a wall/floor with you.
- Bryan, 14, R1 Listener.
Anyway I recommend that the OP gets a decent pair of headphones if they really want to enjoy their music because disputes like this never end well.
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Nail on head
We are not 17 year old chavs cranking up the subwoofer. We don't even have a dedicated sub (well there's a krk 10's in the next room but I dont use it)...yet
But our speakers are hi quality and the bass extension goes down low. So even quiet music with the low bass notes will penetrate to a lesser degree!
Yes - peace and quiet for 22.5 hours a day (and all of the night time hours) would be plenty for me too! 1 hour odd of music playing in the later afternoon early evening is not something to moan about, its sad!
Soldato
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It depends, it's all very well saying you got a 10pm cap on your music but I'd still find it annoying if I could hear my neighbours music every evening, I'd much prefer to have a neighbour that has crazy parties a few times a year tbh but was quiet in between.
Some say that living in apartments you have to expect noise, as though its just one of the downfalls of living in close proximity to people, but I see it the other way round, with respect I think the downfall is that 'you' have to be quiet, I live in an apartment and I go out of my way to be quiet, I have a lovely subwoofer (which I owned before moving in) and its never been turned on once, it's just something I have to put up with, you want to play your music loud then you should live in a better insulated apartment or detached house, or expect complaints and/or a complicated balancing act between your noise and your neighbours.
Some say that living in apartments you have to expect noise, as though its just one of the downfalls of living in close proximity to people, but I see it the other way round, with respect I think the downfall is that 'you' have to be quiet, I live in an apartment and I go out of my way to be quiet, I have a lovely subwoofer (which I owned before moving in) and its never been turned on once, it's just something I have to put up with, you want to play your music loud then you should live in a better insulated apartment or detached house, or expect complaints and/or a complicated balancing act between your noise and your neighbours.
Soldato
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i think what you said is ok, telling him to text if it seems to loud and you can turn it down a little
what type of floors do you have, is it just wooden between you? no concrete I take it?
i'm in a bottom flat on my own with wooden floors and you can hear a lot, and bass would be quite audible
try and 'see' it from his perspective i guess, keep the communications going. hope yous get a happy medium
what type of floors do you have, is it just wooden between you? no concrete I take it?
i'm in a bottom flat on my own with wooden floors and you can hear a lot, and bass would be quite audible
try and 'see' it from his perspective i guess, keep the communications going. hope yous get a happy medium
Yes, however sometimes that is not always possible. If someone upstairs wants to play a bit of music upstairs for an hour and I can just about hear it, I will turn my TV up. Maybe because I live in a terraced house on a busy residential road I am a bit more tolerant of noise pollution?
What a **** I would tease him by turning it up further so he can get a real taste of bass for some short(or long) lengths 
Me getting a complaint at uni was also a bit stupid as it was only freshers week and noise literally every night, obviously I wasn't going to be blasting tunes at full pelt after
Me getting a complaint at uni was also a bit stupid as it was only freshers week and noise literally every night, obviously I wasn't going to be blasting tunes at full pelt after
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Soldato
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What if you're busy rocking out to Led Zepplin?
You're even playing tit for tad on here.
1. He had a loud party.
2. You complained THEN STAYED AND ENJOYED YOURSELF.
3. He complains about you making a noise.
4. You dismiss his complaint without supplying women and beer.
I'd be annoyed too, but joking aside you are very focused on your own side of this. It won't help matters that he's underneath your flat and more likely to hear bass etc. but YOU need to sort this out or you can expect him to play music etc during "later afternoon" whilst your child is trying to sleep.
I understand where you're coming from to a certain degree, he bought a flat and so should probably expect some noise but i'd say after 8-9pm you should keep is quiet enough so he cant here the bass, or just turn the bass tones right down, this is what i'd do, but maybe I'm too nice!
What kind of music is it?
What kind of music is it?
Soldato
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Exactly, outside of the odd celebratory party it's just better to agree to both be as quiet as possible which is what we all do at our building, otherwise it gets complicated.
You have two choices, you can decide whether the downfall of living in a poorly insulated apartment building is having to be quiet, or that the downfall is that other people have to listen to your music, I personally think depending on what you choose says a lot about yourself.
Just grab some decent headphones for loud music, pop along to www.head-fi.org and make it hobby, you'll enjoy the music more and it'll be better quality per £.
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Solution maybe
Go to his flat while playing music at what you think is a reason setting seeing how much noise is leaking through from your flat, call the misses on the mobile and get her to turn the music down or bass levels/settings until you find a level that can’t be heard or is a lot lower but hopefully is still a reasonable level in your flat? This way you can openly tried to solve the problem i know you say you have been to his flat and could barely hear it but I think you have to also understand that he feels his space is being invaded by unwanted noise. I know it’s always one sided with one neighbour complaining more about the other but its best to be seen to try and find a more reasonable solution then having to be asked to turn the music down. If you already know the level of the music which he considers too loud i would try and stick below that level where possible.
If not floor installation? I had a flat and the installation between the walls was great but between the floors was terrible as there was nothing between the floorboards (new build flat) You could hear every foot step from upstairs and down stairs played loud music whenever they wanted. No matter how many times I went and asked the down stairs flat they would turn it down then the next day it was back up to a higher level. This might be the point the neighbour is getting at the fact the noise level changes from day to day.
I live in a semi now and can heard next doors kids screaming and shouting but I have kids and a dog so we are both as bad as each other
Go to his flat while playing music at what you think is a reason setting seeing how much noise is leaking through from your flat, call the misses on the mobile and get her to turn the music down or bass levels/settings until you find a level that can’t be heard or is a lot lower but hopefully is still a reasonable level in your flat? This way you can openly tried to solve the problem i know you say you have been to his flat and could barely hear it but I think you have to also understand that he feels his space is being invaded by unwanted noise. I know it’s always one sided with one neighbour complaining more about the other but its best to be seen to try and find a more reasonable solution then having to be asked to turn the music down. If you already know the level of the music which he considers too loud i would try and stick below that level where possible.
If not floor installation? I had a flat and the installation between the walls was great but between the floors was terrible as there was nothing between the floorboards (new build flat) You could hear every foot step from upstairs and down stairs played loud music whenever they wanted. No matter how many times I went and asked the down stairs flat they would turn it down then the next day it was back up to a higher level. This might be the point the neighbour is getting at the fact the noise level changes from day to day.
I live in a semi now and can heard next doors kids screaming and shouting but I have kids and a dog so we are both as bad as each other