If you have lived in a house most of your life and you move into an apartment, one of the things you’ll discover is how different it is. The biggest thing is that you have to deal with neighbors who, rather than living in the house next to yours, live on your own floor or above or below you. Below are some tips that you can use when you have a noisy neighbor.
Look at Your Lease
Sometimes a lease will stipulate that there aren’t any loud or unruly sounds after a particular hour or before a certain time. If the building has hardwood flooring, there could be a clause that requires area rugs covering so much of the floor to help with insulating it. These kinds of things might help back you up with your neighbor or landlord.
Speak with Your Other Neighbors
Ask your other neighbors if they have the same issues with the neighbor. This can give you issues more justification. It also can support you if you decide to speak with the landlord or confront the problematic person. Other neighbors also might have some ideas to help with approaching the neighbor or solving your problem.
Be Nice to the Neighbor
If you aren’t concerned about speaking with the neighbor, politely knocking on your neighbor’s door and speaking with them calmly might be just the thing you need to do. It’s possible they don’t know that they are being loud, that they had no idea that work the third shift and sleep during the day, etc. if you approach them calmly and respectfully, they are much more likely to be willing to listen.
Assess Yourself
It’s possible that you have habits yourself that are annoying to your neighbors. If you go to your neighbor because they have annoying habits, be prepared to have them say that you do something that annoys you. You also want to avoid arguing. Take some time and figure out a compromise that the two of you can reach. As mentioned above, it’s possible they are unaware of the things they are doing, and you may be unaware of what you are doing that annoys other people.
Speak with Your Landlord
If you’ve done what you can do to be reasonable, calling your management company or landlord may be the thing that you should do next. They may not want to listen to your worries about the noise, and it’s possible your hands are tied. However, until you try to speak with them, you won’t know. That’s why reading your lease is so important. If there are clauses about noise, you can cite them.
These are five tips that you can use when you have a noisy neighbor who is causing you trouble. Living in an apartment is much noisier than living in a house, and you have to realize that. But it doesn’t mean that you have to put up with excessive noise, either.
