View Full Version : Noise nuisance
I recently moved house to a ground floor flat in Wick. Turns out the family above me has five kids and have also recently taken on a couple of dogs. They haven't fitted any carpets yet though.
The noise above me yesterday from 3pm to 9.30pm was an almost constant barrage of bumps as the kids were running around and one of the dogs was playing, dropping her toy on the floor and rolling it around, TV noise (which was very quiet comparted to the rest of the noise), talking etc etc. Just the typical noise of a very large family. Unfortunately they are very large in every sense so even when they walk around the floorboards are struggling. When they have shoes on, or the washing machine is running and the kids are playing... .you can probably get the picture.
It starts at 8 a.m. and continues until the kids go to school (thank God for school days!), then the dog howls until they come back. It starts again round about 3.30pm once the kids are back.
In all fairness they COULD be a LOT noisier than they are, - they do try to keep the noise down and they can't afford carpets, but I was at my wits end yesterday. I don't believe it is fair for me to simply have to put up with it.
Although I have not yet made a formal complaint to the council (they are council tenants) I have had an informal chat with the staff in Wick office to see what can be done to make things better.
In all seriousness can anyone advise what can be done should the family decide to be beligerent or find themselves unable to be any quieter than they already are, which simply is not quiet enough.
Does anyone have any experience of having to deal with noise nuisance such as this and advice, especially with regard to how Highland Council and/or Wick office deal with the problem ?
Any helpful advice would be appreciated. (Naturally I intend to have a word with them as soon as I can, but I can forsee such a conversation degenerating rapidly into an argument which would be ridiculous. I am practically silent in my occupancy of my property - although after several hours of my head banging (so to speak) from the noise up above I have put music on at a moderate level to try to block the noise intrusion - at which point they seem to take exception to the noise I am making and ramp up their noise levels at notch or two - it begins to sound like elephants jumping up and down above me in a bad temper).
Not a good situation. Do folks here think I am being unreasonable ?
just speaking as a parent here hun, children are not suppose to be quiet, and there really is nothing you can do to make them quiet. mine run around shout and scream, laugh and cry drop things, fall over, bang toys on the floor, and often wake up crying in the night. and thats only with two of them.
did you not realise before you moved in that their was a large family living above you?
in all honesty, i dont know what to tell you because they are not being a noise nuisance in the sence of the word, as they are not horrid and troublesome.. it sounds like they are just being a normal young family, in which case you have just been very unlucky in where you are now living.
if they were hanging out the windows shouting obsenities, playing loud horrible music at all hours, throwing wild parties, and having domestics every five min. it would be a dif. story, but if its just the rumble and jumple of everyday rucus.. all i can advice is buy earplugs.. thats what hubby does when hes on nights.
I really sympathise with you, and no your not being unreasonable wanting a bit of quiet. In situations like this there will always be bad feeling if you do say anything but you shouldn't have to put up with it . I would go down the council route and ask them to sort it. jan x
highlander
14-Jan-08, 13:27
Surely the family is living in a over crowded flat, maybe they wont be there too long.
I do sympathise, emb123.
I'm nervously awaiting my new upstairs neighbours - the previous tenants were two quiet nurses, but the flat has now been sold -prior to selling, the previous owner had all the carpets taken up and all the floors sanded. Every time there was a viewing you could hear every footstep and folk talking -they weren't being noisy, it's just due to the lack of carpets.
We once almost fell out with our very good friends who lived immediately above us - they had 3 small kids (as did we) -they chose to sand all their floors and suddenly the sound of the kids running about and playing was hugely magnified. You could indeed hear a pin drop -and you could certainly hear the youngest child chucking his toys out of his cot at about 5am! :eek:
Are your neighbours making an usual amount of noise? -or is it the bare boards that are making things much worse?
Seven people in a flat does seem rather a lot these days I must say-and the howling dog must be very distressing. :(
I do hope there are folk who can advise you and you can get this sorted out amicably so that the problem doesn't escalate.
Hi - thanks for your comments - and Brandy, I agree that they are just being a normal family.
Mind you, their apparent ramping up the noise out of spite should I dare to have the audacity to wish to drown them out from down here with a bit of music doesn't sound like they are being very mature or responsible towards me as a neighbour. My hi-fi system is extremely high quality and very powerful - if I wanted to make their life a misery I could do so, but I don't. When I put my music on it goes on quietly, just loud enough so I don't have to hear them too crystal clearly for a while when I cannot stand it any more.
I sympathise with their situation which is why I have not complained to them yet, although I have commented on it a bit. I would prefer to keep things amicable if possible, it make life easier for everyone.
I think the problem is one of familiarity breeding contempt or been given an inch so taking a mile. They started out doing their best, but because I've not had a go at them yet, they've stopped being so careful about the amounf of noise they are making and it has increased.
I think that it is daft to house such a large family in an upstairs flat, but they do have four bedrooms so they are classed as adequately housed unfortunately. It would do no harm whatsoever for them to have carpet with underlay. In fact I believe that they are not allowed to have bare floorboards or laminated wooden flooring in an upstairs property, but resolving the problem there costs money which they probably haven't got.
They are not my kids though, and they have two floors - I don't see why the banging about needs to happen above my ceiling when the kids can be sent up a level to bang above their living room ceiling - I bet they wouldn't be so tolerant of the noise then.
This sort of thing is always difficult to sort out and still stay friends. :)
it is really hard.. if it is a council flat, then wouldnt it be the councils responsibilty to make sure there are carpets?to dampen the noise? are they young children or older children?
i know that my kids are mostly in the living room, as i can much easier keep an eye on them.
it is really hard.. if it is a council flat, then wouldnt it be the councils responsibilty to make sure there are carpets?to dampen the noise? are they young children or older children?
i know that my kids are mostly in the living room, as i can much easier keep an eye on them.
I agree Brandy, surely the owners of the building are responsible for the fabric of it and that includes insulation from the cold and noise to a certain extent.
Emb, would it be within reason to invite the mother or father in to your flat while their family is at full tilt and maybe if they realise just how noisy it is they may be able to do something about it meantime?
The only other suggestion I have is that you have headphones on with gentle music of your choice playing. Not always possible I know; I can't abide headphones as I can't hear anything else; telephone, doorbell etc. I hope you can get it resolved soon; difficult as it will be as yes, as Brandy says, families do make noise; it is unavoidable.....
Good luck...
Having lived in an upstairs flat for ten years I do know that you are not allowed to have bare floorboards or laminate flooring as it's just too noisy for anyone living underneath you.
It's hard approaching a neighbour about a noise problem and in my own personal experience it doesn't work. You could record their racket and play it back to them, only then they may realise just how noisy, however unintentional it may be, they really are.
luskentyre
14-Jan-08, 17:03
emb123, I don't think you're being unreasonable at all and I have every sympathy with your situation. I moved from my last property because of excessive noise from the people next door, but it sounds like you have it worse.
The family above know there are people living below them and it sounds like they're not considering your position at all. It's interesting that they can afford 5 kids but not carpets - glad they're getting their priorities right there!
It would be best to speak to them and explain the problem. As Torvaig suggests, maybe ask one of the parents downstairs to listen to it first hand. If that doesn't help then you're only other recourse would be the Environmental Health Dept.
Contrary to what some people say, the noise isn't unavoidable. You shouldn't have to put up with the noise of children screaming and running around or dogs howling. You have the right to be able to relax in your own home.
Good luck!
I recently moved house to a ground floor flat in Wick. Turns out the family above me has five kids and have also recently taken on a couple of dogs. They haven't fitted any carpets yet though.
The noise above me yesterday from 3pm to 9.30pm was an almost constant barrage of bumps as the kids were running around and one of the dogs was playing, dropping her toy on the floor and rolling it around, TV noise (which was very quiet comparted to the rest of the noise), talking etc etc. Just the typical noise of a very large family. Unfortunately they are very large in every sense so even when they walk around the floorboards are struggling. When they have shoes on, or the washing machine is running and the kids are playing... .you can probably get the picture.
It starts at 8 a.m. and continues until the kids go to school (thank God for school days!), then the dog howls until they come back. It starts again round about 3.30pm once the kids are back.
In all fairness they COULD be a LOT noisier than they are, - they do try to keep the noise down and they can't afford carpets, but I was at my wits end yesterday. I don't believe it is fair for me to simply have to put up with it.
Although I have not yet made a formal complaint to the council (they are council tenants) I have had an informal chat with the staff in Wick office to see what can be done to make things better.
In all seriousness can anyone advise what can be done should the family decide to be beligerent or find themselves unable to be any quieter than they already are, which simply is not quiet enough.
Does anyone have any experience of having to deal with noise nuisance such as this and advice, especially with regard to how Highland Council and/or Wick office deal with the problem ?
Any helpful advice would be appreciated. (Naturally I intend to have a word with them as soon as I can, but I can forsee such a conversation degenerating rapidly into an argument which would be ridiculous. I am practically silent in my occupancy of my property - although after several hours of my head banging (so to speak) from the noise up above I have put music on at a moderate level to try to block the noise intrusion - at which point they seem to take exception to the noise I am making and ramp up their noise levels at notch or two - it begins to sound like elephants jumping up and down above me in a bad temper).
Not a good situation. Do folks here think I am being unreasonable ?
i have the same problem as you only we live in an upstairs flat. as soon as we walk across the floor the bang up at us.we are not noisy in the slightest. it has been going on for a few years until we decide enough was enough. we contacted enviiromental health. and a nice lady came to the house and we filled out a questionaire.i must also it was not just the noise we had to deal with. there were incidents such as boiling water poured over our cat newly planted flowers of ours pulled up and put throughour letterbox footballs kicked up at our windows the list goes on. my best advice to you is go to enviromental health and dont hesitate . good luck!!
The kids (like the parents) are quite young - so they get sent off to bed quite early - usually. But they are getting older and they will gradually be staying up later, getting their own stereos, etc etc.
I fully appreciate that it is not the fault of the family that they have been housed in an upstairs property with wooden floorboards and inadequate noise insulation, but it is not my fault either, and in this case it is me that is being encouraged to be the victim, not them.
I know what I am entitled to legally, but I'm a nice chap and would prefer to be reasonable and tolerant - but I don't wish to give the impression of being some kind of doormat either. I do have limits.
I know that this sort of thing has become an increasing problem, not least in some of the larger cities in Scotland where it can get downright nasty and I would rather avoid any unecessary unpleasantness (as I'm sure most people would) but I wonder whether the law has yet come up with any realistic remedy.
I believe that the real problem is that the family aren't really in the best suited accomodation - but the council no doubt have their hands tied in terms of what is available.
I cannot help but wonder what on earth possessed the building designer to create an upstairs four-bedroom flat. It was a idea that came with a 100% certain, sure-fire recipe for problems unless the downstairs resident was deaf.
I shall try the nice route first, but if I have to I will push harder. I simply wish for quiet enjoyment of my property and it is being denied to me for roughly 14 hours a day, sometimes you can add a few hours to that figure. I believe that is too much. I do wonder what, if anything, realistically can be done, legally.
im fortunate that i have never had this problem, but my sister in law got new neighbours upstairs who are much noisier than her previous ones, its so bad i actually though there was a dog in HER flat!!!
cuddlepop
14-Jan-08, 19:17
Poor you.I know it doesn't help but you have my sympathy.:(
My daughtewr lives in a flat and her neighbours above are noisey.There a young couple but because they have laminated floors its like "Neally the elephant" lives up stairs.Its a private flat so she'll have to put up with it or move.
If the council have a policy on flooring perhapse someone from the council could inform the tenents of the possibilty of a grant from the social for flooring.
Best wait till April as there is never any money left this time of year.
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