Downstairs Neighbor Complaining About Noise? Here’s What to Do

Noisy Neighbors

Imagine this. You have lived in this apartment complex for over three years, and you love it. Everything from the building to the neighbors, you adore it.

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One day, the downstairs apartment, that has been sitting empty for months, receives a new tenant.

You are excited as you will have new neighbors, but after a couple of days, your property manager informs you, you are making too much noise for your downstairs neighbor, and you should try to keep it low.

As a considerate person, you pay more attention to the noise levels coming out of your apartment and minimize them as much as possible.

What are the common noise complaints? And what should you do about them?

Different neighbors will complain about different things. Here is a table of the common noise complaints and what to do about them:

Noise Complaint	Noise Source	What to do
Loud music	Radio, TV, music instruments, karaoke machines, etc	Don’t stop playing what you love, but turn down the volume.
Stomping	You must be walking too loudly on a wooden floor or walking in high heels.	You should remove your shoes when you get into your apartment and walk barefoot. You also should consider having mats or rugs on your floor.
Baby cries	Baby/babies crying	Babies are naturally loud, and it’s hard to control them. When they want to cry, they go at it. You can try reducing the noise by having mats in your apartment. You also should consider feeding and changing them frequently enough to minimize the cries.
Parties	Parties are synonymous with loud music and people talking in loud voices.	It’s wise to avoid having parties in apartment complexes, but if you can’t avoid it, consider having the parties during the weekends and notify the neighbors beforehand. Of course, don’t throw the parties too regularly as you will put off the neighbors.
Loud pets	The common culprits are dog barks and howls.	You should train your dog to stop barking. If the barking happens when you aren’t in the apartment, consider getting a pet sitter.
Construction work	Hammering and drilling noises are the most common cause of contention.	There is little you can do about the renovation noises, but you can control when you do the work. You should talk with your downstairs neighbor and find out the day or times when they aren’t in the house.
Love-making	Talking in loud voice and bed movements.	You should try to keep your love-making escapades low. If you have a squeaky bed, fix it. It also doesn’t hurt delaying your love-making to much later after your neighbor has slept.
Loud talks	Talking too loudly with the people in the house	You should be aware that apartments are often not constructed adequately, so you should keep your volume low. You also should talk to your partner or kid when you are close to them. This calls for you to avoid shouting at them from a different room.

How do you deal with a downstairs neighbor complaining about noise?

Well, there are plenty of ways to deal with it. They include:

Invite the neighbor to your apartment

This reminds me of an instance I had a neighbor who wouldn’t stop complaining about me making stomping noises. She had even once called the police on me!

As a responsible neighbor, I had done everything I could to minimize the noises coming out of my apartment as much as I could.

I had installed thick rugs in the house, never walked with the shoes on, and always never made loud steps, but she never stopped complaining.

One day, I had an idea. When she was in the house, I asked her to come to my house.

I asked her to walk around while her teenage son listened to her walking from their apartment.

And true to it, although she was simply walking around, from her apartment, it sounded as if she was stomping.

Her teenage son confirmed this, and from that time on, the complaints stopped.

You can also do the same. If you have a neighbor that is always complaining, you can invite them into the house and gauge the situation by themselves.

You will be surprised that they have never lived in an apartment before and expect their apartment to be dead silent, which is impossible.

Give your neighbors your phone number.

This might sound absurd, but it can come in handy.

Suppose your neighbor is fond of calling the police whenever you make some noise.

In that case, you can give them your number and ask them to call you instead of the police to reduce the noise instead of getting into an altercation with the law enforcement officers.

Discuss the problem

Sometimes you can resolve the issue by simply discussing the issue with your neighbor.

As mentioned above, one reason your neighbor keeps complaining is they have never lived in an apartment before, so they find the normal noises to be out of the world.

Find a time when the neighbor is relaxed and pay them a visit with a bottle of wine or any other gift.

You should then have a friendly and compassionate conversation with the neighbor about the situation at hand and explain to them what you have done to keep the noises as low as possible.

If your neighbor has never lived in an apartment before, explain that some noises such as kids shouting, TV, and radio sounds are expected, and they are nothing to be alarmed about.

Change apartments

If you have tried all the above tips and still your neighbor is an ass (excuse my language), move to a new apartment where you can live in peace.

You can move to a new apartment within your current building, or another in a different building. It’s all up to you.

Can you be evicted if your downstairs neighbor keeps complaining about noise?

The unfortunate news is that, yes, you can be evicted.

But this is after the landlord or property manager has analyzed the situation and found that you are deliberately making noise for your neighbors and aren’t doing anything to ease the situation.

If you feel that your neighbor’s complaints are uncalled for, have a chat with the property manager and/or landlord and explain the situation.

They are human and will understand it, so don’t be afraid of making your case.

Duncan

I hate noise with every single bone in my body and I'm here to share some of the tricks that have worked for me in my effort to keep off noises from noisy neighbors, noisy appliances, and so on. Buckle up for the ride.