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What would you do?
These people that live upstairs are really, really loud. The woman wears clogs all day and they have hard wood floors. I can hear her walking and stomping and shuffling around all day and it drives me crazy!!!
I work late nights- I need to take a nap before work. I can't fall asleep because her stomping around keeps me awake. I don't know what to do, because I can't afford to move and I can't expect her to stop walking around during the day, but It's getting to the point where I'm blasting music and turning the t.v. on at the highest volume, just because I'm so sick of listening to her thumping and clomping around. I hope they like System of a Down...hehehe. |
take up trap shooting. practice in your living room. aim high and good things will happen.
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Well, one idea that comes to me is to walk up to her apartment, knock and talk to her. Explain what you explained in your post, and do so in a sweet, rational manner. Give her the benefit of the doubt.
Honey over vinegar, y'know? |
Does the RI require that second floor renters carpet their apts?
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buy her a nice pair of slippers
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cut off her feet
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I like the idea of buying her slippers. Do you think she'd get the hint?
I've already (many times) thought of cutting off her feet. Then I'd have to listen to the idiots in jail all night- lose-lose situation. I will look into the carpet thing- that would be such a HUGE blessing. Are there really laws like that??! I'm afraid of what would come out of my mouth if I actually went and talked to her. I'm so pissed at this point, that even my hugest efforts to be sweet would be obviously fake, and she'd probably clomp around even louder, since there's no law against walking aroung like bigfoot with clogs on in the middle of the day... I can't even feel peaceful in my own home. It's a source of stress just to try to sit home and relax. I can't read a book, watch t.v., nap, etc. I feel like crying. |
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I wouldn't be able to eat the food there- I have so many food intolerances, I'd probably starve to death... I'd have to use the toilet in front of other people...I'd have no income at all, and God only knows what kind of horrible things I'd do to get cigarettes...
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:yum: |
get a white noise machine and some earplugs.
or kill her. kill her dead. |
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earplugs make my ears feel weird- like they're gonna pop, and I hear a swishy sound in my head. I can't even wear them when I play the drums, they just irritate me. I guess I'll have to kill the bitch (and quit smoking). |
nah, don't go the jail route. the almost three days i spent in county drove me up the wall wanting a smoke. i like the slipper idea. go buy a pair, wrap them in a box, and put them in front of her door. maybe she'll get the hint. just out of curiosity, is there any confontation issues from the past?
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You could explain your situation but that is tantamount to asking her to change her life style just for you and putting the guilt trip on her. She is probably just carrying on as normal living her happy life in clogs.
If she has to pass your appartment to get to hers put a sign on your door that says something like "Quiet please shift working sleeping :zzz:Thank you for your consideration. If that doesn't work a non threatning, non agressive visit is in order to explain your situation. Not sure about the slippers I dea. Because she wears clogs that sounds a bit "Birkenstock" so maybe a pair of Moccasins. You catch more flies with honey than you do with vinegar |
Unless you've mentioned this to her before, I'd say there's a good chance she doesn't even know she's bothering you. It usually doesn't occur to people that simple walking resonates terribly in the right shoes.
I agree with be-bop, nicely wrapped little slippers left on her doorstep would be the perfect mix of sweetness and getting the message across. |
idea!
why don't you write her a note explaining all to go with the slippers? you're a good writer and you won't have to worry about what comes out of your mouth (speaking of cig trades...) |
yeah greta idea!! One of your effective, story telling poems wrapped in tissue paper with a lovely pair of slippers (include reciept as you wont know her size feet!!)
A pair of lovely slippers Purchased just for you id love for you to wear them as a gift out of the blue i'm your friendly underground neighbour and although we havent met its like we live together as my ceiling is very THIN cement! I hope your not offended and you enjoy your little gift ive even included the reciept to ensue you that they fit!! :) |
puuuurfect. :cool:
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look you have it easy last upstairs neighbor got nicknamed heavyfoot.. 5'2 girl who just somhow had no idea how to walk.. I tried to be polite... but after asking her to walk nice.. or atleast in rythem.. I ended up aiming my Marshall 1/2 stack at the ceiling and rocking the fuck out.. she moved a few months later.. the new upstairs neighbor.. she has this weird thing about vacuuming her floors at 4:00 in the morning.. and uh.. we have wood floors.. so I dunno..I haven't met her.. and ya know, I don't give a fuck anymore... fine! I'll cope with it.. out of everything else going on.. that's the last of my concerns.. then again I might have to break outy the 1/2 stack although I would feel bad for my downstairs neighbor.. damn living in the middle!
all told I'd try the slipper/talking to resopnse..as I am a irrisponsible bastard |
I had to call the police last night. We're laying in bed at 2 am, trying to fall asleep, and once AGAIN, her idiot drunk boyfriend or whatever he is, is banging on her door...and banging...and banging.
10 minutes later, she finally got up and answered the door. The ritualistic arguing began, with him shouting out "fuck" 5-6 times per sentence. He sounds like a wanna-be thug. Then, there was some kind of struggle, you could hear her scream, crash, bang, boom....I had to call the cops and tell them there was a domestic dispute upstairs. I thought he was going to kill her. Now I feel sorry for her and I don't want to be a total bitch, so I like the idea of a sign on my door and a little note to her. And you know, the 2 am thing didn't bother me NEARLY as much as her clogs all day. I'm a night owl and I only called the cops because that guy was beating her up. |
I liked the poem/slippers idea...I would love it if a neighbor did that for me. Of course, I don't have neighbors. At all. :(
Seriously, the slippers idea should work, though. Good for you for calling the cops. I usually dont' agree with getting cops involved in *anything* but since she was getting beat up and probably would have done nothing about it, at least someone helped her. |
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my brother and mom both walk on their heels for some godawful reason. we lived in a carpeted house, but whn my brother woke up in the morning and walked down the stairs, the walls would literally shake. i was afraid he was going to come through my ceiling some of the time. He had no idea that he was doing it, of course. so i did what any good older brother would do and started a big pissing match about it. yah, it didn't work. slippers/note is the way to go. |
Well, if things keep going the way they're going with her boyfriend, she'll be confined to bed soon with broken bones, and I won't have anything to worry about...
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Clearly she is the passive sort, and would accept the note. The problem is that she'll internalize it as a new form of criticism, and after a week, she'll boil every time she sees the slippers. She'll tell the whole story to her abusive boyfriend, and you'll wake up to a screwdriver in your tire some morning with a note saying "keep it to yourself bitch".
Or it could all work out. Don't know. |
those Bose headphones that cancel outside noise are supposed to work really well. I think they're expensive, though.
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Get foam earplugs made for shooters. 26dB reduction should do nicely. I don't usually even feel that I have them in.
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Why not just ask her to go barefoot? Unless she's a total pig and her floors are unmentionably disgusting, I don't see why she's wearing such heavy shoes in the house anyway...
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I used to live in an apartment below a very overweight couple who were fond of long shag sessions in the wee hours. Walls rattled. On one occasion, some plaster fell from my ceiling as I tried to sleep desite the distraction. I never did figure out out how to tactfully bring the subject up, even when he complained about my alarm clock being too loud in the mornings. So I bought a house, and haven't worried about neighbors since.
I think the slippers idea may be too slippery. Most people dislike being criticized, even moreso when the criticism is coupled with "and here is how I decided you are going to solve the problem." It's like an ultimatum. And a "quiet please" sign will only be effective if she realizes how much noise her shoes generate. Personally, I would talk to her, and implicate some anonymous third-party so she doesn't feel like she's being accused. For instance, "Whoever decided to put a hardwood floor in an upstairs apartment was out of their mind! The hardwood makes the sound of your shoes hitting the floor resonate through my place when I'm trying to sleep." If the problem doesn't go away, you can be more direct with a note, or slippers, or what have you... then she'll have the previous conversation to know where you're coming from. But, that's just me. |
What do you guys think- is this a good approach??
Hi, If you don’t mind, would it be possible for you to let me know your work schedule so I can try to work my schedule around it? I know it’s not your fault and you don’t do it on purpose, but those hardwood floors in your apartment make every tiny footstep so loud, and I can’t read, watch t.v., nap, study, etc. because your hard shoes on the floor sound like someone is pounding a hammer through my ceiling. I don’t mind leaving the house while you are at home. I know there’s nothing you can do about it. I’m not mad at you or anything- you can’t help it that you have hardwood floors and I have a thin ceiling! I’ve tried to think of what might help this situation that wouldn’t cause you any trouble, and the only thing I can come up with is to work around your schedule. So, would it be possible for me to know what days you’ll be at home so I can pick up a shift or do something else to get out of the house? Thanks so much, no hard feelings. Stacey (your downstairs neighbor) |
I think I'd go more with something like ... you probably aren't aware of this, but ...
Stay on an equal footing. Do not offer to be the one to make the concessions. Just state the problem. This is round one. |
Ah, the joys of apartment living. I used to live in a really crap building and my downstairs neighbor left me a nice note asking if I could get rid of a hard plastic ball that my cats played with on my hardwood floors. I tossed it in the trash immediately.
I wouldn't offer to live around her schedule. I think that's a little unrealistic. I don't think I'd offer a solution either, let her figure that out. Just tell her the noise is really bothering you and you'd really appreciate it if she could do something about it. Keep it short and sweet. If she doesn't listen, then cut off her legs. How much sound can a dragging torso make? |
Yeah, don't start with "I'll change my sched..." It's a completely transparent lie. You know when she's home--the clanking shoes tell you.
Look, in your situation, *I* would come upstairs when it was happening, presuming it was a reasonable hour, like in the middle of the day, when visitors are ok, and knock. When she answered the door, I would begin a conversation. Me: "Hello, I'm stacey. I live in the apartment directly beneath you. Could I talk to you for a minute, please? Her: "Um, ok, is something wrong?" M: "Actually, there is. My work schedule means that I sleep days, and sometimes it's really loud. I think it's that the hard shoes and hard floors send the sound straight through my ceiling. The noise keeps me from getting any rest, and it's a big problem for me. I know you have to walk around of course. But maybe there are some ways to mute the sound. One idea I had was some soft soled slippers. Here, I brought some as a gift to you. I don't want any problems between us, since we live so close together, so I'm coming to you with respect and courtesy. Do you see what I'm saying? **steps out of story** One nice thing about face to face instead of a note is that you can adjust on the fly to what you're reading from her. Sweet, harsh, etc. I don't know her response at this point, but if it's cooperative, then work it. Seek common ground. That's the goal of that last question. Try to get her to see (hear) it from your point of view. You're not being unreasonable (yet), and at this point neither is she. That's good. Y'all have room to work with each other. Most folks want to please others. You know this, like in your work. Give this lady the benefit of the doubt. If the slippers don't work out, then maybe an area rug. Or barefoot. Or tennis shoes. Also, if you're set on a note first instead of a conversation, one useful tool for writing such a note I have used in the past to good effect is to write it as though it were a conversation, like this post demonstrates. Hell, print this thread and give it to her. Show her that it's a problem and that you're agonizing over it and you want to find a solution. |
You might want to edit out the parts where we suggested cutting off her feet or killing her and hiding the body.
Actually, you might want to avoid all mention that you implied to a couple thousand of your closest online aquaintances that she's an inconsiderate bitch. |
well, I already left that letter in her mailbox.
I figured that it'll sweetly get the message across to her that she's driving me so crazy that I'm willing to evacuate my own home because of her noise. I personally would resent someone for asking me to stop wearing the shoes of choice in my own home. I also wouldn't pay money for rugs after I just finished refinishing my hardwood floors. At least now she's aware that there is a problem. If she's nice, she'll try to be quieter. She can at least give me her schedule. I really would appreciate knowing ahead of time when she'll be home. I'd visit my grandmother more often, make plans for laundry, shopping and errands on those days, etc. Even if she got rugs and slippers, the damn floors still creak from the pressure of each footstep. I just want to avoid being here to preserve my sanity. |
I saw her shoes!
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OH MY GOD.
She was cleaning her apartment in these shoes. She had them on this morning. Same thumping and clonking noises making my ceiling shake. I looked out the window when she was walking to her car, and this is what I saw. Actually, the front of her shoes aren't as thick as in the picture- but the heel and the color/print is exactly the same. And she never got my letter, because she doesn't check her mail, so I let it sit in there for 4 days, then pulled it out, thinking I need to revise it... And I've been wondering why I never heard my previous neighbors. I know the ceiling hasn't gotten any thinner. Now it all makes sense! |
You didn't mention her choice of profession.
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She was wearing black pants and a black shirt, hair in ponytail, on her way to work. My best guess is a HOstess.
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Nicely phrased, exactly where I was going.
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maybe she needs the practice walking around in them so she doesn't trip and knock herself out falling off the stage...
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Those are drag queen shoes. He probably wears em to sleep. Offer to bring over a bottle of Boodles and some vermouth, a tape of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, and a box of chocolates. Do each other's nails. You'll have a friend for life, and he'll probably let you sleep in his leopard print revolving bed AND clean your apartment at the same time. He might want to borrow Arsen for a couple hours, but hey. Small price to pay for some peace of mind.
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and the upside is that arsen wouldn't have to chase him around the apartment before he... nevermind.
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If you could sneak in her apt while she/he wasn't looking get a few containers of catfish blood stinkbait and carefully administer generous portions in inconspicuous places. Like in the a/c vents, behind the drawers in cabinets, under the sofa cushions, etc.
Save room in the parking lot for the U-haul. |
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