I want to jump and frolic...or kill my neighbor...

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

I posted a few months ago about my lunatic downstairs neighbor. She had gotten better for a bit, but now she's being a problem again.

Last week, she started pounding on the floor at 8:30pm (immediately when I got home from work). I had turned a milkcrate over (gently) so that the cats wouldn't knock it over and bother her. She banged. An hour later, she banged when I decided to walk across the room.

It's now a little after 1am. She just banged when I got out of bed to walk to the kitchen to get something to drink. She then banged when I got back inside the room.

She senses my feet hitting the floor it seems and she just starts banging. FYI, I weigh 100lbs and I'm barefoot.

I really want to just start making as much noise as humanly possible now. Either that or go "Kill Bill" on her ass.

How would you handle this?

[RevolutionaryActs]

1. Download some metal music and mosh.

:7

[Cadence]

2. Geez that woman is obnoxious.

Seems like she is just trying to harass you and is looking for a reason. A friend of mine bounces a basketball in her battle with her "neighbor".

How is she banging on her ceiling, do you know?

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

3. I'm guessing a broom handle or something

It's definitely loud & concentrated. I've been woken up by the banging before...because you know, a 9lb cat jumping off a bed causes thunderous crashes.

I've offered to buy this woman earplugs. She said she can't sleep with them in.

She freaked out my friend once. We were in the living room talking around 2am and the loud banging seemed to be directly under my friend. Now, my bedroom is right above her bedroom, but the living room is not. Two people having a conversation should not be a problem.

[chookie]

4. That's a shame, shoogah

You seem to be a nice person. A nice small person, who pads around on little cat paws.

If you were practicing clogging at 2Am, well, I might be sympathetic to your neighbor, but it sure sounds like you are doing all to be quiet and good.

A solution might be found in a white noise generator. If your neighbor would trouble herself to acquire one, she would not suffer your little padding.

A white noise generator -- like a dehumidifier, air purifier, etc, will cancel out her objections. Unless she is a looney, in which case there is nothing you can do, because her whole life revolves around your "noise".

Good luck.

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

5. The downstairs next door neighbors have a problem with her, too.

They're pretty cool...3 people live there. One of them is a liberal marine (loves the Marine Corps, but very against the Iraq situation). Anyway, she pounds on their wall, the second they put music on at all.

I was over there once when the cops were called. It was about 6 people drinking beers & watching tv. Cop rings the doorbell. It was actually funny because he just said, "Hi...um...I was called out here in a noise violation, but I didn't actually hear anything. So you folks just, you know, keep being quiet and have a nice night."

[Bouncy Ball]

7. That's an idea. Start practicing clogging at 2 am.

Use Led Zepplin as your clogging music. Turned up to "11" (anyone ever see "Spinal Tap?").

[progmom]

31. Funny that you should mention that.

When we first got married, we lived in a duplex. I actually was woken up at 2 am by an incredible racket coming from our downstairs neighbor. It went on and on and on...so I finally threw on a robe and ran downstairs. She came to the door in cowboy boots and said, "Oh gosh. Did we wake you up? I was practicing clogging."

:grr:

[Bouncy Ball]

6. Start walking more heavily.

She obviously doesn't know how well she's got it.

If she ever asks you about it, pretend to not have heard any of her banging. Explain you wear headphones to listen to music a lot.

In other words, go totally passive aggressive on her ass.

[Skittles]

8. are you sure you're not a lead foot?

I call my upstairs neighbor "BIG FOOT" because I hear every step he takes

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

10. I've been told that I'm not.

12 years of martial arts experience plus several years of "movement" classes.

My cats have gotten complaints too. They're not loud & spastic. I've had loud, spastic pets. These two aren't. However, I did get a kick out of the note from the landlord:

The neighbor in B-1 claims that the cats jumped on the floor at 4:30am. Please try to keep it down, because she's really getting on my nerves.

I tried having a chat with the cats, but they really didn't pay much attention. I do try to keep them out of the room at night though, unless they start crying (which wakes me & my roommate up).

[Skittles]

12. OK this woman is certified cuckoo

I have never heard of such a thing, complaining about freaking cats

[BikeWriter]

17. The freaking cats, er, jump loud? How heavy can a cat be? :-(

[miss_kitty]

25. one of my neighbours

the clog-wearer (late 1980s) whose parties started around midnight or so, had two of the noisiest fightin' cats, who entered into piss wars and got pets for all banned in this building. She worked for Chilhuly, so the manager was always kissing her ass. Was HE PISSED when he found out what her clogs and cats had done (I never complained about the kitties)! I tried to tell him...:evilgrin:

[BikeWriter]

33. The clogs and cats ruined the floor?

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

35. They're small.

About 9lbs. Not big, fat ones. Small, agile ones.

[Karenina]

28. Rugs???

:shrug:

[sandnsea]

9. Do you sleep to music?

Or the tv? Turn it on at a reasonable level and forget about her. You won't hear her, you'll be happy, she'll be her same old miserable self.

[zann725]

11. It's tough. I've been on both sides of iapartment "acoustics."

Your neighbor may not have realized the acoustics of the building when she moved in. Noise from above however minimal, sounds like 'depth-charges' to someone sensitive to noise. I learned a long time ago that I had to either live on the top floor...or PREFERABLY get a place that had no one above or below (i.e., townhouse or guesthouse, or small cottage.)

It doesn't help to escalate and wear clogs at 2:00 a.m. That type of thing only makes both parties angrier. If you feel uncomfortable sitting down to discuss the issue with her...then perhaps the landlord should be included in the dialogue. Are there any upstairs units available in the building? Clearly if you're not a heavy person, and you only have a cat, she will not be happy no matter who lives above her. So both of you need a 'workable' liveable space to live in. You don't need to tip-toe, and she shouldn't have to cringe at every sound from above (no matter how minimal).

Good luck. Send out good, conciliatory vibes. It'll work out...if you both want it to.

[steely]

13. she sounds paranoid.

probably using a broom stick.
When she bangs, bang back, and when you see her during the day, smile sweetly and say hello.

or, jump and frolic.

[Historic NY]

14. Roll a bowling ball across the floor.....then when she

asks you tell her you don't bowl.....

[miss_kitty]

15. I know a lot of tiny people who think 100 lbs + barefoot = quiet.

IT DOES NOT. Not all the time. My quietest upstairs neighbours have been big people. My noisiest ones, just like you. And not only noisy, but in complete denial about the noise they make, based on size and bare feet.

It has to do with the way you walk. The 'heel first' striding stepper always sounds as if they'll crash straight through my ceiling. Even barefoot, 100 lbs AND walking on carpet. Maybe turning the milk crate over seemed gentle and quiet to you, but it apparently sounds noisy to her. She's probably all sensitised and a raw nerve.

I would handle it by walking on my toes. I wouldn't expect my tininess to equal quiet. I would be mindful of the fact that kicking my shoes off or dropping them on the floor makes a much louder noise in my neighbour's home than it does mine. Dropping my bag or books or shopping equals noise downstairs.

She probably MORE than 'senses' your size 5s hitting the floor and dreads it. Trust me, I know. FWIW, I am a small person who walks barefoot on my toes. Not tip-toes, just metatarsally inclined when walking.

[BikeWriter]

19. I don't know about anyone else but tip toeing around would make me...

...go further around the bend than I already am! It sounds as if there's no insulation at all in the flooring/ceiling. I've lived in apartments and currently live in a two story home. I can't recall upstairs noises ever bothering anyone here.

[miss_kitty]

20. read my last sentence

"I am a small person who walks barefoot on my toes. Not tip-toes, just metatarsally inclined when walking."

You can slam your heels into the floor, or you can make the ball of your foot make first contact. The latter is much quieter, and isn't tip-toeing.

I have lived in my apartment 20 years. no insulation. That makes the space between floors like the inside of a drum. Like I said, I have had people living up stairs whose walking style allowed me to know in which room they were and others who I never knew were home.

It really is about how you carry yourself. The people who lived upstairs from me before the manager moved in weighed 200+ (her) and 250+ him. I heard them when they came home and that was about it. 7 or so years of heaven.

Now the little princess and her consort who lived there before the comfortably sized people were small. God Damn. I never HEARD so much noise. Her: up at 6:20 am into the bathroom. stomps about 3 minutes later into the kitchen. outta the kitchen into the bedroom again. He gets up. Bathroom. While he's doing his morning ablutions, she's making craters in the floor with every step back into the kitchen. He finishes up with the 3 Ss and joins her in the kitchen; she goes back to the bathroom. and so on until about 7:45.

And the afternoon fucking? Well, that was preceded by a pre-fucking giggling, chandelier shaking (my chandelier) chase. They actually stopped that when I told him one day I didn't appreciate knowing when and for how long they had sex (she was a total screamer; he'd usually last 23 or so minutes). After 3 years of them telling me they were 'enjoying their home' (BTW, the manager at the time would stand outside their door and say "I can't hear anything" I'd tell him "My apartment isn't located outside their door") I finally placed my speakers close to the ceiling and blasted Nirvana and left. When I came back, I got a call from her asking me to keep it down. I asked "Why? You never get quiet for me. I want you to know what it's like to have someone 'enjoy their home' in a way that puts you out, in a way over which you have no control, and I can't walk on the ceiling. No. I'll turn it down when I'm ready" I told the manager that when he called, too.

I think her balls were made of brass. Maybe that's why she was so noisy.

[BikeWriter]

23. Just my opinion, but I'd find a place with insulation or no one overhead..

There's no way I would sit and stew like that.

[miss_kitty]

24. I've been here 20 years

I like my place. I shouldn't have to move. The first 5 years were bliss, then about a 1 year of bad neighbour, then another 5 years of bliss, then the Louds for 3 years, now nice again. I don't wanna go. It's been demonstrated I am not all nutted up about any noise, just consistantly noisy people, who are clueless about their own noisemaking.

My quiet neighbours can have party nights and stuff, That doesn't bug me. It's that hard walking some of us little people do :)

[BikeWriter]

26. I've been in this house ~twenty years. When I moved in I put a sign on...

...the front door saying "BEWARE" Nothing more, just "BEWARE" No one bothers me.

[miss_kitty]

27. i'll have to try that!

I do have my own outdoor entry...:D

[BikeWriter]

29. It leaves the question of what to "BEWARE" to their imagination. :-)

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

36. Shoes come off when I enter the apartment.

I never wear shoes indoors. I do walk on my toes. I literally do nothing in my room after dark, unless it's a necessity (such as getting up to go to the bathroom).

[RadicalMom]

16. Tell your landlord that her incessant banging is makiing you lose

sleep, worrying about what might happen if, God forbid, you have to turn over in your sleep. She is costing you and other neighbors the "peace and enjoyment" of your home. This is a concept your landlord should be familiar with and it has legal precedent. You shouldn't have to put up with a lunatic who won't control herself. It stresses all of her neighbors, undoubtedly, and you should consider a petiton signed by them, or a building meeting to discuss it. Should everyone else have to move because she is unreasonable? No. I've managed apartments and commercial property. You can consider getting a little cheap legal advice if your landlord won't deal with it. He has an obligation to you, too.

[ScreamingMeemie]

22. I agree with this route. I am sure she is annoying you more than you

are annoying her. Perhaps they can move her to an end unit or something. Good luck. That sounds just awful.

[KurtNYC]

32. I like this thinking

Escalating the situation by retaliating does not seem like the way to go. Right now you are in the right. You have every right to walk across your own floor at any hour. Her banging the ceiling however is probably illegal. It might even be construed as a threat of violence or damage to the landlord's property.

I think the best course of action is to make sure the landlord stays on your side of the issue by not provoking the nut. You want to be able to swear that you have done nothing to further this situation. If and when her apartment becomes available you may want to help the landlord find the next tenant (someone you know).

[ComerPerro]

18. Bang Back, in rhythm

sort of a "question and answer" meter.

Or, put your speakers face down on the floor and blast some music.

[Wcross]

21. Move out and sublet the place to tap dancers!

I have no real advice to offer you. It seems as if this woman is trying to live in a place she isn't suited for. She needs to live in a single family home- even then she will probably get pissed off at the neighbors.

I rented a place once from a woman who didn't really want a renter. She wanted the rent but didn't care for anyone to actually "live" there. I left six months into the year lease, lost my deposit but it was worth it.

[kwassa]

30. Bring On Da Funk, complete with Savion Glover

More taps per second than anyone.

Is your floor carpeted? You might consider getting rugs, for instance.

I used to live downstair from someone who wore clogs on a wooden floor. Not fun.

You might have a little talk with her, and point out that you are being as quiet as possible, and if she insists on bothering you, you can easily bother her much more than she can ever bother you.

If that doesn't work, when she bangs on her ceiling next time, you jump and down on the floor very hard. She might get the message.

[shesemsmom]

34. Get a pot and a ladle

and bang hell outta it.....have fun.

[-..__...]

37. Take up weight lifting.

The more sets the better.

Who cares if you actually benefit from it or not. :evilgrin:

[-..__...]

39. Better idea.

Get a pair of iron boots



and take-up clog dancing.

[Thor_MN]

38. If you have wood floors, give your cats some golf balls to play with

When I was renting, a guy moved in upstairs that made an incredible amount of noise when he walked. He had his AC running into October -getting down into the 40's at night and his AC is running. We used to joke about the 400 lb. penguin that lived upstairs.

Actually met him later on, he was a nice guy. He had a degenerative disease that caused him to have to walk with a locked-knee, sling your legs around gait.


Your downstairs neighbor sounds a bit on the over-sensitive side. Ignore her and she will go away.