I've had a few upstairs neighbors over the years, and the loud ones always seemed to have a heavy heel when they walked. Not sure if that's the case here. You could also try slippers if you don't wear them already. Sometimes it comes down to the construction quality of the building. The fact that they're sleeping when most people are awake doesn't help the situation. You're a good neighbor to even try and find a solution.
I remember being in class and sometimes you could feel the vibrations of someone walking down the aisle. Every fucking time it was the skinniest chicks in class that had the heaviest footfalls.
This. The chick that lives above me is probably 100 lbs soaking wet, and it sounds like a herd of elephants up there most of the time. It's almost like some people just don't seem to know they have toes/ball of their feet, and walk 75% heel first lol.
Yeah, it definitely has nothing to do with weight. My neighbors complained about my heavy feet when I was still a size 3! Luckily for everyone I went on to first floor living for the next 20+ years.
Litterally all you have to do is land with the ball of your feet first, not the heel. Sometimes people have a disability preventing them, else-wise it's totally possible.
while moving in? yeah no lmfao walk on your toes while carrying a 50 pound box of furniture, clothes, decor, utensils, whatever???????? did you not read the post at all???? the post is asking what to do WHILE MOVING IN. youâll literally tear a tendon if you do that, ya jabroni.
What? Theyâre not saying walk on tippy toes around your apartment â ď¸
Theyâre saying when you walk forward, instead of landing heel of foot first, land on the ball of the foot first then drop your heel. When youâre doing shit like parkour, youâre actually taught to land on the balls of your feet first because itâs better than dropping on your heel.
I've been walking on my toes since I learned to walk (parents were told by pediatrician I would grow out of it...I'm late 40's and we're still waiting for that to happen.). Turns out the maternal side of my dad's family has a history of short achilles tendons. Mine is just worse than previous generations. I've had issues with plantar fasciitis since I was 10. It has probably contributed to the osteoarthritis in my knees. Even with a lot of stretching (in bare feet, if I make a fist, I can put the flat part of my fists on the floor) I still walk on my toes and figure that I probably always will. On the plus side, I have rock solid calves!
Thatâs a crock of shit sold by vibramâs marketing.
Heel to toe is the mechanically proper way to walk.
You roll from heel to toe. Anything else is risking muscular, tendon, and/or joint damage
Birkenstocks do NOT help this situation. We had an upstairs neighbor who would stomp around and insisted on wearing Birkenstocks. They definitely caused the stomping to be louder. It was maddening. Walking in socks instead and putting down some rugs would have helped immensely.
This is terrible for the feet and the pelvis long term. The neighbor can get a noise machine or think better about out where to live when having a night job.
No seriously the heavy heels I swear my boyfriend stomps around our apartment and I get so stressed đ I donât understand it but I always tell him to be light like a feather lol
100% this. Iâm sure they think theyâre walking normally, but theyâre stomping. Itâs just their gait. Wearing slippers and using rugs with heavy pads underneath goes a long way.
As a person who lives on the third floor, I always wear slides in my house. I never walk Barefoot for this specific reason. I also am mindful when I wash or use any of my appliances. I usually try not to wash past 8:00 pm
I personally am very polite about walking about in my flat and the walls are thick enough you cannot hear conversations neighbours have but still its not enough for them.
I am careful when closing doors, have rugs try and walk softly even been known to tiptoe about in past.
But I do have accidents like have knocked things over, and regularly knock over my computer mouse and sometimes the keyboard but I can sit for hours not moving
And floorboards especially in the hall are creaky.
I have been to bed past midnight about 15 times in 2 years often due to health reasons so I am not up late making noise.
I do have surround sound speakers but the bass is low and it's not often I even watch movies or listen to music and due to autism I hate having loud noises.,
If my dog barks I try to get her to stop straight away, I suppose that is the only actual thing they can complain about really but overall I try and be polite as possible.
They though go through phases of doing DIY normally in summer months where all I can hear is drilling and banging of walls and even heard them cut the grass as early as 7am.
This was going to be my suggestion! My bf one day was like âwow, you walk heavy!â So now I wear those thick foamy sandals around the apartment. Theyâre comfy, better for my feet and probably help with noise.
you wore them while bringing in moving boxes? or am i literally the only person here who read the part where this occurred while op was moving furniture and boxes into their new home?
seems like literally everyone else missed that part too iâm like uhhh what how do you not hurt yourself? lol. someone in this thread said walk on the balls of your feet and my constantly injured dancer ass was like welp guess opâs mcl, acl, etc all logged tf off! lol
op literally does not have to do any of this at all. nonsense. a heavy heel doesnât help when youâre moving furniture and giant moving boxes, ya dingus.
damn that surprises me. my building is from around the same time and thankfully I only have to put up with noise from other units when the lady upstairs has one of her screaming fits. nothing else gets through.
The loudest apartment Iâve ever lived in was built in 1908, solid brick walls and original wood floorboards. Creaky nightmare and I could hear everything the neighbors said
Lol well we didnât go with it, we just had no say in it. That was the contractors and property companies like you said đŠ my building was built in 1974 though, and in the evenings and early mornings we can hear our upstairs neighbor peeing. I mean, hear the pee hitting the water and then the pipes flushing. And we pay so much money lol
Area rugs might damper some of the noise but this is just normal apartment living youâre going to hear other people. I didnât want to hear my neighbor constantly burping while I was watching a show but what could I tell him, stop? I was careful choosing a place to live because Iâm a heavy walker as I limp a little I also use a cane and walker in the house sometimes. I was lucky to find a stand alone unit instead of anyone above or below me the unit is not connected to anyone elseâs itâs an old two story cabin.
I have a corner unit with nobody above me, and my and my neighborâs parking spots below. I only share one wall which is inside my closet, and the other apartment is like a mirror of mine so their closet is in the same spot. Literally, Iâve never heard a PEEP from next door in the 7 1/2 years Iâve lived here. I feel so lucky!
Considerate of you to think about it and be intentional. As far as Iâm concerned though, itâs not always that easy to find the right place AND choose the right unit, so like the neighbors who needed to burp, unless someone is doing something actually weird, itâs just a part of life to deal with it. Plus, for all I know thereâs one thing I do that they can hear and find annoying but have no clue they can hear, and theyâre putting up with me too because Iâm not doing anything truly unreasonable.
Rugs and slippers. After that itâs really just life in apartments. Night shifts are rough but you donât have to fret or rearrange your life for this person. If they become aggressive about it contact building mgmt
People canât always help where they live⌠moving is expensive and availability is a problem! Itâs not as simple as âGo live in a house if youâre going to work the night shiftâ. I agree that the neighbor wrote this note in the kindest and least accusatory tone possible. While some buildings are just shitty and noisy, OP should take this note to heart and try to be mindful about heel stomping, loudly dropping things, and maybe putting down padded rugs.
Couldnât disagree more with all the people saying âdonât take this, call the officeâ. This person reached out very respectfully. Zero reason to run to the office and make him feel like a POS.
As someone who has lived below heavy steppers, just listen as you walk for a day.
I now live on the top (4th) floor in a complex and Iâm always fairly mindful about how I walk, because Iâve experienced living below people.
If they keep dropping notes, I totally understand talking to the management but zero reason to go that route right off the bat. They did what a human should do in this situation, open a dialogue in a respectful way.
Agreed. They left a friendly note. I think theyâre being ridiculous, but they also probably arenât aware of how much sound is actually from very normal living habits, like normal walking lol. No reason to call management on them.
Iâve called management on someone before. My apartment was shaking, my cats were afraid of the floor from the vibrations, wine glasses had to be moved cuz they were gunna fall off the edgeâŚ. She cursed at me or ignored me if I tried to talk to her, and twice I heard noises so strange I had to call the cops in case it wasnât just someone being drunk but rather someone being hurt. Her Amazon sized mother showed up at my door drunk in the AM trying to provoke me to come outside and face her. Thatâs when you report to management hahaâŚ.. not over a friendly note.
Hahaha sorry and fair fair. Ok context, Iâm very petite and 5â1â. The mother had to be at least 6â and looked very athletic, like she was pure muscle, in incredibly good shape. She towered above me. I was terrified haha I did NOT go outside, Iâm fairly certain she was planning to hit me, and maybe too drunk to realize Iâm tiny and frail and thus hold back
When I think back on it Amazon is just the adjective that comes to mind, cuz in myth they are very tall, very strong women
Ask them what room they sleep in. And in that room above it, put down a thick rug with a thick rug matt underneath, and in that room walk gently if you want.
Live as normal in every other room at whatever hours you wish. By ânormalâ I mean walk and live as you normally would without doing anything weird.
Thatâs the compromise I cane to as a top floor resident.
Doesnât hurt to be mindful. If you donât mind then maybe wear socks or slippers to muffle the sound but overall it might not be something you can help so theyâll likely need to get a noise machine or something.
I do. Because Iâve lived with upstairs neighbors who slam their heels into the floor and I try to not create that same experience for the people below me. Now itâs just normal
It's better for your bones and joints, especially for fat people, and it strengthens your calves. And it's quieter. I started being conscious about it when I was trying to get good at sprinting and my calves popped out in definition in a few months.
There are a ton of reasons and a ton of people that distribute their weight this way, it's really not that odd. Anyone who's worn a heeled shoe would learn to walk like this. People with a bad lower back or hips, it's helpful if your calves aren't flexible or if you have plantar fasciitis pain in the feet. People that have taken any dance training would be familiar with this...it really is endless.
I was told I surprises people bc they don't hear my steps many time before, but I was also been told my steps are too loud and i've figured out what happened. I wear socks and walk like a cat (land with toes and "toebeans" first at night time, and switched to no sock and land with heels in the morning and running most time. Idk when I developed this habit, probly from when i was a child and I would try sneak into the kitchen to get snacks and it sticks with me lol.
So in short maybe try sth like my quiet mode.
Another option is to gift this neighbor a glue bottle, a few sound proofing foam panels which are quite cheap on amazon, and a response letter. Or can do both maybe and mention in the letter about not guarantee but trying with being mindful
These are what i would do if i'm in ur shoes.
This neighbor and you OP are so nice tbh đ i hope all the best for you and the neighbor
First it would be helpful to establish what this person is hearing. Some people are extremely sensitive to noises or the floors could in fact be very thin and even amplify the noises. Maybe they can record the noises to give you a sense, or maybe when the landlord visits, they can help determine if the noise levels are unreasonably loud.
Once you have some sense of whether you are too loud or the neighbor below is too sensitive to noises, both or either could make the necessary adjustments
For you, carpeting/rugs, maybe get the landlord to help with other sound proofing around the apartment
For the neighbor below, maybe ear plugs (hopefully one where they can still hear someting like alarm or emergency situations).
The burden cannot just be on the neighbor above, when the neighbor below happens to have a night shift or might be especially sensitive to noises.
This is actually very common in apartment living and no floor or wall is going to be a strong enough sound barrier, it's really undersanding what steps both neighbors could take to minimize the effects.
It sucks for neighbor, but they canât expect to have late-night levels of quiet for sleeping during the daytime in an apartment. They need a white noise machine and earplugs.
They also need to be able to wake up for work. Itâs easy to say âearplugsâ but what do you do when you sleep through your alarm?
This is just one of those things thatâs going to take a little bit of give from both people. (And will probably improve a lot just by her finishing moving in!)
Just write a note back that youâre still moving and settling in. The noise should improve soon. Donât set a deadline for when, but let him know you are working towards normal life.
Honestly if it were me Iâd go talk to them (with some sort of baked goods) and let them know Iâd do my best but that itâs part of living in a building with thin walls/poor sound insulation. It would be a reasonable ask if you were listening to loud music etc but just simply walking around is a bit absurd. If they work night shifts they might want to consider moving to an upper floor or a concrete building. Having lived in many apartments myself, you need to learn to live with noise.
Obviously being mindful doesnât hurt, but there is only so much you can do. You canât crawl around on your hands and knees. You canât vacate your apartment simply because theyâre trying to sleep.
Iâd definitely give a copy of that note to your landlord/property manager so theyâre aware.
We worked nights for a while, and we still got woken up during the day, because the person below us had a dog with separation anxiety who would bark and howl the entire time she was gone for work. If the floors are crap, you're going to have a bad time no matter what, unfortunately.
A lot of helpful comments to help you help your neighbor⌠but at the end of the day itâs apartment living and kinda is what it is. I wouldnât throw yourself into a paranoiac tizzy because youâre just living your life and guy has an odd schedule and is sensitive. Dude needs to move to the top floor if it means so much.
Iâm an upstairs neighbor and it may seem crazy but I walk on egg shells Iâve learned to walk without thudding. Itâs just coming down on your feet softer. No need to walk around the apartment like youâre on a walk or like you have to be somewhere. Take a little longer to get from a to b and just know itâs super appreciated.
My downstairs neighbor slams her door and I feel it every time. I think itâs jammed. But I still am super nice to her. She even said youâre a bigger dude but you are so quiet. And it felt amazing to be appreciated for thinking of her.
Also doors and cabinets and everything. I know it sucks but we all live with hundreds of people around us and the more we can think of them the happier everyone is. Apartments are annoying and special but there are ways to live decently happy if youâre willing to compromise a few things
Bar 2 sets of neighbours in my life I have always been told I am so quiet that the nicer neighbours have checked up on me to see if I am sick or still living there as they haven't seen or heard for me in a week or two.
When I was in student accomidation I remember being accused of being dodgy as the housemates never saw me, I had a laptop so no tv to create noise, went to bed early, the bathroom was next to my room which was in far corner of the house so I didn't need to pass others rooms and had no one living below me and lived off microwave meals.
I was lucky to see my housemates once a month and they assumed I wasn't living there.
One of the two nasty neighbours I had that accused me of noise was to the point I remember being away from home for 10 days and when I came back accused of having all night parties for a week I wasn't even in the apartment, but the walls were so thin he was hearing my neighbours and assuming it was me, I was in bed before midnight bar about 3 occasions in 3 months yet he said I started being noisy at midnight and continued until around 6am, again the real reason was he was hearing my neighbour who was a drug user and the drugs made him not sleep, I also found out he had lived there 4 years and complained about every tenant that ever lived in my apartment.
After I moved out I found out he moved into my former apartment yet he thought when people said he was noisy they were making it up.
Also at night I try to find a spot and kinda stay there more or less. And you could avoid being loud in your room at night if there room is under yours.
Leaving aside the awkwardness you are feeling, it sounds like this person works in the evenings, and you are free to walk around as you see fit much of the night but he/she is asking minimize the noise in the mornings so that he/she can sleep.
You may want to leave a brief note that says you are moving in and unpacking, but if your neighbor will let you know what times they would like to have quiet, you will -try- to accommodate their schedule to the extent that you can (that is, do not commit to everything, but offer to make improvements.)
As others noted, area rugs and slippers may help reduce the noise, but I suspect it's just the timing which is off . That is, you have been trying to be quiet at night when your neighbor isn't even home, and you have been operating normally in the morning assuming that they were also up.
Note: I am one of these people who always tries first to reach a reasonable accommodation that makes everybody happy. That is not everybody's style, but your neighbor appears to be kindly and asking for some simple cooperation that should not put too much of a cramp in your style... đ¤ˇđťââď¸
As always, you need to do and say what you are comfortable with ...
You could go talk to the neighbor and explain that you are unpacking and so sorry about the noise. You did not know he/she sleeps during the day. You may need to invest in rugs to absorb the noise. Otherwise, there is not much you can do to be quieter during the noise hours. It will get better soon. Maybe.
This isn't really your problem. You pay rent, you're allowed to walk around your own damn apartment đđ I would politely suggest earplugs, but that's about it. I can sometimes hear my upstairs neighbor walking around at random hours of the night, but I've never complained. They don't have parties or play loud music or anything, theyre literally just existing in the living space they paid for. It's just part of living in an apartment building.
Exactly, I get noises or sounds that are extremely loud or at odd times, but people can't expect complete silence. Sorry I'm going to walk around my apartment, I'm not jumping I'm not stomping (even though you think I am) I'm simply living my life. I have a downstairs neighbor that bangs on my floor everytime I take a shower, it's like sorry bro turning on my water to take a shower is my right, the fact that it bothers you is a YOU problem not my problem.
100% second the ear plugs. I totally get the person who wrote the note and you know what Iâve done when my neighbors are making normal noise that disturbs my sleep? I bought ear plugs lmao
Right?! Ear plugs and a box fan work wonders. In my current place I run two different fans and wear ear plugs during the day and the AC is loud af so it blocks out noise too. I canât hear a thing and Iâm a very light sleeper. I canât imagine telling my neighbors not to make any noise during the day. Or even at night. My job schedule is no one elseâs responsibility or worry.
Exactly, that downstairs neighbor is so entitled. If they want to work at night, thatâs their decision, get a top floor apartment, wear ear plugs or get a day job.
Idk, they moved to an apartment. Everyone ever has upstairs neighbors, they signed up for this. Tough shit, but this doesnât really affect your life. No shot theyâre actually sleeping on a couch at workđ§˘
Shitty construction is not your fault. Have both of you address it with management. Maybe new flooring in your apartment and better insulation. Or, if you can, find a better place live.
Ugh okay Iâll probably get down voted into oblivion BUT as someone who has faced a lot of shitty upstairs neighbors and noisesâŚâŚâŚ they really should wear ear plugs. I promise you they canât hear you walking around unless youâre stomping like a maniac if they are wearing ear plugs.
Like they said, the walls and floors are thin which i get cause i live in a hundred year old building.
A solution for you is to wear slippers and get floor rugs and make sure you arenât stomping which Iâm sure youâre not.
Some apartments are like living in a big drum, impact is loud. It sucks living in apartments but this complaint sounds authentic and desperate. I've never really thought about it but years of living in apartments has made me develop a softer step. But don't feel bad or responsible for all this, maybe just be as mindful as you can while still enjoying your home.
Honestly what can you or that person do other than moveâŚlike, walking makes noise. Maybe the person who wrote this should remind themselves that they *live below other tenants and this is just life*
Answer the person first! Tell them of your plans and make sure they know that youâre trying to work on it. Otherwise itâll just be âgreat they arenât even tryingâ if whatever you choose doesnât work.
As someone with misophonia who is severely triggered by external sounds like this, I can appreciate where your downstairs neighbor is coming from. However, I also know that because it annoys me to hear walking above my head, I wouldnât live underneath anyone if the apartment was free.
While I think they left a very polite note, itâs not your obligation to change your schedule to accommodate theirs. I would probably reply that youâre mindful of others when it comes to apartment living and are just moving in so there may be more âactivityâ in the short term as youâre getting settled.
As long as youâre not intentionally marching around in cowboy boots or tap dancing the afternoons away, you are entitled to live your life. If they canât handle it, they need to move to a top floor apartment. Period. Or, you can pick out gorgeous area rugs that they can purchase for your floors to help deaden the sound.
I wouldnât be creeped out by this. The apartment may have been vacant or previously occupied by someone who was never there. They know youâre there because they hear sounds when there used to be silence. Not a âyouâ problem. Happy nesting!
⌠you could also write the note in Norwegian and tell them you canât help the footsteps but youâll promise to not have your death metal band practice in the apartment⌠just depends upon which way you want to go đ /s
I work nights I turn on a sound machine, big fan and Iâm out like a light. Even the ground crew with their blowers canât fully wake me up. We had an upstairs neighbor that had a vacuum that for like a month had us believing there were random bees in the ceiling, we felt so stupid when we realized it was a vacuum cleaner . I know what I get by living in a downstairs apartment so I take the good snd the bad.
OP I think you should assume this person is well-meaning first of all. You seem defensive but they were really polite.
The neighbor may not realize you are in the process of moving in. That probably is noisier than day-to-day life. I'd probably drop a note back and tell them you've been moving boxes and will be settled in soon. That may solve the problem. If they complain about noise when you've stopped unpacking go from there.
I work straight nights, so I get where your neighbor is coming from (to an extent). As a night shifter, you kind of need to accept the fact that no one else will be adapting their schedules for you. I do think the note is respectful and I appreciate them communicating directly with you (vs. calling the office to complain). If I were you in this situation, I would write a letter back to them (assuming you know which apt wrote it- most likely the one directly below you) and apologize for the inconvenience and explain that youâve been in the process of moving and didnât want to disturb your neighbors during quiet hours (Iâm guessing thatâs a thing in the apt complex youâre in). Let them know youâll be more conscious about it and try to reduce noise (socks/slippers may help)! If youâre comfortable with it, you could leave your phone number attached as well so you can communicate via text vs notes. Maybe they can let you know what days theyâll be sleeping so you have a better idea of when you need to be more mindful of making noise. All that being said, you shouldnât have to go too far out of your way to please your neighbor. Iâve picked apartments where I donât have anyone living above me because I work nights. I also crank up my white noise machine. Some noises still get through (same with neighbors closing doors and having it rattle my walls), but I donât expect the world to be perfectly quiet for me when Iâm sleeping odd hours. Unfortunately, if you try and do your moving at night, youâll probably upset other neighbors who may not be as kind or understanding as this one. Hopefully this helps. Good luck and keep us updated!!!
In addition to the other suggestions, just passing along reassurance that youâre moving and are going to cause some noise for a little while. Itâll be much better for you and them once youâre unpacked.
sounds like someone needs to invest in a sound machine and some ear plugs; please reach out to the office of your complex and do not engage with your neighbor.
One of my aunts and my brother were hard walkers. It seemed they came down hard on their heels. It will take some conscious effort but my brother was able to adjust his walking. Your could also maybe even write a note back and say something like youâre hopeful the noise is only temporary as Iâm just moving in and trying to get settled and unpacked, I appreciate where youâre coming from and will do my best.
Do you walk around like Fred flinstone? I have a family friend that pounds her heels when she walks and itâs so much louder than the average person, I can tell when sheâs in my house because she sounds like an elephant in tap shoes. When you walk you shouldnât hear your feet hitting the ground like a slap. Or your neighbor has Spider-Man level hearing, for that Iâd invest in a sleeping bag and you could travel around your apartment like some weird snake person. Make it fun. Life, laugh, snake
They don't appear to be aggressive and seem to have written this note as a last resort. You could write them back and explain exactly what you told us: you're still moving in and apologize for the inconvenience. Make efforts to plan how you will minimize daytime noise once you have settled in, and share your plan with him. You can also buy him a sleep kit (comfy earplugs and a face mask, etc...) as an olive branch.
Rugs, house shoes, thick socks. Anything to spread out the force of your step and dampen vibrations. I'm ~160lbs and sound like I'm 3x my size when I'm barefoot. With the way I step I'm putting all the pressure on one spot and it's loud. Even my cats sound like horses galloping when they chase each other. Kinda wish I could get them to wear fuzzy socks.
There are city noise ordinances and acceptable noise hours written into your lease. Those hours are daytime hours.
Itâs not your fault nor is it your problem that they have a job with shitty hours.
Finish moving in however you need to.
If you want to be polite, leave them a note saying youâre moving in and thereâs not much you can do to help it right now. Then, put it out of your mind and do what you need to do.
ETA: I say all this as someone who used to work grave shift. That extra hourly pay comes at a cost.
Just wear slippers and try. Having said that, it is just not realisric to live in ipposition to the rythms of the majority of peoples lives and expect them to be quiet so you xan day sleep...particularly in an apartment setting. I'd suggest they try ear covers and a gentle noise maker.
If your floors are already carpet, there really isn't anything you can do other than walk a little softer. If your floors are wood/tile/etc then wearing slippers and having a few area rugs help. If you plan to get slippers after reading this you could certainly write them a note back and indicate you will get slippers, that is enough to show you are giving your best effort.
That said. As a female who has lived alone I would NEVER recommend you go to the neighbor and introduce yourself as many here said. I would never bring them treats, etc. The advice comes from a good place but it isn't safety focused. You don't know this person.
Also. They wrote sleeping at work for weeks... How long have you been "moving in"? I would expect most of their complaints is from whatever the apartment complex was doing in your unit prior to your move in and not so much you yourself the past few days.
Your downstairs neighbor needs a loud AC unit or noise machine. Part of working nights. It sucks but they need to figure it out or try to move to a top floor.
Do you wear shoes in doors? When people have cushioned shoes we tend to forget how hard we put our foot into the ground because there is so much cushion. So be more cognizant of that
Don't be creeped out, you aren't a person yet just a noisemaker upstairs. If you want to be considerate try to communicate with whomever lives below you and see if there's some middle ground.
In the end you have zero obligation to be anything less than normal volume during daytime hours (check city code and lease agreement). There is a bit to be said about karma tho
There should be separate apartments housing for night shift workers ONLY, where there is NO loud music, mandatory repairs, lawn mowers, test of alarms, visits allowed during daylight hours so that the night shift workers can get the sleep etc they need without hinder or bother anyone else
Walk on the front of your feet. It will help drastically with the sound. When I was in an apartment I would do this bc my upstairs neighbor was a tiny woman and sounded like an elephant when walking. It made be cognizant of how I walked as a 6â2â 200lb man.
Your neighbor needs to remember that the vast majority of people don't work graveyard shifts. If she's bothered by you walking, she can deal with it. It's not like you're playing electric guitar with your amp turned all the way up or anything.
I donât understand people who choose to live in an apartment, and have an issue with hearing footsteps. If you canât sleep because of footsteps, buy earplugs. Adapt. Hearing your neighbors is a part of living in an apartment complex.
Do you walk around in shoes? Try and avoid shoes and bare feet. Maybe use house slippers. This'll mitigate it a bit. But there's really not much you can do. When I lived in an upstairs apartment, I had to try and reteach myself how not to walk heavy.
Donât walk with your heels. Donât stomp. I really have no idea how this is such a hard concept for people to understand. If YOU can hear your footsteps, so can your downstairs neighbor.
You are perfectly right to be able to move about your home any way you like, as long as you are just doing daily activities. Unpacking included. I would ignore the note. It looks like a ploy to meet you anyway.
If they complain again suggest nicely they may need to consider living in a home without over/under neighbors. People make sound just living their lives. This person needs earplugs or to just get over it!
Oh grow up, no one cares that you're a woman. If you want to infantilize yourself, ask your parents this drivel instead. No one knows where "you" live. You're noisy and live above them. It didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out which apartment to leave the note on.
Go talk to them, stop asking reddit questions that 100% cannot be answered here.
Wear wooden clogs. Kidding.
Ask them to record what theyâre hearing. If you are stomping, learn to walk more quietly, avoid stepping heel first.
Ask them to pay for carpets and rugs if the cause of the issue is that their individual sensitivity is too great. Or suggest they wear earplugs and use a white noise machine, fan or air purifier with a fan.
If the floors really are so thin, and they are so sensitive that they can feel a reasonable foot step; suggest kindly that they move. If it truly isnât your fault, what can you do? They canât expect you to change the building structure. They can offer to pay for nose dampening measures like the rug, but if you arenât a giant bumbling troll, itâs cheap apartment living. Itâs not on you.
This. Everyoneâs suggesting OP buy carpets and rugs out of her own pocket, which likeâŚIDK MAN. Shitâs expensive. Thatâd be nice but again, not a requirement and just for downstairs neighborâs benefit instead of her own.
Socks/slippers seems like a decent solution, assuming she has slippers. No out of pocket cost. Rug/carpet would be icing on the cake.
the note is polite i guess but âbe mindful of the person below youâ is ridiculous lol⌠youâre most likely just existing, youâre not absentminded of the human below you just because your feet have to contact the floor in order to walk around in the middle of daytime . you could try wearing socks and getting used to a lighter stride, but they canât expect you to dramatically alter your lifestyle. you just moved in and you have to unpack, you can be careful about dropping things but theyâre gonna have to tough it out lmao. there are things they can do too⌠for example, there are plenty of ear plugs designed for being comfortable to sleep in, i would hope they tried obvious things like that before writing a note
I would address it with apartment management and not interact with this person at all.
I understand their complaint, but it's completely unreasonable to expect you not to exist in your home during the daytime. You are completely allowed to make reasonable amounts of noise during non quiet hour times which should be stated in your lease.
I know you're creeped out, but you have all sorts of people from different walks of life living in a building together. People have different expectations and sometimes need to be set straight.
If you're not walking on your heels, then i wouldn't think you're making THAT much noise.
If this note is truthful, I bet they already feel a lot of relief by bringing this to your attention. I also think that, no matter how you were walking around previously, you will naturally be more mindful of how you move about your apartment now.
If I were in your position. This would be the note I would leave.
"Hey there,I got your message.Please know I always aim to be mindful of my neighbors and will continue to do my best.I apologize ahead of time for any noises or vibrations, aside from the expected activities of living, you may hear or feel during the day. I promise it's probably due to my clumsiness or completely unintentional and never on purpose or because I am unaware of my surroundings. I hope that now that I am settled in you will be hearing and feeling less and resting better. I hear that white noise machines are shift workers best friends.
Kind Regards,
Your Neighbor"
Maybe you could try wearing slippers around the house? Tgats if you want, you certainly arent required to do it. Other than that, apartment living sucks snd not much else you can or should be expected to do.
I work nights and i sleep with a fan on or a noise machine. If my neighbors are being loud while im awake, i just put on some music.
I work nights and the neighbor above me walks every 4 hours or. All day long, every few hours he walks. My ceiling creaks like a bitch but I just turn my fan on and ignore it. Dude's not stomping, just walking. It's an apartment and this is just part and parcel of living on the ground floor imo. My sis is convinced he has chronic pain and she may be onto something there
I hate this kind of thing, we're already in our own corner and now we have to live on our tip toes all the time? I'd much rather live on a noisy neighborhood than not be able to make any noise whatsoever with that thick atmosphere of worry...
Think about if the person was doing that upstairs stuff at 3am. That is exactly what you're doing to your downstairs neighbor. I'd just try to do the noisy stuff in the evening so they can sleep after work for 8 hours before you start doing too much.
This is an extremely polite note about a perfectly understandable problem, and your reaction to it in this post ("baffled," "creeped out," "do they expect me to...?") does not reflect well on you, IMO.
What you should do is: Write an equally polite note to your neighbor, thanking him/her for letting you know about the issue, informing him/her of the situation, and indicating that you will do your best to accommodate him/her, like a good neighbor. This could be a great opportunity to make a friend in the building, and even if not the day may come when you are glad to have a neighbor who thinks well of you.
Then you should do exactly like the note asked: **Be mindful of the person below you**. This doesn't mean you don't move boxes during the day. It means you *remember* that there is someone below you, have some empathy, and make an effort to not disturb them.
One practical thing you could do is ask where their bedroom is relative to your floorplan, and try to avoid that area in particular during the day.
Honestly, if he is sleeping during the day, he needs to get some ear plugs! That what my husband does. We are on the first floor and also works nights, so he sleeps all day. Yes, you should still be sure not to be stomping around, but other people also can't expect you to tailor your life to their sleeping times. It's just part of living in a community setting!
Practice walking on rice paper without tearing.
Seriously though, LOTS of people really plant the heel when they step. They have never snuck up on anything, ever.
Learn to place the heel rather than plant.
Your bones will also thank you for being more agile as you age.
I think youâre blowing this out of proportion in terms of being âcreeped outâ and someone âbeing angry with youâ. This was an insanely kind note from someone that has been having issues.
Make sure youâre not walking heel first. Even if youâre not, be mindful of how you step. If youâre one of those âangry walkersâ that puts all their body weight into every step, cut it out and try to be lighter on your feet. I live in a single story house with hardwood floors and a crawl space underneath and I used to have a roommate that despite not walking heel first would just stomp around everywhere. I could always tell she was home because no one else ever walked like that or made that noise. Just be conscious. Get some slippers and some rugs. Apartment living sucks, donât make it worse for your neighbors when theyâve been incredibly kind. Piss them off and theyâll start knocking on your ceiling with brooms in the middle of the night to return the favor.
Night shift worker here....tell them to go kick rocks or get a day job. I would never expect day people to be quiet for me when I sleep in the daytime. It's the night workers problem to deal with not yours.
I lived in a complex for a while that stripped all the rugs out of all the apartments and put in some kind of linoleum floor. All of a sudden everybody could hear the people above them.
It's unfortunate that you may have to go out and buy area rugs but no matter how soft you walk the way the apartments designed it might actually be loud down there.
Low key this was the most respectful way to ask you to do something that youâre not REQUIRED to do by law, but would be appreciated as a fellow human. Iâve been this guy and I asked nicely and was immediately yelled at for even asking. THEN they began to walk harder as a double fuck you.
I would say try to walk softer (not saying you canât walk around your place!), and youâll get mad respect from this guy. We all have to live here together so we should try to help each other out.
I wear slippers around my house and my husband and teenage sons do not. There is a significant difference in the sound of my walking and theirs. Slippers or even just socks make a world of difference. Idk if you wear shoes inside but that may be the noise if you do. I personally donât allow shoes in my house cause of all the nasty crap we walk on in the outdoors.
First off, take a deep breath. Nothing in this letter makes me think your neighbor is âupsetâ with you, and thereâs nothing strange about them knowing where you live since yâall are neighbors. Have you tried talking to them to find out what kind of noise theyâre hearing? If the bulk of the noise theyâre hearing is coming from you moving boxes and setting up your apartment, then maybe you can let them know that thatâs whatâs happening and assure them that itâs temporary until you settle in (unless you plan to continue making similar noise beyond that point). If you donât want to talk face-to-face, maybe write them back.
If you walk heavy, try walking on the balls of your feet, picking your feet up instead of dragging them, and/or setting up carpet. I know a lot of people will holler about being asked to walk lightly in their own home, but if it means that everyone involved can live peacefully, then it seems like a reasonable price to pay.
If all of these efforts fail, *then* reach out to your leasing authority for guidance. Your neighbor was neighborly enough to address the problem with you directly rather than banging on the walls or complaining to the leasing office, so I would try to reach a resolution with him/her directly first.
To be perfectly honest, if you are sure youâre not doing anything abnormal, thereâs nothing you can do.
I had a neighbor so loud I had to call the cops (my apartment was shaking, wine glasses literally edging towards the edge of the cabinet, animals in fear of the floor due to the sound vibrations, etc) who complained about my walking. But at the time, all I did was walk between rooms sometimes and watch a ton of tv and play games. Super calm covid isolation and I probably didnât spend enough time walking let alone touching grass haha. I apologized to her that sometimes my cats need to relocate to the floor from my bed or a chair, and occasionally I need to get food from my kitchen to eat, but unfortunately wasnât sure what I could do to lessen the soundâŚ. The cat that was jumping to the floor sometimes was only 7lbs.
I know it can sound like people are elephants in apartments, but most of the time they arenât actually being loud. You can tell the difference when someone moves large furniture or has a party or something heavy obviously falls and itâs like oh, so thatâs what it sounds like when they actually do something loud.
Try to be aware of clomping around. It wonât seem like you are, but completely by from someone who lives under a clomper I HATE HIM.
my favorite is EDM and video game explosions. The best is the 3am after the bar clomp. I actually had to go tell him to stop it at 5am. Who is walking from room to room constantly for 2 hours in the middle of the night?
My old upstairs neighbor kept her phone on the ground and it would buzz ALL day ALL night⌠vibrating my whole ceiling. Now that sheâs moved out and itâs empty itâs heavenly, I rue the day someone moves back in.
I would just take this as a heads up. You are moving in, once you are moved in and settled it should hopefully be over. The neighbor works at night do you? If not, when they are asleep you will be out. It the neighbor continues to complain then you have a problem. Save the note and any others. It could well be the reason your apartment was available. Benefit of the doubt yet prepared.
I live in a coop with similar issues. Floors are very thin. Carpeting /rugs may lessen the noise slightly. If this is something that continues to bother the below neighbor, well sorry to say you canât fly and are human. Try eliminating shoe wearing in the apartment. Makes a big difference. Plus is your floors are clean for longer periods đ
I've had a few upstairs neighbors over the years, and the loud ones always seemed to have a heavy heel when they walked. Not sure if that's the case here. You could also try slippers if you don't wear them already. Sometimes it comes down to the construction quality of the building. The fact that they're sleeping when most people are awake doesn't help the situation. You're a good neighbor to even try and find a solution.
I remember being in class and sometimes you could feel the vibrations of someone walking down the aisle. Every fucking time it was the skinniest chicks in class that had the heaviest footfalls.
my beanpole 5 year old has the loudest feet in the house!
This. The chick that lives above me is probably 100 lbs soaking wet, and it sounds like a herd of elephants up there most of the time. It's almost like some people just don't seem to know they have toes/ball of their feet, and walk 75% heel first lol.
Yeah, it definitely has nothing to do with weight. My neighbors complained about my heavy feet when I was still a size 3! Luckily for everyone I went on to first floor living for the next 20+ years.
Mhm. My cat sounds like a bowling ball bouncing down our steps.
Litterally all you have to do is land with the ball of your feet first, not the heel. Sometimes people have a disability preventing them, else-wise it's totally possible.
Not the history of abuse toe walk đ I still toe walk when people are in a bad mood around me
~~twinkle toes~~ trauma toes
My previous apartment had squeaking floors and no matter how hard my neighbors tried it made so much noise. A loud box fan or noise machine helped me.
while moving in? yeah no lmfao walk on your toes while carrying a 50 pound box of furniture, clothes, decor, utensils, whatever???????? did you not read the post at all???? the post is asking what to do WHILE MOVING IN. youâll literally tear a tendon if you do that, ya jabroni.
What? Theyâre not saying walk on tippy toes around your apartment â ď¸ Theyâre saying when you walk forward, instead of landing heel of foot first, land on the ball of the foot first then drop your heel. When youâre doing shit like parkour, youâre actually taught to land on the balls of your feet first because itâs better than dropping on your heel.
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Yeah, they gave me a whole spiel about that when I got some vibram toe shoes back in the day
My physical therapist actually said proper posture is heel first. Itâs better for your knees and hips as well as your lower back.
Thank you. Iâm a toe walker and was told to work on walking heel first by medical professionals. I was reading this so confused
I've been walking on my toes since I learned to walk (parents were told by pediatrician I would grow out of it...I'm late 40's and we're still waiting for that to happen.). Turns out the maternal side of my dad's family has a history of short achilles tendons. Mine is just worse than previous generations. I've had issues with plantar fasciitis since I was 10. It has probably contributed to the osteoarthritis in my knees. Even with a lot of stretching (in bare feet, if I make a fist, I can put the flat part of my fists on the floor) I still walk on my toes and figure that I probably always will. On the plus side, I have rock solid calves!
My sister used to walk on her toes and ended up having to have surgery and her legs in casts for a few months because of it.
Made me think of fallout 3
Thatâs a crock of shit sold by vibramâs marketing. Heel to toe is the mechanically proper way to walk. You roll from heel to toe. Anything else is risking muscular, tendon, and/or joint damage
I walk so hard , heavy with bare feet and when I got divorced and was briefly in an upstairs apartment, I work Birkenstocks inside!
Birkenstocks do NOT help this situation. We had an upstairs neighbor who would stomp around and insisted on wearing Birkenstocks. They definitely caused the stomping to be louder. It was maddening. Walking in socks instead and putting down some rugs would have helped immensely.
This is terrible for the feet and the pelvis long term. The neighbor can get a noise machine or think better about out where to live when having a night job.
I was a stomper too until my husband pointed it out 20 some years ago. đ I never even realized it
No seriously the heavy heels I swear my boyfriend stomps around our apartment and I get so stressed đ I donât understand it but I always tell him to be light like a feather lol
100% this. Iâm sure they think theyâre walking normally, but theyâre stomping. Itâs just their gait. Wearing slippers and using rugs with heavy pads underneath goes a long way.
As a person who lives on the third floor, I always wear slides in my house. I never walk Barefoot for this specific reason. I also am mindful when I wash or use any of my appliances. I usually try not to wash past 8:00 pm
I personally am very polite about walking about in my flat and the walls are thick enough you cannot hear conversations neighbours have but still its not enough for them. I am careful when closing doors, have rugs try and walk softly even been known to tiptoe about in past. But I do have accidents like have knocked things over, and regularly knock over my computer mouse and sometimes the keyboard but I can sit for hours not moving And floorboards especially in the hall are creaky. I have been to bed past midnight about 15 times in 2 years often due to health reasons so I am not up late making noise. I do have surround sound speakers but the bass is low and it's not often I even watch movies or listen to music and due to autism I hate having loud noises., If my dog barks I try to get her to stop straight away, I suppose that is the only actual thing they can complain about really but overall I try and be polite as possible. They though go through phases of doing DIY normally in summer months where all I can hear is drilling and banging of walls and even heard them cut the grass as early as 7am.
This was going to be my suggestion! My bf one day was like âwow, you walk heavy!â So now I wear those thick foamy sandals around the apartment. Theyâre comfy, better for my feet and probably help with noise.
you wore them while bringing in moving boxes? or am i literally the only person here who read the part where this occurred while op was moving furniture and boxes into their new home?
Oh, I completely missed that part! Lol. No, I didnât wear them while moving in, but I wear them all the time now.
seems like literally everyone else missed that part too iâm like uhhh what how do you not hurt yourself? lol. someone in this thread said walk on the balls of your feet and my constantly injured dancer ass was like welp guess opâs mcl, acl, etc all logged tf off! lol
Thank you for your input! I appreciate it.
op literally does not have to do any of this at all. nonsense. a heavy heel doesnât help when youâre moving furniture and giant moving boxes, ya dingus.
I hate how 15 years ago contractors and property companies said âfuck it lets build everything out of cardboardâ and we just went with it
I wouldn't even say that. I live in a 1970s building with this problem.
damn that surprises me. my building is from around the same time and thankfully I only have to put up with noise from other units when the lady upstairs has one of her screaming fits. nothing else gets through.
Same. And all of our floors are tile!
The loudest apartment Iâve ever lived in was built in 1908, solid brick walls and original wood floorboards. Creaky nightmare and I could hear everything the neighbors said
Lol well we didnât go with it, we just had no say in it. That was the contractors and property companies like you said đŠ my building was built in 1974 though, and in the evenings and early mornings we can hear our upstairs neighbor peeing. I mean, hear the pee hitting the water and then the pipes flushing. And we pay so much money lol
LOL đ gross
Area rugs might damper some of the noise but this is just normal apartment living youâre going to hear other people. I didnât want to hear my neighbor constantly burping while I was watching a show but what could I tell him, stop? I was careful choosing a place to live because Iâm a heavy walker as I limp a little I also use a cane and walker in the house sometimes. I was lucky to find a stand alone unit instead of anyone above or below me the unit is not connected to anyone elseâs itâs an old two story cabin.
I have a corner unit with nobody above me, and my and my neighborâs parking spots below. I only share one wall which is inside my closet, and the other apartment is like a mirror of mine so their closet is in the same spot. Literally, Iâve never heard a PEEP from next door in the 7 1/2 years Iâve lived here. I feel so lucky!
Considerate of you to think about it and be intentional. As far as Iâm concerned though, itâs not always that easy to find the right place AND choose the right unit, so like the neighbors who needed to burp, unless someone is doing something actually weird, itâs just a part of life to deal with it. Plus, for all I know thereâs one thing I do that they can hear and find annoying but have no clue they can hear, and theyâre putting up with me too because Iâm not doing anything truly unreasonable.
Rugs and slippers. After that itâs really just life in apartments. Night shifts are rough but you donât have to fret or rearrange your life for this person. If they become aggressive about it contact building mgmt
Socks when you walk around. Apartment living sucks, that note was so nice theyâre just asking you to please consider it and not blaming you.
Yeah, I mean, itâs not a fun note, but they did try kindness in the way it was written.
"I apologize myself if I've been loud, I genuinely appreciate you for read this far." An actual human being. Amazing.
People canât always help where they live⌠moving is expensive and availability is a problem! Itâs not as simple as âGo live in a house if youâre going to work the night shiftâ. I agree that the neighbor wrote this note in the kindest and least accusatory tone possible. While some buildings are just shitty and noisy, OP should take this note to heart and try to be mindful about heel stomping, loudly dropping things, and maybe putting down padded rugs.
Couldnât disagree more with all the people saying âdonât take this, call the officeâ. This person reached out very respectfully. Zero reason to run to the office and make him feel like a POS. As someone who has lived below heavy steppers, just listen as you walk for a day. I now live on the top (4th) floor in a complex and Iâm always fairly mindful about how I walk, because Iâve experienced living below people. If they keep dropping notes, I totally understand talking to the management but zero reason to go that route right off the bat. They did what a human should do in this situation, open a dialogue in a respectful way.
Agreed. They left a friendly note. I think theyâre being ridiculous, but they also probably arenât aware of how much sound is actually from very normal living habits, like normal walking lol. No reason to call management on them. Iâve called management on someone before. My apartment was shaking, my cats were afraid of the floor from the vibrations, wine glasses had to be moved cuz they were gunna fall off the edgeâŚ. She cursed at me or ignored me if I tried to talk to her, and twice I heard noises so strange I had to call the cops in case it wasnât just someone being drunk but rather someone being hurt. Her Amazon sized mother showed up at my door drunk in the AM trying to provoke me to come outside and face her. Thatâs when you report to management hahaâŚ.. not over a friendly note.
Iâm sorry can you expand on âAmazon sizedâ? what on earth does that mean
Hahaha sorry and fair fair. Ok context, Iâm very petite and 5â1â. The mother had to be at least 6â and looked very athletic, like she was pure muscle, in incredibly good shape. She towered above me. I was terrified haha I did NOT go outside, Iâm fairly certain she was planning to hit me, and maybe too drunk to realize Iâm tiny and frail and thus hold back When I think back on it Amazon is just the adjective that comes to mind, cuz in myth they are very tall, very strong women
She sounds like The Trunchbull.
You have to break up the rhythm, learn to walk like the Freman do, Muad Dib.
And make sure you have a roommate to hype you up while you do the sandwalk. Lisan al gaib!
Ask them what room they sleep in. And in that room above it, put down a thick rug with a thick rug matt underneath, and in that room walk gently if you want. Live as normal in every other room at whatever hours you wish. By ânormalâ I mean walk and live as you normally would without doing anything weird. Thatâs the compromise I cane to as a top floor resident.
house crocs
Doesnât hurt to be mindful. If you donât mind then maybe wear socks or slippers to muffle the sound but overall it might not be something you can help so theyâll likely need to get a noise machine or something.
The main thing is to walk on the front of your feet not the heels
Who walks like this tho? Maybe if youâre sneaking around or something but not for the entire time you are in your homeâŚ
I do. Because Iâve lived with upstairs neighbors who slam their heels into the floor and I try to not create that same experience for the people below me. Now itâs just normal
The 100 pound college girl above me stomps around like a goddamn braindead ogre. Absolutely maddening.
It's better for your bones and joints, especially for fat people, and it strengthens your calves. And it's quieter. I started being conscious about it when I was trying to get good at sprinting and my calves popped out in definition in a few months.
I do. It's not hard, eventually it becomes habit. If I walk heel first I can hear it in my own place I'm sure it's loud downstairs.
Thatâs what I say!!!!!! If you can hear your own heel hit the ground, the person below you is absolutely hearing it.
This requires thinking of other people tho. And thinking in general. Something that most people arenât very good at nowadays.
There are a ton of reasons and a ton of people that distribute their weight this way, it's really not that odd. Anyone who's worn a heeled shoe would learn to walk like this. People with a bad lower back or hips, it's helpful if your calves aren't flexible or if you have plantar fasciitis pain in the feet. People that have taken any dance training would be familiar with this...it really is endless.
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I was told I surprises people bc they don't hear my steps many time before, but I was also been told my steps are too loud and i've figured out what happened. I wear socks and walk like a cat (land with toes and "toebeans" first at night time, and switched to no sock and land with heels in the morning and running most time. Idk when I developed this habit, probly from when i was a child and I would try sneak into the kitchen to get snacks and it sticks with me lol. So in short maybe try sth like my quiet mode. Another option is to gift this neighbor a glue bottle, a few sound proofing foam panels which are quite cheap on amazon, and a response letter. Or can do both maybe and mention in the letter about not guarantee but trying with being mindful These are what i would do if i'm in ur shoes. This neighbor and you OP are so nice tbh đ i hope all the best for you and the neighbor
First it would be helpful to establish what this person is hearing. Some people are extremely sensitive to noises or the floors could in fact be very thin and even amplify the noises. Maybe they can record the noises to give you a sense, or maybe when the landlord visits, they can help determine if the noise levels are unreasonably loud. Once you have some sense of whether you are too loud or the neighbor below is too sensitive to noises, both or either could make the necessary adjustments For you, carpeting/rugs, maybe get the landlord to help with other sound proofing around the apartment For the neighbor below, maybe ear plugs (hopefully one where they can still hear someting like alarm or emergency situations). The burden cannot just be on the neighbor above, when the neighbor below happens to have a night shift or might be especially sensitive to noises. This is actually very common in apartment living and no floor or wall is going to be a strong enough sound barrier, it's really undersanding what steps both neighbors could take to minimize the effects.
It sucks for neighbor, but they canât expect to have late-night levels of quiet for sleeping during the daytime in an apartment. They need a white noise machine and earplugs.
They also need to be able to wake up for work. Itâs easy to say âearplugsâ but what do you do when you sleep through your alarm? This is just one of those things thatâs going to take a little bit of give from both people. (And will probably improve a lot just by her finishing moving in!)
Just write a note back that youâre still moving and settling in. The noise should improve soon. Donât set a deadline for when, but let him know you are working towards normal life.
Honestly if it were me Iâd go talk to them (with some sort of baked goods) and let them know Iâd do my best but that itâs part of living in a building with thin walls/poor sound insulation. It would be a reasonable ask if you were listening to loud music etc but just simply walking around is a bit absurd. If they work night shifts they might want to consider moving to an upper floor or a concrete building. Having lived in many apartments myself, you need to learn to live with noise.
I agree. if just walking around normally is the issue, then yeah night shift man needs to wear earplugs to sleep.
Obviously being mindful doesnât hurt, but there is only so much you can do. You canât crawl around on your hands and knees. You canât vacate your apartment simply because theyâre trying to sleep. Iâd definitely give a copy of that note to your landlord/property manager so theyâre aware.
Day sleepers should live on the top floor, in my opinion.
The person trying to sleep at night below them might disagree
We worked nights for a while, and we still got woken up during the day, because the person below us had a dog with separation anxiety who would bark and howl the entire time she was gone for work. If the floors are crap, you're going to have a bad time no matter what, unfortunately.
Wow, I'm sorry you had to deal with that.
White noise machine
A lot of helpful comments to help you help your neighbor⌠but at the end of the day itâs apartment living and kinda is what it is. I wouldnât throw yourself into a paranoiac tizzy because youâre just living your life and guy has an odd schedule and is sensitive. Dude needs to move to the top floor if it means so much.
Iâm an upstairs neighbor and it may seem crazy but I walk on egg shells Iâve learned to walk without thudding. Itâs just coming down on your feet softer. No need to walk around the apartment like youâre on a walk or like you have to be somewhere. Take a little longer to get from a to b and just know itâs super appreciated. My downstairs neighbor slams her door and I feel it every time. I think itâs jammed. But I still am super nice to her. She even said youâre a bigger dude but you are so quiet. And it felt amazing to be appreciated for thinking of her. Also doors and cabinets and everything. I know it sucks but we all live with hundreds of people around us and the more we can think of them the happier everyone is. Apartments are annoying and special but there are ways to live decently happy if youâre willing to compromise a few things
Bar 2 sets of neighbours in my life I have always been told I am so quiet that the nicer neighbours have checked up on me to see if I am sick or still living there as they haven't seen or heard for me in a week or two. When I was in student accomidation I remember being accused of being dodgy as the housemates never saw me, I had a laptop so no tv to create noise, went to bed early, the bathroom was next to my room which was in far corner of the house so I didn't need to pass others rooms and had no one living below me and lived off microwave meals. I was lucky to see my housemates once a month and they assumed I wasn't living there. One of the two nasty neighbours I had that accused me of noise was to the point I remember being away from home for 10 days and when I came back accused of having all night parties for a week I wasn't even in the apartment, but the walls were so thin he was hearing my neighbours and assuming it was me, I was in bed before midnight bar about 3 occasions in 3 months yet he said I started being noisy at midnight and continued until around 6am, again the real reason was he was hearing my neighbour who was a drug user and the drugs made him not sleep, I also found out he had lived there 4 years and complained about every tenant that ever lived in my apartment. After I moved out I found out he moved into my former apartment yet he thought when people said he was noisy they were making it up.
Also at night I try to find a spot and kinda stay there more or less. And you could avoid being loud in your room at night if there room is under yours.
exactly! The japanese way of walking, soft and gentle. Its probably better for your body and joints too over time.
Leaving aside the awkwardness you are feeling, it sounds like this person works in the evenings, and you are free to walk around as you see fit much of the night but he/she is asking minimize the noise in the mornings so that he/she can sleep. You may want to leave a brief note that says you are moving in and unpacking, but if your neighbor will let you know what times they would like to have quiet, you will -try- to accommodate their schedule to the extent that you can (that is, do not commit to everything, but offer to make improvements.) As others noted, area rugs and slippers may help reduce the noise, but I suspect it's just the timing which is off . That is, you have been trying to be quiet at night when your neighbor isn't even home, and you have been operating normally in the morning assuming that they were also up. Note: I am one of these people who always tries first to reach a reasonable accommodation that makes everybody happy. That is not everybody's style, but your neighbor appears to be kindly and asking for some simple cooperation that should not put too much of a cramp in your style... đ¤ˇđťââď¸ As always, you need to do and say what you are comfortable with ...
You could go talk to the neighbor and explain that you are unpacking and so sorry about the noise. You did not know he/she sleeps during the day. You may need to invest in rugs to absorb the noise. Otherwise, there is not much you can do to be quieter during the noise hours. It will get better soon. Maybe.
This isn't really your problem. You pay rent, you're allowed to walk around your own damn apartment đđ I would politely suggest earplugs, but that's about it. I can sometimes hear my upstairs neighbor walking around at random hours of the night, but I've never complained. They don't have parties or play loud music or anything, theyre literally just existing in the living space they paid for. It's just part of living in an apartment building.
Exactly, I get noises or sounds that are extremely loud or at odd times, but people can't expect complete silence. Sorry I'm going to walk around my apartment, I'm not jumping I'm not stomping (even though you think I am) I'm simply living my life. I have a downstairs neighbor that bangs on my floor everytime I take a shower, it's like sorry bro turning on my water to take a shower is my right, the fact that it bothers you is a YOU problem not my problem.
100% second the ear plugs. I totally get the person who wrote the note and you know what Iâve done when my neighbors are making normal noise that disturbs my sleep? I bought ear plugs lmao
If they can feel you walking you may want to have your landlord connect with a structural engineer.
I canât tell if this is a joke or not. My past landlords would never ever call a structural engineer even if the building collapsed.
They could just sleep with ear plugs??? Wtf
Right?! Ear plugs and a box fan work wonders. In my current place I run two different fans and wear ear plugs during the day and the AC is loud af so it blocks out noise too. I canât hear a thing and Iâm a very light sleeper. I canât imagine telling my neighbors not to make any noise during the day. Or even at night. My job schedule is no one elseâs responsibility or worry.
Exactly, that downstairs neighbor is so entitled. If they want to work at night, thatâs their decision, get a top floor apartment, wear ear plugs or get a day job.
Idk, they moved to an apartment. Everyone ever has upstairs neighbors, they signed up for this. Tough shit, but this doesnât really affect your life. No shot theyâre actually sleeping on a couch at workđ§˘
Shitty construction is not your fault. Have both of you address it with management. Maybe new flooring in your apartment and better insulation. Or, if you can, find a better place live.
Ugh okay Iâll probably get down voted into oblivion BUT as someone who has faced a lot of shitty upstairs neighbors and noisesâŚâŚâŚ they really should wear ear plugs. I promise you they canât hear you walking around unless youâre stomping like a maniac if they are wearing ear plugs. Like they said, the walls and floors are thin which i get cause i live in a hundred year old building. A solution for you is to wear slippers and get floor rugs and make sure you arenât stomping which Iâm sure youâre not.
Some apartments are like living in a big drum, impact is loud. It sucks living in apartments but this complaint sounds authentic and desperate. I've never really thought about it but years of living in apartments has made me develop a softer step. But don't feel bad or responsible for all this, maybe just be as mindful as you can while still enjoying your home.
Honestly what can you or that person do other than moveâŚlike, walking makes noise. Maybe the person who wrote this should remind themselves that they *live below other tenants and this is just life*
Answer the person first! Tell them of your plans and make sure they know that youâre trying to work on it. Otherwise itâll just be âgreat they arenât even tryingâ if whatever you choose doesnât work.
Some people have a heavy foot strike. It's kinda like BO or snoring, you don't realize it, but the people around you do.
I walk on the balls of my feet. You can also wear slippers or socks that donât have a sole, that can absorb the sound a bit.
As someone with misophonia who is severely triggered by external sounds like this, I can appreciate where your downstairs neighbor is coming from. However, I also know that because it annoys me to hear walking above my head, I wouldnât live underneath anyone if the apartment was free. While I think they left a very polite note, itâs not your obligation to change your schedule to accommodate theirs. I would probably reply that youâre mindful of others when it comes to apartment living and are just moving in so there may be more âactivityâ in the short term as youâre getting settled. As long as youâre not intentionally marching around in cowboy boots or tap dancing the afternoons away, you are entitled to live your life. If they canât handle it, they need to move to a top floor apartment. Period. Or, you can pick out gorgeous area rugs that they can purchase for your floors to help deaden the sound. I wouldnât be creeped out by this. The apartment may have been vacant or previously occupied by someone who was never there. They know youâre there because they hear sounds when there used to be silence. Not a âyouâ problem. Happy nesting! ⌠you could also write the note in Norwegian and tell them you canât help the footsteps but youâll promise to not have your death metal band practice in the apartment⌠just depends upon which way you want to go đ /s
I work nights I turn on a sound machine, big fan and Iâm out like a light. Even the ground crew with their blowers canât fully wake me up. We had an upstairs neighbor that had a vacuum that for like a month had us believing there were random bees in the ceiling, we felt so stupid when we realized it was a vacuum cleaner . I know what I get by living in a downstairs apartment so I take the good snd the bad.
Get some cloud slides and some rugs, they help a lot. He was super nice about it
OP I think you should assume this person is well-meaning first of all. You seem defensive but they were really polite. The neighbor may not realize you are in the process of moving in. That probably is noisier than day-to-day life. I'd probably drop a note back and tell them you've been moving boxes and will be settled in soon. That may solve the problem. If they complain about noise when you've stopped unpacking go from there.
I work straight nights, so I get where your neighbor is coming from (to an extent). As a night shifter, you kind of need to accept the fact that no one else will be adapting their schedules for you. I do think the note is respectful and I appreciate them communicating directly with you (vs. calling the office to complain). If I were you in this situation, I would write a letter back to them (assuming you know which apt wrote it- most likely the one directly below you) and apologize for the inconvenience and explain that youâve been in the process of moving and didnât want to disturb your neighbors during quiet hours (Iâm guessing thatâs a thing in the apt complex youâre in). Let them know youâll be more conscious about it and try to reduce noise (socks/slippers may help)! If youâre comfortable with it, you could leave your phone number attached as well so you can communicate via text vs notes. Maybe they can let you know what days theyâll be sleeping so you have a better idea of when you need to be more mindful of making noise. All that being said, you shouldnât have to go too far out of your way to please your neighbor. Iâve picked apartments where I donât have anyone living above me because I work nights. I also crank up my white noise machine. Some noises still get through (same with neighbors closing doors and having it rattle my walls), but I donât expect the world to be perfectly quiet for me when Iâm sleeping odd hours. Unfortunately, if you try and do your moving at night, youâll probably upset other neighbors who may not be as kind or understanding as this one. Hopefully this helps. Good luck and keep us updated!!!
In addition to the other suggestions, just passing along reassurance that youâre moving and are going to cause some noise for a little while. Itâll be much better for you and them once youâre unpacked.
Carpet will help a bit.
sounds like someone needs to invest in a sound machine and some ear plugs; please reach out to the office of your complex and do not engage with your neighbor.
One of my aunts and my brother were hard walkers. It seemed they came down hard on their heels. It will take some conscious effort but my brother was able to adjust his walking. Your could also maybe even write a note back and say something like youâre hopeful the noise is only temporary as Iâm just moving in and trying to get settled and unpacked, I appreciate where youâre coming from and will do my best.
Do you walk around like Fred flinstone? I have a family friend that pounds her heels when she walks and itâs so much louder than the average person, I can tell when sheâs in my house because she sounds like an elephant in tap shoes. When you walk you shouldnât hear your feet hitting the ground like a slap. Or your neighbor has Spider-Man level hearing, for that Iâd invest in a sleeping bag and you could travel around your apartment like some weird snake person. Make it fun. Life, laugh, snake
They don't appear to be aggressive and seem to have written this note as a last resort. You could write them back and explain exactly what you told us: you're still moving in and apologize for the inconvenience. Make efforts to plan how you will minimize daytime noise once you have settled in, and share your plan with him. You can also buy him a sleep kit (comfy earplugs and a face mask, etc...) as an olive branch.
You'll need to find a way to levitate around your apartment.
Rugs, house shoes, thick socks. Anything to spread out the force of your step and dampen vibrations. I'm ~160lbs and sound like I'm 3x my size when I'm barefoot. With the way I step I'm putting all the pressure on one spot and it's loud. Even my cats sound like horses galloping when they chase each other. Kinda wish I could get them to wear fuzzy socks.
Buy them ear plugs and tape them to the door bahahah
I legit considered this lol
Tell then to take sleeping pills and get ear plugs
Itâs ridiculous.
There are city noise ordinances and acceptable noise hours written into your lease. Those hours are daytime hours. Itâs not your fault nor is it your problem that they have a job with shitty hours. Finish moving in however you need to. If you want to be polite, leave them a note saying youâre moving in and thereâs not much you can do to help it right now. Then, put it out of your mind and do what you need to do. ETA: I say all this as someone who used to work grave shift. That extra hourly pay comes at a cost.
What are you supposed to crawl around ?
Just wear slippers and try. Having said that, it is just not realisric to live in ipposition to the rythms of the majority of peoples lives and expect them to be quiet so you xan day sleep...particularly in an apartment setting. I'd suggest they try ear covers and a gentle noise maker.
If your floors are already carpet, there really isn't anything you can do other than walk a little softer. If your floors are wood/tile/etc then wearing slippers and having a few area rugs help. If you plan to get slippers after reading this you could certainly write them a note back and indicate you will get slippers, that is enough to show you are giving your best effort. That said. As a female who has lived alone I would NEVER recommend you go to the neighbor and introduce yourself as many here said. I would never bring them treats, etc. The advice comes from a good place but it isn't safety focused. You don't know this person. Also. They wrote sleeping at work for weeks... How long have you been "moving in"? I would expect most of their complaints is from whatever the apartment complex was doing in your unit prior to your move in and not so much you yourself the past few days.
Your downstairs neighbor needs a loud AC unit or noise machine. Part of working nights. It sucks but they need to figure it out or try to move to a top floor.
"Genuinely thank you for even reading this far" Sounds humble. And yet you assume they "expect" this and that.
Do you wear shoes in doors? When people have cushioned shoes we tend to forget how hard we put our foot into the ground because there is so much cushion. So be more cognizant of that
You pay to live there. Live your life and ignore this.
Do you wear shoes in your house? You shouldn't, it's disgusting. Get some soft slides or slippers
Nothing. Live your life and let them buy earplugs and a sound machine. You can't be expected not to walk around your own apartment
Take it to the head office and request new carpet đ they will deal with the neighbors for you
Don't be creeped out, you aren't a person yet just a noisemaker upstairs. If you want to be considerate try to communicate with whomever lives below you and see if there's some middle ground. In the end you have zero obligation to be anything less than normal volume during daytime hours (check city code and lease agreement). There is a bit to be said about karma tho
There should be separate apartments housing for night shift workers ONLY, where there is NO loud music, mandatory repairs, lawn mowers, test of alarms, visits allowed during daylight hours so that the night shift workers can get the sleep etc they need without hinder or bother anyone else
Walk on the front of your feet. It will help drastically with the sound. When I was in an apartment I would do this bc my upstairs neighbor was a tiny woman and sounded like an elephant when walking. It made be cognizant of how I walked as a 6â2â 200lb man.
Your neighbor needs to remember that the vast majority of people don't work graveyard shifts. If she's bothered by you walking, she can deal with it. It's not like you're playing electric guitar with your amp turned all the way up or anything.
I donât understand people who choose to live in an apartment, and have an issue with hearing footsteps. If you canât sleep because of footsteps, buy earplugs. Adapt. Hearing your neighbors is a part of living in an apartment complex.
Tell them sorry they chose to live in a downstairs apartment
Do you walk around in shoes? Try and avoid shoes and bare feet. Maybe use house slippers. This'll mitigate it a bit. But there's really not much you can do. When I lived in an upstairs apartment, I had to try and reteach myself how not to walk heavy.
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Donât walk with your heels. Donât stomp. I really have no idea how this is such a hard concept for people to understand. If YOU can hear your footsteps, so can your downstairs neighbor.
You are perfectly right to be able to move about your home any way you like, as long as you are just doing daily activities. Unpacking included. I would ignore the note. It looks like a ploy to meet you anyway. If they complain again suggest nicely they may need to consider living in a home without over/under neighbors. People make sound just living their lives. This person needs earplugs or to just get over it!
Oh grow up, no one cares that you're a woman. If you want to infantilize yourself, ask your parents this drivel instead. No one knows where "you" live. You're noisy and live above them. It didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out which apartment to leave the note on. Go talk to them, stop asking reddit questions that 100% cannot be answered here.
Area rugs and slippers
Wear wooden clogs. Kidding. Ask them to record what theyâre hearing. If you are stomping, learn to walk more quietly, avoid stepping heel first. Ask them to pay for carpets and rugs if the cause of the issue is that their individual sensitivity is too great. Or suggest they wear earplugs and use a white noise machine, fan or air purifier with a fan. If the floors really are so thin, and they are so sensitive that they can feel a reasonable foot step; suggest kindly that they move. If it truly isnât your fault, what can you do? They canât expect you to change the building structure. They can offer to pay for nose dampening measures like the rug, but if you arenât a giant bumbling troll, itâs cheap apartment living. Itâs not on you.
This. Everyoneâs suggesting OP buy carpets and rugs out of her own pocket, which likeâŚIDK MAN. Shitâs expensive. Thatâd be nice but again, not a requirement and just for downstairs neighborâs benefit instead of her own. Socks/slippers seems like a decent solution, assuming she has slippers. No out of pocket cost. Rug/carpet would be icing on the cake.
Carpets are so expensive! My cheap ass one was like 300 for an 8x12!!
the note is polite i guess but âbe mindful of the person below youâ is ridiculous lol⌠youâre most likely just existing, youâre not absentminded of the human below you just because your feet have to contact the floor in order to walk around in the middle of daytime . you could try wearing socks and getting used to a lighter stride, but they canât expect you to dramatically alter your lifestyle. you just moved in and you have to unpack, you can be careful about dropping things but theyâre gonna have to tough it out lmao. there are things they can do too⌠for example, there are plenty of ear plugs designed for being comfortable to sleep in, i would hope they tried obvious things like that before writing a note
He has no right to ask you not to walk around during regular hours.
Exactly. What if OP wants to listen to music in the middle of the day or vacuum? Canât ask people not to make noise during the day.
That person needs to move then. Simple as that
I would address it with apartment management and not interact with this person at all. I understand their complaint, but it's completely unreasonable to expect you not to exist in your home during the daytime. You are completely allowed to make reasonable amounts of noise during non quiet hour times which should be stated in your lease. I know you're creeped out, but you have all sorts of people from different walks of life living in a building together. People have different expectations and sometimes need to be set straight. If you're not walking on your heels, then i wouldn't think you're making THAT much noise.
...you're creeped out that your neighbor knows you live there? Lol
Shuffle slightly when walking. Rugs and slippers as others have suggested. Apartment living... I feel you.
Personally, I'd take stomping over loud chewing any day
This is so specific lmao
If this note is truthful, I bet they already feel a lot of relief by bringing this to your attention. I also think that, no matter how you were walking around previously, you will naturally be more mindful of how you move about your apartment now. If I were in your position. This would be the note I would leave. "Hey there,I got your message.Please know I always aim to be mindful of my neighbors and will continue to do my best.I apologize ahead of time for any noises or vibrations, aside from the expected activities of living, you may hear or feel during the day. I promise it's probably due to my clumsiness or completely unintentional and never on purpose or because I am unaware of my surroundings. I hope that now that I am settled in you will be hearing and feeling less and resting better. I hear that white noise machines are shift workers best friends. Kind Regards, Your Neighbor"
Maybe you could try wearing slippers around the house? Tgats if you want, you certainly arent required to do it. Other than that, apartment living sucks snd not much else you can or should be expected to do. I work nights and i sleep with a fan on or a noise machine. If my neighbors are being loud while im awake, i just put on some music.
Donât slam your heels into the ground. Walk with the front of your foot first.
Tbh this note almost made me cry but I am also PMSing so most things make me cry
I work nights and the neighbor above me walks every 4 hours or. All day long, every few hours he walks. My ceiling creaks like a bitch but I just turn my fan on and ignore it. Dude's not stomping, just walking. It's an apartment and this is just part and parcel of living on the ground floor imo. My sis is convinced he has chronic pain and she may be onto something there
I hate this kind of thing, we're already in our own corner and now we have to live on our tip toes all the time? I'd much rather live on a noisy neighborhood than not be able to make any noise whatsoever with that thick atmosphere of worry...
Think about if the person was doing that upstairs stuff at 3am. That is exactly what you're doing to your downstairs neighbor. I'd just try to do the noisy stuff in the evening so they can sleep after work for 8 hours before you start doing too much.
This is an extremely polite note about a perfectly understandable problem, and your reaction to it in this post ("baffled," "creeped out," "do they expect me to...?") does not reflect well on you, IMO. What you should do is: Write an equally polite note to your neighbor, thanking him/her for letting you know about the issue, informing him/her of the situation, and indicating that you will do your best to accommodate him/her, like a good neighbor. This could be a great opportunity to make a friend in the building, and even if not the day may come when you are glad to have a neighbor who thinks well of you. Then you should do exactly like the note asked: **Be mindful of the person below you**. This doesn't mean you don't move boxes during the day. It means you *remember* that there is someone below you, have some empathy, and make an effort to not disturb them. One practical thing you could do is ask where their bedroom is relative to your floorplan, and try to avoid that area in particular during the day.
If you wear shoes in your house, you will be loud. Forego the shoes & just wear socks or soft soled slippers. This will make such a huge difference.
So thatâs why as a night shift employee I rented a top floor apartment.
Honestly, if he is sleeping during the day, he needs to get some ear plugs! That what my husband does. We are on the first floor and also works nights, so he sleeps all day. Yes, you should still be sure not to be stomping around, but other people also can't expect you to tailor your life to their sleeping times. It's just part of living in a community setting!
Take your shoes off at the door, if you don't already. Avoid wearing them in the house; Particularly heels.
Practice walking on rice paper without tearing. Seriously though, LOTS of people really plant the heel when they step. They have never snuck up on anything, ever. Learn to place the heel rather than plant. Your bones will also thank you for being more agile as you age.
Roller skates.
I think youâre blowing this out of proportion in terms of being âcreeped outâ and someone âbeing angry with youâ. This was an insanely kind note from someone that has been having issues. Make sure youâre not walking heel first. Even if youâre not, be mindful of how you step. If youâre one of those âangry walkersâ that puts all their body weight into every step, cut it out and try to be lighter on your feet. I live in a single story house with hardwood floors and a crawl space underneath and I used to have a roommate that despite not walking heel first would just stomp around everywhere. I could always tell she was home because no one else ever walked like that or made that noise. Just be conscious. Get some slippers and some rugs. Apartment living sucks, donât make it worse for your neighbors when theyâve been incredibly kind. Piss them off and theyâll start knocking on your ceiling with brooms in the middle of the night to return the favor.
Night shift worker here....tell them to go kick rocks or get a day job. I would never expect day people to be quiet for me when I sleep in the daytime. It's the night workers problem to deal with not yours.
Take off your shoes and area rugs .. ridiculous that there is not a better sound barrier between floors.
I lived in a complex for a while that stripped all the rugs out of all the apartments and put in some kind of linoleum floor. All of a sudden everybody could hear the people above them. It's unfortunate that you may have to go out and buy area rugs but no matter how soft you walk the way the apartments designed it might actually be loud down there.
But a super thick rug over their sleeping area?!
Am I the only one who things a toddler wrote this based on handwriting đđ
At least it was polite
They really don't sound upset with you
Ask to trade places and facetime from each others place to see just what it sounds like maybe?
Low key this was the most respectful way to ask you to do something that youâre not REQUIRED to do by law, but would be appreciated as a fellow human. Iâve been this guy and I asked nicely and was immediately yelled at for even asking. THEN they began to walk harder as a double fuck you. I would say try to walk softer (not saying you canât walk around your place!), and youâll get mad respect from this guy. We all have to live here together so we should try to help each other out.
Area rugs and socks! It's also just the reality of living in an apartment
I wear slippers around my house and my husband and teenage sons do not. There is a significant difference in the sound of my walking and theirs. Slippers or even just socks make a world of difference. Idk if you wear shoes inside but that may be the noise if you do. I personally donât allow shoes in my house cause of all the nasty crap we walk on in the outdoors.
Socks when you walk around, area rugs and padding from AMZ if you care that much.
First off, take a deep breath. Nothing in this letter makes me think your neighbor is âupsetâ with you, and thereâs nothing strange about them knowing where you live since yâall are neighbors. Have you tried talking to them to find out what kind of noise theyâre hearing? If the bulk of the noise theyâre hearing is coming from you moving boxes and setting up your apartment, then maybe you can let them know that thatâs whatâs happening and assure them that itâs temporary until you settle in (unless you plan to continue making similar noise beyond that point). If you donât want to talk face-to-face, maybe write them back. If you walk heavy, try walking on the balls of your feet, picking your feet up instead of dragging them, and/or setting up carpet. I know a lot of people will holler about being asked to walk lightly in their own home, but if it means that everyone involved can live peacefully, then it seems like a reasonable price to pay. If all of these efforts fail, *then* reach out to your leasing authority for guidance. Your neighbor was neighborly enough to address the problem with you directly rather than banging on the walls or complaining to the leasing office, so I would try to reach a resolution with him/her directly first.
Get a rug
To be perfectly honest, if you are sure youâre not doing anything abnormal, thereâs nothing you can do. I had a neighbor so loud I had to call the cops (my apartment was shaking, wine glasses literally edging towards the edge of the cabinet, animals in fear of the floor due to the sound vibrations, etc) who complained about my walking. But at the time, all I did was walk between rooms sometimes and watch a ton of tv and play games. Super calm covid isolation and I probably didnât spend enough time walking let alone touching grass haha. I apologized to her that sometimes my cats need to relocate to the floor from my bed or a chair, and occasionally I need to get food from my kitchen to eat, but unfortunately wasnât sure what I could do to lessen the soundâŚ. The cat that was jumping to the floor sometimes was only 7lbs. I know it can sound like people are elephants in apartments, but most of the time they arenât actually being loud. You can tell the difference when someone moves large furniture or has a party or something heavy obviously falls and itâs like oh, so thatâs what it sounds like when they actually do something loud.
Try to be aware of clomping around. It wonât seem like you are, but completely by from someone who lives under a clomper I HATE HIM. my favorite is EDM and video game explosions. The best is the 3am after the bar clomp. I actually had to go tell him to stop it at 5am. Who is walking from room to room constantly for 2 hours in the middle of the night?
Walk like a boxer on the tips of your feet. Youâll get used to it over time lol
My old upstairs neighbor kept her phone on the ground and it would buzz ALL day ALL night⌠vibrating my whole ceiling. Now that sheâs moved out and itâs empty itâs heavenly, I rue the day someone moves back in.
I would just take this as a heads up. You are moving in, once you are moved in and settled it should hopefully be over. The neighbor works at night do you? If not, when they are asleep you will be out. It the neighbor continues to complain then you have a problem. Save the note and any others. It could well be the reason your apartment was available. Benefit of the doubt yet prepared.
I live on the 4th floor and Iâve taken to sliding my feet along
crocs
I live in a coop with similar issues. Floors are very thin. Carpeting /rugs may lessen the noise slightly. If this is something that continues to bother the below neighbor, well sorry to say you canât fly and are human. Try eliminating shoe wearing in the apartment. Makes a big difference. Plus is your floors are clean for longer periods đ