Apartment renters face noisy upstairs neighbors

“great place. perfect spot. just trepidatious about living underneath someone, i’ve always lived upstairs. it’s really the only thing that’s holding me on the fence. so, fellow apartment folks, would you choose to be a downstairs neighbor again? i do struggle with sensory integration disorder. excessive sounds can be pretty dysregulating. that’s my main concern submitted by /u/oatmiIksIut [link] [comments]”

“Apartment communities should have a base price that goes up or down based on the people who move in after you. I've been here for 3 years and the first 2 were amazing. Then several people moved in, all of the same demographic which I will not name. It is now much noisier (and way after quiet hours), much messier, assigned parking spaces are always taken by the wrong cars, non-smoking buildings now smell like the inside of an ashtray.. I could go on. It's sad you can sign up for one thing”

“I'm curious about people who have stayed in downstairs apartments for several years despite having neighbors directly above them. Are your upstairs neighbors quiet, or have you learned to tolerate the noise? Have you experienced multiple upstairs tenants over the years? Did the noise get better or worse depending on who lived there?I am interested in hearing from people who enjoy their downstairs apartments and have no plans to move. How do you manage the noise, and what makes your apartment”

“I would kill to have a stomper above me right now. We live in an apartment where our living room is downstairs and the wall backs up against the garage. One of our neighbors bought a second hand washer and dryer about a month ago. We have been dealing with this noise ever since. The washer is so off balance or broken that it literally jumps around in the garage. They wash all day and put in their last load at 11:45pm. I can hear it upstairs in our bedroom. With no shared wall or floor. I blurred”

“Genuinely don't know what to do, I asked him nicely to be mindful that there are people below him. Still the same. What should I do? Could the leasing office even do anything? Am I SOL? submitted by /u/MichikoTuesday [link] [comments]”

“I know a lot of you hear us walking upstairs, but if my 50 pound dog gets zoomies for a few minutes, is that equally annoying? Does it sound like we’re filming a western cattle drive up here? I promise he gets enough exercise. We hike about 25 miles a week, but sometimes I guess his little walnut brain deploys him to scramble to his battle station or something. (I would ask my actual downstairs neighbor, but the unit is empty. Just wanting to know for when someone moves in.) submitted by &”

“I left a note taped to my neighbor's door about noise. It was very brief, avoided contentious language (like "stomping") -- I didn't accuse them of anything, I just asked they try to keep an eye on it. Honestly, I'm shocked because people --including myself-- say that notes don't work. Well, they might. For context, neither of us know eachother, and I didn't leave my info on it, either. I intentionally wanted to try a super passive approach. I also waited to leave t”

“Can we just make a megathread already? It’s always the exact same issue, with the exact same solutions. Part of apartment living is hearing your neighbors. It’s almost always the fault of the building’s construction, not the people who live above you. I live in a concrete building now and haven’t heard a peep. submitted by /u/HGWEBS [link] [comments]”

“genuinely how tf do u deal with a fat ass upstairs neighbor that literally stomps around to walk around their place until like 2am submitted by /u/bloom4uu [link] [comments]”

“Hi everyone, A month ago, I came to this group to vent about the problem I was having with my upstairs neighbors using a movie theater speaker and how the vibration and sound were coming all the way down into my apartment. I ended up writing them a letter explaining how much it was bothering me and explaining the situation. The letter didn’t work because I continued having the same problem. The following week, I decided to knock on their door to talk to them and explain that it was bothering me”

“It's not going to matter if they're upstairs . The noise is still going to be a issue for any tenant. [re: [Landlord-US-MD] Neighbors in duplex are too loud and new applicants are cancelling.]”

“No cause literally what is this sound he’s making? He’s always been super noisy. Legit raves at 11am, blaring music before 9am… But this is a new one. submitted by /u/Prepromark [link] [comments]”

“In the less than 48 hours that I have been home since I’ve had a new upstairs neighbor they have: -Had a party until midnight on a Thursday, loud enough and slamming stuff to make my PC monitors shake -Got a dog that barks every time someone walks by or drives by their windows -Woken my child up from a nap during the video shown above (at 1200 in the afternoon btw) I already notified the apartment but I will not be able to push for a noise complaint unless it’s between 10 pm - 6 am. Literally wh”

“is it really normal to hear your upstairs neighbors all day everyday? they are sprinting up and down the hallway by 7am and don't stop all day longgggg. they have no care in the world and management says it's just normal living but there's no way that's true. i have never had an upstairs neighbor this bad until these people submitted by /u/lay-inthe-atmosphere [link] [comments]”

“We live in a converted split foyer house in the basement unit. New upstairs neighbors recently moved in, and it's been an adjustment - they're not used to apartment living, and we hear their alarms, dragging chairs, lots of stuff dropped on the floor - lots of noise we haven't experienced in the previous four years here. I've chalked it up to "normal" living noises - they're not blasting music or throwing parties, they're probably in their mid to late sixties. Y”

“I am curious as to how many of you can hear your neighbors' TV? I realize that some people can play their TV louder, but are some apartment walls better than others? submitted by /u/GreenDMWife [link] [comments]”

submitted by /u/shintmsheedle [link] [comments]

“What types of things do people hear that I don't consider? I come home at 11pm at night from work. My cats get active due to it. I was horrified tonight when my cats started wrestling in my bedroom (I assume there is a bedroom below me). I plan to close the bedroom door until they calm down from me coming home. I just moved so I really don't know if people below me can hear me. I had a large dog live above me once and never even knew they had a dog! Maybe I'm paranoid but I don't”

“I've asked but he said his lease agreement requires them to be in his name.”

“Well, it's a baby. Crying is what babies do. A house I lived in had a huge backyard and every morning I used to hear birds loudly chirping. There were days I wanted to sleep late and was like "Aww man, really?" What can you do? Life happens”

“when somebody is describing they’re lived experience in their own space, and some idiotic mfer comes into the comment section with some regurgitated, response such as “That’s normal apartment noise,” No. mfer. Normal apartment noise does not sound like you’re living around elephants. (And I love elephants) Normal apartment noise does not sound like you’re at a Limp Bizkit concert with front-row seats. This is NOT normal apartment noise. USE your God Given sense that God gave you. submitted”

“Hello, I’ve been in this building for years. Our upstairs neighbors are awful and stomp around non stop all day. This is them from 1 until 2:30am and mind you just a couple days after a fourth noise complaint in a month and just being told two days ago to put rugs down. What do we do? Do you think this is normal noise during the day even? submitted by /u/Local-Apple5259 [link] [comments]”

Don’t have anything to contribute but I liked your comment

“Short context: moved to these apartment like 3 months ago and miraculously haven't heard anything from my neighbors until tonight. Around 10 PM I start hearing like... opera singing. I ignore it but by 11 PM it has gotten so loud I can hear it through my *noise cancelling* headphones and across my apartment. Everyone's always like "Just go talk to your neighbors! Don't go straight to management!" And I've been trying to be more confrontational and non-passive aggressive”

“Oh, I know this! My nutcase resident either does not, or does not care. She's entirely comfortable with listening to yodeling classes, but not a modern, background ventilation fan.”

“Honestly, I wouldn't even put carpet down again. Tear that up and put some click flooring in. The next batch of tenants will do something even weirder to the carpet.”

“Please do it, for all our sakes. I hope she doesn't play and sing there . Why doesn't she just wear noise-cancelling headphones, like I do?”

“The women who lives above me must vacuum every 12 to 24 hours. The only reason I can think of is she has a small stick vacuum and a messy hobby of some sort. The apartments aren't that big and I only vacuum once a week. 2 would be the max i would think anyone would need and I have a fluffy cat! The other thing is when she vacuums she does it by hitting all her furniture so it's louder than it needs to be. I always imagine it's Magda, the old women cleaning high on speed in There'”

“i love that i wear noise canceling headphones just to enjoy a peace saturday night at home 💜 submitted by /u/decrepit-human [link] [comments]”

“I moved in to a new place about a week ago on the first floor. The kids run around until midnight, shaking the ceiling, but I figure that's the first floor tax and that I'll eventually get used to it. Where I have a problem is that I saw my upstairs neighbor smoking indoors. The community is 100% smoke free, even in outdoor common areas. I contacted the leasing office via email with a photo of the cigarette in hand and told them that I have a baby in the NICU coming home soon as well as”

“Like playing bass-heavy music loudly on speakers so it rattles the whole building. Maybe I’ll host a karaoke party like the wife did for six hours in the dead of winter when there was no escaping hearing it. Shout on the phone for hours every day like the husband does when he gets home from work. Stomp around on my heels back and forth all day. Not gonna throw things at the floor and scream “go fuck yourself” at the top of my lungs at my boyfriend like the husband does though. That’s just not co”

“Disclaimer: new to apartment living. I wanted a first floor unit so I could avoid stairs. I moved in and realized I could hear every single step of my upstairs neighbors and they never sit down. I asked the leasing office if I had any options. They contacted me to tell me the couple on the 4th floor of my building is moving out. Unit is immediately available. They want to charge me $400 to switch units. I moved in 11 days ago and am unpacked, quite settled. It’s 57 stairs to the 4th floor (yes,”

“I have lived at my current apartment for about 2 years now. My downstairs neighbors have never really been too friendly and complain about things I find ridiculous. They complain if I vacuum at 10:30 am. They complain if I watch TV at 9pm. I find it irritating since I don’t feel like I make a lot of noise. It’s not just me they complain about. People can walk past their apartment in the hallway and they’ll somehow complain about it. Recently I’ve started smelling a foul odor coming in through th”

“Hey y'all in my apartment we have quiet hours after 10pm-8am it's about 10:50-11:00pm and it's just excessively stomping then a break then excessively stomping around my apartment I admit I got frustrated since I'm trying to sleep I have to go to work tomorrow and it's a long shift so I took my broom and banned on the ceiling they retaliated by jumping and stomping even more so I called the police non emergency it's been two years of this since April 2024 when they moved”

“My husband and I have been renting an upstairs apartment since April of this year. At first it was okay. But lately, my downstairs neighbor seems to know everything I'm doing. Not just conversations I'm having either. They know everything. I heard them talking about me being about to get out of the shower just before I finished showering. I placed an item on the floor and they were talking about it. I'm creeped out and stressed out. My husband and I bought a detector for hidden devic”

“I made a couple posts about how our upstairs neighbor vacuums many times throughout the day and at night, sometimes even in the middle of the night. My partner had gone to knock on their door and the upstairs neighbors opened it and told him that they had ants and were waiting for the landlord to take care of them. Fast forward to last week, one of the employees in the apartment told me that they have never mentioned ants before, and that the apartments are all sprayed outside the building. I ha”

“I’m so over living in this unit. Management won’t do anything even though I have videos of his hard heel stomping. My neighbors before walked just fine and barely heard them. 80% of the unit is carpeted … we’ve even talked to the neighbor and he doesn’t care. I’m already on anxiety/depression medication and have an appt this week to talk to my doctor about increasing my dose. I’m living in headphones at the moment but the vibrations that his walk does doesn’t cover fully. submitted by &#32”

“This is your reminder to rent only on top floors. Also, if your landlord decides to give the upstairs neighbor hardwood floors...fight it. Otherwise you'll be as sorry as I am. submitted by /u/Inner_Being5499 [link] [comments]”

“Long story short, our upstairs neighbors have made living in this apartment hell. They are CONSTANTLY moving stuff. They STOMP at all hours of the night, and all day as well. I have reported recordings with my THREE noise complaints. Front office told me to start calling security and then they will handle lease violations then. I called security three times, went to follow up with the front office, and they said they cannot issue even a lease violation to the tenant because there’s no proof, and”

“Unfortunately, this video does not give justice to how unbelievably loud my upstairs neighbors can be. It's as loud as a night club; I can hear every single lyric and both my floor and ceiling are vibrating. Their dog and their footsteps or whatever are always loud and will go all throughout the night. And now the guy and his girlfriend sound like they're arguing like crazy. They're stomping and screaming. They're always doing this. This music happened one time at 3AM and 1AM. Th”

“We were blessed with no upstairs neighbors for 5 months while our apartments were waiting for construction to replace the back balcony completely. Our previous neighbors were noisy and had a child that screamed and cried until 1am. They also threw trash off the back porch. I assumed it was the child that threw items off the porch as kids do what kids do. Those neighbors moved out and our complex didn't even know about it till the next month. Though fast forward to today after the nice break”

“Hey everyone, I’ve been dealing with my loud downstairs since February and my lease is for 12 months. I’m genuinely not sure how I’m going to last until then. My downstairs love going out on their balcony late at night (sometimes past 4 in the morning) and just talk really loudly. They also slam the doors enough to both hear it and feel it despite the fact I’m their upstairs neighbors. They actually woke me up with a door slam at 7:50 this morning. I even hear and feel their footsteps occasional”

“I liked my building, it was quiet, I have no idea what happened to my neighbor to cause this, but basically they were quiet for awhile and then out of nowhere there's like homeless peoples carts sitting outside the apartment, mounds of garbage, lit cigarettes being discarded everywhere and a revolving cast of very unstable intoxicated homeless running through there. Theyve been confrontational at times, and have angered several residents at this point. Management are already solving it, but”

“I lived on the ground floor. The person above me was a psycho. She put in noise complaints from me chopping vegetables (in a completely normal way... I am not a top chef going a million miles an hour. Literally just me slowly chopping up a cucumber). She complained that I flushed my toilet at night one time. She complained that I slammed my window shut (at a time I wasn't even home). She complained that the windows startup sound on my computer was too loud. She tried to complain that I watch”

“Guys, I just moved into my new apartment about three weeks ago, and I’ve noticed that my upstairs neighbors use a home theater speaker system with their TV. The problem is that their living room is directly above mine, so whenever they’re watching TV, I can literally feel the walls vibrating down here because of the speakers. I honestly don’t know what to do or how to handle this. I’ve never been in a situation like this before. I don’t know if I should knock on their door and talk to them, or i”

“I live in a historic building in Vermont, divided into three apartment units. We rent the entire downstairs apartment, the other two are on the second floor. Apt 2 neighbor is cool, quiet, mindful of others, really a dream. Apt 3 is an absolute nightmare. There are five people living in the apt, they speak very limited English, which has made addressing issues directly with them a challenge. There are two young children (3 and 6) living in the apt and they are super sweet and funny...and absolut”

“Usually, with noise complaints, they have to prove it with a video or sound meter. Get the landlord to provide proof. You could also put up a sound meter yourself and provide proof that you didn't make said noises. He can't terminate your lease without a good reason and proof of it. Read your lease and building/HOA rules (if you have them).”

“Since I've been living in my apartment (Aug 2025), my roommates and I have suffered from loud upstairs neighbors. It sounds like they're having wrestling matches and football training with heavy dubstep and laughing soundtracks playing in the background. This happens frequently during the designated quiet hours and in the late evenings, which may also be a violation of a clause in our lease that states that residents should not behave excessively loud or obnoxiously at any time in a way”

“Y’all acting like banging and stomping isn’t loud and excessive is wild 😂 this isn’t the first video. I have plenty all ranging from 6 am - 11:30 pm. They are CONSTANTLY stomping and banging and running and these parents never take there poor kids outside. submitted by /u/Prestigious_Pace_790 [link] [comments]”

“I’m honestly tired of being the considerate neighbor. I’m on the 4th floor, sandwiched between the 5th and 3rd. I’ve had issues with the 5th floor before.. heavy heel stomping and ridiculously loud bass. I’ve complained to management multiple times, and of course, not much happens. Things have gotten better, thankfully, but the bass still happens occasionally. I usually retaliate by playing my loud bass speaker at the ceiling and they turns theirs down. Meanwhile, my husband and I go out of our”

“They’re always going at it😅. And her little dog too. submitted by /u/kioey [link] [comments]”

“Dude, I'm HoH and can hear you marching around. Sometimes I worry it's because my TV it too loud, but I use subtitles and check the volume. I work hard to watch my volume because even with hearing aids, I know my context/understanding of volume is off. Also he just stomps at random times. Dude is smaller than me and walks like an elephant. Do i text him? Knock on his door? Leave a note? Keep banging on the walls until he gets it? Santi, if you're reading this... get some fucking slip”

submitted by /u/throwaway578833 [link] [comments]

“My boyfriend and I live on the third floor of a nice building and we love the area. But I am literally losing my mind living here. The people living upstairs are constantly drilling, hammering, yelling, arguing, throwing parties etc. They've been doing construction things for over a year, literally since we got here. Nobody complains about them or tells them to stop. Everyone else in the building leaves a notice on the board that they're gonna have construction done for idk 2 weeks and a”

“I know vacuums can usually be heard, but I’m wondering if sweeping is as well 🤔 submitted by /u/TopCaterpillars [link] [comments]”

“Long story short, I've been having an ongoing battle with my new upstairs neighbors. First they were loud during quiet hours, took three complaints to management for that to stop. Then they were trashing my patio with garbage and toys. Took another three more complaints to management for that to stop. Then the noise resumed, I attempted to handle it civilly and my neighbor actually offered for me to text her whenever there's noise disturbing us. Well after a week, I asked her for the ver”

“Hi everyone, I moved into a 2nd floor apartment fairly recently, and today I got a courtesy call from my leasing office saying that a noise complaint was filed. Apparently, late at night, it sounds like I’m stomping and moving things around. I would maybe chalk it up to me having way heavier footsteps than I thought, but the thing is… the times they mentioned are when I’m literally in bed. I rarely stay up past 10 or 11 on weeknights, and this noise was apparently going on around 1 am multiple n”

submitted by /u/PickleOne2013 [link] [comments]

“I mainly do this to drown out noisy neighbor noises. Is it that weird? submitted by /u/cynnie93 [link] [comments]”