Thursday, May 29th, 2003 | Author:

It’s really not good for one’s mood to start the day infuriated, which is what I am right now. This marks the second day this week where I’ve been forced to get up a half hour earlier than I’d like to thanks to the upstairs neighbors.

When I mentioned in passing to a woman in our management office that the floorboards above us, particularly in the bedroom, seemed to creak abnormally loud, she said she’d put in a maintenance request. As it was explained to me, over time the floorboards got loose, and they could tighten them to prevent so much noise. That was two weeks ago, and I didn’t notice any difference. So the other day I submitted a maintenance request of my own.

The maintenance man left me a message saying he’d look into it for me. He explained that they usually don’t tighten the floorboards until a resident moves out. Lot of good that does me, considering the fact that in a prior conversation, he said that our upstairs neighbors had lived there for several years. In his message he said he’d see how receptive they were to moving their furniture out of the way so they could do the work. Somehow I doubt they will be. Personally, I don’t think they should have a choice in the matter. I pay just as much rent (probably more) than they do, and I have the right to get a decent night’s rest.

Plus they walk around excessively. I’m not joking. One night Joe and I laid in bed and listened as they walked back and forth for no less than two hours straight. WTF? How does someone walk from their kitchen/living room to their bedroom again and again and again in a 800 square apartment for two hours? I just don’t get it. And you’d think the woman weighed 500 lbs. from the type of noise she makes, when in fact she could weigh no more than 110 lbs. (I’ve seen her). I think she walks heel first or something.

I’m going to ask my manager today if I can move my shift to start (and subsequently leave) a half hour earlier. If I’m going to be getting up at 6 am anyway, I might as well benefit from it in some way. I really can’t wait to get a house.

Category: House & Home
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3 Responses

  1. 1
    Elle 

    I feel your pain. My upstairs neighbor when I lived in SA had a 5 year old who I swear would run laps around the apartment for *hours* on end. Oh, and his bedroom was directly above mine and many nights were spent listening to him having sex.

  2. 2
    sherry 

    I dont know if this is true or not, but I’ve heard rumors that if you sprinkle talcum powder over your floorboards (and then obviously mop them so you don’t slip and kill yourself), the powder will fall into the cracks in between the boards and lessen some of the creaking.

    Could you either ask the neighbor yourself or the maintenance guy to suggest it? If it works, great, and if it doesn’t no one loses anything.

    Maybe your neighbor would be happy to try that – maybe they don’t realize how loud it is. I wonder sometimes if our floors are loud for the folks downstairs due to the amount of pacing we did with a newborn back in the early months. Of course, in my case I don’t care too much considering they have an irritating habit of vacuuming at 7 am and hammering stuff at 8 am on a Saturday morning. :)

  3. 3
    nicole 

    Well the entire apartment is carpeted, so they’d still need to move the furniture to get the carpet up. I know it’s not a small job, but it’s gotten really bad. I don’t recall hearing it so loud until the past two months. I have a feeling I’m going to be listening to it for another year until we get a house. It wouldn’t be nearly as bad if they didn’t walk around constantly, but it’s back and forth for hours at a time. I really don’t get it. Add to that the fact that they have a heavy foot, and I just start to seethe inside. This morning I couldn’t get back to bed because of them. I can see why the former neighbors moved out.