Evening all -sorry, it's a bit long...
Not sure if I am being unreasonable in feeling so utterly fed up and disgusted by my new neighbours so need some advice/ bringing down to earth / support from those who agree with me to give me the go-ahead to speak with them again.
We've lived here, in our flat for three years. The upstairs flat is rented and we've seen various people come and go - all very lovely - usually quite short term lets. An elderly couple (early 70s) moved in in November. We instantly thought how friendly and lovely they were and made small-talk whenever we saw them in the communal area. However, the moment they moved in we also heard very loud coughing, clearing of throat and throwing up occurring - like clockwork - every few hours or so throughout the day and night (think midnight, 3am, 5am, 7am etc - regularly and continuing day and night) It's really revolting. You can't escape it in our flat. The sound seems to echo throughout.
Each time it starts with coughing / sneezing repeatedly for five mins, then clearing of lungs and spitting (proper yakking up) for ten minutes, then there's the throwing up for about twenty minutes (proper heaving). They don't smoke and both seem lively and healthy, fit and able whenever we've seen/ chatted to them.
I think it's the man who does this as his wife seems to go out to work for most of the day. He stays at home pretty much most of the time. He is clearly quite unwell and we feel sorry that he is living with whatever it is he has. Even so, this hacking and vomiting wakes us up, keeps us awake, makes us jump out of our skin (it's THAT loud), and has put some of our friends off from visiting (if it's heard during dinner, for example, it puts us all off our food)
I've spoken with his wife and asked if he's OK as we have been able to hear him coughing and being sick. She said he's fine. Looked at me like I was crazy...this was Christmas time.
So, is it a physical illness or a habit (perhaps cultural? They're from Sri Lanka)?
Cleanliness is also an issue. There are three flats in total in this block (so quite small) and both we and our neighbours downstairs tend to keep the property clean. Since the couple upstairs moved in we have had to regularly clean up piles of food that have appeared in the communal hallway or on the stairs as well as toe nail clippings, what looks like hairballs and the bin area absolutely stinks and we've had maggots in there. The couple upstairs don't use bin bags, they just chuck rotting food and other rubbish directly into the bins. When they moved in I showed them which bin was there's (clearly labelled) but they sometimes don't use it, choosing to use our bin instead.
Should I approach them again and if so what should I say? Should I just accept that he's unwell and leave it? It's driving us all mad and we loose sleep most nights due to his coughing/ vomiting.
Sorry if this seems petty, but both DH and I swing between saying let's leave it, he's unwell or getting so worked up by being woken up/ put off our dinner that we just want to go round there all guns blazing.
Thanks x
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Elderly neighbours - revolting noise and how to deal with it?
69 replies
chompychompychompchomp · 15/01/2017 18:54
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