(on behalf of my dfather) noisy footsteps in flat

[pingu2209]

My father lives abroad most of the year, but when in England he lives in a flat in London. It is a posh flat, purpose built about 8 years ago with wooden floors etc.

The people who live below him complained that they can hear noisy footsteps when he is in residence. They have asked him a few times to be quiet, and one of the reasons is that the resident below him works nights and wants to sleep during the day.

Personally, I would think the very noisy street would be enough to keep her awake during the day! But my dad is really upset as he loves his flat and the woman's complaints make him feel he can't enjoy it as much. He has tried to limit noise by wearing soft soled slippers in the flat and nobody is now allowed to wear shoes.

I believe that the resident in the flat below is so used to having utterly no noise for most of the year that is only seems loud when my father is living there.

Is my father being unreasonable in being upset?

I cant imagine your father is running up and down or tapdancing on the floor, and soft slippers would certainly cushion any noise.

The neighbours do sound rather precious and rude.

My father is 71 no way tapdancing.

I let out a first floor flat and after about 12 years with no carpets and no problems, the new tenants downstairs started complaining about noise from above...my very quiet tenant who lives alone most of the time and is out at work all day and often away, was understandably upset, but the downstairs landlord insisted that I got it carpeted- threats of noise team, police etc. Carpet cost a few hundred quid and has solved the problem, so not a big deal in the end.

I do think you are right that they may be very intolerant as they are used to silence, but I would recommend some rugs or carpets in the main places where he actually walks about most.

He's doing all he can so he should ignore them to be honest. She should get herself some ear plugs

Yes....maybe some well stuck down runners in the hall and rugs in the other rooms? Due to his age, I would suggest you did ensure they were very well secured.

He is being considerate, and she's being a whinging mare.

He ought to turn up his fave music/TV to give her a taste of what it could be with a noisy neighbour.

Like a squash and a squeeze, she'll understand just how quiet he is afterwards.

How horrible for him to feel uncomfortable in his own home.

I'm very noise sensitive but I don't think your dad should feel guilty about walking round his flat during the day. It is one of the problems of living in a flat. One other thing he could do is make sure his chairs etc have those little felt pads on them so they don't make a racket when people move them. Other than that he could suggest they get the ceiling sound proofed as he is entitled to live his life in a reasonable manner.

Does the building have a body corp?

He could 'all of a sudden' get right into death metal as his choice of music? You can't do that justice unless it's turned up to 11

Wooden floors are a night mare for this. If he can put some rugs down it would help

The poor man sounds like he's trying to do his best.

She sleeps in the day, it's her choice to do that. She needs to get ear plugs if her sleep is being disturbed. It's what I had to do at night in Egypt. (Nocturnal population)

tell her to get a life, ffs, he shouldnt have to live like that, its not his fault she works nights!

He should suggest the use of ear plugs.

I used to work nights and they were the only way I could get a decent nights sleep.

if the floors were put in 8 yrs ago i would think the underlay needs replacing as it thins out over time,our old neighbour has wooden flooring and it was very noisey,now unless your ground floor you are no longer allowed to lay wooden/lam flooring in council flats and if in a house you have to get written permission from housing first.
maybe your dad could get someone out to check the flooring?as i said could be just the underlay needs replacing.

This is always the problem with flats especially new build. Wooden floors should not be allowed. Soundproofing or equivalent for floors should be top quality and no less. Noise from a neighbour living above you walking about can destroy your quality of life. There is no doubt in my mind your Father is doing his best and the complaints and him being a good considerate person and not knowing what else to do is also wearing for him.

I suggest your father and neighbour below get together with landlords to get the flooring sorted. Rugs won't help.

Personal experience of living ina posh flat with wooden floors.

The thing is we are living in cities and in apartments now, so you have to expect "neighbourly noise"

I have also had complaints from new downstairs neighbours - yawn - but I don't wear shoes indoors, and have an upstairs neighbour who sings her scales 5 days a week, also revamped their apartment for two years long(drilling etc)

We also have a primary school around the corner, I guess some people would complain about that, the way they do when they live near a pub!!

Feel sorry for your dad! He has as much right to be there as them!

And yea, it's her choice to work nights -just get on with it! Otherwise move into the country!

if she doesn't like the noise she should move to a top floor flat. poor op's dad.
it is really stressful when neighbours complain of noise. Unfortunately my toddler, now knows that if he jumps up and down hard enough (though walking a round would also do) then the man downstairs bangs or shouts. ds takes great delight in this shouting/banging.

Good grief, this is very common in London and sometimes even when people try very hard to keep noise down, some less well insulated London flats echo everything. She should invest in some ear plugs. Let your dad explain to her the measures he has taken. Sounds like he has done his best in the way of foot noise. London is just like that sometimes as people tend to have to live on top of each other and it is all about having an ability to tolerate some stuff and compromise with each other.

I hate neighbours like this in London.

I feel enormous sympahty for your DF OP. When we lived in Switzerland, we had complaints from the woman upstairs (Kreecher) about the noise we made.
We were no noisier than anybody else, but she had been used to our flat being occupied by a single man who was away for large parts of the week.
She was partly the reason we left the country. Mrs Downstairs was fine and said we didn't make a noise at all.
Some people are ridiculously noise sensitive. Rugs could help.

The neighbour's got a bit of a cheek if she's moaning about your dad and she's trying to sleep during the day in London without earplugs.

It sounds like she just likes a moan.

It's all very well saying play loud music etc but this kind of thing just leads to escalating problems which are very stressful and life-destroying. (Speaks from bitter experience...) Good carpets with 'gold' underlay in the main thoroughfares, or over the bedroom below, should solve the problem. In my tenant's case, he also benefitted as he could no longer hear the baby downstairs crying at night!

But if OP'S df puts carpet down they will probably complain about him vacuuming the carpet.

Sometimes when you work nights you just have to suck up the noise (and I worked nights for years). Maybe the downstairs tenant could wear earplugs?

Agreed agedknees, they need to come to an agreement with a bit of give and take on both sides. Just saying what's worked in the case I know most about.