Sick and tired of inconsiderate neighbours

[Maria1234567]

Hi everyone. It's just scream out of my heart.. I can't understand why people can be so careless and selfish. Me, my husband and our little daughter always have been nice neighbours and never had any issues with other people. Basically since we moved to ground floor apartment our life became a hell. It was our first official place which we worked hard for to get mortgage and move in... Don't know where to start.. This building allow pets with written permission, but it is not soundproofed at all for this... Leasehold states that there should not be any disturbing, noise for other residents if you have cat or dog... But the reality is different. Basically our neighbours used to have dog and a cat, it was a big issue for us, as we have little child, who goes to sleep early and pets running for hours above us it's just mad even if you don't have children ... We were talking nicely to our neighbours and tried to soundproof, paid for installing carpets in their flat and it became more or less tolerable... But sadly their puppy died and they decided to take another puppy, another kitten. I couldn't believe that they did it after knowing we can hear everything.... So 3 pets above us, waking us up in random hours nevermind heavy footsteps. The girl upstairs works in the police and doesn't seem to care less as they just don't care like no rules apply to her.. It's so awful the way people are.So called directors appointed by management company all have dogs themselves and live one above another and they are mother and daughter, and one of them is dog walker looking after our neighbours pets, so feels so corrupted. We felt unwanted for a long time till I accidentally talked to another neighbour who is also in shock how management company runs this place as she had to live under two bulldogs from top floor, and she had to change bedroom and she is on her 80s!!had to throw ball to ceiling to get some peace ... We had to do that too, when after 3 hours our neighbours completely ruined our Saturday evening and had a cheak to bang back..... I love dogs and cats, but could never behave like that knowing that I can upset people downstairs. They allow pets to play for hours... I'm so frustrated
. And yes we are moving because of it.
I guess I just want support

I get it about noisy neighbours trust me, but how can you hear a kitten?

This really doesn't add up I'm sorry. If they have carpet how on earth can you hear dog and cat paws through the ceiling ?

Indeed

You paid for their carpet? Am I understanding that correctly?
Cats are not generally noisy.

I mean I have two cats that I got as kittens. They did used to race around a bit but cats are pretty light footed and they run about in short bursts and sleep a lot. I can't imagine any cat tearing about the house for 3 hours! I admit I can hear my cats through the ceiling if they are going mad upstairs, but not when they are just walking. But I don't have any kind of insulation.

So many questions....

I thought they were going to be barking or howling or something

But you’re complaining about them moving?

Firstly, i think you accidentally wrote kitten instead of elephant in your OP.

Secondly, if you don't want noise then don't choose to live with people above you.

For every flat-dweller on MN complaining about noisy neighbours upstairs, there is another complaining that their downstairs neighbours have asked them to avoid talking/walking after a certain time at night, not to hoover, to stop their newborn baby crying, etc. I don’t doubt your neighbours are noisy but that is to be expected in flats I’m afraid.

Unfortunately this is the reality of living in a flat, especially if it’s in a converted house.

Don’t get me wrong; I’d hate the noise too but this is just what happens living in flats. It’s awful and I get one often doesn’t have a choice but is the reality. You can’t stop your neighbours getting pets in the same way they couldn’t stop you having a child if they didn’t want to hear them cry or play. It’s part of living cheek by jowl, if you don’t like it I guess will have to look for something more suitable.

The sound proofing must be absolutely shocking if you can hear all that.
If you are moving I'd just wait it out rather than arguing with neighbours. What can they feasibly do if you've already had carpets fitted? They are allowed pets. The pets are allowed to move around. If they were barking around the clock it would be different but walking around is normal.
It's the fault of shitty, cheap conversions sadly. I used to work on new build sites and the quality of the vast majority was horrendous, especially the flats.

I’m sorry but you’re being unreasonable. If you choose to live in a flat, you have to deal with the sounds of other people living. Having pets is a normal way of life for most people, as long as they’re not barking/wailing for hours on end, anyone with a brain will tell you that they are not being disruptive. Your child will no doubt be just as noisy, if not noisier at times.

Also the building management having dogs themselves isn’t some big conspiracy against the petless, animal ownership is just a normal part of society over here.

I would suggest you look into detached properties to avoid neighbourly noise in future, but avoid the countryside, the sound of all the farm animals and wildlife will give you palpitations.

They have pets - I can't understand how they make that much noise? You PAID for their carpets? It all sounds a bit mad

This.

That's insane, cats are big now since last summer and you can hear them really badly when they run. Especially on laminate... Our neighbours went on Easter weekend away and left cats and 2 out of 3 nights they were waking us up by running across the flat at 4am.... They usually close the doors to bedroom as we asked them... But clearly didn't bother when they were away

I understand about the cat. My DD lives in a ground floor flat and upstairs have a cat and it sounds like it's permanently leaping from one chair to another with hobnail boots on.
We know it's the cat because it does it when the owner is out. People are selfish inconsiderate arseholes. The neighbours like to shower at 3am while listening to music.

Whenever I read threads like this, I think that we really need a change to building regs to include minimum standards of sound insulation in flats, both converted and purpose built.

I can't believe that a cat can make much noise though. I used to have a huge cat (weighed over 12lbs) who was also a complete klutz and the only time you could hear him moving around was when he jumped from the bed to the floor.

Yeah, we were in absolute shock as we were renting 2 flats before and couldn't hear much apart from normal noise from doors etc... And our neighbours were amazing, all very caring and helpful

I would suggest you look into detached properties to avoid neighbourly noise in future, but avoid the countryside, the sound of all the farm animals and wildlife will give you palpitations.

Also avoid coastal areas, the racket seagulls make is unbelievable.

Same question, that's why we tried carpets which helped a bit only, but we hear loads much since they have 3 pets.. That's why we paid for carpets in bedrooms, but you can hear them running in hallway where laminate and can hear from different rooms, it's only a small flat. We can hear joists squeaking when they walk too. Bad building...

I wouldn’t like to live surrounded by animals in flats either tbh, but I love having dogs so I think it’s nice that people can have pets. Your neighbours aren’t the careless, selfish, inconsiderate people you are describing them to be, they are just people who can’t afford houses but want to have pets, so they’re following the rules of the building they live in.

You're not describing anything above normal living noises. You can't expect them to prevent their pets from walking on the floor in their own home. Clearly the soundproofing is awful, but the problem is with the building not with the neighbours.

I would never be bothered about those sounds, we used to live on noisy street where there is noise nonstop. I wouldn't class myself sensitive to noise, but there is something terrible when it's above you, non stop for 2 years, every day. It's like they are in our flat. I don't wish to anyone
And especially it made us more upset of course because we have child.

Op in all seriousness what do you think is the reasonable thing for your neighbours to do?

Sounds like the sound proofing is awful.

Do they hear you do you think?