Can’t help with the noise, but the windows should not rattle even if your neighbor was jumping up and down. It sounds as if the glass is loose and needs to be reglazed. Try asking the land lord to call a Glazer, if they won’t do that just run a bead of clear acrilic calk around the edge where glass meets frame.
I thought it was fine until this:
I would leave that out.
I think you should go up and talk to them when the noise is bad, and politely note that they’re making a lot of noise and ask if they could keep it down. I was the recipient of a note once. One of my neighbors left a note on my door saying that there was loud music and/or TV on every night, all night and they wandered around the floor listening and they knew it was me. Trouble was, it wasn’t me (I can’t sleep with noise, so the TV was off every night by 10) and was probably the tenant directly beneath me who was certifiable and kept me awake for several nights before the landlord made him stop the high volume oompah band. In addition, the oh-so-knowledgeable neighbors didn’t bother to sign their note, so I couldn’t talk to them about it. I had to resort to putting a different note on my door, hoping they would read it. It disappeared, so I assume they did, but it really pissed me off.
If they’re bothering you, you should talk to them. As anyone who’s posted on a message board can tell you, people sometimes come across in a much harsher way in writing than in person.
I’m wondering if the OP ever got this resolved.
I decided to finally do something about the 400 pound linebacker living above me. I didn’t care anymore if he’d break my face over it, it just got overwhelming and I couldn’t deal with it anymore. Tonight it was especially bad.
I marched right upstairs, having not a clue what I was going to say. When I got up there, I noticed two young ladies of the extremely attractive variety waiting in the hall for the elevator. They gave me a friendly hello. I said hi and walked up to the linebacker’s door, and knocked.
One of the young ladies said “Actually, that’s me.” I walked up to her and told her who I was and where I lived, and told her “Welcome to the building.” It was all very neighborly. I then asked her if she knew how I knew she just moved in, and mentioned her hard-soled shoes. She was very apologetic (in a friendly sort of way) and promised to never wear them indoors again. She then told me that if noise was ever a problem in the future, I should just come up and let her know. We finished up with a round of nice-to-have-met-yous.
All in all, not quite as terrible as I had feared.
I like my new neighbor.
So’d you slip her the… aww, never mind.
The woman upstairs in my old apartment had 2 children (maybe ages 7 and 8?) that LOVED to get on top of their bunk bed, scream bloody murder, then JUMP off and hit the floor (THUMP!!!), laughing and laughing, then repeated the process…
At 6am, when they woke up for school. I worked 2nd shift then and got to bed about 3am.
Then, the mom would SCREAM the foulest, nastiest words at the kids in a fruitless attempt to stop them, it never did.
No amounts of complaints, to the landlord or her, stopped it. We put up with it for the entire year lease.
You might consider yourself lucky.
Great story. I wish mine were so good.
Thanks to the input from the Dopers, I nixed the note idea and went up and talked to them friendly but firm. It was a bunch of Middle Eastern guys maybe a little younger than me. They were very contrite and promised to keep it down. No sooner did I get back down to my apartment do I hear the same shit.
After a couple more meetings like this, I get apartment management involved. I ask them to come into my apartment to verify that the sound I am getting is above average and of a level that I actually have a case complaining about. They say yes.
They go upstairs and talk to them and note that their apartment has a loft. Since some of the sound (hardly all of of it) is caused by them going up and down from their loft, they admitted it that the sound was pretty much what I should expect. Despite the fact that earlier they said that it was unusually loud.
I’ve got 4 months of a 6-month lease left to go before I’m out of this f*cking apartment. If my girlfriend (when she moves out here) works nearby and it makes sense to stay in this area and if I can get a top-floor apartment, I might stay in the complex. Otherwise, I’m pulling up stakes and finding a better place.
Dear Tenant,
Your heavy footsteps are causing a nuisance to another neighbor… but I can’t say which one and I’m sure you won’t figure it out.
Maybe you should call the landlord over and complain about the flooring/ceiling and the windows, then have the landlord inspect the upstairs flooring with you and the other neighbor so it seems like you are all working on finding a neutral solution to a common problem instead of flat out putting all the blame on the neighbor. During the inspection you can casually tell the neighbor that you can hear the footsteps etc. and it sounds like thunder. Then, if the neighbor is polite, they will take it upon themselves to mitigate the noise.