I moved into a new place last summer. I really love the apartment; it’s in an area I like, the size is great for the price, it looks modern, and the area around the apartment is really quiet.
My only complaint is that I often hear/feel the family above moving around upstairs. They have a young boy who often runs around, at least until his bedtime.
I don’t hear any other noise like their TV, their talking, or anything else. However their moving around creates a kind of noise that’s hard to ignore as it feels like I can almost feel the noise.
The family are really nice, and I don’t think they realise how loud it can get. Plus, I don’t think it’s something they can prevent without putting down a thick carpet to absorb the sound. I also don’t want them having to literally walk on eggshells since it’s their home.
Is there anything I can buy that can absorb the sound? I heard about white noise machines, but I’m not sure of their efficacy. Has anybody experienced something similar?
TL;DR is there any product, or any way, I can absorb the noise of the footsteps from the apartment above?
8 comments
White noise machines aren’t bad, they’ll block some higher frequency sound, but I’d really recommend a pair of good noise cancelling headphones. I use Sony XM4s. They block out most sound, and if you play some white noise through the headphones you really can’t hear anything.
It might feel shitty having to wear headphones in your own apartment, but it has made a huge difference for me personally when my neighbour starts playing rock music at midnight. Could also go in for a noise cancelling pair of smaller earbuds, but can’t vouch for those.
Get used to it, some of us come from really loud countries, and we don’t even notice it, the brain ignores it completely, like the nose your brain normally ignores that you can now see, sorry.
The best way is to just get used to it. That’s just how apartments here are.
>I don’t hear any other noise like their TV, their talking, or anything else. However their moving around creates a kind of noise that’s hard to ignore as it feels like I can almost feel the noise.
*TL;DR it might get better if they buy some carpet/thick cushion flooring (ジョイントマット）but you’d have to find a way to make that happen.*
*Plus, if you’re living in a family-type (size) apartment then I guess it’s just par for the course. Never had this issue in the UK, maybe Japanese apartment blocks just squeeze the units so close together (to fit more in) that there’s less vertical space between apartments.*
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Pretty much identical issue here. Brand new apartment, we hear nothing whatsoever from the apartments adjacent to/below us but can hear impact noises (ie walking and other thud-like sounds).
We complained a few times to the building management and I think after the third time the managers finally started looking into it.
Initially, they didn’t directly confront our upstairs neighbors, even though it was obvious that’s where the problem is coming from. They basically contacted all the apartment around my apartment (basically all the ones connected to my apartment if you imagine looking at the building as a grid head on) asking if they’d heard any loud noises from nearby apartments.
They even asked our upstairs neighbors if they’d heard any loud noises (ironically) but this was apparently to double check the noise wasn’t coming from above them (which apparently could travel down to us if loud enough/strong enough banging). They said no so at that point it was obvious they were the problem.
Eventually, they did contact the apartment in question and they seemed to own up to it. Doesn’t sound like it’s intentional but I’m on friendly/talking terms with a few other people living in this complex and nobody has said they hear the same sort of sound from above, so whether it’s intentional or not, they are clearly being louder than they need to be.
Manager told us they were buying some carpet to lay down in their apartment but honestly it hasn’t really got a whole lot better. We’ve had this issue for a good 6 months or more.
Sometimes I whack the ceiling once or twice with our cordless vacuum cleaner when it’s really bad. Sure it’s not ideal to “retaliate” but it’s how you feel (angry, desperate, frustrated) when you have to put up with this sort of thing (OP I’m sure you know what I’m talking about).
My air purifier blocks out a lot of noise like that. It not anything special just a typical small one. It also blocks out a lot of noise from outside too. My neighborhood in general is noisy.
There are Playlists on Spotify that make a fan noise I’m sure. That might help. Or there might be other apps for that kind of thing. Or you can buy a machine that plays a variety of sounds besides white noise.
Try earplugs.
Yes that’s normal if you live in a family sized apartment.
flats/apartments in a nutshell
It’s different from when you have a house in which you live alone