Help! I seem to be a noisy neighbour

you can report them to the council or housing association .or who ever the block belongs to for anti social behavior/harrassment...keep a diary of when they complain.... i had to report my neighbours down stairs of slamming their doors from 7pm-2am every day. i did speak to them about it .but it got so bad that i reported them to my local council....try and get them recorded on your mobile esp the swearing bits...

They want you to live in complete silence and will push and push until you do! Do you know what??? ...f¥<€ em!!!

Any chance they could measure how loud this 'awful noise' you're making actually is.

Oh, and perhaps they could consider a white noise machine in their home?

They are too hyper sensitive to noise from being in a sealed sound studio during the day.

I think you need to just tell them that you are doinh everything possible. Perhaps print off this thread and see if they'll consider wearing noise cancelling headphones. Maybe ask them specifically what they have a problem with and see if a compromise can be made.

The council can mediate between neighbours, I think, regardless of who owns the properties.

It's awful, living above someone who thinks walking across your own front room is a crime.

I have lived in flats both above and below other people and as long as one is respectful regarding times of extra loud noise, you shouldn't have to mask everyday noises, if they wanted total silence they should have a detached house.
Now I am living in a semi and with 3 teenage children next door you can often hear them through the walls, especially when arguing or being told off. But it's give and take, this is normal family noise and I would hate the thought of children (o anyone) having to creep around being quiet.
Jess20 just carry on with your usual routine some people just like to moan about anything and everything.

I'm going to be really blunt about this..........tell them to get stuffed!

I stopped reading at "complaint about D.I.Y." when you were not doing anything. At that point I would have flown downstairs and told them to come up and find evidence of their blathering - I truly would. As for their telling other that there is a noise problem, the mind boggles. Why would they do that, if they are leaving? They want to sully your name with as many people as possible. You know you are not doing anything untoward ... and hey, don't they have a washing machine, themselves?

My mother was one of those people who, as she got older, complained about her neighbours being noisy. On the occasions when she came to stay with us she would constantly flinch, if a motorbike passed the house, or tell the children not to make so much noise while playing. She also said that she always slept badly, and the least noise woke her up.

One night we had an amazingly loud thunderstorm. Mum slept through it, because we didn’t mention it, and neither did she. On another memorable occasion we had an earth tremor. Again, she never mentioned it.

Some people just enjoy having a good moan. Just ignore your hyper-sensitive neighbours and enjoy your lives.

I think you should go to the council or CAB and get advice. You have concrete evidence that you have tried your very best to accommodate them and can do no more. You can also show that previous owners have not complained. As someone said, they are harrassing you and you are the victim!
I do agree that some people are noise sensitive - ironically, as I wear hearing aids -when I remember- my ears prick up at the slightest noise. However, I just have to accept that It's me that's not normal!!

If they want silence they need to buy a detached property in the middle of a field. A certain amount of noise in flats is expected; excessive noise is not. We live under a flat that has had a succession of neighbours from hell (constant noise, weeks of DIY hammering until 3AM, parties, kids screaming, running around and dropping things on the wooden floor, bouncing balls etc, often until early hours and sometimes all day - and that's without the drug dealing, fights, gobby swearing friends, drunken behaviour, littering, fag butts thrown into our garden etc). Other neighbours have kids, make a bit of noise but we all accept some is inevitable and live with it, know if it gets too much, or someone is ill, we can tone it down - being sensible and neighbourly. In our block it is just the 2 upstairs rented flats that have problem tenants. Good luck - you shouldn't have to be scared to bake!

If you know your noise levels are just those of everyday living I suspect your neighbours have other motives - maybe they have plans to try and buy your flat cheaply to give themselves extra room. Or perhaps they have friends or family they would prefer living there to having you as a neighbour. There is no pleasing some people and they may fall into this category. If they are being unreasonable, stand your ground and argue your case - do not become a prisoner in your own home. If they want to know what noisy neighbours are they can buy this flat in a couple of years!

Ignore them and stop falling over backwards to cut down the noise. Go full out angle-grinder and give them a taste of real decibels.

Please do not accommodate these stupid people any longer. Just tell them to sod off!!!!!!!!! You have done your best and now they are pushing you for more. Say to them that they have gone far enough and that is it. Buggar off!

If they cant stand the noise they can move! Youve done all you can so now ignore them

I agree with the poster who said o tell them to get environmental health involved. They will come to the neighbours and install sound equipment to monitor you. Some people, including my x! Cannot tolerate normal living noises if its not them making them . He fell out with all of the neighbours over perceived misdemeanours ?. Just live your life as normal x

They are being unreasonable. I
I’ve in a 1920’s semi. It is very solidly built so the noise from next door is minimal. But I hear the vacuuming and if they stomp up stairs, or have a loud argument. They probably hear our tv sometimes. It’s just the way it is. If you neighbours want peace then they need to buy a detached house, although we lived in one for years and our neighbours back door was very close to ours and theY had parties so we had more noise from them then any semi I ever lived in.

Yes, I agree with others. You have been much too accommodating. Just live your normal lifestyle , if they complain to you ignore it. Tell them to contact Environmental Health if they think you are being noisy and make your own recordings of any noise from them. Keep a log of your daily activities, including when you are out. I think you might then get an idea of what is going on. I ,for one, think they are trying to force you to move.

Jess20 I feel for you. Going back 45 years when my daughter was 2 years old we lived in a top floor flat over one other flat where a woman on her own lived. We had a long hallway which separated our two bedrooms. In the mornings my little girl used to toddle up the hallway to our bedroom and everytime that happened the downstairs neighbour used to rant and rave and slam her flat door. I was a nervous wreck. I was expecting my second child and she'd yell from inside her flat that we were 'breeding like rabbits' - charming. My then husband was from India and the racist comments were horrendous. If that happened today she would be in prison but those were different days altogether. It has made me hyper sensitive to any noise we make where I live now.

How silly- we have constant noise here during the night - loud owls, hedgehogs quacking and huffing, Chickens, Cows, guns, tractors, shifworkers leave home at 3am and dawn chorus at 4am!
I wear earplugs in a city!

Nobody should expect complete silence if they choose to live in a flat.
We moved into ours three years ago having always lived in a house before. I was quite surprised at how much I could hear from the flat above but we’ve got used to it and hardly notice it now. Stop allowing your neighbours to control your life. If you know that you aren’t making excessive noise then they are being unreasonable. Hopefully they will move out!

You have gone over and above to appease your neighbours. More than I would have done, I must admit. They are very lucky to have you as neighbours! This situation must be so stressful for you but, having renovated your flat, it would be a travesty if this couple forced you to move. There is a lot of good advice in the comments here. I wish you all the best.

You seem to have bent over backwards to try and sort out this supposed problem and spent a lot of money in the process.
Quite honestly I smell a rat in their constant complaints and am guessing that they are not getting the price that they expected when they bought the place and did it up and blaming you for it !
You have visited them and listened to whatever noise you can hear from you flat - the next step may be to actually ask them to record what they hear over a few days.
Why should they hound you out of your home ? It makes me wonder if they actually have no plans to sell, but are hoping that after all of their complaints, that they will make you move, buy up your flat (no doubt at a below market price) and then either move a relative or friend in, or flip it and make a nice fat profit!
I think I would be inclined to ask a solicitor to write a letter saying that their continual demands are causing you distress and spoiling the enjoyment of your own home - they would have to provide proper evidence to countermand that one !

Ask them to record the noises they hear then you can listen and discuss a resolution that is if there is any noise recorded.

Oh, you poor thing! I really feel for you. I had a similar thing with my next door neighbour years ago - he complained about EVERYthing I did and my two sons did and made me very unhappy. I'd lived in flats and houses for thirty years and always been friends with my neighbours. I spoke to his wife to see what was wrong and she said, Oh, he doesn't like you. He gets these dislikes for no reason. He even complained to other neighbours about me, although they took no notice of him. My husband used to laugh and say, Oh just ignore him, but he was out all day and most evenings and I worked from home and felt hate waves coming through the walls! I was so happy when he moved and very nice people moved in.