Dealing with Neighbors in an Apartment

We’ve all experienced them: noisy neighbors. Whether they fight constantly, play loud music, have big parties, own dogs who love to bark, or make noise in other ways, noisy neighbors aren’t fun to deal with.

One of the major disadvantages to renting a flat is the potential for conflict with the neighbours. Though some tenants may foster incredible relationships with all of their neighbours and never once have a disagreement with a neighbour this isn’t a likely scenario. Most tenants experience at least one instance of dissatisfaction with their neighbours. They may or may not confront the neighbour about this issue but it’s likely to cause at least a few tension in the living situation. In a few cases avoiding the issue may cause the trouble to worsen. In other situations, discussing the issue may make the situation worse.

Paper Thin Walls

Though most modern apartment house* are built with a fair amount of insulation, there’s still the real possibility of neighbours in an apartment house hearing music, television, conversation or other noises emanating from a neighbours flat on a regular basis. This is due to the close proximity of the flats to each other as well as the common practice of having at least one shared wall among neighbours in a flat complex. Tenants should be aware of this and make an effort to avoid noises which will likely be heard through the walls during nights or early in the morning when others are likely to be sleeping.

Being Considerate of Others

Consideration for others is one of the key elements which may make flat living more bearable and less prone to conflict. E.g., while tenants are free to listen to music in their own apartment, they should limit listening to music at a loud decibel to daytime hours when it’s not likely that other residents are trying to sleep.

Residents in a flat complex should also be conscientious when having parties. This is important as the tenant is responsible for the actions of his guests. So the tenant should ensure his guests are not making uncomfortableness for residents of the apartment complex.

When Your Schedule is Unusual

Finally tenants who have an unusual schedule may have a great deal of difficulty functioning in an apartment complex. This includes, but isn’t limited to, tenants who work a night shift and sleep during the day. The unusual schedule kept by these tenants makes them more prostrate to being disturbed by other tenants who assume everybody residing in the complex sleeps at roughly the same time.

Unfortunately tenants in this situation may have to make an effort to make their living situation tolerable. Though discussing the situation with the neighbours is certainly worthwhile, it’s unrealistic to expect the neighbours to remain exceedingly quite during the daytime hours. Several residents do chores such as vacuuming during this time which may resonate in the apartment of another tenant. However, asking the neighbour to do these types of activities in the evening isn’t feasible as the neighbour would likely be disturbing a number of other neighbours by doing so.

This is why the tenant with the unusual schedule is much required to make changes to make the living situation workable. This may include buying and using earplugs while sleeping or investing in a white noise machine which may aid to drowned out ambient noise and make the environment more conducive to sleeping. Additionally, the renter with the unusual schedule should make an effort to be quite during hours in which they are awake but the majority of neighbors are likely sleeping.