INFO – I have an upstairs neighbor who is the loudest walker I have ever heard in my life. His entry way is above my bedroom and he constantly stomps around and I can also hear when he comes in the door and kicks off his shoes into the entry way…it impacts my ability to sleep and wakes me up at night. I could also hear the rolling of the suitcase wheels when he was leaving on vacation for Christmas. Could be that you are a loud walker and just don’t realize it, or that you make more noise than you think you do (translates through the floor as louder than you think). I would say that maybe you should chat with your downstairs neighbor and try to get to the bottom of exactly what’s bothering her and if it’s specific rooms or locations in the ceiling that are louder than others. If you can’t resolve, then ignore.

NTA. As someone who hates people being loud, I would never dream calling the police for a noise complaint over someone walking around their own home! If they can’t handle their upstairs neighbor walking around, they need to move. I had noise issues with neighbors playing music and slamming doors and just bought myself some earplugs and got over it. They should do the same. They can’t make the whole world cater to them this way. It’d be way different if you were partying all the time.

NTA. This is why we bought our condo on the top floor.

NTA. But keep in mind that if the general area is very quiet at 10PM (as in, you live in a large building with this rule, or lots of surrounding buildings have the same rule) any innocuous noise is going to stand out more than it would if there was more of a “hum” in the air, so that might be why noises caused by showering or walking around might sound loud to your neighbor.

NTA, quiet hours tend to mean you shouldn’t (not can’t) be playing loud music, watching a loud movie or screaming. You were just doing normal things at what I assume was a reasonable noise level. One of my roommates is an extremely light sleeper but because of my job sometimes I’m out of the door at 4 am and sometimes 4 pm. He understands and just wears earplugs because theres not much either one of us can do.

NAH sounds like the building has terrible sound proofing between floors. It’s a drag for you because tip toeing is ridiculous in your own house (although you could walk toe to heel like a ballerina instead of heel to toe like most people, it gives you defined calves while you’re at it), but it also SUCKS for for your neighbor. Living below loud people, or even normal people like you in a shitty building, is the absolute pits.

NTA. Sometimes I can hear my upstairs neighbor walking around their apartment late at night or running the shower or something, but I’ve never once considered complaining about them or god forbid calling the cops on them.

My next door neighbor, however…he was notorious for playing loud, bass heavy music STARTING at 10pm and would sometimes go well into the morning…like 2am. I even talked to him about it and it hardly made a difference. Then is when I complained to the landlord about it. He seems to have finally gotten the hint.

I would talk to your landlord and let them know what happening . Take notes or video/voice record what you’re doing when she starts banging on your floor so that you have evidence. Have your roommate/partner do the same thing.

NTA. The activities you’ve described aren’t particularly loud. Sounds to me like your apartment just had paper-mache walls.

YTA. I mean, where do you get off? FOLDING LAUNDRY?! The static discharge alone could cause not only an extreme amount of noise but also death and serious injury if you happen to keep 50 gallon drums of IP alcohol or gasoline lying around. If you don’t keep drums of flammable liquid around, though, NTA.

NTA. But go talk to this neighbor. They should have come to you instead of passive aggressive bangs on the ceiling, but you should go too.

NTA.

Next time, suggest earplugs because it’s not your fault the place you live in has shit sounds. You do not need to live like a mouse. Also, you can put them in an awkward pickle if you mention that you hear them walking to the bathroom at night, flushing the toilet, etc. But that you understand the walls/sound proofing sucks and you hope they realize it too haha

Had a similar situation at an old apartment. I was once packing so I could go home for break and was cleaning and my upstairs neighbor started stomping. Like Jesus, I was just walking and throwing trash in my bin. I wasn’t doing anything loud. On the other hand, my roommate would be loud (thin walls) so I get why they would be mad at him. But me, I was quiet! We even had our apartment broken into once (after she had her apartment broken into 10 min before and she escorted the perp out) and she came down asking “are you guys having a party?” No bitch, our door got kicked in because you didn’t call 911!!!

When I moved, I left with upstairs neighbor PTSD. My landlords now live above me and they stomp/make loud noises all the time. But that’s just them walking in their own home, defrosting something in the kitchen, etc. I would freak out in the beginning because of that shit experience. Don’t let that be you!

INFO. Are you generally loud during the day? If she finds you already annoying during the day (when you dont have to be quiet), she would find any noise at night extra annoying.

Also, do you walk extreamly heavy? My dad drives his heals into the ground when he walks and I used to do it too, which shakes everything.

My upstairs neighbors during my senior year of college sounded like a herd of elephants all the damn time. Drove my roommates nuts. They’d bang chairs around and chase each other around all day (freshmen, am I right?). And when it was finally time (for us) to settle down for the night they walked stupid heavy or still threw furnature at the wall or some dumb shit.

Idk man try talking to her? Sounds like your only communication is via the floor and the police. Both of you grow up.

NTA. I got complaints from my downstairs neighbors because I’d flush the toilet at night. People just have to have something to bitch about.

When they had a newborn who cried all night, I didn’t expect them to recreate the MASH finale.

NTA. Your noise was totally reasonable. It’d be different if you had the TV up or vacuumed or other loud stuff. Doing some laundry, watching TV at a low volume (can talk normally over it), and other similar noise levels are totally fine. If you can hear it from the other end of the apartment, it’s too loud, but otherwise is fine.

NTA, and take my advice, which is based on my experience managing apartment buildings, living in an apartment with noise issues (aka crazy ladies), and being on my coop board: MOVE. Your neighbor will never see reason. She will drive you crazy, and management can’t do anything about it.

NTA. Try keeping your shoes off and putting a rug down in the room above her bedroom if you don’t already, but really this lady needs to get a white noise machine or something. Apartment living sucks if you’re a light sleeper.

NTA. Quiet hours don’t mean laying down and being perfectly silent; it sounds like to me that you’re generally pretty courteous about it. Put a rug down if you don’t have one already, but living in an apartment is never perfectly silent. You have to deal with the sounds of other people living one wall away from you and it sounds like she can’t deal with that. She needs to get some ear plugs or something.

NTA.

Have you talked out loud with your neighbor downstairs? It may not solve anything but worth a shot. If you have already then forget it.

Calling the police seems pretty petty, and if she keeps it up it is bound to backfire.

Remember this experience yourself – and always look for the top floor in an apartment complex assuming your not in a high rise. You’ll probably never thank yourself, but alternate universe you living on the first floor *will* be cursing himself for not wanting the hassle of carrying furniture up a couple more flights.

NTA. Noise ordinance doesn’t mean everyone goes to sleep. You’re still allowed to walk around and live your home life. You’re not disallowed from taking a late shower. You pay to live there and make a home there just like everyone else. Not everyone has the same hours. It’s not your fault that the walls and floors are thin and the pipes can be heard throughout the complex. The police clearly didn’t have an issue with the fact that you’re running the shower or walking around. You should probably talk to the office people at your complex and let them know that this lady is being foolishly petty and is now unnecessarily involving the police when they could be waiting for real crimes and problems to occur. Maybe they can have a chat with her and tell her to stop creating problems.

NTA – your neighbour needs to move somewhere with better soundproofing or with not shared walls or ceilings.