Thread: Apartment etiquette

Ok fellahs,

I spent the last 7 years in Army barracks, with posted quiet times, and enough rank to pretty much impose my will on all my neighbors without ever thinking about the most polite or agreeable way to silence noisy neighbors. I'm out of the Army now. My downstairs neighbor must have gotten some more speakers, or lost some hearing because I'm listening to HIS tv more than my own these days.

So do I
A: Turn on my drill press, my bench grinder, my tv on full volume, put on my combat boots and stomp around while pounding my huge 4 oz hammer against a piece of steel?

B: Walk down there and ask if there's a medical condition which requires his stereo to be so loud that I can hear the dialog on his tv?
C: Walk onto the patio and drop a brick on his car?
D: Walk down there and ask him to turn it down?
E: Ask the landlord to handle it?
F: Report a noise disturbance to the police?
G: A, then C, then B?

Start with "D". A little friendly request is a good start. From there, contact landlord. If it still continues, some late night boot stomping would be in order.

Grab two cold beers out of the fridge, head down and introduce yourself to your neighbour and offer him a beer. Strike up a bit of a conversation and then bring up the fact that it's possible his TV is a bit too loud, as you can hear it all the way upstairs. Friendly first is probably the best way to make for a pleasant coexistence in your apartment. If he's a jackass, you'll find out soon enough, at which time you can go to E or F. Any of the other solutions are probably going to be more of a hassle than effective.

Ugh, you mean I have to be an adult? Ahh SRP, your wisdom knows no bounds! Thanks fellahs.

D->E->F->G

You don't have to be an adult, but it's easier to get the results you want if you act as one.
But if you need other naughty kids to plan your pranks, just let me know and I'll share my vast wisdom

I like the beer summit approach for starters, you never know he could be some old Artillery (or Air Force) guy that's just deaf as a damn brick In my experience most people (who aren't complete tools) will respond positively. If it turns out he is a tool and the problem persists then I'd probably call the cops or take a crap on the hood of his car

I have almost the same problem. My upstairs neighbor probably has the shortest legs, and walks around in cowboy boots. But I still agree with the olive branch suggestion. You'll get further with sugar than with salt. Once you pick a fight, you can't un-pick it. Besides, don't you want to communicate in a way that will maintain your own self respect?

Yeah I'm not going to do anything rash. I just threw those in there for comedic value. He's been shutting it down at ten pm, which is ok by me. I think maybe the new of his new stereo has worn off, or somebody else complained. I also noticed that I could hear my neigbor coughing, and shutting a cabinet door, which makes me think maybe it's not nearly as loud as I felt like it was.

What you do is invite him over real friendly like and watch a game and some snacks and then you start acting real crazy and out of control and tell him about how many guys you killed in the military and how noisy neighbors really set you off and sometimes you don't even know what your doing and then show him your firearms.

he won't be a problem after that.

I had the same problem through 4 years of college. I was one who actually did work, studied, and learned something. My neighbors to all directions were apparently there to spend a fortune simply to drink and listen to ridiculously loud music.

My original solution was to be friendly and polite about it but things didn't end until I got one of their cars towed for being in my assigned spot on a "party night." (I'm surprised my car was never vandalized now that I think about it. They obviously knew it was mine.)

I guess some people will be mature and respectful of their neighbors and some people will be a-holes until they start to be inconvenienced also.