Sorry to my neighbor if he sees this.
For context, this has been going on for months now. For six years, I lived in my apartment in relative peace, but my upstairs neighbor recently leased the unit out to a different man. Unfortunately, the floors are like paper, and the new guy gets ready for the gym nearly every single morning at 4am. The result is that I am being woken up CONSTANTLY at 4am. For the first few weeks, it was seriously destroying my sleep cycle, because I’m a really sensitive sleeper, and once I’m awake, no matter how early, it’s very hard for me to fall back asleep. I finally texted him and asked him if he could tread more lightly, because there’s no way he knew; he was super kind and apologetic the whole time, has accommodated by saying he gets ready outside of his room and sets out his clothes in advance so he’s not stomping around directly above me, and that he’s pretty much walking on his tiptoes. The problem is that it’s been more than 6 months and the problem has not abated; I’m still getting woken up at 4am the moment he gets up. I try to sleep with noise-cancelling headphones (the only way to block the sound), but they’re extremely bulky and uncomfortable and also make sleep difficult. He also practices electric guitar pretty loudly most nights in the evening, the same songs over and over again, which is frustrating when I’m trying to read, write, work, watch TV, etc, though I haven’t said anything to him about that.
This week, I was woken up once again at 4am, and in my sleep-deprived state, I snapped and (politely) texted him, when I hadn’t since July, to tell him that he was still waking me up; he has been for months, which I didn’t say, but I always felt too bad to bring it up again. Again, he was super apologetic, and so was I; I feel bad for being high-maintenance, but it is seriously messing with my sleep (which affects my entire workday). I know people have different sleep schedules, but 4am every morning feels insanely unreasonable when it affects other people in the building. AITA??
This reminds me of “quiet time” rules and laws in Switzerland. No shoes allowed in apartments at night!
NTA. You are entitled to live comfortably in your apartment. You could always find a way to suggest rugs or floor runners, they help muffle the sound. On your side, have you tried earplugs? My dad used to use earplugs when he had to sleep during the day and us kids were home.
this, your neighbor has a right to get up and get to the gym whenever he chooses. I’d suggest earplugs.
NTA but unfortunately if he’s making genuine efforts to reduce his noise levels, there’s not really anything else he can do. You can’t expect him to change his entire routine, as that would be unreasonable. But you need sleep.
Have you tried Loop earplugs or similar? They have some that are specific for sleep. Might be worth looking into if you haven’t already.
Honestly, this kind of noise issue is pretty expected in apartments. They’re rarely built with sound proofing in mind.
NAH. It is totally reasonable to want to sleep at normal sleep times. It is also reasonable for him to be able to function normally in his home. Getting clothes on is a normal function at 4am.
When you speak to him next I would suggest carpeting with a thick carpet pad underneath. That should help. You can also put some foam tiles on your ceiling (they make removable peel and stick ones that are renter friendly). And in your own unit be sure to have as much sound dampening as possible. While you will likely hear the steps their severity will be less if you have things like carpets, thick drapes, books, etc around to dampen the echo. Lastly, get yourself a good quality white noise machine- not the stereo speaker kind but the ones with an actual fan inside that doesn’t move air… these drown out so much noise.
Have your landlord double check the insulation level and make sure there is a fire break, to make sure the sound coming through there is as muffled as possible. You could also measure the decibels and see if it’s excessive. If it’s not excessive then your landlord needs to fix it. It is excessively loud though standard insulation, dude needs to add rugs, anything to dampen the noise in the morning.
YTA he’s being quiet and doing what he can to minimize the noise.
But the noise is him getting up and going to work.
I’m not sure what you actually want him to do, he has to work.
YTA: hes literally tip toeing around. Get some ear plugs
NTA for wanting to sleep, but your neighbor is not doing anything to be unreasonably loud either. He is literally just getting up and getting ready. You can’t reasonably expect him to not get ready everyday until after you wake up. Sounds like more of a complaint for the building owner/property manager if the floors are this ridiculously thin that mere walking is enough to cause a normal person to lose sleep. In the meantime consider trying some high quality ear plugs for you and some nice slippers for your neighbor or sleeping in another room (if possible) that is not directly below your neighbors footpath. Now on the other hand if your neighbor is getting up and stomping around getting ready beyond the noise of normal walking then you may have to fight fire with fire and start banging on the ceiling with a broomstick while he is sleeping just to show him how uncool it is to live with a loud neighbor. But it doesn’t seem like this is the case if the guy has been apologetic and accommodating when you have spoken with him in the past.
YTA. This is apartment living and he is going above and beyond.
NAH. He has adjusted his get up routine to try and accomodate the noise. try earplugs