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Hi, I’m an owner, on the EC and live in NSW.
For the past few months I’ve had a number of noise issues with upstairs neighbours, who are renting.
Firstly, they were playing loud music/TV at 2:30-3:00 am in the morning. They stopped after I spoke to them about it a few times.
However, one or two of them work late, so when they come home they often keep me awake in bed from 12:30-2:30 am in the morning.
The main noises are:
1) The sound of water/pipes – I can hear it whenever they turn on the taps in their bathroom, which is above my bathroom, which is in turn next to my bedroom. I don’t know if this is caused by faulty plumbing, bad noise insulation or whatever.
2) Footsteps – I can hear loud footsteps as they walk around their unit. They tell me their floor is actually carpeted. I’ve kindly suggested they try wearing soft slippers, but don’t know if they’ve taken up the request.
3) Balcony door sliding – For whatever reason they repeatedly slide their balcony door. Maybe I should suggest some WD40?
So I’ve spoken to them on a few occasions, and they’ve been amiable so far, but I really don’t want to push it, especially if the root cause of the noise issues are structural and not their fault. The unit is very old, over 25 years probably.
Any suggestions on the best course of action?
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Replies
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Hi Puff_ng,
In a similar position as yourself – EC, owner, NSW, building over 25yrs old and have noise issues in my unit block.
Usually renters will make every effort to try to minimise noise – as they don’t want complaints on their rental record.
What I’ve learnt from Flat-chat is the key core ingredient of living in strata complexes is consideration of others around you.
It sounds like you have considered the softly approach – contacting the tenants directly and they have tried to accommodate your requests.
Could I suggest if you still feel comfortable with communicating with them – why not ask them to come down and listen to how their activities sound in your unit (yes, I realise this assumes there is more than one occupant in the unit above you between midnight and 2:30am).
If this is not going to work for you (I’m finding some people think the term excessive noise doesn’t apply to them dragging furniture or dropping items onto tiled floors of their main bedroom floor between 10:30pm-1am nightly -but only when others disturb their sleep) then your other option is to request the Strata Manager issue a notice to comply under section 117 of the SSMA – this would be excessive noise.
It would be fair and reasonable to expect you could use your unit to sleep in during the hours of 10:30-6am. However, things like flushing toilets and closing and opening doors will happen during the middle of the night.
Tenants are provided with a copy of the Strata by-laws as part of their rental agreement and in signing the agreement and taking possession of the property they are agreeing to adhere to those conditions including not generating excessive noise.
With regard to the building acoustics I cannot answer you on that one – I also find the acoustics appaulling in my over 30yr old unit complex. Most people though, in my complex, make every effort at night to minimise noise and to avoid generating excessive noise. It just shows consideration to others.
Best of luck in getting a good nights sleep.
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