The life of high-rise building residents is full of surprises. Problems often arise when upstairs neighbors stomp heavily and drop things, but few homeowners know what to do legally in 2022. Let's try to figure out what to do in this situation. Let's determine where to go to influence the constantly noisy neighbors.
Residents in the apartment above drop things
Is it worth declaring war?
Before resorting to decisive action and searching for a practical answer to the question of how to annoy neighbors above for noise and commotion, it would be most reasonable to try to resolve the conflict peacefully. It is likely that your neighbors are reasonable people, and a calm conversation with reasoned claims will be more than enough.
There are some rules that are recommended to be followed in such a case:
- You shouldn’t run to sort things out as soon as you hear the sound of a drill and hammer drill. Your neighbors also have the right, including the right to carry out minor and major repairs in their apartment, if necessary. If the upstairs neighbors make noise during legally permitted hours, you will have to put up with it, at least for a while.
- If the noise continues for a long time, try talking to your neighbors and calmly explaining that their actions are causing you significant discomfort. They may not even realize that you react so painfully to loud noises.
- If you are “lucky” to live in a house with thin walls and ceilings, then every sound, even a not very loud one, made by your neighbors will echo loudly in your apartment. In such a situation, even the most ordinary household noise will seem unbearable. In this case, it is best to think not about how to take revenge on the neighbors above, below or through the wall for the noise, but about how to provide your home with additional sound insulation. For example, you can place a thick carpet on a wall or floor, and “sew up” the ceiling with plasterboard, while laying an additional layer of insulation.
Most often, it is the people living above us that irritate us. Typically, neighbors upstairs stomp, jump, move furniture, walk on laminate flooring in heels, or regularly flood. Any object that falls with a roar above causes severe sound discomfort to those living below.
How will it all end?
Disputes and disagreements between residents due to noise are among the most common. A simple conclusion can be drawn from this: every resident of a high-rise building may find himself drawn into this dispute as a neighbor “above” or “below”. You need to know the protective measures.
If they constantly write complaints about your stomping, and you don’t feel guilty, then feel free to defend your right to a quiet life in court. Utility companies can cite many cases of people they complained about winning in court. Their counterclaim was satisfied by the court with subsequent payment of moral damages and legal costs.
However, sometimes noise does not occur out of spite for residents, but it cannot be avoided: children play a musical instrument loudly or like to do something similar. It is not necessary to limit the development of your child; the best solution would be to soundproof the room.
Everyone will benefit from this decision: the neighbors will be grateful to you for the noise that has disappeared, and you will be able to continue your normal lifestyle. Soundproofing is not a redevelopment and does not need to be coordinated with housing services. However, it would not be superfluous to draw up a project for such work. You won't lose so much of your living space that you need to worry about it.
Residents of apartments in which noise from the elevator, heating unit and other communications are constantly heard can count on the elimination of this noise (even through sound insulation) at the expense of utilities. There are already precedents for such decisions.
For law-abiding citizens
If your neighbors regularly make loud noise and do not react in any way to requests to stop the outrage, first of all you need to try to resolve the issue legally. By law, it is prohibited to make noise between 22.00 and 06.00. If your neighbors love to have noisy parties that end well after midnight, call the police. In addition, be sure to take the application to the local police officer in the morning. Repeat similar actions until the disgrace stops.
Sometimes, however, representatives of law enforcement may not come to the call. If this is the case, you have every right to file a complaint about the inaction of law enforcement officers themselves to the prosecutor’s office. Proving the fact of the call will not be difficult - all calls to the police are recorded on tape, and the prosecutor's office has the authority to demand it. Believe me, after such an appeal, police officers will come to you and your neighbors even when they were not called.
Small dirty tricks
What to do if neither persuasion nor the police help? How to punish neighbors upstairs for noise and commotion? Let's move on to action:
- To begin with, you can try to create conditions that are uncomfortable for the troublemakers. For example, you can print out and hang around the entrance various cartoons and caricatures describing exactly how the neighbors from apartment No. ** interfere with the life of the entire entrance.
- If this does not help, place advertisements in local newspapers and on websites for the sale of apartment No. ** at a very attractive price - the flow of potential buyers is very annoying.
- Using the Internet, sign up your neighbors for a huge number of advertising catalogs and unnecessary newspapers, and even better - order a lot of purchases from online stores to their address. The entire period of time that they will spend running around to process refusals and returns, you will live in peace.
- Another rather unpleasant way to take revenge on your upstairs neighbors: take a can of caustic and smelly paint and write a well-known three-letter word with a “y” in the middle on the wall next to the offenders’ apartment. Which? Of course, “noise”, and even draw an arrow indicating the place exactly where it comes from. Some recommend doing the same on the door of a neighbor’s apartment, but here you must be prepared for the fact that your actions may be regarded as hooliganism and damage to someone else’s property. If it is proven that it was you who did this, a fine cannot be avoided.
If damage to property does not bother you, we move on to more stringent measures.
Seems to be legal methods
If you have a “neighbor nicknamed Decibel,” then you know for sure: there are just one or two legal ways to turn down the volume. Here's what we can recommend:
- Use paper. You can post a bunch of “shameful leaflets” with exact data branding the enemy throughout the area.
- Media to help. You can try to make your neighbor the hero of a TV show. Perhaps one of the local channels will not miss the chance to make a fascinating report about the “neighborhood wars” and thereby shame Decibel in front of the entire city. The main thing is that there should be a “horde” of dissatisfied people, otherwise the television people are unlikely to react.
The most important thing to remember is: no matter how annoying your neighbor is, you should not harm people or pets. You can’t spoil other people’s property either - choose “intangible” methods. We recommend accompanying this or that action performed in the absence of the owner of a “loud” apartment with an explanatory note.
If the troublemakers have a car
There are several ways to take revenge on neighbors upstairs for noise, if they have a car and often leave it in the yard:
- You can start with a warning - place a brick on the hood of the car (you can even lay a newspaper under it so as not to scratch it).
- If the neighbors did not understand the previous point, sprinkle the roof and hood of the car with some grain or crumble some bread. All the birds in your yard, or even in the area, will be happy to fly in for a treat, but your neighbor is unlikely to be happy with the marks of beaks and claws or waste products.
- You can also generously sprinkle your car with valerian - close communication with a pack of angry cats of all stripes will give your neighbor many “pleasant” minutes.
- One of the most radical methods can be considered coating car windows with a mixture of silicate glue, sand or silver. It is not possible to tear this off the glass after it dries - the glass will have to be completely replaced.
Neighbors upstairs make a lot of noise at night, yell or stomp, how to deal with it
Night time in each subject of our country is set by itself. There are no significant differences in their legislation, however, in order to avoid being held administratively liable for noise, it is best to familiarize yourself with the law “on silence” of a particular subject in advance.
What to do with those who like to make noise, stomping over you or something worse?
There are several options:
- Take a break from your nightly activities and go up one floor to the source of the noise, try to negotiate and ask not to make so much noise anymore. You can try to intimidate him by calling the police.
- If a neighbor repeatedly organizes noisy gatherings at night, and you can’t talk, then you should contact the local police officer or the police. However, evidence needs to be collected.
Telephone "terrorism"
The easiest way to influence the nerves and psyche of other people has been known to everyone since childhood - you just need to call and be silent on the phone. Moreover, it is best to make calls at two in the morning or at half past four in the morning.
Still don't know how to take revenge on your upstairs neighbors? A good option is “Auto dialer”. This is a special program that is easy to find on the Internet. All you need to do is “fill in” the offender’s phone number (both mobile and landline). That's it - then the program will automatically call this number at the most inopportune time of day.
If you can connect to your neighbors' phone line, you can regularly call a taxi or order pizza to their address... Let them explain.
If you are knowledgeable about electricity
The next method, which tells you how to take revenge on your upstairs neighbors for noise, is suitable for those who have a good understanding of what is connected where in the electrical panel. If the neighbors upstairs are listening to deafening music or drilling something at one in the morning, you can solve the problem radically - deprive them of electricity. Moreover, you need to cut out such a piece of wire that it is difficult to twist it back.
Another newfangled method of revenge is purchasing a GSM jammer. This is a device that can deprive neighbors of mobile communications and the Internet. After a couple of days, leave a note at the door of the troublemakers saying that if the noise does not stop, they will never have Internet, and they will start calling on the next street.
What to do if the neighbors above are constantly making noise, arguing, stomping and dropping things
The fight with the tenants from above, who constantly run around, drop things, stomp like elephants, move furniture, listen to music too loudly, use a drill as a way to kill you psychologically and try in every possible way to survive you, can take different forms, however, they merge into two option:
- Independent confrontation.
- Fight with the help of competent authorities.
Each method has its pros and cons. In some situations, you can only calm down your neighbors on your own, while in others you have no choice but to turn to special state bodies to protect your rights.
For example, noise that exceeds the norm during the day is almost impossible to prove and you have to figure it out yourself, but if your neighbors are trying to drive you crazy at night, then there is a good chance of providing them with a fine.
Physics lessons can be useful
Quite an exotic way to punish upstairs neighbors for noise and loud music. And it is based on the knowledge gained in physics class. Its essence is this:
- take a metal pan with a capacity of about 10–12 liters and fill it with water;
- Pour in enough water to leave a gap of one and a half to two centimeters from the edge unfilled;
- place the pan on a cabinet or stepladder so that the edges are pressed tightly against the ceiling;
- take the headphones and use tape to secure them to the walls of the container;
- turn on the music (preferably rock) at full volume, and calmly go about your business.
Believe me, the strongest hum and vibration will not allow them to live in peace. The noise in their apartment will be such that it will be possible to make out both the melody and the words, while in yours there will be silence. It is best to carry out a similar procedure in the middle of the night, when the rowdies finally fall asleep.
So who is to blame?
There are many similar cases in our country. There are situations that are more confusing. Sometimes the noise complaint method is used to get people they don't like out of their apartment. People cannot resolve their personal conflicts on their own and involve housing services and the police in this matter.
It doesn’t take long to figure out simple, obvious situations. The problem is solved almost immediately. When a company is loudly walking in an apartment at night, this fact is recorded by the arriving police squad or housing workers upon a signal from the residents. Violators of silence are subject to a “debriefing” and measures are taken from an administrative fine to eviction through the court.
A quiet way for those who believe in magic
One of the quietest and most proven ways to take revenge on neighbors upstairs for noise is suitable for those who are quite superstitious. Regularly throw salt, soil, feathers, garbage, candle stubs and other “mystical garbage” onto your neighbors’ rugs. Draw pentagrams, scatter needles and leave notes with all sorts of “conspiracies”. If your neighbors are superstitious, such actions will very quickly lead to success.
Rules of conduct for “people's avengers”
Of course, these are not all the ways to take revenge on neighbors above for noise and regular leaks. However, when looking for new ways to “annoy” your neighbors, do not forget about some rules:
- Don't get caught. If you don’t need an open war with your offender, try not to let anyone see you.
- Don’t start right away with radical methods - perhaps a small hint will be enough.
- Do not forget to explain your actions with at least a note - the person probably does not realize that his actions cause inconvenience to others.
- Do not get personal, do not use obscene language.
- Never create a situation in which people or animals may be harmed - this is a serious crime.
No matter how much you would like to personally punish the offender, it is still best to act within the law and involve law enforcement agencies. And, of course, do not forget that a good half of conflicts can be resolved through negotiations. Remember the favorite saying of the cat Leopold and live together.
