Stereos and Unreasonable Neighbours

[TorqueDog]

I recently moved into this loft suite after having a floor-level two bedroom (concrete floors, bedrooms on either side of the living room).

My neighbour is, to put it nicely, a miserable old hag. She will not quit banging on my wall when I listen to my stereo. She banged on my wall when I was listening to The Eagles, FFS. She's lucky I don't listen to hip-hop. She actually banged on the wall while I was watching South Park and the intro riffs by Les Claypool were playing.

Yesterday, she banged on my wall and I finally got tired of it. I went over, knocked on her door, and asked what exactly the issue was. She said "Your bass is too loud". As I had left the stereo playing, I asked if I could come in and hear what she was hearing. She lets me in, and I can hear, very faintly, a bit of bass... much, MUCH quieter than, say, ambient noise if you opened a window. But you really have to pay careful attention to hear it. So I asked "Is this all you're hearing?" She answered yes and I was dumbfounded. Her refrigerator was making more noise just by running. Of course, she also doesn't have her TV or anything on either.

Me: "Well, I'm not sure what to say, I'm listening to my stereo at a very reasonable listening volume, the subwoofers are already turned down to the point they barely do anything."
Her: "Well it's too loud."
Me: "I'm not listening too early in the day, or too late at night, the stereo is always off at 9 PM."
Her: "I don't care what time of day it is".

I stammer, trying to figure out how exactly to respond reasonably to an unreasonable person (answer is: you can't). She goes on....

Her: "Don't you have the bluetooth, you can use bluetooth..." *motions to suggest she's telling me to listen using bluetooth headphones*

Are you kidding me?

It was pretty well at that point that I said "Well, I'm trying to broker some sort of understanding between us, but I guess that's the end of that" and left her apartment. I immediately spoke to my landlord. No other tenants have complained (I have one on either side of me, and one immediately below me) and she said that she's heard far worse noise in her own suite but as long as the noise isn't completely obnoxious and ends at a reasonable time (10 PM) then she doesn't care. The landlord is clearly on my side of the issue.

Of course, I'm still a little concerned that she's going to keep whining about it. So I did some research on Calgary's noise by-laws (See page 12/Part 9) and got out a decibel meter to gather some information.


From reading the by-laws as they are written:

From the Point of Reception (where the neighbour can hear the noise), the sound would have to be greater than 65 dBA during daytime hours (or 5 dBA higher than Ambient Sound Levels if they exceed 65 dBA).

Over a one hour period, measured from where I sit in my living room, the average dBA is 69.8.

That means that the noise would have to be such that it would basically be the equivalent of me moving my stereo into her suite to create the same levels of noise.


She hasn't banged on the wall again yet, but I'm sure she will at some point.

Has anyone else dealt with a similarly annoying neighbour? It seems like I am just stuck listening to this woman banging on my damn wall until she moves out / dies from being miserable to everybody. I don't think I'm being unreasonable whatsoever in that there's an expectation of 'some' noise living in a residential building.

[THE SCUD]

Sounds like you're the bad neighbour. If your noise is penetrating her living space, she has every right to be upset. Just because its not "louder than ambient noise if she opened her window" according to the offender means nothing.

Be a better neighbour, FFS. You may not be breaking a bylaw but you're being an annoying neighbour. Subwoofers in an apartment, that'll make you lots of friends in the building! .

[Canuck-Hater]

A. You're on your own private property.
B. You can make noise until 10pm, so even if they call the cops on you, the cops cant arrest you or write you a ticket.

http://content.calgary.ca/CCA/City+H...rest/Noise.htm

[You Need a Thneed]

Originally Posted by THE SCUD

Sounds like you're the bad neighbour. If your noise is penetrating her living space, she has every right to be upset. Just because its not "louder than ambient noise if she opened her window" according to the offender means nothing.

Be a better neighbour, FFS. You may not be breaking a bylaw but you're being an annoying neighbour. Subwoofers in an apartment, that'll make you lots of friends in the building! .

did you read his post? It's 69db in his own apartment. That would make it quieter in her apartment than just about anything plugged in her own apartment.

Is she going to complain if he's having a conversation in his apartment too?

[THE SCUD]

Originally Posted by Canuck-Hater

A. Your on your own private property.
B. You can make noise until 10pm, so even if they call the cops on you, the cops cant arrest you or write you a ticket.

Karma can also be a biatch. If you're listening to stuff loud enough for it to be heard through concrete walls, it's time to unplug the sub and realise you live in a friggin apartment, not a house, so you give up a few things in the name of common decency.

[Winsor_Pilates]

He tried to politely go talk to her and be reasonable. Being a good neighbor shouldn't require tip toeing around your own home and pandering to unreasonable people who are clearly complaining without warrant.

[Barnet Flame]

You seem like a reasonable neighbor to me, and from what I can glean from your post, have a good taste in music.

I think you have done the right thing in trying to reason with her. That she is unreasonable is unfortunate, but I think you have pretty much covered yourself if things escalate.

That the landlord is on your side and no other adjoining neighbors have complained should provide you with pretty good support should this woman go to official channels to complain.

How old is she anyway? I thought hearing was supposed to get worse with age.

[THE SCUD]

Originally Posted by You Need a Thneed

did you read his post? It's 69db in his own apartment. That would make it quieter in her apartment than just about anything plugged in her own apartment.

Is she going to complain if he's having a conversation in his apartment too?

He admitted he could hear it when he went in to her place. That's all I need to know. I have zero sympathy for a guy who has a sub in an apartment that admits others can hear it. That's it that's all. There is being a good neighbour and then there is the law. He is perfeclty allowed to do what he's doing, it would appear. I just wouldn't like people like that in an apartment near me, that's all. Old people not liking base in their house, faint or not?

shocking.

[valo403]

Originally Posted by THE SCUD

Karma can also be a biatch. If you're listening to stuff loud enough for it to be heard through concrete walls, it's time to unplug the sub and realise you live in a friggin apartment, not a house, so you give up a few things in the name of common decency.

I beleive you need to re-read the OP, and generally give your head a shake.

[REDVAN]

Wow.

I have yet to experience a neighbour like her.

I'd just ignore her unless you get any actual complaints or a bylaw/police visit.

[THE SCUD]

Originally Posted by Winsor_Pilates

He tried to politely go talk to her and be reasonable. Being a good neighbor shouldn't require tip toeing around your own home and pandering to unreasonable people who are clearly complaining without warrant.

He's got a damn sub in an apartment, there's a difference.

[CaptainCrunch]

Its clear that she's lonely and wants to serve you a nice big juicy helping of pie.

If you eat some of her pie, I guarantee that the knocking will stop.

[THE SCUD]

hahaha okay I am done playing crotchety old man the joke / devils advocate thing is too much work.

B-B-B-B-BASE.

[valo403]

Originally Posted by THE SCUD

He admitted he could hear it when he went in to her place. That's all I need to know. I have zero sympathy for a guy who has a sub in an apartment that admits others can hear it. That's it that's all. There is being a good neighbour and then there is the law. He is perfeclty allowed to do what he's doing, it would appear. I just wouldn't like people like that in an apartment near me, that's all. Old people not liking base in their house, faint or not?

shocking.

He could hear it at the level of a fridge running. If you want to live in an apartment in the city, as opposed to a house in the country, you take on hearing a bit of low level noise from your neighbors. Expecting anything different is ridiculous.

Edit: Dammit, I was suspicious that it was all a ploy from the start but fell for it anyways.

Also, Base? Really?

[Winsor_Pilates]

Originally Posted by THE SCUD

Karma can also be a biatch.

Seems like Karma has come back to an unreasonable cranky lady who liked to whine to people without making any reasonable efforts to work it out like a good neighbor.

[REDVAN]

Originally Posted by THE SCUD

He admitted he could hear it when he went in to her place. That's all I need to know. I have zero sympathy for a guy who has a sub in an apartment that admits others can hear it. That's it that's all. There is being a good neighbour and then there is the law. He is perfeclty allowed to do what he's doing, it would appear. I just wouldn't like people like that in an apartment near me, that's all. Old people not liking base in their house, faint or not?

shocking.

Similar situation: would you call the cops on a car that had a stereo you could hear while stopped at a red light, even though your windows were shut? Or would you just turn up your music a little bit, and keep driving and not complain?

If you don't like noise during the daytime, turn on your own TV, radio, or take your dog for a walk and STFU. It's not the middle of the night.

And in the case of this lady, I don't know how old she is, but you could always just ask her politely to turn down her hearing aid.

[Winsor_Pilates]

Originally Posted by fotze

I'm suprised that is so high, 65 dBa. Petroleum facilities are only allowed 40 dBa.

Stop playing rap music at petroleum facilities

[You Need a Thneed]

Originally Posted by THE SCUD

He admitted he could hear it when he went in to her place. That's all I need to know. I have zero sympathy for a guy who has a sub in an apartment that admits others can hear it. That's it that's all. There is being a good neighbour and then there is the law. He is perfeclty allowed to do what he's doing, it would appear. I just wouldn't like people like that in an apartment near me, that's all. Old people not liking base in their house, faint or not?

shocking.

With shared walls, you are going to "hear" anything on the other side of the wall. I can tell you that a 69db sound on one side of a wall will not produce any kind of annoying sound on the other side of the wall no matter what the wall construction is. Assuming that the wall between apartments is more than 1/2" drywall on 2x4 studs (quite likely), and you would have to be absolutely still to hear a very faint noise coming from the other side of the wall.

It has nothing to do with being a good neighbour, he's doing everything he can to be a good neighbour. It has to do with living in an apartment, you have to realize that you are going to hear a little bit of your neighbours, even when they are being reasonable with their sound levels.

[Raekwon]

Not applicable to this situation but people do work night shift and sleep during the day so the whole daytime noise arguement has flaws.

Originally Posted by REDVAN

Similar situation: would you call the cops on a car that had a stereo you could hear while stopped at a red light, even though your windows were shut? Or would you just turn up your music a little bit, and keep driving and not complain?

If you don't like noise during the daytime, turn on your own TV, radio, or take your dog for a walk and STFU. It's not the middle of the night.

And in the case of this lady, I don't know how old she is, but you could always just ask her politely to turn down her hearing aid.

[Traditional_Ale]

Originally Posted by THE SCUD

Sounds like you're the bad neighbour. If your noise is penetrating her living space, she has every right to be upset. Just because its not "louder than ambient noise if she opened her window" according to the offender means nothing.

Be a better neighbour, FFS. You may not be breaking a bylaw but you're being an annoying neighbour. Subwoofers in an apartment, that'll make you lots of friends in the building! .

Please tell me you forgot the green text? FFS, please tell me that this post was a complete joke. Please?

To the OP:

Step 1) Download a tone generator.
Step 2) Export an hour long .wav file of a sine-wave at 17hz.
Step 3) Place subwoofers directly against the wall to her apart.
Step 4) Turn on, crank up, and leave.

You won't actually hear anything, but you'll feel it, or at least see the woofers moving.

Old lady next door is going to spontaneously start crapping herself. Promise.


EDIT: That was some damn fine DA's work there, SCUD. Had me going for sure.