Neighbors are always a part of your apartment life. It’s typical to have one in an apartment complex, much more get to see them or hear them all day and night when you’re living next to each other. Consequently, when you live in an apartment, there’s always a great chance that you’ll hear them talking even in the comforts of your own room, and worse, the sound is not even comforting at all.
Hearing arguments, bustling music, and even the sound of annoying blenders is inevitable when you live in an apartment. Noise is always a part of your everyday apartment life, and you always hear them regardless of any circumstances. Unless your walls are made thick by the engineers and the architects, then you’re left with putting your earplugs on to avoid unnecessary inconvenience.
As these noises from your neighbours can come annoying when you just want a quiet time at home, there are a few things that you can do to be able to have a livable and tranquil place on your own. Here are things that you can do:
a. Try earplugs
It’s a no-brainer that earplugs can help with alleviating the noise coming from your neighbour’s room. They are pretty convenient and come in handy; put them in your ears, and you’re good to go. However, they can be pretty annoying too; sweat in the ears is just too much to bear.
b. Install rug or soft fabric on your wall
Soft fabrics are efficient if you have a thin wall between you and your neighbour. They dampen sound like your blackout curtains and deflect the sound waves right back to the source to avoid them from entering your room. They are also readily available at Home Depots; the thicker, the better.
c. Talk to your neighbour
When all else fails, it would be best to talk to your noisy neighbour. Yes, you might be afraid of talking to them or worse annoyed by their presence, but negotiating with them is your way to go. Talk to them about the noise and tell them to lessen it. They should accommodate you, and if not, talk to the building management about it.
d. Add another layer of drywall
If the upstairs neighbour is your problem, the best way to mitigate the impact and minimize the sound coming above is to add another layer of drywall. It suspends the sound in between the initial wall and the added drywall, and lets you have a sound sleeping time in case you need one.
Yet, it might be that you are the one giving the problem to your neighbours. Hence, talk to them if they hear loud noises from your room, and try to lessen it to avoid lawsuits – yes they can file one if you don’t comply with their request.
Getting rid of the noise can be a handful. Thus, if you want to live in an apartment anytime soon, know your pros and cons first and ensure your know you to live with unavoidable experiences – hearing noises from neighbours when you just want to rest can be annoying, so might as well check the conditions of the apartment building first before moving in.
