I wave to my neighbor as I wait for the garage door to go up. That's the extent of our interaction. After years of dwelling over or under others who are oblivious to the noise they make it's pure bliss. My advice: Try to buy....

It sounds as if you might kill someone if you don't get some sleep!

There's some adjustment required of apartment dwellers. Most people are LOUD. Louder than you could ever imagine they would be. And inconsiderate, too.

I wonder if LW is not bracing for the noise? Or waking up at the noise and then tensing up indefinitely? I used to be bothered by my neighbors, but the truth is, I've gone from a pissed-off neighbor to being able to sleep through WWIII if needed. Ten years of renting will do that.* Renting sucks for some reasons, owning sucks for other reasons; the overlap is minimal, as far as I can tell.

I mean, LW, move if you can - but no place will ever be perfect. I hope you find some sleep...

*I rent because I move around for my job a lot; I don't have anything against the Amurikan value of homeownership

why the migration to the suburbs might have been driven by something other than racism.

...have you even *spoken* to the guy?

Maybe he didn't realize he was making noise because the last tenants weren't bothered. Maybe he's got a clumsy houseguest. Maybe the earplugs will kick in after a few more tries. Maybe, in short, this is a temporary and/or easily remedied situation. Regardless, "break the lease" is a remedy so premature and extreme that it's absurd.

I lived on the first story of a two-story duplex. It was on the side of a hill, so one-half of the apartment was halfway underground. This meant my windows were at the foot level of the upstairs neighbors' side-yard.

My idiot landlord loved dogs, so she had an affinity for renters who owned dogs, and no concern for how this would affect the other tenant. The people who moved in above me told my landlord they had one small dog. They lied. They had a large dog, and also had a huge pitbull. I would walk into my apartment, open the window and the pitbull in the sideyard would see me, come right up to the window, and growl homicidally.

I called my landlord, told her about the pitbull, and she got very upset, saying they'd lied to her. It wasn't long before they were gone. Great, right?

Wrong, because she didn't learn anything from the experience. She rented to another set of people who also had dogs, AND had 5-year-old kids. These kids would jump on the bed at all hours. At first I thought the squeaking bed springs were due to people having an epic sex session. But nobody could last that long (20 minutes of squeaking bedsprings?!) so I reasoned out that it must be kids.

The irony of being in this situation is that (1) You're the one who's suffering, and (2) When you complain, you are made out to be the bad guy. It sucks having to walk up, knock on the door, as say, "Can you please try to lower the noise level?" People look at you like you're the biggest jerk in the world even though you're their neighbor.

If the landlord isn't attuned to these problems by now, then he/she never will be, and you might as well leave. Save up enough money to mortgage a free-standing home.

At my last house the noise of cicadas in the summertime was deafening at night, but it didn't stop me sleeping. However, the faint drone of my neighbor's TV in the small hours can drive me crazy. Why is it that two monotonous sounds have a different effect on me simply because one is natural and the other has a human agency behind it? I keep reading these books by people who insist that there's no such thing as free will, and that humans are just another species of animal. Intellectually I buy it, but deep down I think otherwise, and I'm furious at people disrespecting my privacy in this way. If I could just get myself to view my fellow humans as blind forces of nature I'd have great peace of mind.

Boy can I relate to this letter. To Betzee: Even home ownership doesn't prevent noise issues. You could be unlucky enough to have neighbors who love to get up early and mow their lawn at 7am or have barking dogs or simply love getting up early and chatting up other early risers that are nearby your house. I've ealt with all those.

My advice is get the fuck out of there and do it quickly. I've been where you are now, and I can tell you're pretty close to having a full on meltdown. I agree with Carey about looking into renting a home, but one with a lot of space between neighbors.

You may really want to take the time to investigate on this one too. Talk to other neighbors or if you can, other tenants, to find out what the noise level is like. Let your new landlord know that your priority is quiet. Even put it into your lease that you have the right to rescind if you have to put up with noises that are clearly a disruiption to your enjoyment of your dwelling.

You do have rights by the way. Check out your local noise ordinances. You can try being nice by talking or writing civil letters to your neighbor. If that doesn't work you can call the cops. You can sue both the tenant and the owner of the property as well. You just have to have a pretty clear trail of letters and a good documentation of the noise.

I think the main thing is getting out of there, and in your case really do your homework before moving again.I'm in a similar scenario myself, and will be moving out shortly. If you know it's short term, you can handle the noise. Good luck finding some peace.