How to be a Good Neighbor in 2018

It's 2018! We are well into a new year and recent complaints about noise in the building make it a great time to take stock of where you are and where you want to be. In that spirit, here are three things you can do this coming year to be a better owner/tenant/neighbor at 24 Norman Street.

1. Be Aware
We live in a small building with nonexistent soundproofing. The lack of proper soundproofing in this building cannot be overstated, especially in-between floors. It is possible to hear activity in this building that would go unnoticed in others. Walking around, flushing toilets, music and TV's playing, alarm clocks going off, coffee grinders, dishwashers, all can be heard. For this reason we have fairly strict sound ordinances in the condo rules, violation of which can cause all kinds of problems in the building community, and can get you fined or evicted.
There is some gray area in how that ordinance is interpreted by various individuals
however the wording is pretty broad. Below is the actual language of the condo sound ordinance.
"No Residential Unit Owner shall make or permit
any noxious or offensive activity or disturbing
noises in the Units or do or permit anything to
be done therein which will interfere with the
rights, comfort or convenience of other Unit
Owners. No Residential Unit Owner shall play
upon or suffer to be played upon any musical
instrument or permit to be operated a
phonograph or a radio or television or other
such device in such unit between the hours of
eleven o'clock p.m. and the following seven
o'clock a.m., if the same shall disturb or annoy
other occupants of the Units, and in no event,
shall any Residential Unit Owner practice or
suffer to be practiced either vocal or
instrumental music. No Residential Unit Owner
shall give vocal or instrumental instruction at
any time. "

Basically, any noise made after 11 PM and before 7 AM which could potentially irritate or annoy a neighbor might be a problem. Weather or not it is a problem depends primarily on the tolerance of your immediately adjacent neighbors. So be mindful. Nothing pisses people off like being habitually awakened in the middle of the night, or a "screw you, I'll do what I want, whenever I want" attitude.

Remember: as an owner you absolutely have the right to insist that the tenant respect the sound ordinance. You also absolutely have the right to insist that Markwood enforce that ordinance.

2. Be Considerate
Basic consideration of your neighbors goes a long way to heading off potential problems. Be aware of the sound ordinance in the condo rules, (noise between 11 PM and 7 AM) and if you are an owner make certain that your tenants are aware of them as well. Be mindful of your schedule. Try putting yourself in your neighbor's shoes. Don't assume that everyone keeps the same schedule that you do, or has the same tolerance for noise, or shares your taste in music. (Headphones are a wonderful invention, use them when possible).

3. Communicate
Recently a unit owner was doing construction in their unit...on a Sunday. It may have been necessary for the work to be done that day, that sometimes happens. There are no direct prohibitions against construction on a Sunday, but you still have to ask yourself the question, does anyone really want to hear hammering and sawing on a Sunday afternoon? Probably not. This owner followed the letter of the condo rules, but not the spirit of the rules.
Part of being a good neighbor is thinking about your neighbors. So, what should the owner have done in this situation? Reschedule? Probably not, but if they knew they were planning something that was likely to make noise, like say...renovations, it would have been a good idea to let their neighbors,
(above, below and on either side), what they were planning on doing,  when they were planning on doing it and for how long. Some owners have have been very conscientious about doing this. It makes a situation that could be really irritating, more tolerable.

Take This Sound Test

 

 


Are you watching a movie or TV show on your television, playing a game on your computer, or listening to music on your stereo? Go out into the hallway and close the door. Can you still hear your device plating? Then it is probably too loud.
If you can hear it outside your unit, then your neighbors can hear it too, either down the hallway, through the wall, or the floor. (Headphones might be a great idea).

If you live at 24 Norman Street and don't know it already, you will quickly find out that it is a small building, and there is minimal soundproofing. The building was converted to condos in the 1980's, before newer building codes stipulated more robust soundproofing. For example, in newer construction, there is a minimum of one foot of space between your ceiling and the floor of the unit above you. We don't have that here. Basically your floor is also someone's ceiling.

That means that sound is easily transmitted. Walking heavily, flushing toilets, running your dishwasher, dropping things on the floor all sound like a heard of elephants stampeding, a tropical rainstorm, and a gunshot respectively. Add that to the outside ambient noise of downtown Salem, and you have a recipe for stressful living. Now we all chose to live here, so there is some expectation of noise, but it is a razor-thin line between acceptable and actively annoying.

Be aware of the time of day as well. There are restrictions in the condo bylaws that prohibit any noise between 11:00 PM and 7:00 AM. But I'm sure that if you're playing loud music or hammering something into a wall at 8:00 AM on a Sunday morning, you're not going to be engendering much good will from your neighbors.

Here is a link to a blog article titled: "How to Complain About Your Noisy Neighbors Without Being That Guy" , which has some good tips for dealing with sound the almost universal issue of noise. 

This is all a way of saying, please be aware of the level of noise you are making, and try to be considerate of your neighbors. It goes a long way to improving the quality of life here.