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There are different ways on how you can annoy your neighbor both legally and illegally. In this article, we discuss three important topics:
- Upstairs neighbor stomping revenge
- How to annoy upstairs neighbors legally
- How to deal with noisy upstairs neighbors
The worst thing you could experience as a renter or apartment dweller is a noisy neighbor.
For Christ’s sake, these people because a pain in the @$$ when you need peaceful time alone probably to nap, prepare a report, or meditate.
Changing neighborhoods won’t help because there’s a likelihood that your next neighbor will be worse than your current one.
So you’re left with only one option- to deal with them legally or illegally. So let’s get started:
Upstairs Neighbor Stomping Revenge
Have you tried breaking their legs? You could visit them and break their knee caps, and you’d be sure of no more stomping.
You could hire kidnappers and drive them to another city, or take them across the border into Canada or Mexico. Unfortunately, “people are like dogs,” and they will always find their way back home.
Have you tried smashing a bag of dog poop at their door? There’s a likelihood that this method would backfire as well.
We don’t advocate any of the above mentioned “hacks” because they’re likely to get you in trouble with the authorities.
If you’re serious about dealing with your noisy upstairs neighbors below methods won’t get you in trouble.
How to Annoy Upstairs Neighbors Legally
1. Petroleum Jelly On Their Doorknob
This won’t get in much trouble if you get caught. Grab some Vaseline jelly and apply on your noisy neighbor doorknob for some unpleasant surprise when they return to their apartment.
Beware, there are smart doorknobs that have hidden camera- or else you get busted immediately.
Not only does Vaseline on their door feel unpleasant, but it will also make it harder for them to open their doors. It’ll make the knob slippery.
Ensure that you don’t jam their door lock with petroleum jelly, or else you will be forced to pay for damages if you get caught.
2. Ceiling Vibrator
A ceiling vibrator is a device that will help you get even with your noisy upstairs neighbor.
The “vibrator” is a Chinese invention (read about it here) that uses a motor to create vibrations on your ceiling.
The vibrations are subsequently unleashed on your upstairs neighbor’s floor.
The gadget consists of a motor, WI-FI remote, an extendable rod, and a cable and will cost you as little as US$200.
This gadget is sold by Taobao.com a consumer to consumer platform operated by Alibaba.com
You can have the ceiling vibrator shipped your US address through Alibaba.com
3. Knock On Their Door at Odd Hours
If you genuinely want to get under your neighbor’s nerves, knock on their door at odd hours. For example during their bedtime hours– like very late in the evening or early in the morning
You should make the knock genuine. For instance, you could try and borrow something and make no mistake of allowing them to discover that you’re just trying to mess around with them.
4. Play a Racquetball against Your Ceiling
This hack is similar to the ceiling vibrator discussed above. It’s a cheaper method and highly effective.
Unleash the Serena Williams in you- grab a tennis ball and a racket and spend some few hours volleying the tennis ball against your ceiling during odd hours- late in the evening or early in the morning.
Make sure to perform this when your neighbor is around. You should do it persistently and consistently.
When your noisy neighbor asks you to stop, tell them you’re seriously training for competitions closest to you.
How to Deal With Noisy Upstairs Neighbors
Owning a house was one of the steps towards achieving the American dream, but with the market prices steadily rising and no relief in sight.
A study conducted by Pew Research Center found out that renters head more of the United States households than in 1965.
Below are the most effective ways of dealing with noisy neighbors.
Pick your battles wisely
It’s important to pick your battles carefully and understand that not every battle is worth the fight.
Confronting your neighbor every time you think they’re loud will only make things worse for you.
You can approach your neighbor and complain about loud music the previous night. However, confronting them every time their stereo volume isn’t to your liking could be an indication that you’re allergic to them.
Speak To Your Neighbor
Did you know that your neighbor may not be aware that they are being loud? So keep calm and talk to the friendly.
Introduce yourself to them if you don’t know them and highlight to them some examples of the noises you can hear.
Are you a good neighbor?
Much as you’d like to complain about your noisy neighbor, one question you should ask yourself whether you’re a good neighbor or not?
Probably you blend your smoothies in the dead of night or run your lawnmower 6 am during the weekends.
You may be surprised to confront your neighbor only for them to confront you back and say, “well, you run your lawnmower early in the morning…. Blah blah blah….” This could worsen the relationship between you and the neighbor.
Don’t write to them or report them
Regardless of how nice you may sound through a formal note of complaint, never leave a note on your neighbor’s door.
According to etiquette expert Emily Post, “ People are not good at writing notes, especially when they aim to correct another person’s behavior.”
Notes, in most cases, are viewed as passive aggressors.
On the other hand, while it’s okay to report your neighbor to property management, try to talk to them if possible.
You’re getting them into trouble without even giving them a chance to correct their situation.
How to Annoy Upstairs Neighbors Legally
Whether you go the legal or the illegal way, it’s essential to know that every route you take has its consequences.
We at SoundproofNation.com highly recommend you solve the problem with your neighbor in a peaceful manner.
If nothing works, it’s time to involve the management or call the cops on them.
Thanks for the advice. I’m gonna try the ceiling vibrator.
I bought one. It works. I use it at odd times at the night. Like 3 AM. It bothers them. But they’re still not any less annoying during the day.
My neighbor’s have two noisy yappy dogs who crap in the center of the apartment complex without anyone picking up after them and they bark constantly! But’s that not even the half of what’s going on! They mess with my internet and my cellphone and they come into my apartment and steal food! I have told both the manager and police but they laughed at me and denied that anyone could get into my house! One night when the neighbor was in my apartment and I said loudly I’m going to call the police! He just laughed! I tried three times to get through to 911 and couldn’t! I am an older lady and I need to take matters into my own hands!! Any ideas are welcome.
Put cameras in your house,that will be the evidence to show to the police
Can a neighbor have a camera that allows them to see into your appartment?
Unless there is a no pet policy, or their “kind of” pet isn’t allowed, not much that you can do. Check your lease, there is a lot of restrictions on pets these days. Size, weight, breed, etc. Contrary to popular belief, smaller & yappier dogs are the most aggressive & least likely to be trained or calm.
But when someone is doing something on purpose after the friendly advance on talking with them. Then they don’t talk to you anymore, and the noise has gotten worse, I mean really worse, throwing things on the floor knowing the bedroom is there where they are throwing whatever heavy object they throwing or dropping because it’s so loud it sounds like a bowling ball. This is not noise this is abusive. That was not written on this article.
Stay Blessed and safe.
Wow, as I read your post it was as if I wrote this myself! Not that I want you to be going through this whatsoever, but it is comforting to finally find someone that actually understands the severity of the situation. Like the BIG difference (ppl don’t seem to get) between just having to deal with normal living noises that might happen to be very annoying and where the noises and actions are being done in a vindictive manner deliberately to affect you. You said it perfectly. I hope your situation has at the very least improved or better yet resolved completely! What you described is exactly what im experiencing including music being on 24/7 with extreme bass and high volume etc ughhh fml.
Never confront a neighbor or now that trump is in whitehouuse you could get shot or lied to
I haven’t had any luck with finding the ceiling vibrator. Any suggestions?
Hi Jonsie, unfortunately you can’t get it on Amazon. I ordered mine through a store online and was delivered thought it took around 21 days. Check it out here- https://craftysoundproofing.com/
Hey how does your ceiling vibrator work? The noise is so bad that we can’t even get sleep some nights. We’ve tried talking to our upstairs neighbor but it’s only gotten worse since then.
Hi Jade.
My ceiling vibrator worked pretty well. The concept behind it is that- it sends vibrations across your ceiling to the upstairs neighbor’s floor. So they’ll feel like you’re stomping their floor.
I’ve since moved out to a quieter neighborhood.
But I’m glad the vibrator helped me get even with my neighbors.
What to do when your neighbour’s kids are doing loud noises through the night?
Tennis idea seems good for me at the start in odd time.
Tennis or the ceiling vibrators seems a like good options.
How about this genius idea: if you can’t stand your neighbors because You think they are too loud or mean or rude (etc…) maybe what you need to do is get a house! I’m sure they don’t enjoy being harped at constantly & the ceiling vibrator thing is not only ridiculous and cruel but a lawsuit waiting to happen. You need to ask yourself if it’s worth the noise to have more affordable housing. Since you’re living only a few feet away from someone else, I promise you WILL hear them. Often!
Getting a house is no solution. U can still have horrible neighbors. People need to learn to respect others #simple
Thank you for the truth Larenza! My house is next to a rented house with people not caring until THEY are inconvenienced. People talk a lot of dirt behind the screen that don’t really know. Losers trying to make themselves feel better about being losers themselves.
Exactly. Unless you live with miles of average around you, there is no guarantee. And I’m sorry. But when you rent, it is reasonable to expect neighbors to be moderately quiet during the day, and silent at night. Just because you rent doesn’t mean you have to live with excessive noise. Of course, you will hear your neighbors somewhat, no matter renting or buying but people need to be respectful.
Not cool
Just curious, how is that a lawsuit waiting to happen? You must be one of those people. I don’t encourage that, but seriously? You leave that type of “advice ” and makes you sound like a fool. Most of these people are trying to do the right thing. However, being a former landlord & tenant, that advice is asinine. Obviously “getting a house” is not an option for most people, otherwise they would’ve already done it.
Really? How about neighbors act considerately to the people who live below them? My upstairs neighbors tore out the landlord’s carpeting (would have helped to soundproof) & let kids slam doors, jump all over, play soccer in the house…. but it’s my issue? If they owned the property instead of renting, I bet they would treat the place with more respect. When I was growing up, parents didn’t let their kids run wild at home- that’s the problem now.
Oh heyyyy, you’re a privileged piece of shit. Hey, can I borrow 10,000 dollars to buy a house you out of touch absolute fucking moron? Jesus christ. I’m so embarrassed about your response I have nothing else to say except that if you were a dog, I’d rub your nose in what you just wrote. Jesus.
Someone is using this on me now. NOTHING to do with noise. This is because of a personal argument. I would apologize (and I did) for going below the belt BUT, moths later and hotels, life style change and now using only 25% of my home because of the device. “cruel” was the BEST word to describe it. They also have mental health issues … and now a toy to “play” with!
How is it working out? I’m online right now and seriously thinking about getting one
Install cameras from Cox it will cost like 250 to install plus you have to pay a monthly fee but trust me it will keep you safe and they are encrypted cameras so they cannot be hacked easily if there is a problem with the cameras Cox will send a worker to take a look at them your neighbor will leave you alone I have Cox cameras and that is what is keeping me safe just make sure you ask the technician that installs the cameras to teach u how to use them
Hi there, My bedroom’s ceiling has been stomping for the last few years, i live in a townhouse. I’ve no idea what kind of device my neigbour install on my ceiling. Pls. help!
It sounds like it could be the “Ceiling Wall Thumper”.
People don’t know how serious this is!
I have nothing but trouble with my neighbors. Horrible. They have been trying to get rid of me. Since I moved in.they complained constantly. And my landlord always sides with them. I am furious. Don’t move to Regency court, in Middletown, nj. Believe me.
I’ve been having the same problem too! I have 2 kids under the age of 3 and the neighbor above me knows that. After I tried talking to her about the noises they only got worse and I’ve tried talking to my landlord too about it nothing has improved. I’m already packing because I don’t want to deal with this drama anymore. The only solution after talking to the neighbor, landlord, and having the police involved (if the loud noises persist) is to move out
I’ve been having the same problem too with my neighbor above me! After talking to my neighbor and landlord about it nothing has been improved and now I’m just planning to move out. I have 2 babies under the age of 3 and they know that, and the neighbor above me is still spiteful
I live in an apartment complex and it’s three stories. My family and I live in the middle level and we have people that live underneath us and above us. My uncle has cancer and is bed ridden and my grandma is in her 70s and doesn’t do much to cause noise. My boyfriend and I work all day so we’re hardly home. We just moved into this complex not even a year ago. The day we moved in we told the upstairs and downstairs neighbors if we’re loud please tell us and we’ll try to fix it. About 3 months ago our downstairs neighbors decided to get a subwoofer and crank it to the point our furniture was vibrating and any drink we had on our coffee table you could see the vibrations in the liquid. We ended up nipping that in the bud real quick! Then we get to our upstairs neighbors. The day we moved in the told us they have a 4 year old granddaughter that lives with them and that the wife waters her plants. That should have been a huge indication right there!! The kid runs at all hours of the night and day! I try not to hold it against her because she little and doesn’t understand but the grandparents/parents say nothing about it. There’s even times where the family goes to bed and lets the kid run buck wild all by herself. Then my family will like to sit on our patio and enjoy being outside with everything going on. It doesn’t matter what time we go out the wife hears us and drenches us with water while watering her plants! It’s not a little bit of water either, it’s about a 20 gallon fish tanks worth of water. We’ve talked to them about the water issue and we agreed on a time for her to water her plants and we’ll be nowhere around. Then two day’s later the husband (he’s one of the maintenance guys that works at our complex. Joy!) and I were having a conversation then out of the clear blue the wife starts screaming at me that she shouldn’t have to schedule a time for her to water her plants. And pretty much said if you get wet oh well! Like I said earlier, I have an uncle who has cancer and is bed ridden so it’s a joy for him to go outside, but I also worry that if he gets wet and with all of the bacteria and not knowing what kind of water we’re getting wet with we can’t even have him outside for a couple minutes.
Yeah, only do the ceiling vibrator if it’s an extreme situation like loud music or something. Try moving apartments if it’s that bad. My husband and I were stuck in a 1 bedroom with drug users downstairs and a newborn.
Someone tried the ceiling vibrator on us but it actually ruined my life because it made me nauseas and I couldn’t sleep because of it. It made a bad situation into a living hell for us and the sleep deprivation eroded our mental health and caused us to argue until we were able to move out.
Try not to be a shit neighbor back just move out or request a transfer. I did consider suing them because it possibly violates the “peaceful enjoyment” terms of the lease.
I think you could get in a lot of trouble for using one. Seriously if the noise is that bad it warrants a police call.
How in the world do you think your downstairs neighbor felt? That’s the point. To show you what it’s like.
Obviously people rent because they can’t afford to buy or can’t settle for some reason. If your a renter you should respect your downstairs neighbors if you have people below you!!
EMIE
PLEASE, someone is also using this device on me and our “issue” had NOTHING to do with noise. We had an argument MONTHS ago and he has mental health issues.
People here had 1 tear coming down my face to 1, hear people suffering so greatly but, who are now willing to use this device which causes INTERNAL damage to your organs! Please contact me mrmrmikev@hotmail.com.
I am STRUGGLING to get help. I think this could even KILL!