Imagine living in a condo with an upstairs neighbor who makes a lot of noise. Late at night, you hear everything from singing to stomping to chairs scraping across the floor. Would you confront the neighbors about the noise or learn to live with it?

In this story, one person who lives in an upstairs apartment with their mom gets a letter from the downstairs neighbors that’s full of examples of how they’re being way too loud late at night.

The upstairs neighbors feel bad about inconveniencing the downstairs neighbors with noise, but they work second shift and can’t realistically make all of the changes the neighbors request.

Keep reading to see what exactly the neighbors are complaining about and if you think the upstairs neighbors should be more accommodating.

AITA for not wanting to change how I live for the neighbor below me?

Mom and I both work 2nd shift hours 2pm-11pm and prefer to wind down before going to bed.

My neighbor is a middle-aged male with a teenage son.

The letter I received verbatim.

The letter included quite a few complaints about noise.

I first want to say I know condominium living isn’t perfect and we all need to try and live in harmony in these tight conditions.I wanted to take a moment to let you know a of a few issues I have regarding noise from your condominium unit.

We can literally hear every footstep from your unit and can tell at all times where someone is walking. The walking is not only very loud but it is so hard that on occasion things will move on my walls. It is especially loud starting in late afternoon and going until nearly midnight sometimes.

I understand you may be on a different schedule but we hear the washer and dryer going late at night making a noise that is loud in our unit. This goes until 11pm quite often.

The sliding of your kitchen chairs on the tile is extremely loud. One night in the past few weeks we counted the chair(s) being moved 73 times in a 1 hour time frame.

The letter continues with potential solutions.

I have wood floors in my unit and I bought small stick on felt pads to put on the bottom on anything that slides. This not only protects my floors but it also makes it so my neighbors below me don’t hear the chairs sliding.

Someone up there has a wonderful singing voice but I don’t need to hear Broadways tunes being sung at 11pm while we are trying to sleep.

I’m not trying to be picky but these are very real issues we deal with in our unit on a daily basis and all I am doing is asking for some consideration in these matters.

I realize you didn’t have anyone living below you for over two years so it didn’t really matter but we are here now and the noise is actually embarrassing when we have friends visit. It has gotten to the point where my high school son goes to bed listening to music in his ear buds so he doesn’t hear the noise from above.Thank you for your consideration in this matter.

OP is trying to be considerate.

Some are easy fixes. The singing can stop and I put sticky pads on the chairs already.

There are times when we must wash our clothes at 11pm when we work long weeks.

Unfortunately our lives revolve around our work schedules, we get home and the last thing we want to do is go to bed.

Mom is flat footed and can try to walk quieter, but am I expected to lose weight to stop cracking and creaking that follows me everywhere I go? or go to bed as soon as I get home, not hang with my friends online and become a morning person instead?

OP feels bad but can’t change everything.

I already go out of my way to tip-toe 24/7 because of my weight.

From how specific the letter was it feels like we would have to change how we live to satisfy him. Truthfully, I don’t feel like we’re obliged to do ANYTHING.

I feel bad but at the same time ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

AITA?

I might respond explaining the situation, the work schedule and what they have done to try to reduce the noise but also point out why a few things can’t change. At least the neighbor would know they are trying to be as considerate as possible.

Let’s see what Reddit suggests.

I completely agree with this comment.

Another person shares their opinion.

Here are some more suggestions on how to reduce the noise.

This person thinks they’ve done enough.

The neighbor’s letter was actually very well worded and specific to explain what sounds they’re hearing, when they’re hearing them and how it is impacting their lives. It sounds like OP is trying to be considerate, but I think there are a couple more ways they can be considerate.

First, I think there has to be a way for them to do laundry on the weekends or whenever they have a day off. That way they aren’t doing laundry during quiet hours.

Second, they should get some rugs or slippers to try to reduce the walking noises a little bit.

Finally, I think they should write the neighbor a letter sharing what changes they have made and that with their work schedule, that’s really all they can do at this point.

A little consideration can make a big difference.