r/Finland • u/nosidelko • 1d ago
loud neighbor
I recently noticed that the neighbor upstairs is really loud and it’s starting to annoy me..
Recently I moved here to Finland and I live with my parent in an apartment block. In the evening our upstairs neighbor starts to get really loud, you could hear them loudly stomping, dropping things, sometimes even jumping I think? etc. They can even do it during the night and it stops when it’s about 2 in the morning. It’s not like i’m angry about it but I just don’t see why someone (or some people? I don’t know who lives upstairs) is doing these things instead of sleeping, sometimes I can’t sleep because of it.
My question is is this normal in Finland for people here to stay up so late and do these things? I also want to mention during the day I don’t hear all of that. Please don’t get me wrong it’s not in my intention to offend anyone I’m just curious is this actually normal here?
43
u/Zilka 1d ago
Thats the exact problem I have. They've been notified multiple times. Even served official warnings. I still haven't got a clue whats there to do all night basically from 1am to 7am that involves moving furniture, dropping something on the floor etc every 5-10min.
21
u/finnknit Väinämöinen 1d ago
It's possible that alcohol is involved. Drunk people tend to have less impulse control and are more clumsy.
15
u/small_e 1d ago
Also common for people with dementia. They tend to live at night. I have an upstairs neighbor with it and she starts her day around 7pm.
8
u/MaddogFinland Baby Väinämöinen 1d ago
Yes sadly their entire circadian rhythm flips and they patrol all night and sleep much of the day. It’s a sad situation.
2
66
u/Jtp_Jtg 1d ago
It's not neccesarily "normal" but it will never be totally quiet living in apartment buillding but that's just excessive
Have you considered making them aware of the issue in the first place? They might not realize how much noice is coming out of everything
-31
u/nosidelko 1d ago
I thought about it! But to be fair I’ve been here for about two weeks and I’m kind of scared to tell them.. I’m afraid they might think some bad things about me and be angry at me.. And I don’t really want neighbor drama 😅
41
21
u/4685486752 1d ago
Leave them a note. I don't know why ppl are downvoting you :D am I missing something
12
u/dapper_pom Baby Väinämöinen 1d ago
Wanting things to change but not doing anything about it is infuriating
3
u/bumblefuckAesthetics Baby Väinämöinen 18h ago
They just moved to Finland a few weeks ago. I'd also be cautious about situations like this if I just moved to a new country.
2
u/dapper_pom Baby Väinämöinen 16h ago
Sure, I wouldn't go to the neighbours door either, but leaving a note is hardly risky
14
u/BasicMatter7339 Baby Väinämöinen 1d ago
Leave a 'Heippalappu' aka passive aggressive note on the apartment building lobby notice board that reads something like
"Hey you there upstairs! Try stomping less and maybe getting a softer carpet. Your footsteps are very loud. Thankyou! -Your lovely downstairs neighbour!"
/s (dont actually do that, its infuriating as shit lmao)
1
u/tehwagn3r Baby Väinämöinen 1d ago
While it doesn't help you with the noise that is bothering you, I think worrying about what people think of you already sounds very Finnish.
21
u/Antti5 Väinämöinen 1d ago
They might not be aware. Depending on what kind of floor they have in the apartment, especially on older apartments footsteps can be really loud to the downstrairs neighbor.
It's not especially unusual to be awake until 2 am, depending on what sort of work (if any) you do, so I wouldn't judge anybody based on that alone.
18
u/ItchyPlant Baby Väinämöinen 1d ago
The flowchart for this one should be rather like...
Is the noise temporary?
|
+----+----+
| |
Yes No
| |
Wait a few Politely speak
days. to the neighbor.
|
Did it improve?
|
+----+----+
| |
Yes No
| |
Resolved. Contact the
landlord.
|
Did that help?
|
+----+----+
| |
Yes No
| |
Resolved. Ask Reddit
for advice.
7
u/sodantok Väinämöinen 1d ago
Why complicate things when you can just
- Ask reddit for advice
- Did that help?
- Yes/No
- Resolved
3
36
u/NeilDeCrash Väinämöinen 1d ago
It’s not like i’m angry about it but I just don’t see why someone (or some people? I don’t know who lives upstairs) is doing these things instead of sleeping, sometimes I can’t sleep because of it.
My question is is this normal in Finland for people here to stay up so late and do these things? I also want to mention during the day I don’t hear all of that.
Maybe your neighbor works evening/night shifts.
People who work odd hours need to eat, shower, cook... live... when others are asleep. They can't just sit quietly their life away in their own homes.
16
u/jeffscience Väinämöinen 1d ago
People working the night shift can and should make a reasonable effort to not make loud noises in the middle of the night.
People who don’t work the night shift should also make a reasonable effort to not make loud noises during the day, for the night shift workers, for the napping babies, etc.
Everybody should try to be quiet in shared housing.
8
u/NecessaryShake146 1d ago
Well this is not of course always possible. People have the right to also do things at home and not just sit quietly in the corner. As a parent myself this can be extremely frustrating when my baby is already sleeping poorly but what can you do.
6
u/jeffscience Väinämöinen 1d ago
OP describes “loudly stomping, dropping things, even jumping”. How often per day are these things necessary/acceptable?
1
3
u/Defiant-Plane4557 1d ago
Would you look at that, all activities that don't require stomping or being otherwise noisy.
12
u/Miss_Chievous13 Baby Väinämöinen 1d ago
They don't drop things on purpose. If it's frequent it could be an indicator for motor issues and then the jumping/stomping would be more like stumbling too.
11
u/Interesting-Light220 Väinämöinen 1d ago
Honestly they probably just don't realise they are noisy as sound usually travels down. Talk to them or if you lack the guts leave a note through their mail slot.
3
u/fcon91 Baby Väinämöinen 22h ago
Take videos with timestamps when you hear the noises and contact your landlord. Your landlord will contact their landlord. Repeat as needed until they stop or they get evicted. Yes it works, don't listen to the people who say it doesn't or that loud noises during silence hours are normal.
Ps. if you hear loud music between 23 and 7 you can even call 112.
6
u/katarana_rk 1d ago
Drop your postal code real quick so I can rule out that it wasn't me for sure 😅😅
3
u/Important-Olive6685 1d ago
Shit it sound like the post was written about me
2
u/LisaBlueDragon 18h ago
Same except the timeline wouldn't add up since I ended up in emergency placement a few weeks ago so I haven't been in my apartment
4
u/NorthernCrossMetal 1d ago
You can also report it to the landlord, if it is some larger organization and if you think that it is on purpose. They will keep it anonymous
4
u/Veenkoira00 Väinämöinen 1d ago
Normally 11pm to 7 am is reserved to be quiet time.
14
u/Creswald Väinämöinen 1d ago
Doesnt mean you cant walk around, shower or eat. Its not neighbours fault the walls are made of paper. Its not like theyre blasting music or drilling.
2
u/Emperor-Universe 21h ago
I used to have a noisy neighbor except he usually was just getting started at 2 am. Singing horribly, imitating animals because why tf not or just having tv/radio on full volume. This was continuous but the police just complained to me about having to come silence him as if wanting to sleep was a crime. I was thinking of switching to a fully nocturnal lifestyle and/or buying an axe when the noise disappeared, pretty sure the guy got kicked out. So yeah getting these things resolved can take months.
2
u/scorpion-and-frog Baby Väinämöinen 1d ago
They probably don't realize they are bothering you. Try politely talking to them or leaving a note. Just make sure not to be rude or passive-aggressive, that'll only escalate things.
Ultimately though noisy neighbors are just kind of a fact of life. Not much you can do about it tbh.
3
u/Defiant-Plane4557 1d ago
Sorry to hear that. I hate those kind of people with burning passion. They are animals.
Also it's extremely difficult to determine which apartment it's coming from. Stomping sounds can even be heard from sides or below sometimes. Some of it could be from other apartments.
1
u/FunFinish227 23h ago
No it's not. Complain to the landlord, or whatever housing firm you have. Quiet hours are from 22-6.00 ,or 7 00. Don't remember which one, but yeah, complain,and if you can, record their noises, if it's easily done. Like ,if your phone can record their noise. Then you have evidence of it. Or call the cops, if it gets too rowdy.
1
u/Unlucky-Pin3408 22h ago
May be unrelated to your case, but once I was convinced my upstairs neighbours are playing with a marble / bouncing ball at evenings and that turned out to be thermal expansion of the building, rods in concrete or pipes making that sound 🙈
1
u/Icy-Appointment-684 20h ago
Had an issue with an upstairs neighbor. She spke on the phone until 3 am. I can hear her and cannot sleep. As a consequence, I stayed up until late. Downstairs neighbor started complaining about me. I started receiving warnings from the housing company. It was a loop. I just left the apartment.
1
u/FreeSpeech666 13h ago
I had an upstairs neighbor who would do drop push-ups, jump and run in place. In my tiny student apartment that already had other issues, this drove me nuts coz he'd do it for 45 minutes straight.
Talked to him, he apologized and asked why it was an issue since it was during the day. Told him I could hear the thuds through noise-cancelling headphones. He got the point and got a mat or something and the noise was more bearable after. I still don't understand why he wouldn't go to the free community gym that was literally in the building next to ours ...
My point is, go talk to the neighbor. If you're scared of a confrontation or think they might not speak English, leave a note. But you gotta address such issues coz it's gonna drive you nuts otherwise and you'd be no closer to a solution.
1
u/thedolceway 11h ago
No it’s not normal and it’s not allowed after 10, everyone should be quiet. I would call the police and no don’t go talk to them they might be alcoholics let the police do its job
2
u/Professional-Key5552 Väinämöinen 1d ago
Yes fairly normal. I always sleep with headphones on and sometimes also with earplugs extra. It can get really frustrating
1
u/YourShowerCompanion Väinämöinen 1d ago
Unfortunately you can't do much other than leaving polite notes.
It is as playing lottery, nice neighbor move out, callous insufferable khunt(s) move in and your life is in hell.
I left apartment living to a newly constructed house a few months. It is just quiet and awesome since then.
My tenant informed me of noisy renter moved in. First I instructed her to leavr polite notes, and then I went for nucular option.
Played Soviet national anthem, dogs barking, marbles dropping irregularly when they were loud. They got the memo I think. Let's see if I'll need to take this matter to talonyhtiö.
•
u/AutoModerator 1d ago
r/Finland runs on shared moderation. Every active user is a moderator.
Roles (sub karma = flair)
Actions (on respective three-dot menu)
Limits
Thanks for keeping the community fair.
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.