A 'wee' noise problem keeps strata owner awake

We all have to put up with some level of neighbour noise in apartments, but it shouldn’t be anything that disturbs us or, even worse, keeps us awake at night. But that’s exactly the “wee” problem afflicting one of our readers.

“In the last six months, I haven’t had a solid night’s sleep as the new tenants above me urinate loudly two or three times a night,” writes Flatchatter “Alfred Pickles”. “It’s so loud that it sounds like they are in my bedroom.

“I usually don’t have a problem addressing noise issues, and have spoken with them twice about loud kitchen noises, i.e. blender on counter top at 11pm, and chair dragging [during] every ciggie break on the balcony, but the issue of urination is much harder to broach.

“These are two young kids, so should I see it as my responsibility to help them learn about good neighbourly habits? How do I address this issue without embarrassing them or me?”

As you will find from the whole post on the Flat Chat Forum, Alfred is approaching this with a sense of humour, which is just as well for his upstairs neighbours, as he is also chairman of the owners corporation.

As far as dealing with this without embarrassing either party, that isn’t going to happen. The best Alfred can hope for is to resolve the issue without escalating the problem to open warfare.

A moment of embarrassment is worth it in exchange for a good night’s sleep, while the old adage “speak softly but carry a big stick” applies.

He should send them a note saying he doesn’t want to be a pain but he’d appreciate it if they aimed (pun intended) for a quieter night-time trip to the toilet.

If that doesn’t work, he should do whatever it takes either to engage them in a serious chat or, as a last resort, force them to be a bit more considerate.

That could, but hopefully shouldn’t, involve applying to Fair Trading for mediation, sending them an official Notice To Comply with the by-laws and the ultimate threat of eviction that by-law breaches can lead to.

It’s harsh but sometimes you have to wave the big stick to get people’s attention. Or Alfred could cut this out of the paper and slip it through their letterbox.

You can read Alfred’s entire post, and some suggested solutions, on flat-chat.com.au/forum.