Moving-In
Moving into a new place is nothing short of embarking on a journey. In the process, it isn’t uncommon to wonder how long it will take to move all of your stuff, what your new commute to work will be like, and of course, how you’ll get along with your neighbors.
Take “Justin” and “Leah” for instance:
In 2002, the pair moved into a lovely new condo and were excited to finally settle in. Both were thrilled at scoring the property six grand below the original price and being the second owners to live there. Like any property owner, Justin expected to do as he pleased with his new place, such as restyling various rooms and having company over.
In just a few years, Justin and his wife grew quite accustomed to their new home. With the building under supervision by an HOA, Justin happily attended the meetings that kept everything and everyone within the building in order.
Life was sweet!
But on one fateful night, things took a dramatic turn when Justin decided to watch a movie using his new subwoofer speaker. Within moments, he heard an anxious rapping on his front door.
Upon opening the door, he quickly discovered that his neighbors beneath him had sold their condo, and were replaced by a not-so-friendly resident named “Valerie”, thus beginning a back-and-forth conflict that lasted for months.
~
Keep It Down!
The evening started off pretty normal. It was around six in the evening when Justin sat to enjoy an action movie packed with explosions and the indistinguishable sound of weapons blasting off. When he heard the sudden knocking on his door, and the far-from-subtle ringing of his doorbell, Justin wasn’t sure what to expect.
After opening the door, Valerie stood in the hallway, visibly annoyed.
“Hi! Can I help you?” Justin smiled at her, only to be met with an incredulous look that seemed to be the way her face looked on a regular basis.
“My husband and I are trying to enjoy a nice and quiet dinner. Would you please turn down whatever show you are watching? We can hear everything that’s going on!”
Justin blinked. “Oh, uhmmm, sure! I’m really sorry about that!”
Without saying another word, Justin’s neighbor took two steps back before walking away. Justin promptly grabbed the clicker and turned down his home theatre as well as the main volume for his television. It wasn’t a huge deal.
Or so he thought.
A short while later, Justin was interrupted from his movie again. Aggressive knocking erupted from his front door. Justin hopped up to see what it was about, only to find his neighbor there again. With crossed arms, Justin stared back at the cold glare she gave him before he finally spoke.
“Hi, again. Can I help you?”
“We can still hear everything from your show! You need to turn it down right now!”
Justin’s patience disintegrated quickly. He was pretty sure this neighbor of his was letting on more than what was actually happening. He decided to stand his ground.
“So you can hear everything from my television? Can you give me some of the last dialogue you heard just now?” Justin smirked.
His neighbor uncrossed her arms and threw her hands up in frustration. “I don’t know! I just know you’re watching some adult film and we can hear it because it’s too loud.”
After she said this, Justin was certain that his new neighbor was being overdramatic. She was totally wrong about him watching an “adult film”. Egged on by temptation and pettiness, he decided to show his neighbor he wasn’t going to let her boss him around.
He calmly told her what movie he was watching, then went as far as repeating the last three pieces of dialogue.
“It doesn’t seem like you can hear my movie all that well,” Justin finished.
Valerie shot Justin daggers before gritting her teeth, “I don’t care. It’s too loud and you need to turn it down.”
“Actually, the noise ordinance says I don’t have to turn anything down until ten in the evening,” Justin said.
Justin’s neighbor let out a heavy sigh. “Fine! I guess my husband and I will have to go out to eat to get some peace and quiet!”
Justin stifled a chuckle as he watched her stomp away.
“Have a good night,” he said cheerfully as he retreated inside his condo and turned his volume back to where he had it originally. He enjoyed the rest of his movie without a care in the world. To his knowledge, his new neighbor and her husband did end up going out to eat that night, but it was far from his problem.
Little did he know, that same neighbor wouldn’t be forgetting their run-in so easily.
~
The HOA Meeting
At the next HOA meeting, Justin and Leah weren’t all that surprised to see Valerie stand tall when it was her turn to address concerns. Everyone in the meeting listened to her rant about loud noises at ‘inconsiderate’ times of the night. Valerie even complained about hearing children jumping up and down and crying non-stop.
Justin knew everything she said was about him, but he held his tongue as Valerie went on for what seemed like hours. He and Leah had a four-year-old and a newborn at the time. It was one thing that Valerie heard them in the hallway from time to time as they exited and entered their condo, but it seemed rather suspicious that Valerie had supernatural hearing that could detect their children playing in their carpeted bedrooms.
Valerie even had something to say about how other neighbors on the first floor blared music on Saturday mornings so loud that she could never sleep in. She also added that she could hear them arguing through the walls in ‘full detail.’
Valerie’s constant nagging at the HOA meetings went on for a total of six months. Every single time she brought up the same concerns, the HOA informed her that if the noises she experienced were between the hours of eight in the morning to ten at night, there was nothing they could do about it. The board even recommended Valerie call the cops if the noises persisted after those specified times.
Justin and other residents of the condo building started receiving regular reminders in the mail about the noise ordinance. After another three months flew by of constant pestering by Valerie and the HOA, Justin stopped attending the meetings. Valerie, however, persisted in attending the meetings. His annoying neighbor even started taping the notices they mailed on Justin’s front door.
On several occasions, Valerie called the cops on Justin and his wife. Each time, the police were extremely apologetic about their visits at eleven at night. Even the officers that visited the building claimed to not hear a peep as they approached their condo, despite Valerie’s accusations.
This went on for months, and after seven more flew by, Justin was done with Valerie’s constant complaining. He and Leah decided it was time for them to find a different place to live, but not before making Valerie pay for her relentless behavior.
~
Come On, Feel The Noise!
Justin and Leah decided to upgrade their flooring.
When Justin and Leah first moved into the condo, it was covered in carpet that reached the dining room, kitchen, and bathroom. It was an odd setup, but Justin and Leah overlooked it as they were very excited to finally own the property.
But they figured now would be the perfect time to re-do it, especially if Valerie was going to let every single noise be fuel for a bogus HOA complaint or call for law enforcement, they may as well be making lots of it. First, Justin and Leah demolished their condo flooring. Together, they tore out the carpet and tack strips. They also pried the base-molding trim off the walls.
Most of the work they put in took place on a Saturday at around midday. Still, Justin wasn’t surprised to hear the all too familiar rapping on his door.
“Yes, Valerie?” Justin opened his door to find himself face-to-face with the bothersome woman.
“Can you guys keep it down?” Valerie stood with her arms crossed as she tapped her foot. “I’m trying to have a Pampered Chef party!”
“Sure,” Justin said nonchalantly before closing the door in her face.
Not caring about any temper tantrum that entailed, Justin and Leah extended the tile in their condo all the way from the front door down to the long hallway to their master bedroom. The couple also installed bamboo hardwood in their recreational room.
To bask in the moment, Justin banged his hammer all over the subflooring. He blasted hard rock on his stereo for four hours on top of the music his other neighbors were playing like they normally did when they cleaned on Saturday mornings.
Valerie was livid!
Justin, however, did not stop there.
~
More Repairs…And The Grand Finale
Justin and Leah rented a hardwood floor nailer. It made a loud noise when it drove nails into the flooring and subfloor. The nailer also had to be struck with a large dead blow hammer. It took them three days to install the rest of the coffee-colored bamboo hardwood flooring.
The couple was ecstatic knowing Valerie was probably going insane. To top everything off, Justin and Leah installed a tile inlay in the hall and decorated the walkway from their front door to their master bedroom. They then installed the same tile along the divider for their recreational room, dining room, kitchen, and bathrooms.
Justin was pleased with their new flooring. Not only were the carpets gone, but each time a hard shoe, like his daughter’s dress shoes or Leah’s six-inch stilettos hit the floor, it produced the perfect echo.
Not even a drop of remorse found its way to Justin’s conscience. If anything, he believe that Valerie had what was coming to her. After days of making tons of noise as they remodeled their condo, Justin and his family listed their condo that sold within a month’s time. During closing, the real estate agent told Justin and Leah it was the flooring that sold the buyers for their condo. The couple also sold their condo right before the real estate market crashed.
Nine months later, Justin and Leah received word from their neighbors that Valerie and her husband sold their condo for thirty-thousand dollars less than they had and took an eight thousand dollars loss. Valerie also sent a letter of complaint to the HOA stating that the condo was ‘unlivable’ because of the noise from the floors we installed.
In the end, Justin and Leah felt redeemed from the prolonged harassment they suffered from Valerie.
All is well that ends well.
But that just leaves one question…
~
Was Justin Justified For His Actions?
Anyone who moves to an apartment or condo building should know they are signing off on living next to neighbors that will undoubtedly make noise.
However, anyone who lives in a building with other residents should practice proper etiquette when it comes to how much noise they make.
In Valerie’s defense, she did come to Justin to ask him to turn down his speakers. No, it wasn’t past noise ordinance hours. No, Justin didn’t outright refuse to turn it down the first time. But having something as loud as a surround sound system in a shared building does seem a little inconsiderate.
According to these Reddit users, Justin isn’t as innocent as he thinks:
“Definitely sounds like you’re the horrible neighbor here,” claimed one commenter on Justin’s original post.
“I cannot read this post without having the loud and annoying sounds of your subwoofer, (and) you hammering nails and your wife’s high heels in my head. Maybe your neighbor was unfortunate to live close to you.
Your so-called revenge was either a slightly immature reaction at someone expecting you to (act) like adults and take responsibility for the consequences of your actions or a not-so-brilliant excuse for retiling the floor and disturbing the downstair neighbors,” retorted another commenter.
“You own a subwoofer in shared housing. You’re immediately the (moron) here simply because no music, movie, or show needs that extra thump to the bass to be enjoyed. You’re about as likable as the people who play their cellphone speakers or Bluetooth radios in public…If it (disturbs) having guests, sleeping, having normal conversations, it’s too (darn) loud and you’re a miserable neighbor for doing it on purpose,” another commenter explained.
So there you have it.
Do you agree with Justin’s actions?
Or, do you sympathize with Valerie?
~
