Neighbor Complains About Treadmill - What do I do now?

Not sure what your landlords are like but I had a similar situation a few years ago and the landlords took my side. During my first run on this new treadmill (which had a mat underneath to absorb the noise) I received a knock on my door from my super within *ten* minutes of starting this run. This means that the neighbor had complained well before ten. I didn't answer the door and kept running. This happened a second time and I didn't answer. At the time, I wasn't even running a ton. 30-45 minute runs max. Finally, I received a call from my landlord saying there had been noise complaints and they wanted to come inspect my apartment to see if the floors were properly covered, etc. My apartment had a rule that a certain percentage of the floor was carpeted. My treadmill was not only on carpeted floor but had the additional mat on top of the carpeting. The landlord glanced around for less than a minute and told me I was fine and to keep doing what I was doing. She politely suggested I keep my running between 6am-9pm so as not to wake people at crazy hours and I was fine with that. My neighbor had complained about me when I was using my treadmill at 2pm in the afternoon lol. I was lucky in that I lived in a legal apartment that was well run/organized. My apartment was in a four floor building and was run by a legit management corp. I didn't read this entire thread but I think you should be fine unless your lease states otherwise. As my landlord said, "You're allowed to live your life. If people want complete silence, they need to move into a house. This is an apartment building." Maybe your apartment is set up differently but if your situation is similar to mine, just do you. I agree with the people who have said you've been too nice.

Even if you used the treadmill every day, that's like 1 out of 24 possible hours in the day. Seems unreasonable that you can't ever use it. I think as long as it's during the day when no one would be sleeping then you should be able to do whatever you want. You could preemptively let the landlord know about the situation so they know you made attempts to communicate with the other residents. Aside from that, just run and forget about them.

jhacvh wrote:

Agreed, no one has obeyed a note on a door since 1517.

this is an underrated joke

Agreeing with everyone who says keep on running. You have something you like - don’t give it up.

Apartment living is apartment living

I think the nature of the noise matters.

I lived somewhere in college with people playing bass music the whole building could hear at night. It was not that bad. Annoying, yes. I could live with it. I was in the city. There are noises.

Another time, a neighbor played a TV loudly at 1:00 am just below me, and I heard it way too loudly. That is disrespectful.

Juice Springsteen wrote:

Can they make a legitimate complaint to a landlord? What can they really do about your treadmill running?

Like you said, I wouldn’t try to use their dog as leverage but if they ever say they will make a complaint or actually do you should whip that out on them.

I believe a complaint is only valid if the noise occurs between the designated quiet owners, usually ranging between 10 pm and 8 am, depending on the community.

Gwalkerruns wrote:

If you want privacy you need to buy a free standing home. They need to move. Either tell them that or do not respond anymore. Run when you feel like it.

I have a problem similar to the OP's neighbors, except in my case the person above me is a stomper. So I downloaded this and this morning it worked wonders. Even masked the sound of the muscle car guy who revvs at 6 am shaking the entire building..

Mencken1976 wrote:

4. Driving to run takes time and requires more motivation, just easier at home.

.

Well, you know, to get far in life and be a decent human being sometimes you have to make sacrifices. I drive to run because I enjoy the trails over streets. If you're motivated enough to ease the tension in your apartment complex, you're motivated enough to try to ease the noise issue.

And most apartment complexes have a gym with treadmills. Why did you need to buy your own??

second this wrote:

I second this. Buying a treadmill when you live in an above ground floor apartment was a ridiculous idea. You should’ve known there’d always be a possibility that the people below would move and you wouldn’t be able to use it anymore. If I lived below someone who pounded on a treadmill, I’d be pretty pissed off.

Another reason to be considerate of your neighbors is that you never know when you're living next to a war vet who has PTSD and get triggered at sudden jarring noises. It can get ugly.

Shoot goddamn dog wrote:

Run longer and faster.

If they have money to own a stupid ugly POS dog, they have enough money to move to a bigger place. Go to hell dog losers. Run more on the treadmill. Make THEM move out.

This is actually true about the money. Most complexes have a pet fee and then there's all of the maintenance and checkups the pet requires.

Runr568 wrote:

I mean maybe they work from home, so that would be different but if my neighbor came down as asked me if he/she could run at a time I wasn’t there, it wouldn’t bother me.

If I worked from home, at least in a remote IT job sort of capacity, I wouldn't be caught in a noisy apartment complex. Being able to work remote gives you leverage in choosing where you live moreso than those of us who have to commute to work and live close for convenience. I'd have a home or 1-story apartment in a small rural suburb if I had that option.

People will mistake your kindness for a weakness

Keep to your daily schedule. Let them complain, call the cops, landlord, and then... they will find out - You are doing NOTHING wrong.

You are an entitled pos with terrible form. Of course some noise is to be expected in an apartment setting, but it sounds like you're intentionally stomping during your jogs to make as much noise as possible. Also your neighbor is a pos for being a dog owner. Sounds like you two were meant for each other.

Oh, and you can splurge thousands of dollars for a treadmill but are so poor you have to live in an apartment? Huh.

Please find respect for your neighbors and stop exercising in that apartment

There is good reason that gyms are located away from dwellings

Peoples' homes should be a place where they are free to live lives of tranquility

This obsession with such indoor exercise regimes is awful for those whose mental and physical health are hugely afftected by it

Just because something is possible or even virtually possible doesn't make it mandatory

Perhaps if people of your disposition reassesed your lives and relationship to others and the world- you might do us all a favour and take up gardening, beach clean-ups, hillwalking.anything that would stop such pernicious intrusions into the home lives of others - and hey you might even get fit and healthy into the bargain Mentally as well

That thing really sucks when you have bought an expensive equipment for getting in shape but you live in an apartment or as tenant and your owner complains about noise coming from your apartment.

I have done cushioning well to reduce the noise every time my foot strikes the treadmill belt. But that doesn't resolve the issue completely because my weight creates strong impact every time I hit machine while jogging or running. Shock absorption pads do the drill while walking.

I have searched a lot and coming from treadmill from this source. What is your take on these techniques?

fitnessgearshub.com

Fix Noisy Treadmill That Disturbs Neighbour | Complete Guide

Humaira Maqbool

Having a noisy treadmill that disturbs neighbors' peace is terrible. Have a look at a few noise reduction elements that will certainly help you.

Link:fitnessgearshub.com/treadmill-noisy-ne...

I want to take suggestion of people before spending some bucks on the suggestions that are given there.