Going to school at Ohio University is generally a great experience—you can make a lifelong group of friends through classes and extracurriculars, soak in tons of knowledge, attend classes of your choosing, and of course go to some pretty fun parties and hit up all the main stops on Court Street on the weekends. And you might even find yourself shacking up in some sweet housing close to Ohio University’s campus. But what happens when you’re cozied up in your rental home trying to study for that big exam that’s coming up, and your next-door neighbors are throwing a rager on a random Tuesday night into the early hours of the morning?
Excessive noise from surrounding properties is something everyone will have to deal with at some point in their lives, and it’s all the more likely to happen in college when people are partying the most, particularly if you live in communal, luxury-style rental apartments in Athens or Columbus, or if you’re living in a rental home around the Court Street area. Loud music and screaming can be downright infuriating and maddening to be on the receiving end of when it goes on into the morning and feels like it’ll never stop, but above all, it’s inconsiderate to others in the area who are trying to sleep or study for school. Thankfully, there are more than a few ways to go about handling it properly and professionally.
Talk to Your Neighbors Directly
While this might sound like the more confrontational option—and it is to a certain degree—you’d be surprised at how well it can work when done effectively. To key to executing this tactic successfully is to choose a time when your neighbors aren’t blaring music and creating any other various noise disturbances outside of your rental home.
Instead, choose a more neutral time. Maybe sometime during daylight hours when you know someone will be home and there isn’t anything wild going on in your neighborhood. Walk on over and knock, ring the doorbell, or do what you need to do to grab their attention at the door, and—if you haven’t met them officially yet—begin by introducing yourself and then begin to explain how the noise is affecting you. The key here, like any other form of understanding conversation, is to not direct blame or use an accusatory tone. Instead, list concrete examples of how the noise impacts you. Maybe it’s preventing you from studying in your off-campus student rental for your exam that’s coming up later that week, or maybe you have an 8am class, and the noise is preventing you from falling asleep at a decent hour. If you live in a two or three-bedroom rental, let only one of your roommates to go over to chat to avoid your neighbor feeling like you’re ganging up on them.
With a little bit of conversation, your neighbors will hopefully understand how their noise is impacting others and ease up on things.
Establish Quiet Hours with Your Neighbors
If, after talking to your neighbors, the noise doesn’t let up, it might be time to establish quiet hours for you, the offending neighbor, and any neighbors around your home or rental apartment.
Quiet hours can be either a formal agreement that everyone signs upon, or it can be an informal understanding between everyone in the area. The gist of quiet hours is to block out certain periods of time where noise needs to be kept to a minimum. In most cases, this will probably be hours that go later into the night so that your neighbors won’t be interrupting your study time or sleeping habits.
Quiet hours are beneficial for everyone involved, and the advantage here is that you’re not necessarily singling anyone out—instead, these quiet hours are something that everyone agrees upon to uphold and adhere to.
Use Noise-Blocking Techniques in Your Home
Noise blocking techniques can be utilized in your Ohio University rental housing at any point when dealing with noisy neighbors, and it involves getting crafty with furniture placement, among other techniques.
Try moving furniture further away from the source of the noise—noise can only travel so far, and the further you are away from it, the less likely you are to be able to hear it. Move furniture you’re likely to be spending time on (beds, sofas, chairs, etc.), and check to see if you’re still picking up on that incessant banging noise coming from the wall your bed was up against.
Making use of fabric in your rental home that’s off-campus is another great way to mitigate the effects of unwanted sound entering your space. Say your neighbor is blasting loud music, and it’s coming through the windows so clear that it’s almost as if you’re in their home instead. Find some thick, heavy curtains, and hang them up around the windows where the noise is coming from. Heavy fabric actually has the ability to absorb sound and lessen its impact, so by hanging them up, you should notice a decrease in the amount of noise you can hear.
If you’re hanging out in your one-bedroom rental apartment trying to study, and you’re having a hard time focusing due to the noise, look into some noise-cancelling headphones. You’ll eliminate the unwanted noise, plus you’ll get to listen to music that’s actually conducive to studying.
Seek Support from Your Landlord
Landlords who manage housing around the Ohio University area are no stranger to noise complaints, and if all else fails, it’s time to get in contact with them. Landlords are able to issue out clear warnings to tenants who are likely breaking noise ordinance rules, and a message from a landlord is usually strong enough to get the action to stop completely.
If you’re not in the same building as the offending neighbor, all you need to do is find out who their landlord is and give the leasing office a polite call—it’s even easier if you share the same landlord!
Dealing with noisy neighbors is a part of adult life, but it doesn’t have to be permanent when you take action and follow steps to secure your right to peace and quiet at home.