The owner of house where I’m currently house sitting never mentioned when I interviewed for the sit that there was a family of four living upstairs and that the roof and walls are very thin. All day long there is screaming and pounding on the ceiling. I feel like we are essentially all living in the same apartment as I can often hear everything they are saying.
I’m a digital nomad and work from my computer and I’m finding it incredibly difficult to work and all the near constant noise makes me incredibly anxious to the point that my head starts to throb.
The owner has lived in this house, she says, for something like 25 years. I’m sure she fully knew about this, but didn’t say anything because she was probably afraid she wouldn’t be able to get a house sitter.
I feel duped and believe this should have been fully disclosed to me during the interview so that I could make a decision on whether or not to take the sit.
But what can I do other than leave her a bad review in the end?
I feel like Trusted Housesitters should have a section in the listing where home owners are required to disclose such things.
Duped? It’s an apartment, so it will be noisier than other places. Maybe as she’s lived there for that long, she’s grown used to it and simply forgot all about it, or maybe you are noticing it more than most (and more than her) with working there. Whereas she probably has the TV on when she’s home and doesn’t notice it as much.
Personally I wouldn’t be overly harsh on her as it was you that choose an apartment when you knew you needed to concentrate on work, which always have a lot more noise in comparison to a house.
It’s an apartment, so you take your chances with noise levels, so I’m not saying you shouldn’t mention it, I’m just saying… it’s an apartment, it’s to be expected.
I appreciate your comments but you guys are not the ones here dealing with it either! And I do not agree. Home owners should have more respect for their house sitters than that but then maybe I just expect more out of people in general. Be transparent and don’t hold back essential information. However, I have learned my lesson and will ask more specific questions in the future.
Personally, I wouldn’t stay in an apartment for this very reason.
Have you ever been in a hotel and heard the folks next door? It’s exactly the same.
What is noisy to some is normal to others.
Sometimes we just have to take more responsibility for our own actions really.
Hey, AnnAboutTown, welcome. That sounds really annoying. Did any other sitters mention it in their reviews?
I would say, yes, a learning experience for you that this is something that should be discussed. I’m not sure I’d do more than mention in the review that “I’m a digital nomad and need a quiet space to work; the ceiling and walls are very thin here, and the family upstairs is very noisy. If you need a quiet place to work, this may not be the sit for you.”
For the current problem you’re having…maybe noise-cancelling headphones?
The OP has changed their post to “house” rather than “apartment”
I’m sorry for your experience @AnnAboutTown I think it would have been a considerate thing to mention on a call with you prior to the sit if the HO knowingly have a consistently noisy family living upstairs which may bother you especially if you had expressed that you work from home. It does sound pretty bad if it’s all day long, making you anxious and your head is throbbing. HO’s should be transparent or they open themselves up to a poor review. However, it could be easy for the HO to deny this isn’t a usual occurrence and we don’t know for sure if so and if all sitters will have the same experience. Has the HO had previous sitters who have left reviews or is this their first experience?
I came across a review from a sitter in a similar situation where they suffered a noisy, arguing family upstairs. Things escalated quite considerably. The sitter got involved, went to their door to ask them to stop, even called the police on them and then marked the sit down due the experience. What was different though in that case was that the HO had been transparent and mentioned it to her about it prior to the sitter accepting the sit so it seemed unfair of the sitter to give them 3 stars for that.
In future do communicate with the HO that you will be working from home and need a quiet place for this.
I’m not sure what you mean by ”bad review”. I hope you’re not referring to the overall review unless there are other issues that you don’t mention in your post.
I am sorry you are stressed by the noise and can’t concentrate on your work. But I agree with @Twitcher and @HappyDeb that the owners may not even be aware that this may be a problem for others.
That sounds awful. I hope it’s not a long sit. I’ve stayed and lived in too many noisy places. It can wear you out. The only thing that has helped in a small way is to use my phone as a sound machine. I like the ocean waves because they are soothing to me. Some people like rain because it’s a steady sound. A loud fan may help if that’s available too.
Whenever I apply for a sit in an apartment, because noise does bother me, I ask if it’s an issue. If the answer is anything other than it’s very quiet, especially at night, I pass.
I would definitely mention it in your review. Good luck.
I certainly can understand your being annoyed and frustrated with the noise. When I got my first apartment, I had a family of three that lived above me and the noise was constant. When I got my second apartment, I ensured that I would be on the upper level and have no one living above me. For future your sits at an apartment, you may want to ask “How many floors does the apartment have?” and “What floor does the HO live on?”
As far as your review, yes, you can mention the noise, but did the HO intentionally leave that out? When living in an apartment, it can be disruptive, noisy, and irritating-- depending on who is living there. Living in an apartment–It is common to hear people come and go. The HO has lived there for 25 years, so she may be desensitized to the noise above. I don’t think you were duped—the loud noises may be her normal and didn’t think to mention it to you.
When living in close proximity of someone in an apartment, noise pollution is always a possibility.
@AnnAboutTown I have not read other posts on this thread.
I think it is worth the mention in the review specifically if you’re someone who needs to work from home.
Regardless if this is something that the homeowner has grown used to over the 25 years that doesn’t mean that a new person to the situation will not find it disturbing.
Perhaps on “accuracy of listing” deduct a star and be sure to mention why that star is deducted.
I’m not saying this shouldn’t be mentioned or even perhaps knock a star off “accuracy of listing” but overall rating?. I don’t think so. Anyway, if the reason of the rating is clearly explained, then both sitters and HOs can reach their own conclusions and make their own choices. @AnnAboutTown, I think before writing your review, you should consider the impact it can have both on the owner and yourself and perhaps it would be a good idea to let a few days pass so you can write a factual, unemotional review. You know how noisy it is and how it has impacted your work and wellbeing, that’s a fact you can and should mention in your review ( I like @Val suggestions) but you can’t know for sure the owner
I have neighbours on top of me and immediately next to me. The only time there is an issue with that is when someone really starts drilling or hacking in the concrete of our building. That is quite rare.
Yes, I have also lived in an apartment building where the noise insulation was quite bad. I did not stay there longer than a few months, fortunately.
I agree with others who say that the homeowner was probably not deliberately misleading you, just didn’t consider the noise to be a problem that needed to be disclosed.
I am “allergic to noise” (as one ex-boyfriend said!), so the noise you describe would drive me crazy but might not bother others. I mentioned in my house listing when there was construction next door, because of my awareness of noise. Other people might be sensitive to smells and not want a house that was recently painted. Anyone on this forum knows that there is a huge variation in what people consider “clean.” My point is that HOs might have no knowledge that their normal living conditions are unacceptable to others.
I would mention the noise in my review. I like @val suggested wording.
This happened to me at a sit in London once and it drove me nuts, when I was around. But I am not a digital nomad or “tele commuter” so I didn’t spend all day and night at the apartment so it wasn’t a deal breaker. Homeowners aren’t offering office space, that’s a bonus for most, they are offering a house and pet sit and if sitters are digital nomads whatever you want to call it, it is up to you to ask the question re noise when applying. First question, is your home in a quiet environment.
I don’t think a homeowner realises or notices the noise sometimes as they become accustomed to it after many years and it simply becomes white noise. I anticipate now that if I am sitting in an apartment/flat on a lower level in London in particular, that I could and probably will have some noise from upstairs. Most buildings are old and creaky and not sound proofed. It would be highly unfair of you to review it in any way negatively but I would of course also recommend mentioning the noise factor, nicely, in your review, for any potential sitter that it may be a major issue for. Nothing good comes from unnecessary negativity.