I've lived in amsterdam apartments for 15 years now, and only recently have I started to have serious noise problems. 2 years ago I moved into a second-floor apartment with neighbors above and below. Right now the worst noise is from the downstairs neighbors, so believe me moving to the top floor won't always solve the problem.
Out of four sets of neighbors above and below in the current building, all have been somewhat noisy with stereos & TV's. Don't hear much stomping, just a little squeaking of the boards. Right now the young neighbors below me are starting to party between midnight & 5 am on work days.
They usually leave the stereo on medium loud for "only" an hour or two, but for some reason at other times during the night they play a song loud for 30 seconds or a minute (just long enough to wake me up) then turn it down or even off. A week ago they moved their stereo from bedroom to living room, which improves things significantly, but not enough.
I don't think they're really trying to be rude, it's just that sound carries because the apartments are built so poorly. With the windows closed I can listen to people's conversations in other apartments & hear bed springs squeaking. I've developed a habit over the years of leaving an air cleaner running whenever the windows are closed to provide background noise to prevent people from hearing me, and so that
I don't hear and get disturbed by every little noise my neighbors make. In fact sometimes I think the reason others crank the stereos during the day is to cover their conversations. So far I avoided confrontation because things can always get worse, and up until a few weeks ago my neighbors were loud only occasionally. The time may come where the noise happens more and more, and then I'll have to try some of the things suggested here (talking to them, landlord, cranking my stereo...).
Based on what everyone else has said most of those things usually don't work anyway, and may make things worse. The real solution is to get out, as everyone has said. Unfortunately I just re-leased so I've got 13 months to go. It was almost sadly humerous because when I came back to my apartment after signing the lease both neighbors were jamming their stereos!
Even without the noise, I'm sick of the lack of privacy. I'm tired of having to be quiet as a library in order to avoid disturbing people and avoid them hear my conversations and every step I take. I thank everyone for sharing their stories. Although I'm sad you are facing noise, it feels good to know I'm not alone. amsterdam lease
