Noise & Neighbour Conflicts
Noise Complaint / Rules EnforcementA Toddler's Footsteps, a Flooring Demand, and a Neighbour on the Board
A young family faced a costly flooring and underpad replacement demand over normal footstep noise, with the added complication that the complaining neighbour also sits on the board.
A family with a young child received recurring complaints from the unit below about stomping and running noise, despite never having altered the original flooring. Management began requiring the family to replace their flooring and install new underpads, even after the family added carpets and other mitigation on their own. The family said they were willing to comply in principle but couldn't afford the required work on short notice.
One detail is worth surfacing as a general pattern rather than an accusation: the neighbour raising the complaint also serves on the board. That fact alone doesn't mean anything improper occurred. It simply means this is exactly the kind of situation where a corporation's conflict-of-interest process for handling a complaint involving a director matters, regardless of how the underlying noise question is resolved.
Documents an owner in this situation should gather
- The written complaints received and management's written flooring/underpad demand
- Any specific written flooring or underlayment rule the corporation is enforcing, not just a verbal request
- Any acoustic or sound test results referenced in the demand
- Cost estimates for the required compliance work
Questions to ask management or the board
- 1Is there a written flooring or underlayment rule, and what specific acoustic standard is it based on?
- 2Is a phased timeline or cost-sharing arrangement available given the financial hardship?
- 3What is the corporation's process for handling a complaint fairly when the complainant is also a director?
- 4Has the corporation independently verified the noise level, or is the demand based solely on the complaint?
Facing something like this?
Read the plain-language guidance for this exact situation, or run your own documents through the Free Notice Decoder.
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Curated and maintained by Alexander Baraz, Condo Owner Advocate.
This case is not a testimonial, review, or endorsement, and is not a Condo Owner Advocate client file. It is an anonymized, editorially rewritten educational illustration, not legal advice.