I’m an upstairs neighbor in a small apartment building. I try hard to not be the stereotypical upstairs neighbor when I can help it. I try to walk very quietly (literally tiptoe above my downstairs neighbor’s bedroom late at night to prevent floors creaking), close doors quietly, never play music on speakers, don’t vacuum late at night, etc.
One of my downstairs neighbors recently purchased some type of exercise equipment; not sure if it’s like a walking pad or a treadmill but you can hear squeaking noises when it operates so definitely something along those lines. Unfortunately, it’s right below my bedroom and causes a constant thudding noise, like a hammer, that can’t be drowned out with multiple fans and that I can feel when laying in my bed. It’s loud enough that I can actually feel/hear it throughout my apartment, but it’s really hard to ignore in my bedroom. I hoped they would only use it periodically, but they’ve been using it every day, multiple times a day.
I know they should be able to reasonably enjoy their apartment and to be fair, they use it between 8 AM-8PM. However, I have to work a variety of shifts for my job. If I come home at 1 AM and go to sleep at 2 AM, getting woken up at 8 AM every day makes me tired. If i have to work an overnight shift and sleep during the day, i get woken up multiple times throughout the day by this machine. I don’t like confrontation, but I also never complain about typical apartment noise like TV, footsteps, doors, or talking and I feel like this is not normal noise you just have to put up with. Would it be rude to directly ask them if they can buy some sort of rug or thick mat to help dampen the sound?
TL;DR: Neighbor recently bought some sort of thudding exercise machine that is affecting my sleep schedule and waking me up because it’s right below my bedroom. They use it during the day, I just have a shitty work schedule. Is it rude to ask them to put a rug/mat underneath it?