Has your downstairs neighbor been annoying you? Whether they keep playing loud music or talk so loudly you can hear every word, downstairs neighbors can truly wreak havoc on your everyday life.
If you’ve been thinking of striking back, now is your perfect chance to do it. I’ll give you some ideas you can consider without putting yourself in danger of eviction. Read on, and take notes!
1. A Tennis Ball Goes a Long Way
You’ve probably heard all about the notorious tennis balls — they’re some of the best tools you can use to annoy your neighbors, no matter where they live. In the case of the people or person living directly below your apartment, all you have to do is bounce the ball against your floor.
You can do that for a few minutes or longer, all depending on how angry you want to make them. Bouncing the ball against hardwood floors is the best option, as it makes the most noise. However, all other types of flooring can give pretty good results as well.
Of course, this trick only works if the walls and ceilings in your building are thin. Luckily, though, that’s true for most buildings, especially older ones, so making noise won’t be an issue.
Now, to ensure that you don’t take things too far, you shouldn’t do this for too long at a time. The key is actually picking the most inconvenient time to do it, rather than going on for too long. So, pick early mornings or late nights, when you can do the most damage.
2. Wear Shoes Inside Your Home
This option is extremely effective, and it requires little effort on your part. All you need to do is wear shoes inside your apartment so that your steps can be more audible to your downstairs neighbor.
If you think about it, this trick is genius. After all, no one can really evict you for simply walking around your apartment and going about your day while also wearing shoes.
Naturally, you should pick a clean pair, so that you don’t spread mud or dirt around your apartment. Also, it’s smart to go for shoes with harder soles or even try high heels, as they’ll cause more noise.
If confronted about your habits, you can always say you’re either breaking in your new shoes or that a medical condition requires that you wear them inside. No one’s going to bother checking, so you can continue on.
3. Workouts Can Get Loud
Do you enjoy going to the gym? To get back at your neighbor, you should consider relocating your workout sessions to your apartment instead. It might be a bit of an adjustment, but the feeling of satisfaction will surely make up for it.
Now, as for what you can do, there are really no limits. The easiest idea is to get a walking pad or a treadmill and get your daily steps in while inside. Wearing shoes with hard soles is, once more, a good idea in this case. Besides walking, you can also run, as that will cause even more noise.
Of course, you can also do walk-in-place workouts. These workouts are exactly what they sound like — you only take steps while staying in the same spot, bringing your feet down against the floor at whatever pace suits you most. This type of workout is a great alternative if you cannot spend money on a treadmill or walking pad.
Moreover, you can also do jumping jacks or try skipping a rope. They’re both an excellent way to get toned and burn calories. Even better, they cause a bunch of noise and vibrations that will drive your downstairs neighbor mad.
4. Become a Neat Freak
How often do you vacuum? If the answer is about once a week or even less often, it’s time to significantly amp that number up. The sound of the vacuum will drive your neighbor insane, and you won’t even have to do much.
The key to success, in this case, is to pick times when you know that your neighbor is sleeping. That way, you’ll cause the most damage even if you only have the vacuum on for a short time.
To figure out when your neighbor is asleep, you just need to pay attention to the sounds coming from downstairs. If they’re usually loud and obnoxious, that won’t be an issue at all. When you hear things go quiet at night or early in the morning, take out your vacuum and get to work.
Of course, when doing this, you should be careful not to upset your other neighbors too much. It would be great if you could actually talk to them beforehand, or at least try not to vacuum for too long.
5. Develop a Taste for Smoothies
Similarly to a vacuum cleaner, a blender can easily be heard from one apartment to another. That is especially the case early in the mornings when everything is extra peaceful and quiet in the building.
So, it’s time to start making smoothies like your life depends on it. Besides making noise, you’ll also get to enjoy the health benefits from consuming fruits and veggies in an easily digestible way.
In case you’re not a huge fan of smoothies, you can also use your blender to make iced coffee, matcha, sweets, soups, or anything else you like. The important thing is to make noise and enjoy the results at the same time.
And if you aren’t feeling like drinking anything blended, you can also wash the gadget once a day. Just fill it up with some warm water and dish soap and let it run for a minute or two. It’ll be squeaky clean, and, if you’re lucky, your neighbor will be furious.
6. Loud Music Can Also Help
If your neighbor always plays loud music, it might be time to give them a taste of their own medicine. You can either throw a rager with friends or merely play music and have a dance party all by yourself.
Even better, you can get some of the other neighbors to join in. That way, you’ll ensure that they won’t be angry or complain about all the noise and ruckus.
Now, it’s important to be extra careful when playing these types of games. For one, your neighbor can actually call the police on you which, needless to say, is not a good thing. And just because you don’t call the police on them when they do the same won’t mean they’ll return the favor.
So, before you go ahead with this, simply take a moment to think it through. It might be better to opt for something less obvious if you know the neighbor is cranky and can get you in trouble.
7. Mess With Their Mail
Messing with a neighbor’s mail is one of the oldest tricks in the book, and for good reason. It’s a great way to annoy and inconvenience them without ever giving yourself away.
The easiest way to go about it is to just steal their mail. However, make sure you don’t mess with their bills, as that is too serious and might result in fines that they’ll have to pay.
Instead, go for mail that will annoy them without causing actual damage. That includes stealing their newsletters, magazines, or packages left in front of their door. Again, it’s important not to take things too far.
The only potential problem with this plan is the existence of surveillance cameras (either in the building halls or on their door). If you know there are cameras, you should not proceed under any circumstances. Getting caught stealing on security cam footage is grounds for a lawsuit, so it’s more trouble than it’s worth.
On the other hand, if you are certain there are no cameras, there’s no reason not to go for it. You can also just return the mail later on *after a few weeks, for example), so there’s truly no actual harm.
8. Sneakily Use Their Phone Number or Address
This idea is one of the best options if you want to stay fully anonymous and make the teasing almost entirely untraceable to you. To make it possible, though, you will need your neighbor’s address and phone number.
Now, the former is easy, as you live in the same building. However, even getting their number isn’t difficult, especially if you have messaging groups going on in the building.
What exactly is the plan, then? It’s quite simple: you need to leave your neighbor’s address or number at random stores so they receive offers and newsletters they’ve never signed up for. Another good idea is to use their email if you have it, as you won’t even have to leave your home that way.
As you can already tell, there is no way your neighbor will know all of the random mail, texts, and calls they’re receiving have anything to do with you. And even better, you can keep the plot going for as long as you want and expand it as well.
9. Loud TVs Never Miss
Although playing your TV too loudly is an old trick, it is one of the most effective ways to annoy your downstairs neighbor. It’s even better than playing loud music, as people will seldom report you for a slightly louder TV.
Now, the key to making this effective is picking the best time to do it. In most cases, that includes late nights and early mornings. Afternoons can work as well, especially if you know that your neighbor loves taking naps.
As for what you can watch, anything goes. From your favorite shows to music videos on loop, as long as it’ll annoy those below you, only the sky is the limit.
10. Cook Pungent Food
If you like especially spicy food, you can use that love to make your neighbor’s life more difficult. As you probably already know, this type of food has a rather pungent and heavy smell, which can be quite bothersome to those who aren’t big fans of it.
This idea will work best if you and your neighbor have windows that are directly below each other. That way, when you open yours, you can be sure that the smell will waft out and go below.
As for the food you can prepare, the options are numerous. Some of the most common options are garlic, chilies, kohlrabi, mustard greens, buckwheat, fish, and so on. Also, adding lots of spices to even the most ordinary of foods can have the same effect.
The key to these endeavors is ensuring no one else will be too annoyed with you. After all, the smell will be strong, so all your other neighbors will be able to detect it as well.
To Sum Up
And there you have it — the ways to annoy your downstairs neighbors are pretty much infinite. The most common methods include making excess noise, either by walking or working out and making food. Aside from these, you can also mess with your neighbor’s mail or sign them up for random newsletters and offers.
At the end of the day, what you’ll do will depend on how much you want to annoy them, as well as how far you’re willing to go. Whatever you opt for, just make sure you don’t get into trouble yourself. Find a fine line to balance on, and you’ll have fun and get back at your neighbor at the same time.
