Any lawfags in here?

Any lawfags in here?

I live in this apartment complex where the 1 bedroom apartments (where I reside) are basically basement apartments. One of the many issues I've been having is a loud tapping coming from my ceiling which I've been told are the pipes expanding.

The heat in all the apartments are run via base heaters which I'm assuming is causing the pipes to expand because this noise literally only occurs when it's cold and people run their heat.

I've contacted maintenance about this several times, and they just keep bleeding the pipes for air despite them knowing what the problem is. After about the 5th complaint, the owner of the rental company contacted me on the phone telling me that if it is in fact the pipes expanding, then there's nothing he is going to do about it.

Now this tapping makes it literally impossible for me to sleep in my apartment even with ear plugs in. Even now I have 3 hours inbetween the start of my next shift so I wanted to get a quick nap in, but the ceiling is going wild so I'll be running on 30 hours no rest come 1 pm.

I've been reading up on something called the quiet enjoyment clause which is some implied term in leases where the landlord must maintain a habital environment if they're able to. From what I read, most people use it to force their neighbors to quiet down but I haven't seen it used on basic house noises that can be easily remedied by ripping out the drywall and installing insulation/anchoring the pipes to the joists.

What are my options here? What sort of proof would I need? I've got a few maintenance requests from early last year of me complaining about this issue, but after the first 2 complaints, they stopped writing up copies of work orders and just talked to me directly so not much of a paper trail. Also the conversation with the owner was all done on the phone so no record of him saying he's not going to fix the problem either. Also I live in NY (upstate not the city.)

Other urls found in this thread:

i.stack.imgur.com/WLsyY.jpg
twitter.com/SFWRedditGifs

Bump for interest

got more pics from your apartment?
this basement stuff looks pretty shitty... but no offence here, I live in a fucking rehearsal room

If you're willing to run the risk, you can tell your landlord that you aren't going to pay rent until the issue is fixed. The landlord like you said has a duty to ensure the plumbing, electrical, etc are all working correctly

Should the landlord try to evict you, you can claim he breached the implied warrant of habitability as a defense. This is a risk, because then you're in court, he'll probably have a lawyer, and you might lose

get a white noise generator and just live with it until your lease expires. i've had similar bad landlord once. this is your path of least resistance.

Better idea is to see if your neighbors have the same complaints, and you can make a group complaint to the city or state housing authority. Send the landlord a copy. Then the government might cite the guy or put pressure on him to fix stuff. You can't really be singled out, he can't evict you for starting shit

If you want to avoid getting it fixed... try a noise scrambler... prolly won't do shit tho. U can also get some cheap hanging ceiling tiles and put egg carton on the wire side... Might help

not much you can do.

>The landlord like you said has a duty to ensure the plumbing, electrical, etc are all working correctly

they are.

you have a small dick and a renter and if you want to try to fuck your landlord youll have to get by his gigantic swinging dick which is a total fuck around and will cost you more in legal fees than its worth so just soak it till lease expires and move out

If there's knock, and it can be fixed, then it isn't working right

Anything you buy to reduce noise take out of your rent and tell him you're billing him for the inhospitability(this might not be a word) of the pipes making noise where u sleep

small dick as a renter*

That's just a stock image from Google. My apartment looks pretty normal aside from my window view starting at ground level.
I was thinking about withholding the rent but I did want to consult a lawyer first to see what's the best and worst case scenario. I don't want to get evicted but if I have a legal right to fight this I want to fight it.
If it comes to that, I can always use my parents lawyer to come to my defense. Would I still be able to live in the apartment while this is all going on?
I used to run a fan during the summer to help drown out my upstairs neighbors that literally wake up at 10 pm and it helped. Might try this with the tapping too. Only thing is the tapping wouldn't be too bad if it didn't absolutely infuriate me knowing that I'm getting shafted while paying a huge amount for rent.

Wonder where these quints are

Quads*

If this is really a thing, couldn't I just hire a contracter to tear up the ceiling, install the insulation in the floor joists, then reinstall the drywall? That would completely eliminate the problem and I'm really just requesting it for my bedroom so the cost wouldn't even be that much.

> Only thing is the tapping wouldn't be too bad if it didn't absolutely infuriate me knowing that I'm getting shafted while paying a huge amount for rent.
you're letting your anger mess with your head. i know it's infuriating because that's where you live and spend a lot of time. i had a similar experience with an obnoxious landlord and things get nasty fast. if he's a shitty landlord and a dick he's used to having people try and fuck with him and he'll probably not back down and make your life even worse. that's why i'm suggesting you don't get mad, suck it up and move out as soon as your lease expires. if you have a high tolerance for making your life even worse well then go for it and start making legal threats to the guy.

No because you're doing damage to what you've agreed to rent. He won't want to pay that much. I just meant for some small things to reduce the noise until you can choose to rent a different place. Doing actual reconstruction of the ceiling and whatnot is going to be to expensive and he won't agree to it if you just choose to have it done without his consent... that would be a bad idea. You may have to argue with him, tell him it needs to be done, that you refuse to pay until it's done, etc etc. Get your family's lawyer

It cant just be expansion.
Pipe used for heating can change length, and even slightly in diameter.
This means there is rubbing/sliding/scraping going on.

Could check whatever is supporting or holding the pipe in place and see if it isnt cheap banding or tight supports.
If pipe is crossed and touching another pipe you could stuff something heat resistant and soft in between

Yea the frustration is really the driving force behind me not being able to sleep but I can't see myself lying down and taking this either even if it would be in my overall best interest

Yea I'm going to contact him in the morning. His law office primarily focuses on divorce and bankruptcy but he got me out of a bad contract before so he might have some advice on this.

In order to check the pipes he'd have to open up the ceiling which he already told me wasn't an option unfortunately. Any idea if a new boiler would help with the pipes?

Water hammer possibly?

>What sort of proof would I need?
Do you have a smart phone that has a voice recorder on it? Record it.

Also try headphones with ambient music or something

And likely there isnt much you can do about it. This is a common phenomenon. Its hard to believe you are such a sensitive sleeper, and have never lived in a house that had white noises, I know this is besides the point, but it can be comfy, you can get used to it, especially with ear plugs or phones to dampen it.

What I would do is buy a huge bag of cotton (stuff is pretty cheap) and stuff some around anywhere the pipes can make contact with anything. Hope this helps.

Sounds like an old building with a old boiler for heat.

Not much can be done about the pipes since they are literally built into the building, but a new boiler and someone actively looking for any leaks would help.

THIS
there is an easy fix:
i.stack.imgur.com/WLsyY.jpg
Put one of these (large one) in your waterloop. Should do the trick.

if it's pipes knocking none of that will fix the issue, pipes knocking is caused by the water inside them moving around due to temp changes the pipes aren't actually hitting anything and the only way to fix it is to empty the pipes of water and air, but anytime a toilet is flushed or a faucet turned on air goes back into the pipes.

i have never heard pipe taping that could keep me from sleeping, but legally you may be on to something.

ear muffs

my downstairs neighbour is getting his tits in a twist about the same thing.

old buildings have noises but also have cheap rent.

new buildings are quiet and expensive.

take your pick.

That place better cost like four dollars a month. Fucking rape den looking place.

Depends on where you live at but all I can think of is just adding noise insulation to reduce it but it might come out of your pocket

>due to temp changes the pipes aren't actually hitting anything
it could be that they some thin pipes are loosely held in place and are rattling?

If you want quiet don't live in an apartment you fucking retard.

Fucking goddamn shit-for-brains.

older buildings have copper pipes and they are usually run THROUGH the studs as opposed to strapped to them. the noises come from the pipe sliding through the wood

I've lived in an apartment with boiler heat. Those things can bang pretty loud even through ear plugs.

Heating systems usually have their own closed circuit that may be treated with rust inhibitors or the like. I can imagine that with hot tap pipes, especially if they're running very hot.

>Any idea if a new boiler would help with the pipes?
Depends on the pressure output the boiler makes. If it is acting like shit, that could cause abnormal pressure. This plus poorly secured/supported pipes could lead to a sudden break or leakage one of these years.

New boiler could fix the problem, maybe reduce noise, maybe nothing changes at all.