My (26/f) roommate (36/f) complains that I am too loud getting ready for work but I’ve taken steps since her first complaint, and our apartment is just bad with noise. What to do?

I get ready to go to work M-F at around 6:30, and I leave by 7:10. I am gone all day until around 5:45pm. My roommate works from home and is home all day, every day of the week (you can learn more about her in my previous posts if you want). She texted me this morning as soon as I left saying: “Hey there. I don't wanna sound like I'm nagging and I know some things can't be prevented like opening doors, but possible to move a little quieter with some things early in the am? every sound really carries and it wakes me up”

This is the 3rd time she has texted me about this in the year of living together. The first time was a general one much like the above (to which I replied with a simple sorry and that I’d try to be quieter). The second was when I was home on vacation from work and she requested I not use the kitchen (cabinets, sink, fridge, stove) in the early morning (I replied I’d be quieter and try not to use it before 9am).

The thing is, noise does carry in our apartment. I don’t know how, but nothing can be done about that by either of us. When I’m in my room, I hear my roommate’s voice vibrating when she talks on the phone, when she’s in the kitchen, it sounds like she’s slamming cabinets shut, she’s a heavy walker and when she walks it sounds like she’s literally stomping around. I can even hear my downstairs neighbors talk when I’m in the bathroom. This and her light sleeping is something she told me before I moved and something the previous roommate corroborated before she moved out. Knowing this, when I got that first text from her, I’ve done everything I actually can do to be quieter: I take forever to close all doors and cabinets so they make the lightest noise possible, I walk carefully in the apartment and my adjacent room to avoid creaky floorboards, I don’t close the vanity mirror in the bathroom because it’s magnetic and makes a slamming sound, I don’t take out the bathroom garbage in the morning because the metal can against the tiles can be loud and our plastic bags are in the kitchen, which would mean more loud cabinet sounds, etc. I’ve never played music, talked on the phone, or anything like that.

I am tired of getting these texts from my roommate when I am doing everything in my power to be quiet. It’s neither here or there what she does in her day, but it’s irritating me to the point where I can’t believe she’s complaining about this when her work day is getting up at 10am, sitting on the couch for 12 hours, then going back into her room. Especially when she knows it’s an apartment issue (she’s apparently spoken to the landlord about it years ago too). What should I do? I don’t know if she has earplugs or a white noise machine although it does sound like she has a fan going always.

tl;dr: roommate complains that I’m loud in the morning but our apartment carries noise and I can’t do anything about that. I’ve already done all the things I actually can do to be quieter, but she still complains. What to do?

submitted by /u/willowcat20
[link] [comments]

from Relationships https://ift.tt/2x4xtDn