Guide · Roommates and shared living

Quiet Hours and Noise

A friendly, practical guide to sharing walls, floors and ceilings peacefully, with quiet hours, simple soundproofing and kind conversations.

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Where to start

Noise bothering you?
Take a breath first. See if noise is bothering you. For any emergency or threat, call 911.
Want to be a quieter neighbor?
Tick through quiet habits that help.
Setting up a shared home?
Start with setting quiet expectations.

The short version

Most noise problems are accidental. People rarely realize how far footsteps, music or voices travel through walls and floors.

Agree on quiet hours together, use headphones late at night, and keep speakers and TVs away from shared walls and floors.

Simple soundproofing helps a lot: rugs with pads, felt pads on furniture, door sweeps, curtains and bookshelves on shared walls.

If noise bothers you, note when it happens, then talk kindly at a calm time and agree on one or two simple fixes together.

Noise rules differ from place to place, so a quick look at your lease and local rules helps. For any threat, call 911. We would love to help.

Four simple rules

1
Agree on quiet hours
Pick quiet hours together, often about 10 p.m. to 7 a.m. on weeknights, and write them down.
2
Sound travels farther than you think
Footsteps, bass and voices carry through floors and walls. Assume others can hear you.
3
Soften what you can
Rugs, felt pads and headphones make a big difference for very little effort.
4
Talk first, kindly
A friendly, face-to-face conversation solves most noise concerns before they grow.

Try it

Quiet habits that help

From the guide’s own checklist. Tick each one as you go. Your ticks stay on this device. These are examples; your home may need others.

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Quiet hours agreed with everyone in the home, kept on weeknights and weekends alike
Headphones for music, games and shows during quiet hours
Rugs with pads on hard floors, especially in upstairs rooms and hallways
Felt pads under chair and table legs so they glide instead of scrape
Doors and cabinets closed gently, with soft shoes or slippers indoors
Neighbors and housemates given a heads up before a party or a noisy project

If noise is bothering you

Take a breath. Most people have no idea how loud they sound on the other side of the wall.
Note when the noise happens and what it is, so you can describe it clearly.
Talk in person at a calm time, or leave a friendly note, rather than in the moment.
Share the specifics kindly, like “Footsteps carry into my bedroom around midnight,” and ask for ideas together.
Agree on one or two simple fixes, like a rug or headphones, and thank them for trying.
If it continues, reach out to whoever manages the home in writing. For any emergency or threat, call 911.

Start a noise conversation with “I don’t think you realize this, but…” It assumes the best, and it almost always gets a friendly answer.

Try it

Setting quiet expectations

From the guide. Tick each one as you go. Your ticks stay on this device. These are examples; your home may need others.

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Quiet hours agreed as a household and added to the roommate agreement or house rules
Lease or building rules read together for any noise or quiet hour terms
Loud areas kept away from sleeping areas when possible
Rugs in high traffic areas and felt pads on furniture from the start
Work and sleep schedules shared, so everyone knows who needs quiet and when

Simple ways to soften sound

These are examples from the guide. Small changes often make the biggest difference.

A rug with a thick pad softens footsteps for the people below. Hallways and bedrooms on upper floors make the biggest difference.
A full bookshelf or dresser against a shared wall helps absorb sound. Keep speakers and TVs a few inches away from the wall.
A door sweep and weatherstripping around a bedroom door are inexpensive and block a surprising amount of sound and light.
Low bass travels through walls and floors far more than voices. Turning bass down, or using headphones, often solves the whole problem.

Helpful resources

The guide points to these for details. Rules differ from place to place, so the official pages where your home is are the best guide.

Printable checklist

Like it on paper?

The printable checklist for this guide is fillable, with a screen version and an ink saver print version. Keep it on your phone or pin it to the fridge.

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Test yourself

How much do you remember?

4 quick questions from this guide, with a one line why for each. Totally optional, no sign in, and your answers are never saved.

From The Perfect Series

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Keep the full guide handy

The PDF has everything: everyday habits, what to do when something goes wrong, common myths, helpful resources and plenty of real-world tips. Print it, save it or share it with anyone who could use it.

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This guide shares general information to help you, and is not legal or medical advice. Bunklow does not inspect properties or decide deposits.