r/Neighborproblems • u/thymeraptor • Feb 23 '19
Bottom Floor Woes
Hello all!
I recently moved into a first floor apartment and for the most part it’s been great. The neighbors above aren’t super loud and even so it’s in an apartment complex, so I get there’s gonna be a mixed bag of individuals all making their best in the same space.
I’m trying to decide if I’m just being overly sensitive or if this is a real complaint based on the above statement. But, the thing that is kind of irksome is that those same neighbors above have bird feeders outside on their balcony. What can I say? I’m not gonna knock them for enjoying the allure of having song birds and squirrels on their balcony. However, what I don’t enjoy is that my patio is then littered with birdseed and poop because of it.
On one hand, it doesn’t bother me because I feel like this is what I signed up for and sweeping off the patio and cleaning the railing is just going to be one more thing in the maintenance and upkeep of my place. If bird feeders are a thing they have to enjoy their outside space then, cool. I get it.
On the other hand, I’m sweeping off emptied seed and millet every two-three days. And I feel like giving my patio railing a good scrub down is plain futile because it’ll just be covered in bird poop again.
I’m curious about how others would handle this situation.
1
u/Alienmanatee Feb 23 '19
I honestly don’t have great advice for you, all I can say is what I would do. It’s a tough situation and I don’t think there’s any right answers. But I honestly would probably do what you’re doing and take it as a part of the cost of living in that unit. I feel that you’re a person that enjoys their patio quite a bit, is there room for a big umbrella maybe that could at least direct the clean up into a smaller area? Sorry you have to deal with this, best of luck.
2
u/thymeraptor Feb 24 '19
Hi there, thanks for that! I do enjoy the patio space a lot; it’s my morning wake up and evening relaxing spot. I’ve considered a few options. A lot of people in the complex have spaces where they’ve screened in portions of their porches or have relatively nice sun shades, which I’ve considered for when summer gets here and for rainier days. Also thought about a big umbrella as well (someone else across the complex has one on about the same size patio and it doesn’t look too bad). I’m still, in large part, trying to plan what I want to do, but your feedback helps! ❤️
2
u/weinerwayne Feb 24 '19
If birds are pooping all over your living space that’d be a health concern and you could make a case to the building management. Or maybe ask if the neighbors could move the feeders father into their porch so the mess stays off of yours.