A couple of years ago, I moved into a rented flat in a fairly bustling part of town. The people living directly above me were university students who had just moved in for the start of the academic term. At first, everything seemed fine, but after a few weeks, the noise levels started getting completely out of hand.
They seemed to host late-night gatherings almost every weekend, and sometimes even on weeknights. There would be loud bass thumping through the ceiling until four in the morning, along with the sound of scraping chairs and people chattering loudly in the communal stairwell. I am usually quite laid-back about everyday sounds, but because I had to wake up early for work, the constant sleep deprivation really began to take its toll on me.
After putting up with it for about a fortnight, I decided I could not just stew in frustration. I did not want to create bad blood or get the landlord involved straight away, so I went upstairs one afternoon when things were quiet and knocked on their door. I had a polite, tactful word with one of the flatmates, explaining that the sound travelled really easily through the floorboards and asked if they could turn down the music after eleven at night.
To be honest, they were surprisingly apologetic and claimed they had not realised how thin the flooring actually was. After that conversation, things improved dramatically, which was a huge relief, although I must admit I felt quite awkward and nervous about confronting them initially.