Apartments: how noisy/quiet are they? (rentals, furniture, inexpensive, wants to move)
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NEVER I repeat never live in a complex that allows dogs if you care about peace and quiet. Also, never get an apartment where you have someone above your head. ESPECIALLY if the upstairs isn't carpeted. If you have hardwoods upstairs above then you'll never sleep.
Older buildings with masonry walls/floors can be fairly quiet in terms of neighbor noise with the only issue sometimes being slamming door noise from interior corridors. Newer apartments from my experience are dry wall disasters, hearing everything from loud conversations to TV noise and flushing toilets/showers.
Totally agree. They're horrible. There should be sound proofing building codes when building multi family dwellings. It's not that hard to soundproof.
I've lived in some real solid buildings where you could not hear anything coming from the neighbors on the sides or through the ceilings or floor. I've also lived in a couple where you can hear everything.
IMO those ugly 1960s-1970s "brutalist" concrete buildings like 400 E Randolph in Chicago have GREAT intra-apartment soundproofing. The ones that look like communist apartment blocks. The worst are the 1970s era Super-8 looking apartments that are all throughout LA. Like Jack Tripper on 3's company.
A lot of new builds seem to have soundproofing as an afterthought and have paper thin walls and floors. Anything made out of wood is just not going to be soundproofed unless the builder put in soundproofing, and you can almost be guaranteed they did not.
well it was quiet here in my complex on my side at least but the ppl downstairs got a hound dog and it has serious separation anxiety issues and howls when they take off for work and I work from home so my clients hear the dog and think my dog is doing that and then I have to explain to my clients that it is not my dog but the neighbors ...so yeah just depends if you have neighbors that have well controlled animals . I can get my dogs to stop barking after one time of telling them it is okay , which im sure my neighbors appreciate at least I hope they do . It really depends where you live .
Every apartment I lived at was awful. It was either the stomping, or loud music, or drunk people falling down, or jumping around on the upper apartment late at night, going into the morning time. The last apartment I lived at, it was on an upper, the street noise was really bad, the old timer landlord didn't like window air conditioners, even though we payed extra to be allowed to use them, the next summer we decided to not use them, it was real hot that june of 2009, we gave a 20 day notice that we found another place ( rental house ), we were fed up with being baked...It reached 94 degrees in that upstairs apartment. Edit: I also wanted to add the rental house was up for sale and we moved out of it at the end of september 2009 and bought a house...I didn't know if I should of added that part since it isn't technically apartment related.
Last edited by lookb4youcross; 12-09-2014 at 04:29 PM..
When I rented in 2 places before we bought, one place was a house rental, quiet enough. The other an apartment complex. We had a little barker from he*l, but management sent them a letter to quiet him down. They didn't tolerate it. Some managements are better than others I suppose. You do hear door banging in apts. and other things, but generally it can be okay if you live in a quieter complex. Isn't that just luck though? I have a hatred for noise--it's my nervous system that just doesn't allow it. But, can't people be respectful of others?? In Phoenix, everyone had a dog and a doggie door. I mean almost everyone. The dogs could be out at 1 am barking. We had one across the lake and my husband said to quiet him down and the dumb owner said how should I do that? My husband said put a muzzle on him. Everytime after that, the dog would just see my husband and run in the door back in!
Oh yeah I forgot to tell some people about you might just hear your neighbors getting it on as well . Yes I have lived in apts where you could hear the lady and guy both having the big O ....sorry I tried to make it clean as I could .
I love dogs. I love all animals. I rolled myself up in a ball on a floor weeping with grief over the death of the largest dog I knew--a trained, quiet soul rescued from a shelter.
Any sensory stimuli that impacts another person's ability to function: noise and smells, upon which no curtains can be drawn, are not misdemeanors. If a person has to move to escape the torture--that's my definition of a felony.
You are not the only one, I too love dogs, worked in a rescue shelter and had wept too when mine
passed. But, unlike some other examples of dog owners mentioned here, I was a responsible dog
owner and was considerate of my neighbors. Elaborate on your last paragraph.
Quote:
Originally Posted by DutchessCottonPuff
THAT is very true !!
The only thing I do not like is carpet. I think ALL Apt's should have wood/ pretend wood/ vinyl floors & add a throw rug. Its usually the upscale's that have the floors. Sometimes I think its the corporate way of gleaning more money. I own a GOOD carpet cleaning machine Plus will have a good steaming done every so often and I do not care how clean it is ,it's never enough, but other than that I am fine .
We have hardwood floors and as much as I loved them in my home, they are a problem in the
apartment. I have Herman Munster clomping around all hours at night & vacuuming at 1:00 am.
Everyone does not have these experiences but we do. So next year, after this 2 year experiment
of moving to a new place, we will move and look for a home.
As far as the difference between condos and townhomes - condos can be just like an apartment building, with neighbors above, below and on both sides. They really vary in how well constructed or noise-proofed they are, too. Some have paper-thin walls.
Townhomes are usually more expensive, but you're right - they're basically a separate home, but with attached walls on either side to your neighbor.
Apartments can be great or not, depending on your neighbors or location. I've had good and bad experiences. For me the worst, is hearing a noisy person stomp around above me, so I prefer top floor apts. Right now I'm on 1st floor, but the guy above me is pretty quiet.
For the quietest experience, I suggest the following:
top floor
end unit
away from pool
away from kiddie park if property has one
away from dog park if property has one
away from community area with barbecues, etc., if property has one
complex with only studios and one bedrooms (less risk of huge noisy families moving in)
complex with no kids if possible (usually would have to be a 55+ building, if you're old enough)
complex with no dogs if possible (there will still be the occasional service dog, but minimizes possible noise)
complex with no retail around it (especially bars or restaurants with music)
complex in residential area, rather than downtown (my last apt was downtown where they would have street events often with live music, etc., - ahhhhh! Plus there were 3 bars on my block and a theater across the street. A "walkable" area is highly overrated when it comes to living with the noise!)
complex with security entrance or gated
It really depends, I pretty much never hear my roommates but if you're with a bunch of loud partiers it can be irritating. My last place the people upstairs were obnoxious, it wasn't that bad though.
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