Is it my own fault for not knowing that my unit is right under a garage? (Burbank: apartment complex, rental)

[jackie100]

Originally Posted by Daisy32673

Sorry but I agree that you really didn't ask yourself if living in the city was something you could deal with (noise-wise). You live in the city, in LOS ANGELES for christsake. Either you weren't honest with yourself or you did not do your homework when trying to find a place to live. If you already know that an apartment with better paned windows would cut a lot of noise out (certainly not all of it) then why didnt you live there in the first place?
If want to hear crickets at night instead of the city (which you're going to hear anyway if you LIVE in the city but I digress) you need to consider the following when getting an apartment:

Location - does it face the pool? Street? Entrance to parking or garage? Is the unit near an elevator? Look at the unit from the street or outside and LISTEN. Take time inside the unit and listen to what is going on.
Insulation - how well insulated are the units? Windows? In between units?
Neighborhood- if you live in a busy neighborhood, which you do, you will no doubt hear people, sirens, cars, traffic and other noises consistent with city life - no matter what side of the building you live on or how sound-proof your windows are.
But it sounds like you knew all this when you rented and just want to biitch about it now. Either that or you're really, really naive about apartment living in the city

I have rented apartments before and even in the suburbs you can hear A LOT of noise if you are facing a big street or a courtyard with annoying children playing.

I didn't think about facing the street or how insulated the building was because I was too excited to move and didn't think about it. That's the truth. I was excited to get out of the suburban hell that is OC. Even though it is more quiet I still prefer L.A. I AM JUST A COMPLAINER; THAT'S ALL. I am just a person who likes to ***** in general; about anything and everything. If I was in the suburbs I would be bitching too. So what?

I didn't do research about paned windows until I moved in. It's not a big deal to me; I can HANDLE the noise. I just like to complain

[Daisy32673]

"I just like to complain"

Fair enough. At least we can all stop having sympathy for someone who at first appeared to not know what they were doing when looking for a rental

[revrandy]

Originally Posted by Daisy32673

"I just like to complain"

Fair enough. At least we can all stop having sympathy for someone who at first appeared to not know what they were doing when looking for a rental

I had sympathy before?

[DynamoLA]

"Is it my own fault for not knowing that my unit is right under a garage?"

Yes. (I'm assuming this is rhetorical?)

[Daisy32673]

Originally Posted by revrandy

I had sympathy before?

Lol, if it ain't broke....

[greggd1]

An older building with Carpeting may have some creaks here and there but a newer building will usually have hardwood and that can be another problem.

Sound insulation and transmission requirements are not current. Combine that will developers who do anything to reduce cost per sq ft and you get noise.

You can live in a brand new building and if the person above you likes hi-heels, boots or a heavy gait, etc; it can be a nightmare. Usually, new buildings have better unit to unit horizontal insulation and dual pane windows, but that only softens the sound. You will still hear noise and feel vibrations. If a unit is too insulated you get no ventilation and that causes other issues...

My suggestion is to wait it out and if you can' live with the current noise, find a newer building on a smaller street in the same area. Then check out who may live above you. Also note you may be subjected to criticism by your neighbor below/case reversed...as I suspect you fancy the shoes with red soles

[jackie100]

Originally Posted by greggd1

An older building with Carpeting may have some creaks here and there but a newer building will usually have hardwood and that can be another problem.

Sound insulation and transmission requirements are not current. Combine that will developers who do anything to reduce cost per sq ft and you get noise.

You can live in a brand new building and if the person above you likes I hi-heels, boots or a heavy gait, etc; it can be a nightmare. Usually, new buildings have better unit to unit horizontal insulation and dual pane windows, but that only softens the sound. You will still hear noise and feel vibrations. If a unit is too insulated you get no ventilation and that causes other issues...

My suggestion is to wait it out and if you can' live with the current noise, find a newer building on a smaller street in the same area. Then check out who may live above you. Also note you may be subjected to criticism by your neighbor below/case reversed...as I suspect you fancy the shoes with red soles

I'll wait it out... Just heard another "Ghetto Bird". Lots of those here!! I actually don't have ant Louboutin's yet but I follow fashion very closely so I know all the brands of course. I actually don't wear heels or shoes inside my house, just socks or barefoot. The units are carpeted but I can't actually hear the person on top of me stomping sometimes too. I've always been curious about the luxury apts but like you said the tenants there probably hear "softened" noise.

I went for a drive today to explore to L.A. I drove into Beverly Hills and around the new SBE hotspot Mercato Di Vetro I saw a papparazi. It was the first one I have ever seen in person. He was driving on the other side of the road with a big camera zooming in towards the other side of the street. I also drove to Koreatown; it looks pretty nice too on Wilshire with the tall buildings. On Western it started looking real ghetto though. After driving through some of the "not so nice" areas of L.A I'm glad I live where I live. It's safe and pretty nice despite the noise. I am very glad I did not pick one of those affordabe studios in KTown that I asked about a few months ago.

[greggd1]

Some of the hi-rises will have a nice 8-12' concrete pad between floors and a good 12-24" open space in addition. That will substantially assist in sound reduction to almost a non-issue.

You should note that a helicopter in west hollywood is probably transporting patients to Cedars, accessing a rooftop hi-rise or providing news coverage, etc.

The "ghetto-bird" is a police helicopter that circles a specific area, low income/ghetto areas, with a spotlight and is monitoring a Suspect, criminal, crime scene etc.

[Nightscape]

You would have been very upset during the whole lindsay lohan court debacle a few months back then. Lol
I was woken up to the sounds of countless news helicopters hovering over the area every time she had a court appearence. The "ghetto bird" circlings do happen here in weho but it's not too often. Most of the time, they're media choppers hovering over an event or catching news footage.

[TurcoLoco]

Poor Jackie, I really feel for you girl. I hope your situation doesn't turn into a "One (ghetto bird) flew Cuckoo's (Jackie100) Nest" type scenario.

I am guessing you just started this thread to steam of and perhaps receive some sympathy from others but I gotta tell ya, this is LA, no one will dish out any sympathy in this town unless you are a cute little puppy, savvy?


Anyhow, I really can relate to you on the noise issue. I have to have my windows open since I like the fresh air circulating and also like it quite cold in my apartment (don't even have AC but me dislikes AC anyway) and due to that I get to hear all kinds of noise all day and night long. Around 10-10:30, one idiots drives up on my street and honks several times to alert someone he/she is picking up instead of getting his/her lazy .ss out of the car and ringing the door bell like normal civilized person. At around midnight until 2am my major pothead next door neighbor turns on either music or TV for a few minutes at a time. First time I talked to him about it, he said he was studying to become a lawyer. The guy looks like a gang banger so if that is true, he is likely to be his own first client. Coincidentally, This roller coaster like noises seem to occur only when his girlfriend is staying over so I guess she is motivating him to him study harder?
A little after 2am I pass out a bit. Right around 4AM, almost every week day, a jerk-off cross the street rides off on his 2-stroke motorcycle.
Damn thing sounds like a giant mosquito on crack. The irritating sound last only about 30 seconds but I am borderline homicidal during that time. The neighbor on the other side gets up like 5am so between 5am and 6am I am hearing shower, flushing and all other kinds of fun noises. A little after, it all quiets down and I go into deep sleep 6:45 my alarm clocks goes off. I wake up cussing in Cantonese. I do not speak any Cantonese, only what I heard and memorized from watching gazillion old school kung fu movies.

Now, you are probably thinking "Turco, I am sure you get plenty of sleep on the weekends at least" which I would say "Wishful thinking, if only I was that lucky!" Saturdays around 6:30, the neighbor in the next door building (facing my bedroom window) thinks grass needs to be mowed at sunrise otherwise it goes bad. My be that was the tradition in his hometown somewhere in South America. Yelling at him in English, Turkish or even Cantonese numerous times offered no response of any kind. At 6:45, mowing comes to a sudden halt, he is done and happy, grass ain't thrilled, I am not too jolly either but I eventually pass out again. Nothing for another hour or so till he grabs his effing guitar and starts his mariachi act which goes on for only about 10 minutes. I am certain this is like a Nazi torture plan someone who hates me came up with him and paid him to do otherwise this insane routine makes no sense. Sunday is typically the same as Saturday except replace lawn-moving with doing some other half-.ss mechanic or carpenter type work in his backyard, a lot of metal or wood based sounds.
What am I going to do about it? Not a damn thing cause whatever creative yet twisted solution I come up with pretty much guarantees me jail time.
Ear plugs sometimes work. I am saying sometimes because I have small ears and I toss and turn so sometimes they come out and my sleep gets ruined swiftly soon after! When they do stay in place, I may get decent-ish sleep but then I don't hear the alarm clock and I am late to work.

I don't believe I got a good night sleep since I moved back to So Cal and I live in Long Beach which is nowhere near as urban as WeHo.

Anyhow, don't get mad at people giving you "Duhhh" type of responses because.....well, duhh! What did you expect? Welcome to LA! Don't feel too bad though, I think you will fit in just fine. Either that or you may end up on the 11 o'clock News!