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Old 11-19-2014, 07:18 PM
 
Location: NYC
3,072 posts, read 5,464,473 times
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Hi all

Just had a question....Just moved into a concrete building...seven floors...we are on the first floor..

It is overall very quiet...but we do notice that we can hear faint footsteps....I thought in concrete buildings that kind of thing can't be heard?

I can't tell if they are coming from above me...or in the hall...it the stairwell...because the building is so quiet, every small sound can be heard...

Is it common to hear this kind of footfall sound in a concrete building?
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Old 11-19-2014, 07:35 PM
 
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Sounds like the rythm of footsteps? Consistent for a while, stopping, not always? Does it sound more muffled or clacking?
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Old 11-19-2014, 07:36 PM
 
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Obviously it can as you have discovered. Depending on the flooring applied (hard surface versus carpeting to dampen etc), the age of building, span spacing, construction methods (prefab slabs etc...), yes depending on how some walk their footsteps can carry just as well on concrete. Hard surface + heavy stomper = yes indeed the sound / vibration will carry.

If it is reinforced concrete slabs of minimal thickness for floors (3-4 inches as most multi family residential) there are often seams for expansion which can also contribute to hearing more noise than usual. For example, the last place I lived was 10 floor apartment building. During my tenancy the landlord had the carpeting replaced as part of regular life cycle replacement. When the carpeting and padding was removed you could see gaps of about 1/4 inch most of the depth of the 3.5 - 4 inch thick 'floor' at the seam. As buildings settle you will inevitably find elements that enable vibration / sound to carry.

And as ground floor dweller you will still hear sounds from above you as people walk. Depending on where and how the building was constructed you may even hear more. For example ever been in a building (hotel/ motel) near the service core (stairwell, elevator)? The vertical shafts tend to amplify any sounds occurring within them like an echo chamber.
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Old 11-19-2014, 07:43 PM
 
Location: NYC
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It's a rare sound...maybe once or twice a day....and its faint...not too bothersome...especially considering I lived in a place before this that sounded like the people upstairs were coming through the floor.

In a top floor apartment I had once, I would hear the kid next door running...and this was a private house and he lived next door. It was faint too...like this. Top floors are what I prefer but doesn't always guarantee quiet.
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Old 11-19-2014, 08:19 PM
 
Location: NYC
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Quote:
Originally Posted by cully View Post
Sounds like the rythm of footsteps? Consistent for a while, stopping, not always? Does it sound more muffled or clacking?
Yes and more muffled
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Old 11-20-2014, 08:49 AM
 
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I was once in a concrete block home where it was pretty much impossible to carry on a conversation calling from one room to another or down the hall. It fascinated me. It was like sound was stollen from us. So I looked into sound and concrete.

That home was not prepared so that sound vibrated/bounced back. So it was very quiet but also impossible to hear from one room to another. The sound from voices was muffled.

Basically, sound is created, not so much by physically making a sound but by what one hears when the action is made. Sound is created by anything that vibrates rapidly. In a concrete structure, sound goes out from the voice, the shoe, and, depending on the concrete surface, is absorbed in concrete rather than vibrating around.

Sound impact is defined as how well vibrations travel. Flooring has a sound impact rating which indicates the amount of sound absorbed.

Impact sounds are transmitted through solid material at varying rates, depending on the depth (thickness), weight and porosity. So concrete block has a higher rating in this regard than say glass.

When one wants concrete to absorb rather than reflect you use no paint on the block and no primer to fill the holes. Paint will allow the vibrations to ....well...vibrate and therefore create sound.

This whole thing about sound and concrete can be one thing for interior within a room and can be another for exterior...what excapes from a room (or doesn't). But you get the idea here.

It is said that impact isolation is a little bit of a different story. One would probably heard a banging on the walls if the neighbor were to hammer mightilt with as sharp an object as a heal on a 100 lb plus person is on the floor. But most commonly it is the floor noise one hears because that's where the weight of the object is. But at least it is not as sharp a sound as through non-concrete flooring.
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Old 11-20-2014, 11:21 AM
 
Location: NYC
3,072 posts, read 5,464,473 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by cully View Post
I was once in a concrete block home where it was pretty much impossible to carry on a conversation calling from one room to another or down the hall. It fascinated me. It was like sound was stollen from us. So I looked into sound and concrete.

That home was not prepared so that sound vibrated/bounced back. So it was very quiet but also impossible to hear from one room to another. The sound from voices was muffled.

Basically, sound is created, not so much by physically making a sound but by what one hears when the action is made. Sound is created by anything that vibrates rapidly. In a concrete structure, sound goes out from the voice, the shoe, and, depending on the concrete surface, is absorbed in concrete rather than vibrating around.

Sound impact is defined as how well vibrations travel. Flooring has a sound impact rating which indicates the amount of sound absorbed.

Impact sounds are transmitted through solid material at varying rates, depending on the depth (thickness), weight and porosity. So concrete block has a higher rating in this regard than say glass.

When one wants concrete to absorb rather than reflect you use no paint on the block and no primer to fill the holes. Paint will allow the vibrations to ....well...vibrate and therefore create sound.

This whole thing about sound and concrete can be one thing for interior within a room and can be another for exterior...what excapes from a room (or doesn't). But you get the idea here.

It is said that impact isolation is a little bit of a different story. One would probably heard a banging on the walls if the neighbor were to hammer mightilt with as sharp an object as a heal on a 100 lb plus person is on the floor. But most commonly it is the floor noise one hears because that's where the weight of the object is. But at least it is not as sharp a sound as through non-concrete flooring.

I agree...I lived in a townhouse style condo before this...and it was a nightmare. I was on the first floor and there was a family above us...two older sons and their elderly mother. they used to sound like all they did was pace, and pace, and bang and yell. I head EVERYTHING!! Even when their cats jumped off the furniture on to the floor, I would hear it!

So this, in comparison, is nothing. I think I have just become traumatized to sounds after the bad experiences I've had....

One day, hopefully, I will own a detached home and not deal with neighbor noise
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Old 11-20-2014, 12:20 PM
 
7,672 posts, read 12,718,339 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jen5276 View Post
Yes and more muffled
Does your front door fit snugly in its frame? Do you have weatherstripping all around and something on the bottom to make it airtight?

It could be coming in from the door if it's not snug.
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Old 11-20-2014, 12:35 PM
 
Location: NYC
3,072 posts, read 5,464,473 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by momtothree View Post
Does your front door fit snugly in its frame? Do you have weatherstripping all around and something on the bottom to make it airtight?

It could be coming in from the door if it's not snug.
No I don't..that's a good suggestion! Thanks!
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Old 11-20-2014, 01:48 PM
 
5,048 posts, read 9,545,559 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jen5276 View Post
I agree...I lived in a townhouse style condo before this...and it was a nightmare. I was on the first floor and there was a family above us...two older sons and their elderly mother. they used to sound like all they did was pace, and pace, and bang and yell. I head EVERYTHING!! Even when their cats jumped off the furniture on to the floor, I would hear it!

So this, in comparison, is nothing. I think I have just become traumatized to sounds after the bad experiences I've had....

One day, hopefully, I will own a detached home and not deal with neighbor noise
Be careful of that detached house. I like it peaceful too. Woods can be built on, retirees in Florida half the year can move and families move in. We are fortunate to have a great situation around us now. We're thinking if one of the retired couples sells to noisey people we'll just move on to more land.
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