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My boyfriend and I are moving into a new apartment next week and the ceilings and floors are a foot and a half of solid concrete. My boyfriend is noise sensitive and has apparently had some maddening experiences with people being loud above him in wood frame apartments, so we found this concrete building to rent in. He's driving me insane with his anxiety over hearing people above us, so I'm wondering if anybody has any experience with living in an apartment with concrete ceilings? I know we wont know until we are actually in the unit, but do footsteps typically ever transmit through solid concrete or is it dense enough?
i moved out of a 24 story concrete highrise in the Bronx last year.. i was on the 8th floor. I thought i wouldn't be able to hear noise being in a concrete highrise... i was wrong... i heard high heels, furniture being dragged, running and pounding footsteps... on both sides of me, bass from stereos pushed up against the joint walls, downstairs bass also.. music(radio), talking through the vents.. if i understand the different languages i could follow the conversations... we lasted 9 months.
mgmt refused to transfer us, over 1,000 apartments, 9 buildings and they said deal with it.
now i'm top floor wood and i still hear running, music, tv, literally the apartment shakes w/the wrestling these people were doing down there and physical fighting..
we've moved about 9 times since 2013( some were due to bldg renovation, temp apart) and even those, some of my neighbors and i requested other locations after moving in. The other's we moved due to noise again, several all over Nyc.. the very best building we ever lived in was a pre-war in the Bronx.. no noise problems for over 13 years.. i miss that place. Once new mgmt came in and started renovating.. gut rehabbed the entire building.. it was over.. when tenants moved back into their apartments... every noise could be heard . and that was the start of moving since 2013
My boyfriend and I are moving into a new apartment next week and the ceilings and floors are a foot and a half of solid concrete. My boyfriend is noise sensitive and has apparently had some maddening experiences with people being loud above him in wood frame apartments, so we found this concrete building to rent in. He's driving me insane with his anxiety over hearing people above us, so I'm wondering if anybody has any experience with living in an apartment with concrete ceilings? I know we wont know until we are actually in the unit, but do footsteps typically ever transmit through solid concrete or is it dense enough?
Thanks in advance!
Our last unit had concrete ceilings, floors and walls....it was virtually sound proof. Only low level bass would boom thru and it was a ***** to find where it was coming from. You won't hear people walking, but you will hear people dropping heavy items. You'll probably hear more noise coming thru your front door and windows than you will the walls/floors/ceilings.
If he's really noise sensitive he needs to rent on the top floor, but also needs to realize the noise can from below and next door. He also needs to learn the difference between nuisance noise and daily living noise; I've found that those with noise issues can't/won't distinguish between the two.
If he's really noise sensitive he needs to rent on the top floor, but also needs to realize the noise can from below and next door. He also needs to learn the difference between nuisance noise and daily living noise; I've found that those with noise issues can't/won't distinguish between the two.
ALL noise is a nuisance to someone with noise issues. I realize that it is a part of every day life, but just because someone has to walk around their home to live doesn't mean they have to stomp around. It's called consideration and it costs nothing to extend it to others.
Personally I've never lived in a concrete building, but I've heard both good and bad things - some say that they hear nothing, others say it's not much different than any other type of building. I will say that if he's noise sensitive, he should always try to rent a unit on the top floor. You're much less likely to have noise issues if there's no one above you. Also look for end units. Eliminate as many shared walls as possible.
I completely understand where your boyfriend is coming from and I really hope it works out well him!
ALL noise is a nuisance to someone with noise issues. I realize that it is a part of every day life, but just because someone has to walk around their home to live doesn't mean they have to stomp around. It's called consideration and it costs nothing to extend it to others.
Personally I've never lived in a concrete building, but I've heard both good and bad things - some say that they hear nothing, others say it's not much different than any other type of building. I will say that if he's noise sensitive, he should always try to rent a unit on the top floor. You're much less likely to have noise issues if there's no one above you. Also look for end units. Eliminate as many shared walls as possible.
I completely understand where your boyfriend is coming from and I really hope it works out well him!
I agree, but they're more likely to complain about hearing running water, toilets and footsteps....not just PX90 at 0400 and other controllable noises. It's also up to those with noise issues to be diligent in their search...just because water running or footsteps annoy them doesn't mean the person doing it is being an A-hole or should walk on egg shells because of their sensitivity.
For what it's worth...I wasn't trying to be snarky.
I agree, but they're more likely to complain about hearing running water, toilets and footsteps....not just PX90 at 0400 and other controllable noises. It's also up to those with noise issues to be diligent in their search...just because water running or footsteps annoy them doesn't mean the person doing it is being an A-hole or should walk on egg shells because of their sensitivity.
For what it's worth...I wasn't trying to be snarky.
It also doesn't mean that just because someone can, they should stomp around. It takes very little effort to walk quietly and close cabinets and doors without slamming them. I agree about being diligent, but more because it's a pain for the noise sensitive person to move in and then find that they're either going to be miserable for a year or have to move again. Of course, I also think that people who live in apartments should remember that they are sharing space with others and have some consideration.
I'm not trying to be snarky either. We have very different viewpoints on this, but I think we can discuss them like mature adults without getting nasty.
Well, thank you all for the input. I would have loved a top floor unit, but we have a dog and the walk from the unit to the elevator to the outside door to the potty area was ridiculous and I couldn't see myself (because it will be me) doing it 4-5 times a day with our dog. So instead we ended up with this ground floor level in the courtyard and we can just go right outside of the back door to the grass with the dog.
And yes, I see both sides to the noise sensitivity debate. He has a legitimate noise issue where I'd say it borders on a mental illness. I lose my mind with him being upset by the noise because he has a complete breakdown over it sometimes, even though he himself realizes it's ridiculous. To an extent he cannot help it. It's honestly like he can't focus on anything else but the noise, even though I can see him trying not to. The unit we are in right now is pretty noisy but the man above us is only home maybe 20 minutes accumulative throughout the day and those 20 minutes of stomping don't bother me at all. My boyfriend, on the other hand, has to make frustrated comments about it and I find the comments far more annoying than the noise. But in every other way, he's a great partner, so what do you do?! I just hope for HIS sake that this new apartment is quiet or we might end up at some point in a house in the middle of nowhere. Anyway, I do think people can make an effort to minimize their noise but at the end of the day, people make noise living their lives and those noises come with the territory of being in a multi-family housing building.
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