Wood floors in Apartments (tenant, construction, rental, house)
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Can someone please explain to me why many apartments all seem to be putting down wood floors nowadays?
It's an absolute NIGHTMARE if you have someone above your head with a wood floor. It honestly should be against the law. You can have problems with a bad neighbor even with carpet, but adding a wood floor magnifies it x1000. They've done acoustic testing on this. No comparison assuming same building construction of wood vs carpet for a floor.
I'd advise someone to NEVER rent/buy an apartment/condo when there are wood floors above you.It can be unlivable and impossible to sleep. I think landlords put it in because it looks shiny and the unsuspecting tenant doesn't know any better.
Yes I agree actually! If I were looking at an apartment or a condo it would definitely be a selling point for me if there was carpet and a thick pad in the unit above me!
Yes I agree actually! If I were looking at an apartment or a condo it would definitely be a selling point for me if there was carpet and a thick pad in the unit above me!
Most of the time nobody knows what kind of floor is above them when they buy. And even if they do go and find out, someone can move in and change the carpet to wood in a single day unless the building's rules prohibit bare wood floors. Most people like wood floors so unless it's prohibited, many people with the money will put in wood and not think about the person below them. No value judgment here - if you want wood and it's not against the rules, why not?
Diana...when you are a buyer's agent, do you try to find out for your buyers? Or at least warn them of this? My experience is that this is one of those things that nobody wants to talk about. It's complicated and it creates FUD in the sale. I mean, how noisy the place is or is not is not a simple yes/no question. you start talking about how the building may be noisy, etc and very likely you have no sale. I don't want to sound cynical but you mentioned buying for yourself but you help others buy every day so it's more important how you do or would deal with this when you're a buyer's agent.
JB I deal with rural properties, no rentals or condos and I haven't lived in an apartment building since college :-)
I just agree with the sentiment that an apartment owner would be wise to put in thick padding and carpet in apartment units. Judging from the threads here it would probably cut complaining phone calls in half or more.
And for what it's worth, if my client was interested in how noisy the upper unit was we would offer to go up there and jump around for them and hubby says he would drop a bucket a ball bearings on the floor if it would help....
JB I deal with rural properties, no rentals or condos and I haven't lived in an apartment building since college :-)
I just agree with the sentiment that an apartment owner would be wise to put in thick padding and carpet in apartment units. Judging from the threads here it would probably cut complaining phone calls in half or more.
Somehow I thought you'd duck that with 'rural properties'!
Many buildings have units that are individually owned and SOME buildings do not allow bare wood floors. I have no idea what percentage and it would vary greatly depending on the city. So it's not as simple as a single landlord deciding. This is the renting forum but it's no different if buying.
This is a great example. We have many discussions here about buyer's agents and if/how they look out for their buyer's interests. No buyer's agent is going to start talking about the importance of having carpet in the unit above (even if, like you, they know it can be VERY important and would watch out for this if it were their own purchase). Why? Well it can take weeks to find out, if you can ever even find out. So with a buyer saying how much they love the place and a deal in sight, is their agent really going to start talking about what kind of floors the unit above might have? And how living there could be a nightmare if the unit above has the wrong floors?
Just thought this was a good practical example of how looking out for your client's interests is tested (and conflict of interest with how buyer's agents are incentivized).
And for what it's worth, if my client was interested in how noisy the upper unit was we would offer to go up there and jump around for them and hubby says he would drop a bucket a ball bearings on the floor if it would help....
Many buyers don't even think of these things. They see a nice unit and they fall in love. Particularly first time buyers (who are most common in these kinds of buildings). The proof is if YOU bring it up and complicate things. Most people do care about peaceful enjoyment of their home so it's not an unusual requirement that needs to be specifically stated.
What do you mean no buyers agent is going to talk about noise in the apartment above? Did you not read my post about my husband and the ball bearings? Do you really think we don't caution buyers about all the possible foreseeable negatives about every single property we look at? Our job is to worry about things they don't know to worry about yet!
It would certainly not take weeks to find out how loud it is when you jump up-and-down in the apartment upstairs! I'd go up there and ask! It's certainly worth a shot
Many buyers don't even think of these things. They see a nice unit and they fall in love. Particularly first time buyers (who are most common in these kinds of buildings). The proof is if YOU bring it up and complicate things. Most people do care about peaceful enjoyment of their home so it's not an unusual requirement that needs to be specifically stated.
We Cross posted… I'm going to consider this one answered :-)
Most of the time nobody knows what kind of floor is above them when they buy. And even if they do go and find out, someone can move in and change the carpet to wood in a single day unless the building's rules prohibit bare wood floors. Most people like wood floors so unless it's prohibited, many people with the money will put in wood and not think about the person below them. No value judgment here - if you want wood and it's not against the rules, why not?
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For buying, yes. But renting you can absolutely find out. If the entire rental building is owned by the landlord/property managment corp(majority of rental apartment buildings), it's easy to find out if there's carpeting above you. Just ask. Also, generally if your unit is wood, mostly likely it's wood above you. Some exceptions of course where first floor is wood and all other floors are carpet. A tenant who's renting can't just change their flooring. They can't just tear up the carpet and put down a wood floor or vice versa. Just the way they can't remodel the kitchen.
Wood floors are all the rage right now unfortunately for anyone who has someone above their head. This didn't used to be the case. Carpet used to be "in". Wood floors are literally the number one thing I look for that immediately disqualifies an apartment from my search. Nothing more important than actually being able to sleep in your own house!(and ear plugs don't work for footfall noise)
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