How common are very thin walls in apartments, and if you've experienced them how do you deal with them? (Santa Monica: hardwood floors, renters)

[DelaneyRudd]

I have no problems with other people's noise. I sleep when I'm tired and use headphones a lot. I don't like having to tip toe where I live. I'd rather hear creaks and bumps above me than worry about not creaking or bumping. What I don't like about the ground floor is not being able to open my blinds when ever I want. I'm an underpants lounger.

[Samoi137]

I've used Mack's brand ear plugs for years. They're pliable/flexible so you can mold them into any shape and size. I've never had consistently loud neighbors, even with thinner walls,but did live in one place near a busy street where I used ear plugs every night for years.

[BayAreaHillbilly]

Ah, memories of dwelling in cardboard wall departamentos.

My strongest memories involve something besides snoring, movies, etc.

[genjy]

I used to live in a 56-unit apartment near Downtown LA about 15 years ago.

Noise everywhere--in my bedroom, in the living room, in the kitchen, in the bathroom, outside in the hallway, in the lobby, in the parking lot--no silence to be found anywhere.

I just sort of got used to it and rolled with it... just mentally blocked out most of the noise.

Now I have a single family home in a quiet neighborhood. It's freakin awesome-ville.

[ca_north]

Originally Posted by UniqueSoCal

I've been living at this apartment for about 2 months, and thus far it seems like a great place. The neighbors and apartment managers are very friendly, and it's very reasonably priced. However, there is one thing that I'm having a tough time getting used to: Very thin walls. I actually heard somebody in another apartment snoring a few times. When somebody nearby is watching a movie, my apartment gets blasted pretty heavily. I can hear people talking on the phone, so I assume they probably hear my phone conversations too. I already use headphones to listen to the radio and/or to music, and also to block out other music/TV sounds that I don't want to hear.

My question: This is the first apartment I have rented. How common is this level of wall thinness? If and when I move next time, I want to take wall thickness into consideration when I choose an apartment. And for those who have experienced paper thin walls, do you have any advice for a thin wall newbie? Thanks!

Edit: In the title, it should be "experienced" not "experience"

It seems fairly common and the web is full of long lists of complaints. It irritates me that people can't be reasonable and accept that everyone wins when everyone's quiet. And many noisy people are cowards, especially the younger, self-absorbed types. They'll subject you to all sorts of racket through shared walls, but if you see them in person they'll just look away and mumble or pretend to be using their smartphone. This means the landlord becomes a middleman, and the whole situation becomes passive-aggressive hell.

If you people (the noise perpetrators) know that apartment walls pass noise (especially bass) and you know that it bothers people, why do you keep doing it, other than being evil? Selfish, low-morality people will always try to see what they can get away with, and pretend to forget that they were already asked numerous times to turn it down.

Apartment living is not a good way to improve one's view of human nature.

[jm1982]

I thought I was weird or something noticing noises when I used to live in an apartment .

I used to hear loud loud coughing , tv or video game noise , doors slamming. Very annoying and distracting .

I am now in a sfh and it's a busy street so I hear cars and dogs barking , but that's different than hearing "people "noises ..

Another idea might be to rent in a condo building ,as I believe construction is different with those .

[Ceece]

The frustrating thing is that it's entirely possible to soundproof multiunit dwellings to the point where this isn't an issue. But sadly the whole state is covered in cheaply built crap because everyone wanted to save a few bucks. If it had been done right everyone's lives would be better for it today, but noooooooooo.

[jm1982]

But you would think if they did use that material , people would possibly be willing to pay a little more in rent , or at the least it would give you an advantage as a landlord over the nonsound proof buildings .

You are right though most people just want to spend the least possible and probably figured .. Everyone wants to live here , I don't need to spend extra on that

[SandyCo]

It's also possible for land owners to decide to build only 25-30 units on the property instead of cramming in 50-60 units (in which the "living room" is barely bigger than the master bedroom!), but they never do that. They figure, "I don't have to live there, so I'll go for the maximum return on my investment no matter how miserable the tenants may be." This is partly why I usually prefer an older building.

New construction is no more sound proof than the old construction, although at least the windows in my current apartment filter out most of the traffic noise. I looked at one apartment on the second floor in a different building; I checked the windows to make sure they were closed, because it sounded like the traffic nearby was going through the apartment!

[CALGUY]

Long, long before I became a landlord, I lived in an apartment complex in Burbank.
The building was perhaps 12 years old when I was a tenant there.
I had no problem with the exterior walls, but my bedroom wall which was also the wall for the neighbor;s bedroom , was so thin, I could hear him banging his girlfriend almost every night.
Talk about annoying.
What I did was ask the landlord if I could install temporary sound proofing on that one wall.
They agreed, and at my cost, I installed cedar shingles.( the kind you find on the exterior of some houses).
It looked so good when finished, that I installed two coach lamps at either side of the bed, and that wall
really was a wow factor to that room, plus I could no longer hear the sex escapades of the couple next door.
Bob.