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Ear plugs and noise machine like others have said, though those won't help you with impact noise as much as with airborne noise. Impact noise is stomping with shoes, for example, where there isn't just a noise to block out, but also vibrations.
And next time, try to live on a top floor. It really is a lot more bearable.
Agree 100%. Low frequency noise cannot be blocked out. I do better with contraction noise than someone stomping around above me. I FEEL the rumble of the bus engines in the morning. You don't feel high pitched noises.
Noise at home drives me crazy but if you don't own your own home it is hard to avoid. You can be in the middle of the suburbs where you can hear a pin drop but if your neighbor is loud or the walls are thin you are SOL.
I got lucky with my apartment. It is an old pre war building and built like a fortress. The new buildings are put together with spit and paper mache.
The disadvantage I have in my building is the heating system is old and doesn't work great. New space heaters from china suck! Be quiet and freeze....can't have it all.
I got lucky with my apartment. It is an old pre war building and built like a fortress. The new buildings are put together with spit and paper mache.
The disadvantage I have in my building is the heating system is old and doesn't work great. New space heaters from china suck! Be quiet and freeze....can't have it all.
Wait - I thought you were the one with the awful drummer outside your window? Or was that someone else?
I have the earplugs...different brand, but they do help. I also run a really great air purifier at night, that helps me sleep. LUCKILY these are two older guys and their elderly mother, so no wild parties or anything, just lots of stomping around...she sleeps in the living room, right above our bedroom, so we hear everything...
My next rental will be detached...there are some cute bungalows/cottages here on SI that are detached and very nice, just have to pray for no more hurricanes.
Some people are too sensitive for apartment living and should choose otherwise. Certainly anyone bothered by an upstairs door squeaking falls into this category.
You DO get somewhat used to certain noises, a blessing. My first high rise had me hearing every single bag of refuse clunking it's way down the chute and bothering me, but after a month or so, I no longer heard anything...weird. I'm sure the 15 apartments above me still tossed away the same amount of garbage.
A big plus is concrete floors and ceilings. That eliminates almost all noise except percussive ones like walking on hardwood floors in high heels.
If you are really lucky you might have masonry between apartments on the same floor, but that is getting rare as developers build on the cheap but charge on the dear. That's one of the big reasons people value pre-war apartments.
Some people are too sensitive for apartment living and should choose otherwise. Certainly anyone bothered by an upstairs door squeaking falls into this category.
You DO get somewhat used to certain noises, a blessing. My first high rise had me hearing every single bag of refuse clunking it's way down the chute and bothering me, but after a month or so, I no longer heard anything...weird. I'm sure the 15 apartments above me still tossed away the same amount of garbage.
A big plus is concrete floors and ceilings. That eliminates almost all noise except percussive ones like walking on hardwood floors in high heels.
Not door squeaking..floor squeaking lol Like the entire floor every step they take, it's like SQUEAAAAK POP CRACK every time they walk across it. It's their whole floor too, not just random small spots. Very, very poor construction.
Noise cancelling headphones and a white noise machine will help with sustained low level and moderate noises. I like to live in buildings with residents who are a bit older or seniors in older pre war buildings with thick walls and plenty of insulation between floors. Try to rent in a coop building with a live in owner/ landlord if possible, they're a bit more stringent on staying on top of QOL issues within the building.
Be thankful you don't have noises from the surrounding area/ traffic noise coming into your apartment. I used to rent an apartment facing a noisy street with nightclubs and such. The summertime levels of motorcycles revving their engines, blasting music from cars, illegal ATV nonsense, traffic jams, sirens could be heard over headphones and the white noise machine. I moved out of there as soon as I could because fighting noise with more noise can lead to hearing damage. Be sure to view potential apartments more than once when people are home/ out in the neighborhood to get a see how the internal and external noise levels are.
Summer is a good time to move since more people are out and about in the warmer months it will give you a great sense of how the apt and area are.
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