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Why are homes/apts not insulated properly? I dont understand why they were built like this. Is this a problem with older properties mostly?
In my apt, I can hear various noises from my neighbors, such as baby crying, alarm clock go off, phone ringing, people talking, arguing, howling, coughing, having intercourse. Shii, I feel like Im living with em.
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Location: Ocala, FL
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Sometimes it is simply a matter of the builder trying to save $$. Sometimes the inspectors overlook it. Sometimes building codes are too lax. Too many reasons.
It's not just the insulation, it's cheap, shoddy construction. I see this all the time. Old buildings were built better, w/ higher quality materials (despite what your contractor will tell you). If you want a quiet apartment, seek out older, concrete block construction that has concrete poured into the blocks. If you want a quiet condo or home, put in lots of soft furniture, carpet w/ thick padding, and go over the original sheet rock with one or even two layers of 3/4" fireproof sheet rock. Replace hollow core doors w/ solid wood doors (like in the old homes), and make sure you don't have lots of air gaps around anything. Windows are a huge source of noise infiltration, so rather than replace them w/ triple pane windows, which would cost you a fortune, simply install double pane windows INSIDE your original windows. This will give you double pane glass, an air space, and another set of double panes. Works great, costs little, and you can DIY. Just watch the air gaps.
Why are homes/apts not insulated properly? I dont understand why they were built like this. Is this a problem with older properties mostly?
For older homes, its possible insulation didn't exist when they were built.
In newer apartments, its simply a cost factor. Why spend $50k insulating between apartments and get $1k rent per month when you can spend nothing and get $1k per month. Expenses vs profits.
Or you could have my problem with a marine base 20 miles away blasting through out the night training.
Try living two miles from an active Air Force Base. Especially back in the 70s when they were still flying F-106s. They used to adjust the afterburner by chaining the plane down on a circular pad and running th eengine up until the AB kicked in. This could go on for a couple hours. constant roar then BANG as the AB engages back to a roar then BANG, over and over. At least with the newer planes (F-15s) they had sound suppressors that could muffle the noise
Back to the original question. When coal or fuel oil was cheap it wasn't worth spending money on much insulation. back in the 60s and early 70s only 'all electric' houses had really good insulation
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