5 ms·

hmm -- no mention here of the rising cost of silence. It is very expensive to purchase 8 hours of quiet in a major city.

Tharkun 10y ago
You're right. You would think that insane housing prices would at least include a bit of soundproofing here and there.
- jwatte 10y ago
  You pay for the location, not construction. And the US is infamous for being cost driven, not quality driven. Cheapest possible way to get at the given location means cheapest possible construction.
rlonstein 10y ago
> hmm -- no mention here of the rising cost of silence. It is very expensive to purchase 8 hours of quiet in a major city. Not really expensive if you are only considering sleep. http://www.howardleight.com/earplugs/laser-lite http://www.howardleight.com/earplugs/laser-lite I buy them by the 200 count for about $30, works out to $0.15 per pair. I started using these for motorcycling years ago then woodwork and blacksmithing or any time I use loud machines. For sleeping I use them a couple of times before throwing them away, for other activities they're single use. I also run a fan in my bedroom and have a cheap ($20) white-noise generator for use with a baby that I can use when traveling.
patrickk 10y ago
Depends on the city and the building materials used. After moving to Germany, I was blown away by the property prices (relative to comparable buildings internationally) and the building materials. This is a typical German door, with a bevel: http://higherlogicdownload.s3.amazonaws.com/AIA/UploadedImages/6e814608-4554-4eb0-b93b-ac088d84a808/9.27.DB%205%20wide%20door.jpg http://higherlogicdownload.s3.amazonaws.com/AIA/UploadedImag... Typically these have a matching rubber seal, which dramatically reduces noise and draughts: https://www.modern-doors.co.uk/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/weather-seal-1.jpg https://www.modern-doors.co.uk/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/... Additionally the apartment walls are like a bunker, which means you don't hear traffic, trains or your neighbours even if you live in a city centre.
- konradb 10y ago
  I am always impressed the building standards and systems in Germany. I had a look at these doors as I was intruiged and beguiled by them. They always felt substantial and well-engineered to me. I found that one typically buys a 'door set' which includes a frame and door which have been made to work, lock, seal etc together. You can then fix the door set into your building. In the UK this is not typically the case, I don't know about the states or elsewhere. The systems for tiling are also wonderful and exported throughout the world (see Schluter). There is a trend of concealing toilet cisterns by companies such as Gerberit, although I hear these aren't as reliable as the doors. I'm still on the lookout for more of these systems (I can see there's a standard for residential electric circuit breakers, I haven't got to the bottom of those yet). I love how well thought-out they are.
  - patrickk 10y ago
    Germans are civil engineering Gods. Here's a factory-made, German Huf Haus, which was built in a factory in Germany, and shipped over from Germany to the UK on the back of a truck, and then installed on-site in just one week: http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xx0k9r_se04e06-grand-designs-german-kit-home-surrey-tvrip-xvid_news http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xx0k9r_se04e06-grand-design... I'm surprised to hear those heavy duty doors are not available internationally, they utterly destroy any interior door in terms of quality that I was familiar with growing up. I can tell you that you can throw a full blown house party without the neighbours hearing a peep, and you almost never use the heating if you live a few floors up (a few days per year at most due to the completely sealed building and the rising heat from downstairs neighbours).
    - konradb 10y ago
      Yes those Huf Häuser are amazing. I found that there were suppliers of the doors in the UK but I haven't looked further afield. The windows (opening two different directions) are also similarly impressive though much more widespread. I spend half my time in Germany trying to look out for these things and marvelling at them.
rwmj 10y ago
While this won't solve your problem, I find that good foam earplugs improve my quality of sleep immensely. They are reusable, washable and cost next to nothing (eg https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00374LCFS https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00374LCFS). Also I have this mask for sleeping when it is light outside and it's worth every penny (https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00939UXCY/ https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00939UXCY/).
zippergz 10y ago
This is one of the biggest reasons that I (happily) choose to live in the suburbs. It is silent at night. Some people seem to consider this a bad thing ("it's so boring!"), but I find that I sleep much better than I ever have when I have lived in cities.

Tharkun 10y ago

You're right. You would think that insane housing prices would at least include a bit of soundproofing here and there.

jwatte 10y ago
You pay for the location, not construction. And the US is infamous for being cost driven, not quality driven. Cheapest possible way to get at the given location means cheapest possible construction.

rlonstein 10y ago

> hmm -- no mention here of the rising cost of silence. It is very expensive to purchase 8 hours of quiet in a major city. Not really expensive if you are only considering sleep. http://www.howardleight.com/earplugs/laser-lite http://www.howardleight.com/earplugs/laser-lite I buy them by the 200 count for about $30, works out to $0.15 per pair. I started using these for motorcycling years ago then woodwork and blacksmithing or any time I use loud machines. For sleeping I use them a couple of times before throwing them away, for other activities they're single use. I also run a fan in my bedroom and have a cheap ($20) white-noise generator for use with a baby that I can use when traveling.

patrickk 10y ago

Depends on the city and the building materials used. After moving to Germany, I was blown away by the property prices (relative to comparable buildings internationally) and the building materials. This is a typical German door, with a bevel: http://higherlogicdownload.s3.amazonaws.com/AIA/UploadedImages/6e814608-4554-4eb0-b93b-ac088d84a808/9.27.DB%205%20wide%20door.jpg http://higherlogicdownload.s3.amazonaws.com/AIA/UploadedImag... Typically these have a matching rubber seal, which dramatically reduces noise and draughts: https://www.modern-doors.co.uk/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/weather-seal-1.jpg https://www.modern-doors.co.uk/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/... Additionally the apartment walls are like a bunker, which means you don't hear traffic, trains or your neighbours even if you live in a city centre.

konradb 10y ago
I am always impressed the building standards and systems in Germany. I had a look at these doors as I was intruiged and beguiled by them. They always felt substantial and well-engineered to me. I found that one typically buys a 'door set' which includes a frame and door which have been made to work, lock, seal etc together. You can then fix the door set into your building. In the UK this is not typically the case, I don't know about the states or elsewhere. The systems for tiling are also wonderful and exported throughout the world (see Schluter). There is a trend of concealing toilet cisterns by companies such as Gerberit, although I hear these aren't as reliable as the doors. I'm still on the lookout for more of these systems (I can see there's a standard for residential electric circuit breakers, I haven't got to the bottom of those yet). I love how well thought-out they are.
- patrickk 10y ago
  Germans are civil engineering Gods. Here's a factory-made, German Huf Haus, which was built in a factory in Germany, and shipped over from Germany to the UK on the back of a truck, and then installed on-site in just one week: http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xx0k9r_se04e06-grand-designs-german-kit-home-surrey-tvrip-xvid_news http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xx0k9r_se04e06-grand-design... I'm surprised to hear those heavy duty doors are not available internationally, they utterly destroy any interior door in terms of quality that I was familiar with growing up. I can tell you that you can throw a full blown house party without the neighbours hearing a peep, and you almost never use the heating if you live a few floors up (a few days per year at most due to the completely sealed building and the rising heat from downstairs neighbours).
  - konradb 10y ago
    Yes those Huf Häuser are amazing. I found that there were suppliers of the doors in the UK but I haven't looked further afield. The windows (opening two different directions) are also similarly impressive though much more widespread. I spend half my time in Germany trying to look out for these things and marvelling at them.

rwmj 10y ago

While this won't solve your problem, I find that good foam earplugs improve my quality of sleep immensely. They are reusable, washable and cost next to nothing (eg https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00374LCFS https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00374LCFS). Also I have this mask for sleeping when it is light outside and it's worth every penny (https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00939UXCY/ https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00939UXCY/).

zippergz 10y ago

This is one of the biggest reasons that I (happily) choose to live in the suburbs. It is silent at night. Some people seem to consider this a bad thing ("it's so boring!"), but I find that I sleep much better than I ever have when I have lived in cities.