4 ms·

I live in an apartment in the U.K. and this is just not the case - I have absolutely no idea what anyone else is doing. Proper construction goes a long way. The

I live in an apartment in the U.K. and this is just not the case - I have absolutely no idea what anyone else is doing. Proper construction goes a long way. There’s something about America that makes proper construction of apartment buildings impossible, apparently - whether that’s building codes or cost-saving exercises I don’t know.

NeedMoreTea 8y ago
I'm also in the UK. It was the case in those I've rented. That included one fancy river front expensive one that work rented while I was working in Docklands. In short, never again. Maybe newer ones are better as that was back in the 90s.
- arethuza 8y ago
  I suspect its actually older properties that are more robustly constructed - the flats we had in central Edinburgh had 1m+ thick sandstone walls and we never heard anything from neighbours. I'm currently in a 10 year old house based on old farm buildings and the walls here are even thicker (still sandstone).
  - NeedMoreTea 8y ago
    On reflection, that's more likely. It's certainly been our experience of houses. The London apartment was a new conversion in an old building. I've no experience of those converted or purpose built long ago.
  - organsnyder 8y ago
    Plaster vs. drywall probably has a lot to do with it. The plaster+lathe in my 103yo house (in the US) blocks sound exceptionally well.
    - arethuza 8y ago
      The fairly large amounts of horsehair I used to find in old plaster probably helped with sound deadening as well!
mrspeaker 8y ago
If that is true, I am moving to the U.K. next. I've lived in 4 different countries, 12 different apartments and I've known when each of my neighbors is playing XBox, watching some cop drama, playing bass guitar, getting in arguments, kid is crying - heck, even snoring in a couple of them! Having no idea what they are doing sounds like dreaming the impossible dream!
baddox 8y ago
I don’t know, America is a big place. The sound insulation in my San Francisco apartment building seems excellent.
bickfordb 8y ago
There are certainly US apartments/condos with high quality sound insulation. The lack of it is cost saving measure. Every cent that goes into the building comes out of the pocket of the developer.

NeedMoreTea 8y ago

I'm also in the UK. It was the case in those I've rented. That included one fancy river front expensive one that work rented while I was working in Docklands. In short, never again. Maybe newer ones are better as that was back in the 90s.

arethuza 8y ago
I suspect its actually older properties that are more robustly constructed - the flats we had in central Edinburgh had 1m+ thick sandstone walls and we never heard anything from neighbours. I'm currently in a 10 year old house based on old farm buildings and the walls here are even thicker (still sandstone).
- NeedMoreTea 8y ago
  On reflection, that's more likely. It's certainly been our experience of houses. The London apartment was a new conversion in an old building. I've no experience of those converted or purpose built long ago.
- organsnyder 8y ago
  Plaster vs. drywall probably has a lot to do with it. The plaster+lathe in my 103yo house (in the US) blocks sound exceptionally well.
  - arethuza 8y ago
    The fairly large amounts of horsehair I used to find in old plaster probably helped with sound deadening as well!

mrspeaker 8y ago

If that is true, I am moving to the U.K. next. I've lived in 4 different countries, 12 different apartments and I've known when each of my neighbors is playing XBox, watching some cop drama, playing bass guitar, getting in arguments, kid is crying - heck, even snoring in a couple of them! Having no idea what they are doing sounds like dreaming the impossible dream!

baddox 8y ago

I don’t know, America is a big place. The sound insulation in my San Francisco apartment building seems excellent.

bickfordb 8y ago

There are certainly US apartments/condos with high quality sound insulation. The lack of it is cost saving measure. Every cent that goes into the building comes out of the pocket of the developer.