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Noise is the largest complaint my spouse has with dense buildings. I tune things out easily, but I also found myself self conscious about walking softly when I

Noise is the largest complaint my spouse has with dense buildings. I tune things out easily, but I also found myself self conscious about walking softly when I lived above people.

globular-toast 3y ago
Me too. What's annoying is it seems hard to tell what it's going to be like before you actually move in. I've lived in a few different flats in the UK, all purpose built flats. I already knew flats in converted houses are generally terrible. I've been in some where you can hear everything your neighbour is up to. I'm not sure what's worse: hearing them or knowing they can hear you too. In two of them I could never hear a peep from the neighbours apart from footsteps on the floor upstairs. But seriously wondered if the neighbours ever made any noise at all, or whether it was just that well soundproofed. In my most recent flat, though, it's terrible. You can hear conversations through the floor but what's worse is when people make direct contact with walls/ceilings, like closing curtains or closing doors, it's like they are in your room. And this is despite the building having solid concrete floors that appear to be over a foot thick. I do also wonder if it was really an illusion as the first two flats were in noisier areas. But, whatever the reason, it's so hard to tell what it's going to be like before moving in. I wish there standards so you could guarantee what it's going to be like. But until then, I will be seeking detached housing because I just can't stand the noise.
- Tade0 3y ago
  > And this is despite the building having solid concrete floors that appear to be over a foot thick. The noise is coming in through the holes made to put plumbing - especially district heating. In my current apartment the owner wanted to conceal the piping, so he hid it behind an enclosure made out of plaster with a service hatch. The whole thing is currently a resonance chamber that lets me follow my dowstairs neighbour's conversations.
  - globular-toast 3y ago
    This is my theory with respect to hearing voices from downstairs. It only takes the tiniest little air gap to make a huge difference and I can tell there is one somewhere. I'm not sure about the problem with direct contact with walls/ceilings, though. I suspect this is more down to the construction and the walls/ceiling being directly attached to the concrete shell, or something.

Noise is the largest complaint my spouse has with dense buildings. I tune things out easily, but I also found myself self conscious about walking softly when I lived above people.

globular-toast 3y ago

Me too. What's annoying is it seems hard to tell what it's going to be like before you actually move in. I've lived in a few different flats in the UK, all purpose built flats. I already knew flats in converted houses are generally terrible. I've been in some where you can hear everything your neighbour is up to. I'm not sure what's worse: hearing them or knowing they can hear you too. In two of them I could never hear a peep from the neighbours apart from footsteps on the floor upstairs. But seriously wondered if the neighbours ever made any noise at all, or whether it was just that well soundproofed. In my most recent flat, though, it's terrible. You can hear conversations through the floor but what's worse is when people make direct contact with walls/ceilings, like closing curtains or closing doors, it's like they are in your room. And this is despite the building having solid concrete floors that appear to be over a foot thick. I do also wonder if it was really an illusion as the first two flats were in noisier areas. But, whatever the reason, it's so hard to tell what it's going to be like before moving in. I wish there standards so you could guarantee what it's going to be like. But until then, I will be seeking detached housing because I just can't stand the noise.

Tade0 3y ago
> And this is despite the building having solid concrete floors that appear to be over a foot thick. The noise is coming in through the holes made to put plumbing - especially district heating. In my current apartment the owner wanted to conceal the piping, so he hid it behind an enclosure made out of plaster with a service hatch. The whole thing is currently a resonance chamber that lets me follow my dowstairs neighbour's conversations.
- globular-toast 3y ago
  This is my theory with respect to hearing voices from downstairs. It only takes the tiniest little air gap to make a huge difference and I can tell there is one somewhere. I'm not sure about the problem with direct contact with walls/ceilings, though. I suspect this is more down to the construction and the walls/ceiling being directly attached to the concrete shell, or something.