daveto
Active Member
How peculiar. What is special about Wed/Thurs?
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Condo soundproofing
- Thread starter taal
- Start date
How peculiar. What is special about Wed/Thurs?
sam1025
New Member
lol...thats when his girlfriend sleeps over !
lister
Active Member
At my previous apartment I had one neighbour who's girlfriend was a screamer. Yes, great fun having to listen to that when you're single and not getting much action at the time.
I would slam a phone book against the wall as hard as I could. Most of the time they'd stop abruptly but other times they'd keep plowing along. Then later it got to alternating between sex and fights. Fun stuff. The fights eventually outnumbered the sex and they moved out. (At my current place I occasionally hear my next door neighbours but that's usually right at the end for only a couple of seconds but it's pretty faint.)Then I got "loud TV guy" again. Had one of them before the screamer couple moved in. They'd watch TV loudly late at night and during the day time when I was home sick. No jobs?!?!
On the other side of me there was always an Eastern European family. I think I went through three or four families. Always with kids who'd make as much noise as they could particularly out on the balcony. On top of that I'd frequently have a smoker living underneath me who's smoke would waft up and into my place because I keep the window open slightly (bachelor apartment) to regulate the heat better (so hot!)
My absolute best neighbour at my old apartment was a girl who made no noise at all throughout the week other than Saturday night between 7:00-9:00pm when she'd invite over a friend to listen to some music (and presumably drink) before heading out for dancing. I'd be watching HNIC so the noise didn't bother me at all.
W. K. Lis
Superstar
Get a white noise generator. To sample what it sounds like, there is an online generator you can link to.
The generators produce a sound to mask the offending noise. A loud refrigerator or humming fan can do the same.
The generators produce a sound to mask the offending noise. A loud refrigerator or humming fan can do the same.
madmolecule
New Member
B) I am in a new condo downtown, and can't hear any talking from other units. However, if people play music loudly, it is quite noticeable (mostly the bass beat). This seems to transmit quite a distance through the building - i.e, sometimes when I hear it in my apartment, if I go in the hall, I can't hear it coming from anywhere on my floor, or one floor up or down. Fortunately, this does not happen too often, but I suppose it depends on the neighbours you happen to get.
More often, noticeable noise comes from outside rather than inside. The background noise is a soft hum which I don't find disturbing, but motorcycles or cars with loud exhausts are particularly intrusive. I am on the 16th floor, but this doesn't seem to help much - the sound just seems to travel straight up, with less to block it than if you were in a house with a lot of things around it at ground level.
AKS
Senior Member
umm..I don't know. using one annoying sound to block off another...
highlife
New Member
i live in a 5 yr old building in north york.
i don't hear my next door neighbours at all, except for the infrequent hammering of a nail.
the door is definitely not sound proof in many newer buildings (i.e. such as mine). fortunately i live in a unit that's not near an elevator, trash chute, or have any neighbour's door across from me. i purposely looked for this type of unit position during my condo search.
i do not hear any background humming noise when it's dead quiet. There is some loud wind noise that seems to come from nowhere, but i attribute that to normal background noise or "building noises". I've gotten use to these background noises through time.
i do hear noise coming from upstairs such as items being dropped and sometimes muffled footsteps. but i would only hear these noises if it was dead quiet in my unit. However, there have been a few times when the foot steps are quite loud but fortunately they have been very infrequent.
i've been warned by many condo dwellers that noise is unavoidable and i have to learn to live with it (within reason of course). I'm pretty sensitive to noise so when i was condo shopping, i did the following:
1. Ensure your door is not located near noisy areas (as i mentioned above)
2. Monitored the traffic of a building (i.e. the lobby). Although not always foolproof but I assumed that the more young people i see, the more potential for noise.
3. while waiting in the lobby with my realtor i was lucky enough to ask an existing tenant about noise.
4. made sure the balcony did not face a major street. You do hear the noise when the balcony door is open no matter how high up!
5. this is a minor consideration but i also looked for a unit that did not have a shared balcony with a neighbour, i.e. separated by a glass divider. However, in my current place, the balcony is pretty secluded, but i can still hear the folks above and below me quite clearly.
6. read up on the condo board rules and regulations to see how noise problems are enforced.
Unfortunately, even following the above, there is very little you can do about what type of neighbours you may live next to. You just have to hope to high heaven that they are quiet. If not, hopefully there are measures you can take through your condo board/management that can resolve any noise issues.
i don't hear my next door neighbours at all, except for the infrequent hammering of a nail.
the door is definitely not sound proof in many newer buildings (i.e. such as mine). fortunately i live in a unit that's not near an elevator, trash chute, or have any neighbour's door across from me. i purposely looked for this type of unit position during my condo search.
i do not hear any background humming noise when it's dead quiet. There is some loud wind noise that seems to come from nowhere, but i attribute that to normal background noise or "building noises". I've gotten use to these background noises through time.
i do hear noise coming from upstairs such as items being dropped and sometimes muffled footsteps. but i would only hear these noises if it was dead quiet in my unit. However, there have been a few times when the foot steps are quite loud but fortunately they have been very infrequent.
i've been warned by many condo dwellers that noise is unavoidable and i have to learn to live with it (within reason of course). I'm pretty sensitive to noise so when i was condo shopping, i did the following:
1. Ensure your door is not located near noisy areas (as i mentioned above)
2. Monitored the traffic of a building (i.e. the lobby). Although not always foolproof but I assumed that the more young people i see, the more potential for noise.
3. while waiting in the lobby with my realtor i was lucky enough to ask an existing tenant about noise.
4. made sure the balcony did not face a major street. You do hear the noise when the balcony door is open no matter how high up!
5. this is a minor consideration but i also looked for a unit that did not have a shared balcony with a neighbour, i.e. separated by a glass divider. However, in my current place, the balcony is pretty secluded, but i can still hear the folks above and below me quite clearly.
6. read up on the condo board rules and regulations to see how noise problems are enforced.
Unfortunately, even following the above, there is very little you can do about what type of neighbours you may live next to. You just have to hope to high heaven that they are quiet. If not, hopefully there are measures you can take through your condo board/management that can resolve any noise issues.
grego85
New Member
My building is about 3 years old now (Essence in the Kingsway). Concrete walls and 10ft ceilings. The person above me is very quiet although sometimes on weekends I can hear a child running in the morning, but that's when my condo is dead silent.
The neighbours next to me are generally fairly quiet although they have woken me up twice in the morning at like 5am with their fighting. Seriously who has heated arguments at 5am? At one point I though he had done something to her because she yelled out "No don't!" followed by a bang and silence for a few minutes. Then they started up again.
Also I'm fairly close to the lobby (I'm on the main floor) so I can sometimes hear people talking loudly/kids yelling when I'm in my den because it's right by the entrance. I generally have my headphones on when I'm in the den though listening to music so it doesn't bother me.
Otherwise I find some light ambient music drowns out everything else.
When I lived in the Pantages last summer, there was a drone when I left the windows open (I was on the 21st floor there), but when they were shut it was silent. The only noise I heard over the 4 months I was there was one neighbour doing renovations.
The neighbours next to me are generally fairly quiet although they have woken me up twice in the morning at like 5am with their fighting. Seriously who has heated arguments at 5am? At one point I though he had done something to her because she yelled out "No don't!" followed by a bang and silence for a few minutes. Then they started up again.
Also I'm fairly close to the lobby (I'm on the main floor) so I can sometimes hear people talking loudly/kids yelling when I'm in my den because it's right by the entrance. I generally have my headphones on when I'm in the den though listening to music so it doesn't bother me.
Otherwise I find some light ambient music drowns out everything else.
When I lived in the Pantages last summer, there was a drone when I left the windows open (I was on the 21st floor there), but when they were shut it was silent. The only noise I heard over the 4 months I was there was one neighbour doing renovations.
ducati0000
Active Member
if the condo projects are packed like sardines in a small area the echo from the street and other condos will filter thru to your condo.I notice condos not in the core or near a major street is pretty quiet.The tips you offer is basically what I wrote down to ensure a better chance of a good nite sleep.I bought the end of the hall unit,not facing any major street or another condo in front,I found out thru MySpace and Facebook basically all the tenants on my floor are actually going to live there PLUS the floor only has 10 units per floor.No garbage chute near my front door and another thing the unit next to me is one of the more larger expensive units so I really doubt a young single person is going to be living there.I dont mind sounds of kid playing around it the loud inconsiderate party goers that I dislike.My condo is not at all TTC friendly and not near any sort of bar or club so the chance of a overspill of drunks at 3:00am coming onto my street is slim to none.
ducati0000
Active Member
Huh??...the only way to soundproof a condo is before the actually completion of the units when the walls are bare and use soundproofing insulation.If you know another way to soundproof a condo please tell us.
AGTO
Banned
The only way to "soundproof" a room is to build a structurally isolated room within the room, with airlocks at the doors. This is similar to the opera house or any well designed recording studio.
The best way to attenuate airborn sound in a condo is to use mass, such as poured concrete or cinder block walls, and to make sure there are no openings.
Sound travelling through solid walls can be attenuated with resiliant channel, insulation and drywall....like they did in apartments and condos, a decade ago
The best way to attenuate airborn sound in a condo is to use mass, such as poured concrete or cinder block walls, and to make sure there are no openings.
Sound travelling through solid walls can be attenuated with resiliant channel, insulation and drywall....like they did in apartments and condos, a decade ago
wongnog
New Member
So how loud can on watch TV in a condo? I myself love watching TV and movies loud, especially in 5.1 surround sound. I'm going to be moving into a 1 bdrm condo in April but am starting to wonder if I will need to alter my viewing habits. I don't have it as loud as a multiplex or anything but definitely like to hear the full soundtrack.
cdr108
Senior Member
you're going to be on a first name basis with security and your Condo Board if you keep that up ...
dt_toronto_geek
Superstar
Perhaps I was just lucky but in the condos I lived in I had no problem with poorly soundproofed units. I never heard my neighbours - ever and I'm like a couple of others above who is very sensitive to noise when I'm trying to sleep. I'm also one who watches loud 5.1 movies with 7 reference quality speakers and a 400 watt powered subwoofer. In my second place I knew my neighbours below me (we met at a "meet & greet" hosted by the developer). After living there a while I put on the DVD of the opening battle scene in "Saving Private Ryan" at a level that I really thought was pushing it and then went down to hear it first hand in the suite below. I could barely hear a little bit of bass (no other noise) but the girlz were oblivious to it. I did have wall to wall carpet with upgraded underpad, perhaps that helped. My neighbour above me who I knew casually was a really cool guy and I asked him on a few occasions if my music or movies bother him and he told me that he never hears a thing. I lived there for nearly five years.
Bottom line, it comes down to quality of construction and materials. My places were built in the mid and late 90's, perhaps things were better back then.
taal
Senior Member
Thanks so much for all the comments everyone!
From what I can tell, older - quality buildings - built say between 1990 and 2000 are a lot better sound proofed.
I'm definitely in that sensitive to sound group of people. And I'm sure I come off to other people as really picky - what can I say ?
It's just the low / quiet humming (it's not constant though! like a fan) that gets me, it is fairly quiet though. I don't mind airplanes / cars / anything else actually ! Even people talking in the hallway isn't bad.
Anyone can relate?
From what I can tell, older - quality buildings - built say between 1990 and 2000 are a lot better sound proofed.
I'm definitely in that sensitive to sound group of people. And I'm sure I come off to other people as really picky - what can I say ?
It's just the low / quiet humming (it's not constant though! like a fan) that gets me, it is fairly quiet though. I don't mind airplanes / cars / anything else actually ! Even people talking in the hallway isn't bad.
Anyone can relate?