Noise in the apartment building
#17
Re: Noise in the apartment building
So the general consensus so far is that it's caused by a tenant and not the building?
#18
Re: Noise in the apartment building
My first line of attack would be the old "glass on the wall/ceiling" trick to see if I can hear more details in the noise.
Last edited by Pulaski; Jan 12th 2017 at 11:09 pm.
#19
Re: Noise in the apartment building
Stick the glass to the ceiling as suggested and get more details & then
Drop a note in their mail box asking them if they realise you can hear their every move.
#21
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Joined: Mar 2010
Location: SW Calgary
Posts: 776
Re: Noise in the apartment building
It's pretty simple in my view to determine if it's the building or the tenant above...
Next time it happens, hammer on your ceiling as hard as you can with something that won't damage the finish. If the noise suddenly stops, it's probably human sourced.
* Edit: or mice
* Edit 2: Maybe your neighbour above has set up a workshop/woodshop in his apartment and is making small carpentry items?
Next time it happens, hammer on your ceiling as hard as you can with something that won't damage the finish. If the noise suddenly stops, it's probably human sourced.
* Edit: or mice
* Edit 2: Maybe your neighbour above has set up a workshop/woodshop in his apartment and is making small carpentry items?
Last edited by Photoplex; Jan 13th 2017 at 1:50 am.
#23
Re: Noise in the apartment building
Is it only young couples who shag each other senseless? I'll have to tell the boyfriend that we're too old for that kind of nonsense now.
#24
BE Forum Addict
Joined: May 2012
Location: Qc, Canada
Posts: 3,787
Re: Noise in the apartment building
Someone I know might have had to move a bedstead when neighbour mentioned an "odd banging sound" echoing through the walls ... The someone might not qualify as "young"...
#26
Slob
Joined: Sep 2009
Location: Ottineau
Posts: 6,342
Re: Noise in the apartment building
When I was a student, my girlfriend got kicked out of her lodgings because of that. The landlady got a bit narked at the banging on the wall. All my fault. I was young and randy and she had one heck of a body (girlfriend, not landlady).
#27
Lost in BE Cyberspace
Joined: Feb 2013
Posts: 6,148
Re: Noise in the apartment building
So I live in a brand new high rise apartment building and most nights we get this subtle noise that seem to be coming from the floor directly above us. The noise resembles as if someone is assembling and moving furniture around (light hammering, tools picked and put back, nails dropping, heavy stuff dragging etc)
It usually starts late evenings and sometimes lasts until 1-2 AM with intervals that are absolutely random every single time the incident happens. Sometimes when I don't hear it at all in the night then the action starts early in the morning. I have checked from the outside of the building to see which tenant has lights on so I can pin point to the source of this nuisance but that has produced mixed results as its not always the same apartment every time the noise is on.
It has been an absolute nightmare and indeed since I have moved in and so far I have approached the management of the building numerous times to discuss this. But they are reluctant to accept that these noises are caused by another tenant on the upper floor. The tend to think (or pretend) that these noises are caused by a mechanical system (heating etc.). On one occasion they blamed it on the building being brand new and going through its 'natural settling process'.
From those of you who know about these things do you agree with what the management is telling me or do you think they are BSing cuz they don't want to take the trouble to deal with the source of the problem?
It usually starts late evenings and sometimes lasts until 1-2 AM with intervals that are absolutely random every single time the incident happens. Sometimes when I don't hear it at all in the night then the action starts early in the morning. I have checked from the outside of the building to see which tenant has lights on so I can pin point to the source of this nuisance but that has produced mixed results as its not always the same apartment every time the noise is on.
It has been an absolute nightmare and indeed since I have moved in and so far I have approached the management of the building numerous times to discuss this. But they are reluctant to accept that these noises are caused by another tenant on the upper floor. The tend to think (or pretend) that these noises are caused by a mechanical system (heating etc.). On one occasion they blamed it on the building being brand new and going through its 'natural settling process'.
From those of you who know about these things do you agree with what the management is telling me or do you think they are BSing cuz they don't want to take the trouble to deal with the source of the problem?
Just read this but have you ever thought of rats. Especially at night when everything else it quiet they can be really loud. Walking along is like hammering etc.
#28
Forum Regular
Joined: Jan 2011
Posts: 181
Re: Noise in the apartment building
The first time I encountered apartment noise was in student accommodation in France. Loud music, the sound of furniture being dragged around, loud voices, sounds of ecstasy, boots clumping around, night after night. It was too much, so I rented a room from a prof-she laughed when I told her about my experience-"le petit pas a minuit" she said, as if fairies were dancing around.
When I moved back to Canada, I rented in an older two story walk up, built it seemed of mass concrete. Silent as the grave.
Over the years I lived in many apartments and condos, and always tried to get a top floor, corner unit to avoid neighbors' noise, and over time, only rented in buildings in which all units were carpeted. In the '80s, laminate flooring became common, and it was hell on the those below.
Some years before I left Canada I bought a brand new condo-10 storey, and once again the click click of fairies on laminate flooring drove me to despair. Laminate flooring was banned under the condo bylaws, but many people ignored the rules-didn't give a fig about their neighbors. And the sound attenuation in the building structure was appalling. Little or no sound flanking in party walls or floors. Just cheap construction I thought. I checked out the building codes and although they had recommended impact noise and air sound transmission limits, the building I was in had paid scant attention to them. The final straw for me was the sound of people urinating in other apartments.
When I came to England I bought a brand new apartment. I watched it being built, looked at the construction drawings, saw the detail and attention put into lessening noise-the difference between Canadian and UK building codes is chalk and cheese. For example, the concrete floors have a 200mm base layer, then an intermediate acoustic fibre layer, then a 50mm grout layer. Party walls are impressively sound insulated, a base drywall layer and a 20mm sound attenuated drywall finish. Everywhere that air borne noise could be transmitted is flanked. The ceilings are mounted on resilient channels, attached to a 150mm deep wood void, again with sound insulation. And triple glazing on the windows.
Not quite monastic silence, but certainly no longer do I have listen to others relieving the pressure on their prostate.
When I moved back to Canada, I rented in an older two story walk up, built it seemed of mass concrete. Silent as the grave.
Over the years I lived in many apartments and condos, and always tried to get a top floor, corner unit to avoid neighbors' noise, and over time, only rented in buildings in which all units were carpeted. In the '80s, laminate flooring became common, and it was hell on the those below.
Some years before I left Canada I bought a brand new condo-10 storey, and once again the click click of fairies on laminate flooring drove me to despair. Laminate flooring was banned under the condo bylaws, but many people ignored the rules-didn't give a fig about their neighbors. And the sound attenuation in the building structure was appalling. Little or no sound flanking in party walls or floors. Just cheap construction I thought. I checked out the building codes and although they had recommended impact noise and air sound transmission limits, the building I was in had paid scant attention to them. The final straw for me was the sound of people urinating in other apartments.
When I came to England I bought a brand new apartment. I watched it being built, looked at the construction drawings, saw the detail and attention put into lessening noise-the difference between Canadian and UK building codes is chalk and cheese. For example, the concrete floors have a 200mm base layer, then an intermediate acoustic fibre layer, then a 50mm grout layer. Party walls are impressively sound insulated, a base drywall layer and a 20mm sound attenuated drywall finish. Everywhere that air borne noise could be transmitted is flanked. The ceilings are mounted on resilient channels, attached to a 150mm deep wood void, again with sound insulation. And triple glazing on the windows.
Not quite monastic silence, but certainly no longer do I have listen to others relieving the pressure on their prostate.
#30
Re: Noise in the apartment building
Its a brand new construction, only opened a few months ago, and extremely well maintained. So I don't think it has rats.