To All Condo Dwellers (Residents - Own Or Rent)

[jimmym40]

I've only lived in apt/condo type units in the USA. Not a very pleasant experience in regards to noise level.

Wanted to find out from people here who have been or currently living in a condo what it's like (noise) from either upstairs or downstairs units, And from neighbors next door. Also how is the noise level from the corridors.

Are the walls usuall insulated? Made of concrete? Or dodgy plasterboard?

I'd be interested in buying or renting a place that I know the noise factor is VERY LOW. Anyone living in such a place and can recommend?

Thanks for all replies. Doesn't matter on the location by the way. Just peaceful.

[WarProfiteer]

All of that is really going to depend on the quality of construction and what's going on nearby. Someone may have some specific recommendations for certain bldgs though....

[NancyL]

We live in a building that's about twenty years old and it's very quiet within the condo building. The biggest source of internal noise is from remodeling and that's only during business hours, M-F, per the condo rules. Never hear anyone above or below us and rarely hear the people next door. Mostly when I'm in the bathroom and they're in their bathroom. That noise travels thru a shared vent for the exhaust fans.

I think the older buildings are made with brick walls covered with plaster, or maybe concrete. You have to use a drill to hang a picture. The only cheap, thin walls are some of the internal walls within the condo unit itself.

I have friends living in other buildings of about the same age and their units are also pretty quiet.

The biggest noise problem is from outside the building -- traffic noise, barking dogs, crowing roosters. Amazingly, the noise is worse on the higher floors. Noise travels "up" as well as "out" and there aren't any trees or other buildings to block noise once you get above the fourth or fifth floor.

[Card]

Had the same problem in London - have lived in BKK 7 years and 5 condos and had no problem at all from neighbours but local building noise is the worst problem. The condos in Thailand often have false ceilings which helps and also people more often than not walk around in their condos with bare feet or soft slippers. Try to get a place that is not near a school or has many kids as they often cause a lot of noise - but for me thailand is a dream compared to London considering noise from neighbours, up, down or sideways.

[NewlyMintedThai]

Depends on the building, location of your unit, how many units per floor...

[chiang mai]

Condo buidlings here are typically large concrete frames with red brick infill to form the walls, take a hammer to one part of the frame and it will travel a long way, take a pneumatic drill to same and the noise will travel throughout. From experience the bigger worry is not the everyday noise from neighbours but the renovation noise from anywhere in the building.

[PoodMaiDai]

We stay in a fairly new building and it's somewhat loud. Neighbors slamming doors are another huge problem as our halls echo very badly.

[thaigolfer]

Try to check this out.

Wide corridors, high ceilings, solid construction and good isolation.

Almost no noise inside the building and not inside the units.

www.chiangmairiversidecondo.com

Cheers

[SantiSuk]

Many new condos have rooms to rent. Consider sleeping there a night for places on your short list.

Agree with the noise travels up advice. I thought that 25 floors up would be well away from the noise of BTS, Sukhumvit and Ram Intra freeway. Wrong.

[barefoot1988]

if you looking for very low noise, stay away.

i stay in a apartment and i could hear music playing 2 doors away. initially i thought it was some inconsiderate arse blasting away but no. one day i went down to collect my laundry without closing my itunes, guess what? i could clearly hear the music from my laptop from the outside, and no im not blasting and it was from laptop speakers!

and just few weeks ago, some retards decided to bring a dog (i highly suspect its the miniature goblin creature probably named gollum which i met earlier.) in despite our apartment clearly stating no pets. you could imagine all the barking. I dont know if this happens to me, it seems like everywhere are filled with normal and sane people except my apartment. There are always door slamming sounds, people yelling and the room upstairs must have kept a baby chang or rhino, and heck why are they dragging their furniture every few days