Pattaya Condo Living Curse: Renovation Noise

[sojourner007]

I've lived in condos for extended periods (months-years) in different countries: Australia, Brazil, Philippines, Russia, Sweden, and Thailand. I've never experienced so much noise from individual unit renovation work like in Pattaya. And the problem is not limited to only some condos here. I've lived in different units, of prices between 1M to 7-15M, in different locations in Bangkok, Pattaya and Jomtien. And in each and every condo I had to endure from time to time this horrible experience of hearing concrete walls being drilled or demolished, tiles cut, etc for hours every day in a row for period from 10-14 days to several weeks. The renovation work was done during the day of course but it made staying inside my unit during those times simply unbearable. What is it with this renovation obsession here and why the condo management offices do not regulate it better to minimize the annoyance to other residents ( I have a few ideas in that regard)? Why in other countries people do not renovate their units so often or if they do it does not generate so much vibration and noise for neighbours for such long periods of time? Is it something to do with the way condos are built here?

[ray35ty]

at centre condo pattaya they banned all renovations from nov til march. i guess during the high season which i thought was a great idea.

[johng]

Seems a lot of the buildings in Thailand are ( unintentionally ) perfect reverberation chambers.

Somchai with his mortar and pestle knocking up a somtam at 2 am can be heard at the other end of the building
not helped by the paper thin walls with no sort of insulation.

You get the same effect with barking dogs and vehicles with loud exhausts and of course amplified music.

The place I was staying at in South Pattaya had a bit of spare land in the courtyard the owner decides to build some more rental rooms in the courtyard..it took 6 months,almost every day starting as early a 6 am for the 2 ( only ever seemed to be 2 ) workers to finish the place...shortly after the lease was up and the landlord wanted more rent ( because of the crap rental rooms )

We moved !!!

My sympathies go out to sojourner007 and everyone else suffering from excesive noise.

[fakename]

For some strange reason, even newly build buildings, have to be worked on, changing the walls, tiles or whatever. Everywhere you can see newly constructed houses, almost finished, then they demolish them. I have seen concrete slabs demolished, before the cement has had time to dry. Cant figure the economics of this type of work. Is it actually that labor is so cheap, that no one has to plan anything, easier to just change it, after its built?

[PattayaPhom]

Well established condos that are looked after you wont have this. Some have been left to rack and ruin and it seems to be these ones you are staying at. If you are looking for a condo in Jomtien without noise let me know, have a few starting at 25k a month.

[eeeya]

Just buy and electric drill, switch it to hammer drill setting and join the party.

That noise carries all the way through the building.

[BlackPuddingBertha]

I cant say that I hear renovation very often near my unit but I suspect that if there is more renovation going on here it is simply down to a shoddy job being done in the first place which then needs ripping out and replacing much earlier than a proper job would.

I think there will be a lot of work being done in a year or two in these new condos with laminate floors and chipboard kitchens. Give me tiles and real wood any day.

[OMGImInPattaya]

Yep...that's why I'd never buy or even rent a condo...one of many downsides to living in these people warehouses.

[easyride]

Yep...that's why I'd never buy or even rent a condo...one of many downsides to living in these people warehouses.

Same same. I'd never buy a brick in this country. Renting means you could move tomorrow.

[BlackPuddingBertha]

Yep...that's why I'd never buy or even rent a condo...one of many downsides to living in these people warehouses.

You can get exactly the same inconveniences when living in house, plus the added delight of nearby dogs.

One advantage of being in a condo is that if someone is noisy you can complain to the management and they will stop it. Try doing that in a house if you have noisy neighbours.

And then of course there is the security issue of being in a house, and the lack of a nice view, both of which make houses around Pattaya a complete non-starter as far as I'm concerned.

YMMV but I wouldnt want a Thai house at any price, even as a gift, unless I could resell it the same day.

[tontraveller]

Well established condos that are looked after you wont have this. Some have been left to rack and ruin and it seems to be these ones you are staying at. If you are looking for a condo in Jomtien without noise let me know, have a few starting at 25k a month.

Thats correct, the condo building I live has seldom change of ownership and indeed hardly renovation activities...

And the same price tag...

[Fgis]

Yep...that's why I'd never buy or even rent a condo...one of many downsides to living in these people warehouses.

You prefer to live with Somchai the Motosai or you can afford a 20 millions house to make sure that the neighbourhood will be nice ? Cheap houses means cheap and noisy neighboors also.

[Fgis]

Yep...that's why I'd never buy or even rent a condo...one of many downsides to living in these people warehouses.

You can get exactly the same inconveniences when living in house, plus the added delight of nearby dogs.

One advantage of being in a condo is that if someone is noisy you can complain to the management and they will stop it. Try doing that in a house if you have noisy neighbours.

And then of course there is the security issue of being in a house, and the lack of a nice view, both of which make houses around Pattaya a complete non-starter as far as I'm concerned.

YMMV but I wouldnt want a Thai house at any price, even as a gift, unless I could resell it the same day.

So right ! People have different points of views but they often understand that living in a house suxx when problems happen and when they see that there is no solution.

In any condo with good maintenance as all VIEW TALAY you just ring the office 1 time and the security guard will calm things down, which is impossible at any Mooban.

About the OP questions I also think that condos being cheap here people can afford renovating even if it is not needed. I also often see this when people open a new shop or bar that they will close 6 months later when it will come to their brain that their idea to do business there was stupid.

[canman]

Living in a house is, wait for it; all about the location. A had a great place around the lake on the dark side. Bought it for 4 mill and sold 4 years later for 4.7 mill. Huge swimming pool and gardens, mature palms, private partys and barbeques with friends. Only a 15 minute drive to town and a 15 minute drive the other way to work. Zero noise issues, good neighbours, I could sit outside on a weekend and hear nothing but birds and frogs, zero traffic noise. These places exsist in Pattaya you just have to look for them.

Not knocking those who prefer condo living but for myself a house was certainly the way to go and absolutely no regrets.

[pattayadingo]

I've never lived in a box (condo) here in Thailand and never really had any serious problems. Soi dogs? They bark sometimes. Noisy neighbours? Never. Burgled? Never.

Added to that I have 2 bedrooms (sometimes had 3), a kitchen, lounge and generally 2 bathrooms. Never paid more than 8K a month rent and as low as 3K per month.

[NanLaew]

It simply must be testament to the vibrant condo sector of the real estate business, no? All these new owners 'investing' in their latest little bit of paradise hence the endless rounds of renovating. Or maybe the owners are spending a few hundred thousand baht to upgrade a dated skybox to make it more desirable for flipping onwards?

I have see some really impressive condo's outside Thailand where the whole building tries to keep up with the owners taste in interior design and luxury. However, Thai condo's are just like Thai housing estates in that the shabby lobbies, dirty and poorly maintained elevators and grubby hallways with low-quality floor tiling equate with the broken pavements, untended shrubbery and mildewed walls of the brand new 'villages'.

Edited March 6, 2013 by NanLaew

[Langsuan Man]

I can't believe that everyone has missed the most glaring reason for the noise during renovations of condos here in Thailand. It's the concrete, which is not easy to work with and will require a lot of noise to change or remove it.

For instance to Install a few shelves on a western style wall made of sheet rock is a lot easier than boring into concrete and then pounding in expansion bolts..... and a lot quieter also

[BlackPuddingBertha]

I can't believe that everyone has missed the most glaring reason for the noise during renovations of condos here in Thailand. It's the concrete, which is not easy to work with and will require a lot of noise to change or remove it.

For instance to Install a few shelves on a western style wall made of sheet rock is a lot easier than boring into concrete and then pounding in expansion bolts..... and a lot quieter also

You wont find many concrete walls in new condos (though you may find more in old buildings). All you will find in new ones are a few concrete pillars taking all the weight and loads of aerated cellular blocks/red clay bricks filling up the gaps.

You dont need a drill to put shelves up on aerated cellular blocks anyway; they sell screw-in self-tapping plugs that you insert with a screwdriver.

Most of the renovation noise you hear in condos is when they remove old wall and floor tiles with a power chisel.

Edited March 7, 2013 by BlackPuddingBertha

[PattayaPhom]

It simply must be testament to the vibrant condo sector of the real estate business, no? All these new owners 'investing' in their latest little bit of paradise hence the endless rounds of renovating. Or maybe the owners are spending a few hundred thousand baht to upgrade a dated skybox to make it more desirable for flipping onwards?

I have see some really impressive condo's outside Thailand where the whole building tries to keep up with the owners taste in interior design and luxury. However, Thai condo's are just like Thai housing estates in that the shabby lobbies, dirty and poorly maintained elevators and grubby hallways with low-quality floor tiling equate with the broken pavements, untended shrubbery and mildewed walls of the brand new 'villages'.

Maybe the ones you have seen but there are many that are well kept and nothing like you have described.

[RabC]

Yep...that's why I'd never buy or even rent a condo...one of many downsides to living in these people warehouses.

You can get exactly the same inconveniences when living in house, plus the added delight of nearby dogs.

One advantage of being in a condo is that if someone is noisy you can complain to the management and they will stop it. Try doing that in a house if you have noisy neighbours.

And then of course there is the security issue of being in a house, and the lack of a nice view, both of which make houses around Pattaya a complete non-starter as far as I'm concerned.

YMMV but I wouldnt want a Thai house at any price, even as a gift, unless I could resell it the same day.

At least living in a house we tend to avoid the stuck up neighbours Mr Bucket.... Edited March 7, 2013 by RabC

[DD13]

And all of these precast slab buildings that they have taken to throwing up around Pattaya will ring like a bell......steer well clear would be my advice

[BlackPuddingBertha]

At least living in a house we tend to avoid the stuck up neighbours Mr Bucket....

Ah, but do you? I'm not so sure.

[sojourner007]

I thought that one of the main reasons why most of us come to live in Pattaya is the sea. I don't understand people who then end up proudly living in a house in the hot dustbowl of the dark side without any seaviews. No sea breeze to cool you, surrounded by roads in every direction, mosquito infested garden around you, and facing chock-n-block traffic in super narrow sois in case one wants to get out. I've found that in Pattaya the further my condo was from the beach the dustier it was inside. Fresh clean air coming from the sea becomes more like air in the centre of Bangkok by the time it crosses Sukhumvit.

I don't really buy the statement that it is more quiet living in house than in a condo. Yes, there will be less of that bone-shattering concrete demolition noise but if your neighbour renovates or has a noisy party it would be hard not to hear it.

I do understand living in a beach front house on 1 ha of land which ensures sea air and provides more privacy. But there are very few houses like that in Pattaya.

Looking at the posts in this topic I agree that the concrete structure of condos and the quality of construction are some of the main reasons for the subsequent noise. Another reason perhaps is that many owners come to stay in their units perhaps only for short periods while on holidays and don't experience the torture of living there when someone else is renovating.

Would be nice if renovations were limited in number per year (3?) with long quiet breaks in between and not allowed in the same part of the building one after another. I would even propose to introduce a fine for renovation to be paid by the renovator and which would be distributed among the neighbours affected by noise so that they could rent a hotel room for the period.

[BlackPuddingBertha]

Some buildings do indeed limit renovations to the low season months. The buildings that I have first-hand knowledge of also limit renovations to 9-5 Mon-Fri and prohibit work on weekends, holidays etc. Many buildings do charge contractors an elevator fee which goes towards the common area maintenance fund.

As for a view; indeed. The whole point for me of living near the sea is to have a good view of it from my armchair, and to catch the sea breeze on my balcony if I care to sit on it. I get this in my condo.

I lived in houses for 55 years but they also all had good views (though not of the sea). Very few houses around Pattaya have anything I would call a good view as the terrain is just too flat. So here it's a condo or nothing. In a mountainous area a house would probably be more acceptable.

[Fgis]

And when they renovate a house like they do near a friend's house, they almost completely demolished it and the noise won't last just few weeks as it would do at most in a condo...

[corkythecat]

I live in both Hi-So condo in BKK and Mid-So near Jomtien for past 15 years. I estimate that about 80% of the time that "renovations" have been in progress in both, with the ubiquitous electric hammer as a constant.

Edited April 22, 2013 by Rimmer
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[bri1guy]

yeah you staying in your condo and if in a new area there is nothing you can do. I have thought about this same thing in the past and thinking about sound proffing my Bedroom for those times when I need a morning of piece and quiet.. It may cost a few grand but its also a hugh advantage , how much is it worth for a piece and quiet??

[TexasRanger]

I thought that one of the main reasons why most of us come to live in Pattaya is the sea.

Probably not.

[paddyjenkins]

Oh yes, apart from the karaoke bars, I had forgotten aboout non stop renovation noise. So between 8am and 8pm we are driven mad by screaming drills and then from 10pm onwards until about 5 am there is the karaoke noise. That is another reason I decided against living in Pattaya, or Thailand generally in fact. When I was considering living in Thailand even property agents warned me not to even view certain condos because of the non stop screaming of jack hammer drills. In the larger ones like the View Talay's, which are really just stacks of corridors with rooms on either side, the noise just never stops. In others, like the condotel in Jomtien etc, it won't be quite as bad but will still be almost daily. I really don't get why it is so much worse in Thailand than elsewhere, it just is, and that means there will be no tropical paradise lifestyle, more like hell.

[BlackPuddingBertha]

When I was considering living in Thailand even property agents warned me not to even view certain condos because of the non stop screaming of jack hammer drills. In the larger ones like the View Talay's, which are really just stacks of corridors with rooms on either side, the noise just never stops.

Renovation is restricted to normal working hours in all the VT condos I have had experience with here. ie not weekends or holidays or in the evening. Also the renovations have to have a start and end date.

Renovation noise in VT buildings is particularly noticeable because the units are sold new as shells and so have to be completely tiled and fitted before occupation, and of course this happens progressively over quite a long time. VT5 is over 5 years old yet there are still shells left in it. Most other buildings are now being sold fully-fitted and often furnished. I think there may be potential for a lot of noise in these newer buildings when the rather cheap fittings all need replacing in a few years.