A question for condo dwellers

[tropo]

I have been thinking about renting a condo unit. I have never before lived in a condo in Pattaya, only townhouses and houses but I found a big one which occupies an entire floor, and so I'm tempted.

 

What I'm curious about is how much noise travels through the floor. I'm a night owl and I don't want to disturb the people living below me at night. In the townhouse I'm living in now I can hear my lightweight wife walking around upstairs because the floor slabs are not very thick.  In my previous apartment, I could hear people walking around above me. 

 

The last thing I want is to sign a contract for a year and end up with complaints from the occupants below me. The condo above me is vacant most of the year, so that's not a concern.

 

Any advice from dedicated condo dwellers would be much appreciated.

[digbeth]

Even in older-better built condos, renovations work, hammer banging etc and I suppose the pestle and mortar for Som Tum travels quite a lot, in my building, though I rarely hears any noise from neighbours, since it's quite well built with decent brick walls and rendering, way before the modern 'low mass' bricks, most noticeable noise is road noise from outside, but the odd renovation on Sunday mornings is heard through the wall from rooms well far below or above

[dannywla]

I live at Cosy Beach View and from my experience the past 2.5 years I am quite happy with the little to no noise that I hear from my neighbors.  Much has too do with the fact that we run the AC through out the entire night. 

Living in my townhouse in the States and having a house in Issan I experience much noise from my neighbors and the dogs.  

Hopefully you will  live in a pet free building. 

[tropo]

9 minutes ago, digbeth said:

Even in older-better built condos, renovations work, hammer banging etc and I suppose the pestle and mortar for Som Tum travels quite a lot, in my building, though I rarely hears any noise from neighbours, since it's quite well built with decent brick walls and rendering, way before the modern 'low mass' bricks, most noticeable noise is road noise from outside, but the odd renovation on Sunday mornings is heard through the wall from rooms well far below or above

 

What I'm most concerned about is whether walking on the floor travels through and also music. I'm not worried about outside noise or noise from the neighbours. I'm more concerned about disturbing them. I'm quite good at dealing with noise myself but some others may be hypersensitive.

[tropo]

8 minutes ago, dannywla said:

I live at Cosy Beach View and from my experience the past 2.5 years I am quite happy with the little to no noise that I hear from my neighbors.  Much has too do with the fact that we run the AC through out the entire night. 

Living in my townhouse in the States and having a house in Issan I experience much noise from my neighbors and the dogs.  

Hopefully you will  live in a pet free building. 

 

Yes, I'm aware of how drilling and other construction noises travelling through a building. I also get that in the townhouse I'm in now.

 

The only people in this building are the ones who will be below me.

[dannywla]

If you choose to play your music loud after 10 pm chances are likely in a Condo that complaints will likely haunt you.  That's one reason why short term rentals less than 30 days are being enforced this year throughout Thailand.  

Typical short term guest ; some choose to have no respect for their neighbors.  A home may be your best option as you are free to do as you choose.  

[Peterw42]

14 minutes ago, tropo said:

What I'm most concerned about is whether walking on the floor travels through and also music. I'm not worried about outside noise or noise from the neighbours. I'm more concerned about disturbing them. I'm quite good at dealing with noise myself but some others may be hypersensitive.

If you look at half built condo blocks you will notice the floors are the only subtainsial part of the structure. You could also take measures to lessen noise, shoes off, rugs on the floors, subwoofer up off the floor etc.

In my condo I never hear noise from above or below only through walls, the only thing I may hear from above is coins dropped on tile floor etc.

[ThaiBob]

My building has thick concrete floors and I hear no noise from units above or below. However, my bedroom is adjacent to my neighbors entertainment system which is on the opposite side of our common wall. In the early morning hours I have occasionally knocked on his door and asked to turn down the volume.

[cunningstunt]

If they are thais below you, nothing on God's earth will disturb their sleep.

You should be worried about what will travel up through your floor

[swissie]

What "Tropo" really want's to know is: "Can I stepdance, wearing military boots, while AC/DC's "Highway to Hell" is blaring".
Cheers.

[champers]

Tropo could invest in some good quality headphones.

[JSixpack]

Normal footfalls on a tile floor won't be heard below in a well-built building. Stomping will; landing heavily on your heels might. Need I mention dropping weight plates? Music/TV/kitchen noise/talking, all at normal volume, also won't be heard below, unless on the balcony and their balcony windows are open.

 

See if you can't talk to someone living there now.

[tropo]

5 minutes ago, JSixpack said:

Normal footfalls on a tile floor won't be heard below in a well-built building. Stomping will; landing heavily on your heels might. Need I mention dropping weight plates? Music/TV/kitchen noise/talking, all at normal volume, also won't be heard below, unless on the balcony and their balcony windows are open.

 

Thanks for that. I was concerned about dropping weight plates, but I have 25mm thick EVA mats, which did save my tile floor once LOL. I'm a pretty quite trainer and don't usually drop anything.

[tropo]

4 hours ago, cunningstunt said:

If they are thais below you, nothing on God's earth will disturb their sleep.

You should be worried about what will travel up through your floor

 

I have a Thai neighbour who never stops complaining, although I consider myself to be fairly quiet.

 

I'd much prefer a noisy neighbour than a hypersensitive one who suffers from insomnia.

 

My concern here is more about footfalls from normal walking around the condo. As I said, I can hear my wife walking around upstairs on our townhouse floor, so I wouldn't want the same problem in a condo. I'm assuming this condo has a floor of normal thickness.

[tropo]

4 hours ago, ThaiBob said:

My building has thick concrete floors and I hear no noise from units above or below. However, my bedroom is adjacent to my neighbors entertainment system which is on the opposite side of our common wall. In the early morning hours I have occasionally knocked on his door and asked to turn down the volume.

 

Fortunately, this condo has no side neighbours. The only other occupants are below.

[lamyai3]

Most people don't wear shoes indoors so it shouldn't incur much noise. Music at reasonable levels (without thumping bass coming out of the speakers), same. I've lived only in condos for the past decade or more, no serious issues.

[KittenKong]

4 hours ago, tropo said:

My concern here is more about footfalls from normal walking around the condo.

 

How normal is normal? If you walk like an ordinary human being then no one below you will ever hear you. But if you have flat feet, as many do, then the people below you will hear stomping all the time. Most of the people who do have flat feet dont even realise that they are stomping. If you dont know whether you do or not then get someone to watch you walking.

 

Concrete is an extremely good conductor of impact noise such as footsteps, dropped items, bass music.

[tropo]

2 minutes ago, KittenKong said:

 

How normal is normal? If you walk like an ordinary human being then no one below you will ever hear you. But if you have flat feet, as many do, then the people below you will hear stomping all the time. Most of the people who do have flat feet dont even realise that they are stomping. If you dont know whether you do or not then get someone to watch you walking.

 

Concrete is an extremely good conductor of impact noise such as footsteps, dropped items, bass music.

 

I didn't think my wife was flatfooted, but I'll have to check because in our townhouse she sounds like a heard to turtles.

 

As for me, I walk barefoot in the house and keep the load towards my toes so as to lessen the impact with the floor, lest the neighbour start complaining. 

 

 

[pegman]

Obviously it would depend on the building which you haven't named. A place like View Talay 2 has very thick concrete walls and floors. 

[tropo]

1 hour ago, pegman said:

Obviously it would depend on the building which you haven't named. A place like View Talay 2 has very thick concrete walls and floors. 

 

I realise it could differ from building to building, but surely there's some kind of standard building code for structural floors in condo buildings. It's a small, very private building, so I can't name it.

[pegman]

1 hour ago, tropo said:

I realise it could differ from building to building, but surely there's some kind of standard building code for structural floors in condo buildings. It's a small, very private building, so I can't name it.

"......standard building code....." are we talking Thailand here?

[lamyai3]

Age of the building can be a factor. Some of the older ones can be much more solidly built. 

[lanng khao]

Age of the building can be a factor. Some of the older ones can be much more solidly built. 

A bit like their women..

[tropo]

3 hours ago, pegman said:

"......standard building code....." are we talking Thailand here?

I really don't know about building codes. I figured floor strength would be quite an important factor in building multi-floor structures.  

 

Realistically, how many highrise buildings have collapsed in Thailand? 

[tropo]

1 hour ago, lamyai3 said:

Age of the building can be a factor. Some of the older ones can be much more solidly built. 

The building I'm going to inhabit is an older structure, so maybe I'm lucky.

[zoza]

33 minutes ago, tropo said:

The building I'm going to inhabit is an older structure, so maybe I'm lucky.

 I live in a very old building and when a certain person is stopping above me you can hear

his every step, so I suppose it depends on who you have as neighbors (we even get liquids

thrown off his balcony) and if you get any short lets anywhere in your building it can be a nightmare as they have no respect for anyone.

[ThaiBob]

2 hours ago, tropo said:

I really don't know about building codes. I figured floor strength would be quite an important factor in building multi-floor structures.  

 

Realistically, how many highrise buildings have collapsed in Thailand? 

The old condos were simple concrete buildings, the new condos use prestressed concrete construction. One difference between old vs new is less concrete, less costs and thinner floors. Most  highrises here don't use steel frames(unlike Bangkok) , if this were a seismically active fault zone then Pattaya would have a big problem. 

[JimCrane]

i have never had a noise problem between floors.

 

its the units on either side between walls where things are heard and noise can be an issue. corner units are best because you only get "one wall neighbor".

 

have had problems with sexual sounds with bedrooms butting up wall to wall. it can even be worth checking the unit setup next to you if possible.

 

sounded like a two headed monster especially late/early mornings.

 

 

[Basil B]

13 hours ago, tropo said:

I realise it could differ from building to building, but surely there's some kind of standard building code for structural floors in condo buildings. It's a small, very private building, so I can't name it.

If there was I am sure it would just be another opportunity for government officials to take bribes...

[Basil B]

When I had a condo noise was rarely an issue, occasionally I heard furniture being moved, or the odd door slam  when the wind blew it closed,  the occasional domestic that normally security soon sorted out.

 

I doubt short term lets are a problem as many are vacant for most of the time, and not all tenants are that bad.

 

Building work was controlled, only allowed week days, 9-5, no holiday working and had to use the service elevator, if there was a noise problem it was sorted quickly (contractors or occupiers).