A question for condo dwellers

[tropo]

3 hours ago, Destiny1990 said:

Hi Tropo welcome to Pattaya.some question u say ur unit covers one entire floor thats sounds cool can ask u whats the sqm of this unit? whats ur rent? and what views?its somewhat unusual to rent a complete floor in a condominium as most condos buildings in Pattaya  are pretty big with atleast 4-30 units.most condos noise travels from wall to wall not from floor to ceilings.

 

Thank you. I've actually lived in Pattaya for over 11 years, but never in a condo.

 

The floor area is listed as 240 m2, an entire floor. That's the only reason I'm interested in renting a condo now as I'm used to living in at least 200 m2. Affordable condos have always been too small for me. I won't mention the rent until I've signed LOL. The elevator opens directly into the unit.

[tropo]

2 hours ago, JSixpack said:

 

OK. Sorry! tropo?

 

Yeah, maybe I didn't mention it before, but the condo occupies an entire floor. That's the main reason I'm interested in this one. I've always shunned condos because affordable ones are always too small, and the idea of having neighbours above and below, and on 2 or 3 sides puts me off - and it feels a bit claustrophobic too. Also having to use busy elevators and walking along corridors never appealed to me. With this one, side neighbours are of no concern, and only 3 floors use my elevator. The other 2 are currently unoccupied.

[Destiny1990]

4 hours ago, JSixpack said:

 

OK. Sorry! tropo?

Wrong its Destiny!but i accept ur apology?

[Destiny1990]

1 hour ago, tropo said:

Thank you. I've actually lived in Pattaya for over 11 years, but never in a condo.

 

The floor area is listed as 240 m2, an entire floor. That's the only reason I'm interested in renting a condo now as I'm used to living in at least 200 m2. Affordable condos have always been too small for me. I won't mention the rent until I've signed LOL. The elevator opens directly into the unit.

Sounds cool...so basically its a pretty small condo building as one entire floor covers only 240 sqm.so why u need so much space do u like to play snooker or other hobbies?

[tropo]

1 hour ago, Destiny1990 said:

Sounds cool...so basically its a pretty small condo building as one entire floor covers only 240 sqm.so why u need so much space do u like to play snooker or other hobbies?

 

Yes, it's a small building.

 

I don't need that much space, but I enjoy it having had 200 m2 for over 6 years. 4 bedrooms: one for my gym, one for both of us to sleep in, a room for my wife to enjoy hanging out in with lots of room for her clothes, shoes, makeup etc and we can use the extra one for storage and/or guests.

 

Normally the gym would be a problem if I haven't got at least 3 rooms, because then I need to put it in the living room, which is where it is now.

 

I like the idea of getting a pool table as the living room has tons of space. How much noise do pool balls make on a condo floor? I lived below a pool table in my previous apartment and they were very loud when they hit the floor.

 

 

[Destiny1990]

17 minutes ago, tropo said:

Yes, it's a small building.

 

I don't need that much space, but I enjoy it having had 200 m2 for over 6 years. 4 bedrooms: one for my gym, one for both of us to sleep in, a room for my wife to enjoy hanging out in with lots of room for her clothes, shoes, makeup etc and we can use the extra one for storage and/or guests.

 

Normally the gym would be a problem if I haven't got at least 3 rooms, because then I need to put it in the living room, which is where it is now.

 

I like the idea of getting a pool table as the living room has tons of space. How much noise do pool balls make on a condo floor? I lived below a pool table in my previous apartment and they were very loud when they hit the floor.

 

 

Bouncing pool balls make a hell of a noise   Especially on wood or tiles.So this an older building in Pattaya u not want to try living inJomtien where things are more natural.

[KonaRain]

On 4/20/2017 at 2:20 AM, 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.

You can probably tell how solid it is by walking on the floor or kind of running, (stomping) and checking how much it shakes or echos within the walls. I can tell, with all the condos in Hawaii which ones are solid and quiet.

Aloha

[pattjock]

Most people would never buy a pair of pants or a shirt without testing first, most people would never buy a car without a test drive.

 

Personally I would never buy a condo without living in the unit for at least a week. You can ask the seller if you can rent the unit for a week, rent refunded if you buy. The seller may ask you to not do any cooking and you may have to bring linen and possibly an inflatable mattress. He would probably also ask for access to show the unit to other buyers.

 

In any case a condo test drive is essential if you want to find out if there is anything that could cause you to regret buying the unit.

[tropo]

9 hours ago, KonaRain said:

You can probably tell how solid it is by walking on the floor or kind of running, (stomping) and checking how much it shakes or echos within the walls. I can tell, with all the condos in Hawaii which ones are solid and quiet.

Aloha

 

Good idea! I'll test that out today.

[tropo]

1 hour ago, pattjock said:

Most people would never buy a pair of pants or a shirt without testing first, most people would never buy a car without a test drive.

 

Personally I would never buy a condo without living in the unit for at least a week. You can ask the seller if you can rent the unit for a week, rent refunded if you buy. The seller may ask you to not do any cooking and you may have to bring linen and possibly an inflatable mattress. He would probably also ask for access to show the unit to other buyers.

 

In any case a condo test drive is essential if you want to find out if there is anything that could cause you to regret buying the unit.

 

 

That would be tricky when renting. Good places rent quickly, so the landlords would not be interested in messing around like that. Finding a really good place is about being in the right place at the right time. You have to decide quickly, and if you don't, someone else will grab it. I understand an owner looking at a possible sale would be more conducive to allowing try before you buy.

 

Which means renting can be a gamble. You might not discover a problem until you've already signed a one-year contract. Bad neighbours may move in next door after you've already moved in. In my present situation, bad neighbours moved in 4 1/2 years later. Then there's the problem of renting a place and a new construction starts up next door. A lot of things can make something good turn sour later on. In Thailand, we also have the stress of ever changing visa regulations and requirements.

 

I've gained a lot of insight into living in condos from this thread and thank everyone for their valuable input.

[sotsira]

Tropo,

 

If your worried about being stuck on a 1yr contract, why don't you try negotiating

a "get out clause" to be inserted in the contract in the event of an emergency?

 

Usually this can be agreed with a 1 month notice of departure working in

favour either way for Landlord or Tenant.

[bkk6060]

Get new construction like The Base or Centric.  I am at The Base and hear nothing from top or to the sides.

Many places will do a 6 month contract.

[JimCrane]

i would not sign a one year contract anywhere for a condo. there are just too many ifs and butts in a condo building.

 

thats a long delay in ejaculation time, especially if your not 100% flacid from the start.

 

anyone know where i can get off near soi buckacow?

[Destiny1990]

24 minutes ago, JimCrane said:

i would not sign a one year contract anywhere for a condo. there are just too many ifs and butts in a condo building.

 

thats a long delay in ejaculation time, especially if your not 100% flacid from the start.

 

anyone know where i can get off near soi buckacow?

Pooks bar?

U will get off surely with their warm service.

[pegman]

11 hours ago, bkk6060 said:

Get new construction like The Base or Centric.  I am at The Base and hear nothing from top or to the sides.

Many places will do a 6 month contract.

That would take you to peak season when you do not want to be searching  for a place.

[bkk6060]

1 hour ago, pegman said:

That would take you to peak season when you do not want to be searching  for a place.

Maybe in the past but there are 1000's of places available year round now makes no difference.

[JimCrane]

will need to edit my earlier recommendations, sorry.

 

my downstairs neighbor just complained about noise at night. i guess he was hearing what sounded like "moving furniture around" and could not sleep :). i even have hard floors (not wood).

 

i also noticed that with the fan off i can hear any peep in the building at night including continual female sex sounds/vocalizations.

[JSixpack]

1 hour ago, JimCrane said:

my downstairs neighbor just complained about noise at night. i guess he was hearing what sounded like "moving furniture around" and could not sleep :). i even have hard floors (not wood).

 

No matter where you live, people below will be able to hear furniture moving sounds. I dunno why some people feel compelled to move their furniture around at night. Thais are especially addicted to the practice. So if you've gotta do that, you might put down carpet. Shag carpet, like Elvis had in the Jungle Room. There are also furniture sliders you can buy at Lotus or HomePro but cesspoolians seem to dislike those as much as condoms. Or perhaps they can't figure out how to apply them.

 

Quote

i also noticed that with the fan off i can hear any peep in the building at night including continual female sex sounds/vocalizations.

 

We got the wimmen under control in my building. Suggest you do the same there. Well, go down and knock on the door loudly just as the sound reaches a crescendo.

[tropo]

13 hours ago, JimCrane said:

will need to edit my earlier recommendations, sorry.

 

my downstairs neighbor just complained about noise at night. i guess he was hearing what sounded like "moving furniture around" and could not sleep :). i even have hard floors (not wood).

 

i also noticed that with the fan off i can hear any peep in the building at night including continual female sex sounds/vocalizations.

 

Yes, I'm aware that the sound of moving furniture scraping on tiles will penetrate through thick concrete floors - loudly. I never had any doubt about that. That's one activity I would not be doing at night, out of respect for my neighbours.

[JimCrane]

1 hour ago, tropo said:

Yes, I'm aware that the sound of moving furniture scraping on tiles will penetrate through thick concrete floors - loudly. I never had any doubt about that. That's one activity I would not be doing at night, out of respect for my neighbours.

no major moving here. must have been noise from desk chair sliding back and forth when im working at my desk at night.

 

but thats normal living noise imo. not nuisance noise. normal living noise is not complainable.

 

if i lift the chair getting up its going to pound even louder and theres no way im going to sit back from my desk so as to not move the chair at all.

 

im also going to open doors and walk around at my leisure any time of day or night. ditto for using the aircon compressor which is right above his bedroom window and watching tv, having sex, etc. normal living noise.

 

thats part of what im paying for. its part of my rent. and it will be part of your rent too at your new place.

 

i use fans and air con as white noise to mask neighbor sounds, esp sex sounds, but theres no way i would ever complain directly about normal living sounds like this.

[tropo]

23 minutes ago, JimCrane said:

no major moving here. must have been noise from desk chair sliding back and forth when im working at my desk at night.

 

but thats normal living noise imo. not nuisance noise. normal living noise is not complainable.

 

if i lift the chair getting up its going to pound even louder and theres no way im going to sit back from my desk so as to not move the chair at all.

 

im also going to open doors and walk around at my leisure any time of day or night. ditto for using the aircon compressor which is right above his bedroom window and watching tv, having sex, etc. normal living noise.

 

thats part of what im paying for. its part of my rent. and it will be part of your rent too at your new place.

 

i use fans and air con as white noise to mask neighbor sounds, esp sex sounds, but theres no way i would ever complain directly about normal living sounds like this.

 

I agree with all of that. I'm not a complainer about other people's noise and wouldn't care about furniture scrapes as I know I do it sometimes, unintentionally. I do try to pick furniture up late at night, but that can be difficult.

 

I'd rather have noisy neighbours than ones who can hear a pin drop. I can always turn my up TV or music if need be. Perhaps most people who live in condos are used to noise and not too sensitive?

[tropo]

On 4/26/2017 at 6:14 AM, bkk6060 said:

Maybe in the past but there are 1000's of places available year round now makes no difference.

 

I hope so. There's a vacant lot for sale adjacent to this condo building and hopefully, no one is eager to start building a highrise there anytime soon.

[Destiny1990]

27 minutes ago, JimCrane said:

no major moving here. must have been noise from desk chair sliding back and forth when im working at my desk at night.

 

but thats normal living noise imo. not nuisance noise. normal living noise is not complainable.

 

if i lift the chair getting up its going to pound even louder and theres no way im going to sit back from my desk so as to not move the chair at all.

 

im also going to open doors and walk around at my leisure any time of day or night. ditto for using the aircon compressor which is right above his bedroom window and watching tv, having sex, etc. normal living noise.

 

thats part of what im paying for. its part of my rent. and it will be part of your rent too at your new place.

 

i use fans and air con as white noise to mask neighbor sounds, esp sex sounds, but theres no way i would ever complain directly about normal living sounds like this.

maybe ur neighbour is just watching a porn movie?

[JimCrane]

3 hours ago, Destiny1990 said:

maybe ur neighbour is just watching a porn movie?

could be, point is it does not matter why they are making the noise. i dont like the noise but its within their rights to make the noise.

 

just because i dont like it does not mean they have to be silent.

 

get it?

 

i dont think tropo needs to be so worried about making minute noises which bothers downstairs neighbors.

 

chances are it would be unintentional noise that falls within the realm of normal living and the neighbors will just need to deal with it. thats life.

[wpcoe]

@JimCrane:  Would you be interested in moving into the unit beneath Tropo?  Sounds like a good solution.

 

Seriously, though, I tend to agree with you about the acceptance of normal and reasonable noise from an adjacent neighbor.  But, I know different people are sensitive to different frequencies of vibration.  I, for example, tend to get irritated by the dull thumping of someone stomping their feet upstairs whenever they move around.  But, I also understand that if the person is hugely obese and/or has flat feet, it's somewhat out of their control, so I won't complain.  Although it's annoying (and luckily the person is not here year 'round) other occasional noises from neighbors, like dropping coins or scraping a chair across the floor, do not phase me at all. I hear them, but my blood pressure isn't affected, unlike the stomping.

[JimCrane]

same with my neighbor under me. he will need to live with it (without bringing it up to me or asking why) or move out.

[bkk6060]

On 4/30/2017 at 2:00 PM, JSixpack said:

 

No matter where you live, people below will be able to hear furniture moving sounds. I dunno why some people feel compelled to move their furniture around at night. Thais are especially addicted to the practice. So if you've gotta do that, you might put down carpet. Shag carpet, like Elvis had in the Jungle Room. There are also furniture sliders you can buy at Lotus or HomePro but cesspoolians seem to dislike those as much as condoms. Or perhaps they can't figure out how to apply them.

 

 

We got the wimmen under control in my building. Suggest you do the same there. Well, go down and knock on the door loudly just as the sound reaches a crescendo.

So not true.... I hear nothing. If one lives in a modern well built building you will hear nothing.  Older cheap/cheaply built properties can and will be noisy for sure.  Common sense would tell one that proper vetting is in order prior to occupancy.

[JSixpack]

30 minutes ago, bkk6060 said:

So not true.... I hear nothing.

 

If nobody lives above you, or they don't move any furniture, then you won't hear any sounds of moving furniture. Happy?

 

Quote

If one lives in a modern well built building you will hear nothing.

 

See above. But we'll need to agree to disagree on this point. Fortunately furniture moving doesn't normally happen often or last very long. I wouldn't call it a show stopper. But we don't need any more of those, eh.

[champers]

My neighbours have complained about the sex noise; so we have decided not to do it on the balcony anymore.

[bkk6060]

6 hours ago, JSixpack said:

 

If nobody lives above you, or they don't move any furniture, then you won't hear any sounds of moving furniture. Happy?

 

 

See above. But we'll need to agree to disagree on this point. Fortunately furniture moving doesn't normally happen often or last very long. I wouldn't call it a show stopper. But we don't need any more of those, eh.

Sorry my friend but you continue with a false statement. Difficult for you to admit you are wrong?

You said "no matter where you live people below you will be able to hear moving furniture".  Well, I have neighbors all around me and hear nothing.

But, I live at The Base new quality construction by a reputable builder. Come and check it out it is a nice quiet place.

There are places here that don't have noise.  But it takes some research and vetting to figure it out.

Good luck I hope you can sleep at night with all that racket above you.