Walls in apartment are paper thin

[meleader2]

In early June i moved into a house that's been turned into an apartment building. It's a nice place, hardwood floors, a stained glass window, and a pretty sweet looking fireplace. However, on the first night I was there I got a knock on the door from the upstairs neighbor. Apparently my room is below their's and they can hear my conversation. Like, every single word. They told me that they have to work early in the morning, and i respect that as I do as well, but they requested I just take my convos in the living room instead.

At first I complied, but the more I thought about it I began to panic and feel like I'm a prisoner in my own home. Last night I was in the living room at 10:30 PM in the middle of watching a movie at an acceptable level when there was pounding coming from up above. I immediately turned it down even more, but ended up having to put on captions because I couldn't hear the dialogue (only gun shots and explosions seemed to be loud).

Unfortunetly this is due, I believe, to the walls being made of plaster. Our landlord has already been called 3 times due to "doors being slammed" in the public foyer (it's a heavy door and we were wasted at 4 am, complete accident) and "hearing people walk around at 2 am" (girl wearing high heels).

I feel for the neighbors above, and wish to make this a non-hostile environment, but for the love of god, I'm paying rent too and if i want to do certain things at an acceptable noise level i feel like i should be able to.


On the other end of this note for the first time two nights ago i heard the upstairs neighbor's convo. It was like they were right next to me in the room it was so clear. I heard every word clearly. I understand that the walls are thin.

OOT, how can i dampen this noise w/out spending a lot of money (acoustic dampeners are 300$ for a 4' x 6' block).

I've thought of rugs on walls/floor. anything else? Also, am i in the right to be allowed to TALK in my own damn room???

[Smelly]

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and if i want to do certain things at an acceptable noise level i feel like i should be able to.

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I was told that I could listen to the radio at a reasonable volume between 9 and 11 in the morning and if I cannot I will be very angry and my swignline is my favourite stapler but they have taken thta away from me so I guess i will just have to burn down the building.

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Haha, seriously though OP, let this be a lesson. Always check wall thickness before moving in. I had a situation like this once in college and it SUCKED. That said, to fix your current problem, i recommend investing in the dampening foam that some auto manufacturers use to mask the noise of your car. I forgot what it's called.

[prohornblower]

I have the same issues. Im on level 2 of 3 and I can hear the bass from my downstairs neighbor EASILY. The guy loves playing music at his computer and its very bassy. I've already went down there 3 times to tell him to turn it down. Each time I do he acts like "OH...sorry". Then just LAST NIGHT it was 1:30 and he had his bass on again. I wear earplugs to bed now because of this insensitive as*hole. And I hear the neighbors up above walking around all the time.

Don't go buying sound panels dude. Come on. Tell them to take it up with the landlord. You have to live at a reasonable level. The landlord needs to fix that sh*t. Or lower rent DRASTICALLY, which helps both of u.

[captZEEbo]

exact same thing happened to me. I was getting complaints almost everyday about tons of noise. I had a meeting with whoever is in charge and we tried to see how all the noise was being made. I invited the person in charge over so they could see we weren't unreasonable. Once they saw I wasn't intentionally being a jackass, and just making noise by walking around the house and talking at a normal level. After that no more complaints

[dogdrool]

There's nothing you can do. The only way to stop sound is with mass a mixture of mass and open space so that the sound waves cannot be transfered to the next room. With thin walls or floors, there's nothing you can do but move.

[meleader2]

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There's nothing you can do. The only way to stop sound is with mass a mixture of mass and open space so that the sound waves cannot be transfered to the next room. With thin walls or floors, there's nothing you can do but move.

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its really only the ceiling. i'm on the first floor. styrofoam egg crates has been suggested, but that's just gawdy and will probably ruin the paint due to the adhesive.

[meleader2]

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and if i want to do certain things at an acceptable noise level i feel like i should be able to.

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I was told that I could listen to the radio at a reasonable volume between 9 and 11 in the morning and if I cannot I will be very angry and my swignline is my favourite stapler but they have taken thta away from me so I guess i will just have to burn down the building.

-----

Haha, seriously though OP, let this be a lesson. Always check wall thickness before moving in. I had a situation like this once in college and it SUCKED. That said, to fix your current problem, i recommend investing in the dampening foam that some auto manufacturers use to mask the noise of your car. I forgot what it's called.

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i like ur hermit crabs. i used to have 2 when i was young, but they died cuz i was irresponsible.

[El Ishmael]

[Empty_House]

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What does Seven have to do with this?

[El Ishmael]

It's not that hard if you like, think for one minute.