Brownstones & Noisy Neighbors
I’m considering renting or buying a floor in a BS (any ol’ BS ..not necessarily in Brooklyn) My question for you lucky bastards 🙂 that already live in one of ’em is this; Do you guys & gals find that the walls & floors are thicker and more sound-absorbing than other types of construction?. Because…
I’m considering renting or buying a floor in a BS (any ol’ BS ..not necessarily in Brooklyn) My question for you lucky bastards 🙂 that already live in one of ’em is this; Do you guys & gals find that the walls & floors are thicker and more sound-absorbing than other types of construction?. Because my biggest fear is moving somewhere only to discover that I have REALLY noisy neighbors and I’m the kinda guy that REALLY need his Z’s. I swear to God that if I can’t get a good nights sleep I get so freakin’ cranky that I’m borderline homicidal. To avoid spending the next 10-25 on Riker’s I decided to do some research beforehand and in that regard I remember hearing somewhere that BS’s where much quieter because they used a much more solid construction compared to modern buildings, particularly as far as the floor thickness goes. Could someone confirm (or deny) it?.
Also, any tips on which floors tend to be quieter?. For example I would imagine the top floor would be the quietest of all … am I right?. BTW, how thick are the walls in those suckers?.
Last question; could I reasonably expect to find the same construction characteristics in ANY brownstone regardless of whether it’s in Brooklyn or NJ ..or are they built differently in different places/times ?.
Yeah, I know -that’s a shitload of questions and I got on your nerves already. So thanks in advance for any responses.
my house is fully attached; on one side is an identical house obviously built simultaneously with mine. on the other side there is a similar building, but of different construction. i have never heard anything from the latter house; occasionally i can hear neighbors in the identical house. i have read that such rowhouses often have pass-through holes between them that may not have been properly sealed, which i suspect is the case. so my advice off the bat is to find a house that was clearly built separately from those around it.
secondly, if you’re serious about the noise issues, you should definitely look into some real sound isolation work, check out quietsolutions.com and get some of that expensive soundproofed sheetrock!
There is no way to tell how your neighbors are going to be. Just get yourself some earplugs and a fan!
In my neighborhood, and in my brownstone, brick party walls are about one foot thick. That makes two feet of bricks separating neighbors. Mass = sound reduction.
Sometimes sound carries through the party walls near the fireplaces and chimneys, as the bricks are thinner there. In my last place, my bed was by the next door neighbor’s chimney, and their bed must have been right on the other side, because I could usually hear their enthusiastic worship of Venus, as it were. Kinda like college, but who needs it?
All in all, however, the rest of the house was pretty soundproof, and I guess you just chalk it up to urban living. I bet a heavy drapery behind my bed would have muffled the sound enough to not bother me, but all this started right before I moved anyway. I’d still take old construction any day.
We very seldom hear our neighbors. I used to live in a new
construction rowhouse and find brownstone life (with plaster walls) a marked improvement.
we are woken up once or twice a week by the orgasmic neighbor through our party wall. it can be a problem. seriously.
Beware of any floor with people above you. I find that most brownstoners have wood floors w/o carpets (or very thin ones) and you will definitely hear footsteps.
Tough to make generalizations, but I’m the same way with noise.
Try and live on the top floor. Had a lousy experience in a small co-op building – not a brownstone. Neighbors kids up at 6:30 every single morning, jumping, rnning yelling . . . occasionally playing soccer. Heard every f#$%ing footfall.
Now have a house. NEVER hear neighbors on either side but occasionally hear muffled noises from tenants below. They do hear me since my bottom floor is under construction and no carpet yet. Bottom line, think it depends entirely on the building. Friends lived in a post war monster apt building in the heights. Couldn’t hear a damn thing, ever.
Good luck!
I have a 4 story b/stone and live on the bottom 2 floors. Occasionally I hear one of my neighbors’ tv, but that is only b/c she is totally deaf and really likes to crank it up. I think we have the best setup for this living situation with our kitchen/LR on the parlour floor and BRs downstairs, so there is no one on top of our BRs. Plus, we get to choose the tenants so make sure they are all quiet people. You can never know for sure about your neighbors on the sides of the people in the back.