So I live in a first floor wooden apartment right now and was wondering how soundproof is a lightweight steel apartment?
I’m not sure if I’m going to be moving at first or second floor yet but if I was to move on the second floor will they hear my footsteps? Voice, movements, opening and closing doors. These are my main concerns since I can hear everything on my wooden apartment and I don’t wanna have any noise trouble with neighbors.
I’m going to be checking apartments today and need advice on what I should look into.
Could I ask things like why did the tenant move out? What are the neighbors like?
I heard that RC buildings are really good but from where I live it’s mostly wooden and lightweight steel.
7 comments
Steel frame is, sound and heat insulation wise, the same as wood.
I lived in a small (2 floors, ten units) lightweight steel apartment. I found the sound issue a little weird— like I could hear my neighbor cough every once in a while, and occasionally music, but that was it. So either they were incredibly quiet (I could hear a cough, but nothing else??), or…?
I was pretty quiet (lived by myself), but I was also on Skype a LOT. But no one ever complained, so, who knows how loud I was?
By “steel apartment”, do you by chance mean prison???? 😂
(Seriously, though, what is a “steel apartment”?)
Edit: are the downvotes for the silly joke, or for not knowing OP’s nonsensical “steel apartment” meant “steel-frame construction”? I recently built a steel-frame construction four-story house, and never did anyone involved (architects, real-estate people, lawyers, construction people, etc.) ever use “steel apartment”….
Depends on the building. I lived in an RC place where I could hear EVERY SOUND my neighbour made and it was hell being woken up in the middle of the night constantly. Now I live on the first floor of a lightweight steel building and I NEVER hear my neighbours, including the toddler on the second floor
In the absence of special foam padding or if the walls of adjacent units are physically separated, Sound proofness is usually related to the weight of the wall. If you bang the wall with a fist and it feels like you are smacking concrete or stone, then it is probably pretty soundproof. Otherwise don’t expect too much.
Anything but soundproof material (ie. Foam) or concrete, does nothing.
I have 8 years of property management experience in Japan. I have handled a lot of noise complaints in my time, in concrete buildings and wood.
Here is what you should know. Noise has more to do with the people in the building and the environment outside than the material of the building. Newer wooden and light steel frame buildings are better insulated these days and can compete with concrete buildings in terms of sound proofing.
People here who provide anecdotes about living in wooden or steel framed houses probably lived in very old buildings. Most foreigner friendly apartments are quite old and poorly built. So their experience is linked to their building, when it should be linked to the people you live among