High Rise Condos. Are they quieter than apartments? (duplexes, 2015, condominium)

[NeutralZone]

It really depends on the building. I live in a high rise condo and can't hear a single thing from any neighbor. My building was built in 2004. The only street noise I can hear is the streetcar, which I got used to pretty quickly and doesn't bother me at all.

[Kayela]

I've lived in 3 high rises to date - two were built in the 60's and had 6" concrete floors, ceilings and walls between units. Those were super quiet. Couldn't hear the neighbors at all (unless the noise came from outside through the windows).

The third was recently built, and while there was concrete and steel between each floor, there was wood framing between adjacent units and the interior was all hard surfaces without proper noise abatement. While it was definitely quieter than an apartment, you were periodically aware that you had neighbors. The ones next door liked to run on the treadmill for hours while playing movies loudly - and I'll grant you that it really was a lot quieter in our unit than theirs (I had to knock 3 times before they heard it, and I wasn't knocking politely). I think it would have been much worse in an apartment, but it was still plenty obnoxious. Chronologically, this was actually the second high rise we lived in - we moved back to one built in the 60's with concrete walls between units.

[davebarnes]

The only problem with high rises is the noise the jumpers make on their way down. They are real quiet after the landing, though.

[jazzcat22]

My in-laws lived in a high rise in the DC area that was like a fortress. Couldn't hear a thing. But whenever people live closely together, there's always going to be a little of the ick factor. My darling in-laws would let their little poodle go out on the balcony to urinate! How nice would that be to be enjoying your balcony and observing/smelling/hearing a golden stream?

[Nell Plotts]

I live in a high rise built in the late 50s. It has 6 inch concrete slabs between floors. Piano sound is conducted through the floor slab to the unit below, it doesn't need to be loud to be a violation of your CC&Rs or lease. It will be a major issue unless you create a room like a recording studio that contains the sound in the room. For that reason many condo Assns. prohibit pianos.

I know because this is an issue in my building at the moment.

You can use an electric piano with head phones and not disturb anyone.

[Vodoven]

Originally Posted by noah

I live in an older high rise condo and it is much much quieter then apartments. I rarely hear my neighbors, mainly just noise from outside. Like anything of course it can vary greatly from building to building. Ours has concrete walls and therefore is quiet. Some newer buildings I could imagine may not be that way if the developer built them on the cheap. As always do your research.

A missing variable in yours and other comments is: "Are these specific neighbors quiet, or does the construction block even bad neighbors' noise?" Without knowing that, many answers are just hearsay.

I'd like to know how much bass music is blocked by concrete above & below and/or on all side walls. Drywall does a poor job of stopping it.

[skimbro000]

My parents own a unit in a high rise in Naples, FL. The building was built in 1983. I have never heard a single neighbor anytime I’ve been there (they let us use the unit a good deal).

[pj737]

Originally Posted by Vodoven

A missing variable in yours and other comments is: "Are these specific neighbors quiet, or does the construction block even bad neighbors' noise?" Without knowing that, many answers are just hearsay.

Exactly. Lots of useless anecdotal feedback. People claiming their buildings are well constructed simply have quiet neighbors. 4 Construction quality does very little to mitigate transfer of noise between units. Super thick concrete in floors and walls helps a little with certain sound frequencies but impact noise travels happily through any thickness. There are some construction techniques that can indeed reduce impact / low frequency noise but they are extremely expensive, take up lots of ceiling and wall space and are never actually used in the construction of mid and high rise buildings. And retrofitting a condo unit to adequately address noise is usually impossible due to cost and space reasons. If someone is sensitive to noise, avoid any multi-unit building. Otherwise you'll be rolling the dice on getting ideal neighbors.

[rabbit33]

And I'm still waiting to hear the story from the person who was allowed to take a wrecking bar and rip off a couple sections of interior drywall to see what is behind it.

Real estate agents and the owners trying to sell a unit will always swear that they've never heard a single noise, even though the neighbors immediately upstairs put in a bowling alley and regularly host rock and roll concerts - then you move in and find out that you hear every time your upstairs neighbor reading in bed turns the page of his book.

[ChiGuy2.5]

I own a studio on lakeshore drive in Chicago. The building is all concrete with concrete walls between units. It was very quiet.

Most of the noise pollution I had was from the outside, lakeshore is very loud especially the emergency vehicles traveling up and down it. The only inside noise I heard was my neighbor playing piano but they were very very good so I didn't mind one bit. I would sit in the quiet and listen to them.