I live in an apartment and my bedroom wall is shared by my neighbor. He rightfully plays his music, video games, watches his television. Unfortunately, all of this audio is right on the other side of my wall and the wall is so thin I can make out every sound. Now, I have done some research and know that I can hang up vinyl and then do some dry- walling, but you are dealing with a 29 year old chick who lives solo and had a hard enough time installing a new doorknob. So, I really can't take this on the way Bob Villa would easily do. Does anyone out there have any suggestions of easy solutions that I can handle on my own? Or maybe someone knows of some pretty amazing ear plugs?
Thanks for any help! Oh, and just a little note, we're not talking about a crazy volume here, but bad enough that it interrupts sleep. Again, thanks for any help you can offer!
1) Move
2) Talk to your neighbor. Maybe he thinks you are a "hottie" and will do anything you ask? Maybe even invite him in while his music is playing and show him how loud it is.
3) Buy a bigger stereo than his, find out his sleeping habits and drown him with all the noise you can.
4) Invite him over, drug him and throw him in the apartment pool. It'll just look like a late night partier that drowned in the pool. Bubba
that is absolutely hysterical. But I tried #4.......unfortunately, there isn't a pool. Anyone that has some real solutions for me??!! Even though that rocked, Bubba, thank you.
The first thing to consider is that living in an aprtment rules out most DIY construction projects.
I'd try talking to him (in a friendly way) first. Maybe he just doesn't realize how loud it is or maybe he can improve things just by moving or even turning his speaker/TV.
I rarely had problems when I lived in a condo, and now that we're in a house the neighbors are pretty considerate, but still load on occasion. I normlly just go with ear plugs, but then I'm the one on a weird schedule, not them.
thanks, larry.....I just may talk to him. Hate to be the squeaky wheel, especially since he really isn't behaving badly. The wall is just paper-thin. Thanks for your advice!
You are very fortunate not to own the place. Talk with the neighbor and/or look for another apartment. Your landlord may have another apartment where you can transfer the lease without penalty. Sweet dreams!
Hanging anything with some mass an inch or two from the wall will dampen some sound,
It really is a case of how much you want to spend and what you can do to your apartment and what you can do skill wise.
Hanging a heavy curtain. Hang egg crate polyurethane foam mattress pad.
Things to do is hang it an inch or two from the wall so it dampens the sound waves transfered through the wall. Also the higher frequency sounds will travel through cracksor any air space; so if this didn't go all the way from floor to ceiling and wall to wall it will be less effective.
i THINK joHN'S answers are among the best, and the others are good. It's true that you can't make any serious changes without the landlords permission, but otoh, noise can be an ongoing problem for the landlord and his tenants and if the improvement is well planned, he might well give permission and even pay for it, or pay for half. My landlord paid for new vinyl linoleum and was happy that I did all the shopping etc.
A friend who was the first occupant of a loft in Soho agreed with his next door n'bor to make two walls, not touching each other, with a half inch in between. He never said it was failure, although he was the kind who would not have. But it probably worked. It would mean loosing 4 inches from your apartment, although maybe you could do it with 2x2's instead of 2x4's (Is that code? It would certainly be strong enough since there already is a wall.)
When I lived in Brooklyn, it was a luxury building built in 1930. I lived there from 1972 to 83. Six inches of concrete between me and my neighbor. Never heard a sound from either of the tenants who lived there. Something to consider if you ever move.
As to earplugs, the best ones are E*A*Rplugs, I think they are called. They sell them at the newsstands in the subway. They are yellow foam cylinders. You roll them in your fingers until they are small, stick them in your ears, and then let them expand, so they fill all the space. In emergencies I've even slept with them, and I always take them on long airplane flights. And I use them on long trips with the car top down, if I'm going over 65.
You can also get the same thing in grey in gun stores or the gun department of K-mart and Wal-mart.
I think they also come in green in a slightly smaller diameter, but I don't know where I got those. The important thing is that they are foam and they don't spring back to full size quickly.
As we age there are 2 things that don't stop growing, (sorry my brothers) our ears and our noses. Given that, it is best to find a place that doesn't smell and isn't loud.
Whatever you do to modify a bad situation you may..ahem.. outgrow... I've spent the better part of my life in search of (aahh) 'silence'... I can't tell what I've been through. From other soldiers who shared the same room in my barracks to sig. others who snored.
Then came the 'outside' distraction. There gets to be a point when you are looking for a new place that you automatically become better at investigationg these wants.
I've even demanded to be able to sleep in a new home before I purchased it.
"Who are you going to believe, me or your lying eyes...?"- Groucho Marx
I don't blame you. How did the seller or agent react.
I lay down in the bathtub of the house I was considering buying. It seemed long enough and ok, but turned out to be the most uncomfortable bathtub I'd ever been in (probably no more than 10 at the time.)
But a piece of 4" thick foam rubber along the back made it quite comfortable. I have to cut out a spot for the back of my head. Every
7 years or so it gets so skanky I have to buy another piece.
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