Boston Real Estate for Sale

Boston condos for sale: Soundproofing

Noise has always been part of city living. Ever since there have been three-deckers and brooms, the downstairs neighbors have been whomping the ceiling telling the upstairs folks to keep it down.

But in today’s world — of high real estate prices and even higher expectations, of mixed-use developments with gyms at street level, of suburban empty nesters moving to the urban core — a growing number of

Condo owners and apartment renters are dropping dimes on each other with building management, suing developers, and adding anti-noise regulations to condo documents. Some require that 80 percent of floors be covered with rugs or bar residents from wearing shoes in their own living rooms.

Sound-reduction professionals say they’re getting more calls for a number of reasons. Sometimes older, cheaply made apartment buildings are converted to pricey condos, and people who have paid $1 million don’t want to listen to someone else watch “The Big Bang Theory.” Conversely, some new construction isn’t as soundproof as older, more solidly built buildings.

Boston New Condos and Apartments

The sheer number of new apartments and condos in Boston means more potential noise victims. Boston has added 19,954 apartments and condos (in buildings of five or more units) since 2012, according to data tracked by the Boston Foundation.

That’s a lot of new city dwellers living in multifamily housing, where neighbors, and their noisy lives, are mere inches, not yards, away.

The state’s building code, which is based on the 2015 version of the International Building Code, establishes sound-transmission requirements, but many in the sound field say the code is not tough enough and that buildings that just meet the standard can still be noisy.

Cities and towns have noise ordinances, of course, making it unlawful to disturb the peace with loud music or parties or construction at certain hours.

Source: Boston.com

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