Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with apartmentliving

Sound-proof wood floors

mokeydraws — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 12:02:37 -0800

Is there an inexpensive way to soundproof apartment floors? I have cats who love to run back and forth through the apartment at top speed. They actually sound like horses to my ears. The younger cats (2) are around 8 lbs and very active. The older cats (2) are around 15 and 20 lbs. I get worried that my downstairs neighbors are going to kill me or at least report me to management. I'm not supposed to have cats.

I recently got the opportunity to move to another, larger apartment in the same building. Even though my current downstairs neighbors never complained I want to take as many precautions as possible.

How Do I Drown Out the Noise My Neighbor Creates?

helios410 — Sun, 28 Sep 2008 13:07:28 -0800

There is little to no insulation between the ceiling of my apartment, and the floor of the apartment above me. I am looking for a way to drown out the noise from my upstairs neighbor. Can anyone, for the sake of my sanity, recommend something that generates enough noise to drown her out? During the summers the situation is bearable because my A/C would take care of this problem, for the most part. Being that the colder months are ahead, I don't want to freeze to death trying to achieve the above.

The problem is she walks around her apartment - a lot - and you can literally feel her walking around above you. So I am looking for a device / machine that generates a noise / reverberation to low frequency humming, or something to that effect. Any suggestions?

2 kitties + 1 human = square footage?

Knicke — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 17:40:11 -0800

How small an apartment is too small for one person and two 1 year old kitties (they are litter mates and generally get along well)? Failing that, what should I look for in a kitty-friendly small apartment? For various reasons, I have to move; thankfully not immediately, but I'd prefer to move sooner rather than later.

I'd much prefer to live alone with my two cats; I don't make a lot of money. Living alone means a significant limit on the size of my future apartment. Personally I don't need much space, and I'm fastidious about keeping the litterbox clean, so it's not me I'm concerned about.

Is there any rule of thumb as to how much square-footage my cats would need? What else (besides # of sittable windows), should I consider when looking for my new pad?

Tipping maintenance workers?

anotherpanacea — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 10:13:48 -0800

Tipping maintenance work? We've recently moved into a large apartment complex, where there's on-site, salaried maintenance staff that handles most repairs. We had a lot of trouble when we first moved in, and the guy who fixed everything was really prompt and helpful. For instance, he came in at 1 AM on our first night to fix a leak in the bathroom ceiling.

Since then, we've had a few smaller issues, and though he's promised to deal with them, he's failed to follow through for weeks at a time. He's unfailingly polite, but I'm wondering if maybe we were supposed to tip and he's giving us the cold-service-shoulder in hopes that we'll get the message.

So: is it expected that one tip maintenance workers for each job (I know that Christmas gifts are expected) and if so, how much? Or should I simply call the building management and complain?

Noisefilter (possibly literally?)

synecdoche — Thu, 01 May 2008 19:10:33 -0800

Is there anything we can do to keep our apartment a bit quieter? My girlfriend and I just moved into a new apartment, which we like very much. However, there is one problem: noise. We're on the top floor, but we can hear quite a bit of what our neighbour directly below us is up to.

I don't think he is (often) being excessively loud. For instance, right now, he's talking on the phone below me at what seems to be a reasonable volume, but I can still hear him and even, occasionally, make out the odd word. When his computer makes noise (such as when he gets an instant message on MSN) I know about it too. Things are a bit more frustrating when he listens to music. While there have been a couple of times when he has turned up the volume, for the most part it is, I think, fairly reasonable; it just seems as though the floor between our apartment and his is very, very thin. (I am not sure how much of what we do he can hear.)

I'm not sure what we can do. The floor is well-padded carpet through most of the apartment, though it is an older building. Most of the time he isn't really doing anything wrong, and it isn't as though we can ask him to not talk on the phone or ever listen to music.

Any tips on dealing with this? We're both grad students who do work at home, and would love things to be a bit better than "just tolerable." We're in Southern Ontario, if it matters. Thanks.

They're not REALLY black...

wafaa — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 15:48:18 -0800

I live in an apartment. The management and maintenance person of the building are racist. I need help with an issue. My refrigerator went belly-up overnight so I called the manager and she sent over Racist Maintenance Man. He asked me if I was being bothered by "those people, you know, we've had complaints, and they are outta here on April 1st."

"Those people" live two doors down from me, and I've never had a problem. They're not loud, they mind their own business, and have always been friendly to me. I don't condone their lifestyle, but as I said, they don't affect me. I told him so.

Before maintenance man left he said, "But we have some good ones--the couple down in 108--but they're not really black-black, I think they're from India or something".

I was listening to this and feeling dumbfounded--then as he was walking out the door he said, "Yep, we're getting rid of 'em, one at a time. Trying to clean the place up, ya know".

OK, I want to slip a note under "those peoples'" door and tell them what I think is going on, but I need opinions. If anyone has a better idea, I'm all for it.

NOBODY LIKES YOU THOMAS CRAPPER NOW GET YOUR LEGACY OUT OF MY BATHROOM

saysthis — Fri, 07 Dec 2007 04:11:44 -0800

I was a bit inspired by this post to think about what kinds of composting toilets are available for a poured-concrete apartment building in the middle of an urban area. Am I nuts for even thinking of it? Even if I could, wouldn't the stench ruin us? Or what are the technological barriers preventing these systems from being smaller than they are? The girlfriend and I are 4 months away from moving into our new place, and as there simply IS NOT such a thing as a separate-standing home in Beijing, we're looking at ways to make our new abode a little less polluting. It's a standard, cut-rate poured-concrete apartment, we're on the top floor (which means that given the proper permission we can install things on the roof and hang things off the side of the building), and it's a two-floor penthouse with 3 bathrooms (in line with the usual overabundance of toilets common in floor plans these days). The water pipes are already connected, but...it'd be nice if we didn't have to use them. Do I have any options?

Nondestructive Climbing Vines

pheideaux — Wed, 28 Mar 2007 07:56:05 -0800

I am looking for a nondestructive climbing vine that does well in shade. I have two planters on my apartment balcony that I would like to fill with a vine that can grow over the top of the metal guardrail. I thought about English Ivy, but having seen the mess it can make, I am looking for other options. Specifically, I would like a vine that can wrap around the posts without sticky pads that could damage paint and concrete. Many of the sources I have found omit this important information. I live in the 5a/5b plant hardiness zone and only get direct sunlight in the evening. Any ideas?

Convertible Bed in NYC

o2b — Thu, 29 Apr 2004 10:58:12 -0800

I live in NYC, I have a small bedroom. I'm hoping to find some sort of convertible bed that will allow me to maximize my space... In my room I currently have a full-size desk, a large dresser, a queen-size bed and a Nordic Track elliptacal machine. Each one resides in a corner, and there's just enough room to get through. I'm hoping to find a bed that will take up less space, but can expand when my girlfriend comes into town.

I may end up with a futon, but I'm hoping to find something a bit cooler/grown-up.