I live in a Council block of flats which clearly doesn't have a loft.
However, I've been getting regular phone calls from supposedly an insulation company saying that they have it on record that the insulation in my loft is the wrong sort which can cause black mould.
No matter how many times I tell the person that I live in a block of flats that doesn't have a loft he calls back a few days later.
It's also the exact same man that calls me.
Should I just arrange for loft installation? Not that the installers will actually knock on the door when they see the building.
It’s an awkward situation… I live in a slightly older building with poor-ish sound insulation. I can hear my downstairs neighbour’s TV sound, but I can’t make out what it’s saying, BUT - the bass from the TV is killing me. I can feel it through my floor, table, sofa… it’s extremely annoying and I really need to increase the volume on my own TV by A LOT in order to shut down the noise, and even then I can feel the bass.
Since the building’s walls are on a thinner side, would it be ok if I confronted the neighbour? I’d like to avoid any issues with them so I thought of baking some muffins and approaching them in an apologetic kind of way, ask about their TV/surround system and see if they could play with bass settings or turn the TV down a bit. But I can always get rejected with “the walls are thin, deal with it” which I’d really hate.
Hi there Chicago community! This is my first winter living in Chicago and am wondering if there is anything I can do in my situation. I am currently renting a place in East Village, a 1 bed 700sqft apartment. It is impossible to keep it warm, and I am extremely worried about the upcoming winter.
I moved in to my place in September, I had to get out of a rough situation so I picked the first place I could find which is all exposed brick inside. When I moved in, I noticed the brick walls are crumbling a bit between the walls/floors and walls/windows.
It was hard to hold heat even in October. It is drafty EVERYWHERE. I spent money on sealing caulk, window insulation tape, and an under the door insulation stopper thing. It helped but it's not enough. I had my thermostat set to 68 degrees in November, actual apartment temp is 64-65, and just received a $200 heating bill from People's Gas and it wasn't even that cold last month. I am freaking out about what it will be like when it's actually really cold.
I talked to my landlord and told him all of this, and he said "there's nothing he can do because it's just how the building is built. Get a space heater". I am at my wit's end and can't afford a $300+ heating bill per month this winter. I don't think I can technically take him to court or anything because the apartment can maintain 68 degrees per the Chicago heat ordinance for now, but 100% the thermostat will have to be set to 72+ and it will cost me a fortune.
Currently my thermostat is set to 64, actual temp is 62, and I'm in 2 pairs of socks and pants because I want to be able to afford to live next month.
Can you long-time Chicagoans give me any insight if there is truly "nothing my landlord can do"?
Recently purchased a brand new condo in JC. Sound insulation it's awful, worst than any old building I ever lived in. I'm looking for success or fail stories on lawsuits or any other remediation stories and how the problem was approached
I was wondering if anyone looked into what the 320 billion dollars in the bill is being spent on. Is there any incentives to do Green Energy upgrades to existing buildings?
My buildings pre-war walls are pretty thin, to the point that I can hear my neighbor’s nasty hacking cough. (He can’t handle his weed.) My last apartment also had a bit of a noise issue, but that place was close to the subway. The issue is both ceilings and walls.
A friend of mine in Brooklyn has no issues with noise and my former Manhattan apartments had no noise issues, from downtown to uptown.
I’m wondering if it’s an Astoria issue or just my bad luck. Do other people in Astoria, in pre-war apts have noise issues like this?
I took a flat and Gracia which has been hell on earth with neighbors up all night and hearing every small noise. I also hear the main staircase when people close the doors and it shakes the whole apartment. I’ve temporarily stayed in Poble Sec and Raval (!) and didn’t have these issues... it got me wondering if old buildings differ depending on the part of town. I’m not particularly attached to Gracia and Eixample left and Les Corts are growing on me.. so... to those of you who live in old buildings in other areas how is the sound insulation?
Hey all.
I'm after some specific information for requesting building consent for insulating external walls. This is in Wellington so WCC. Hoping someone has been through the process recently and can help.
What documentation did you have to provide to get the consent? I'm using Simpli and can't submit the consent application without adding docs. Specifically it says all residential applications must have Architectural Plans. WTF does that mean if I'm just relining the walls and insulating some rooms? I called the council but they didn't give me any useful information. They just said it's different for every consent so can't give any advice. Builder doesn't think anything should be required.
What have others done in this situation?
Any help, thoughts appreciated.
Some other info
- getting a builder rather than DYI for this project
- relining rather than injecting because there is sarking in some rooms we want to get rid of (and there are layers of wallpaper so refinishing them would be a nightmare). THis may bring in bracing concerns? Building says gibbing with standard bracing gib
I have someone working on a building consent for insulating my walls by removing the internal linings. Complete replacement of internal wall and ceiling linings is exempt from a building consent (Schedule 1). LBP says AKL council are adamant he needs to provide bracing calculations, which he has already done, but I don't want to have the Regib part of the building consent because I don't want to have to pay to have the gib installation inspected.
Why/how can council insist on this if I can completely replace my wall linings without a consent?
Anyone know anything about old (pre 1920s) timber housing and getting it insulated. If the best bet is to take the exterior panels off and pink bats then building wrap I'm happy to do that. I want to do something that adds value to the house but also makes it not an icecube for the next 50 years of inhabitants. We have a heatpump. Two layers of insulation upstairs, green bats underfloor. Windows are original but we don't plan to replace them anytime soon. Draughts have been stopped. Still cold.
Anyone done this? Costs? Any recommendations? I would be getting a professional to do it.
Thanks in advance
They lived in a wooden house, but plastering the walls with newspapers and mattresses did the trick of insulating the noises enough. So if they just moved to some building with thick walls (mall, bank, townhall) and plastered it all with mattresses and crap then they would be able to rollerskate there without a worry. They could also have a generator blasting noise a little off the location and turn it on in case some of the creatures were sniffing around.
I’m buying a beautiful old townhouse. We’ll have neighbours we are renting to below us, but until they move in (which is up to us) we have access to both the ceiling of the bottom flat and obviously our floorboards. I’d like to retrofit sound insulation between us and underfloor heating in my end. Does anyone have any experience in retrofitting these systems? What works well and what doesn’t?
I’m buying a beautiful old townhouse. We’ll have neighbours we are renting to below us, but until they move in (which is up to us) we have access to both the ceiling of the bottom flat and obviously our floorboards. I’d like to retrofit sound insulation between us and underfloor heating in my end. Does anyone have any experience in retrofitting these systems? What works well and what doesn’t?
