Any advice on dealing with a hyper-sensitive landlady?

Every apartment I've had has had poor insulation, to the point of me hearing exact details of stuff(sex, money, hating people, etc..). That's why I randomly blurt out obscenities or belch really loud in my apartment. Immature, yet, but, well, that's apartment living while you await the bounce to the home. Which, of course, brings its own barrel of joys.

I hate sharing a wall with neighbors. I'll never do it again. I embrace urban sprawl if it means I'll never have to.

Quintin_Stone wrote:

I hate sharing a wall with neighbors. I'll never do it again. I embrace urban sprawl if it means I'll never have to.

Word, newsletter subscription, etc.

In terms of insulating the sound of a subwoofer: no such thing. Well, there might be but something small enough to fit in an apartment and cheap enough to make sense doesn't exist. The wavelengths you're talking about are both omnidirectional and tend to not only travel through walls but make other things resonate at the same frequencies. Hence why you can hear the kid with the 18" sub drive past from within your living room.

Quintin_Stone wrote:

I hate sharing a wall with neighbors. I'll never do it again. I embrace urban sprawl if it means I'll never have to.

Sam here. That means townhouses and duplexes are out too though, which doesn't leave very much.

Quintin_Stone wrote:

I hate sharing a wall with neighbors. I'll never do it again. I embrace urban sprawl if it means I'll never have to.

The thing is, I really wish that more people who had your opinion chose your course of action. I don't hate sharing a wall with neighbors, but they seem to hate sharing a wall with me. I am fully aware that apartment living means hearing noises from other apartments and don't have a problem with it. But when people b*tch about noise for years on end and choose to remain in a condo, they ARE the problem.
Note that noise from above/below is way more serious than noise from beside - most of the time. I will likely still remain in attached housing for my next place, but I will almost certainly be sure to have nobody below me.

Parallax - my best advice for you, honestly? Get a ground floor/basement apartment.

complexmath wrote:

Sam here. That means townhouses and duplexes are out too though, which doesn't leave very much.

Yup. And I'm the guy who's noise-sensitive, not so much the noisy guy. We're still in a duplex, though with a neighbor who's generally not as loud as some of our previous ones. Whenever we finally move out, it'll be to a detached house.

Worst sound-proofing I've ever experienced was at a "resort" hotel in Myrtle Beach where you could clearly hear everything in rooms in all 4 directions. And not just the adjacent rooms either. A sleepless night of constant door slamming (each suite had 3 interior doors, nevermind the doors to the patio and hall).

Yes... well, outside of putt-putt, Myrtle Beach smacks of party, not so much get-away-from-it-all.

At least in my mind. And experience.

I live in an apartment too and I have not bothered getting a sub for my stereo because I know it will just lead to trouble I don't need. I am lucky though, I know I'm a little loud long into the night sometimes, but every once in a while so are my neighbors above me. So although we've never talked about it, it seems we've mutually accepted our varied times of loudness.

But as for you talking loudly and her complaining, unless you’re getting you're "Cone of Silence" from CONTROL anytime soon, I suggest lining a place up just before your next renewal. If she owns the place and is the landlady then you might be out of luck at you’re next renewal anyway.

Around here you can find fairly new duplexes and row houses that are separated by a very thick concrete or masonry wall. Supposedly they are fantastic at keeping noise from the neighbors out.