If you’ve ever shared a wall with rowdy renters, you know how frustrating it can be to live in an apartment. Living next to noisy neighbors can lead to loss of patience, sleepless nights, distraction, and general twitchiness. While you can’t always control the way your neighbors behave, you can be a good neighbor yourself and limit the amount of noise that gets out of your apartment as you go about your day. Here are some apartment living tips and ways you can soundproof your apartment so you can be a courteous neighbor by keeping the noise inside your apartment.
1. Mind your windows. This is actually one of the easiest things you can do to alleviate noise pollution in your apartment. Living in an apartment complex often means sharing common areas like courtyards, patios, or even simply sidewalks and parking lots. This shared space can be a boon if you want to get to know your neighbors, but a nuisance if sound carries easily throughout the complex. To cut down on noise in close quarters, make sure you close your windows when you have large groups of people over, are watching a loud movie or TV show, or playing video games with loud music or sound effects.
2. Improve your laundry room. If you have your own washing machine and dryer in your apartment, there’s a chance that your neighbors are well aware of when you do your laundry. To minimize noise and vibrations from your washer and dryer, lay down some rugs to absorb the sound and vibration of the machines, and also add some acoustic paneling if your lease allows.
3. Stay quiet at night. Even if you’re a night owl yourself, it’s best to respect the fact that others may have to go to bed early, or else have small children who do. If you can, avoid running the dishwasher, vacuuming, drawing a bath, or rearranging your furniture late at night. Your neighbors will thank you for a peaceful sleep.
4. Turn down the sound on your electronics. It can be easy when watching TV or listening to music to forget about the volume. Be a considerate neighbor by changing the settings on your TV to minimize the bass, be mindful of louder parts of action movies or shows and adjust the volume while you watch, and relocate your subwoofers away from any shared walls to lend your neighbors a little relief.
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