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Empty space between ceiling and floor above

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Empty space between ceiling and floor above

Postby coachgns » Thu Jan 08, 2009 11:12 am

I recently had a leak in my ceiling coming from the apartment above. In order to repair it, the LL had to cut open a hole in my ceiling. Upon doing so I noticed that there is absolutely NOTHING between my Drywall ceiling and the floor of the apartment above me.
Isn't this a fire code violation?
I tried reading the Code, but I couldn't figure that out.

I have complained to my LL about the noise from the Tenant above me from walking on bare floors. These people wake up at 5:30 every morning, and the clomp clomp jolts me awake. They DO try to keep quiet, but there is only so much they can do with a shoe hitting right on hardwood with nothing to absorb the sound.
The lease requires carpeting. They won't carpet. The LL says it is not his problem. "How can I make someone buy carpet", he responds. DUH - HE CAN - There is a LEASE that REQUIRES it. I had assumed there was some insulation between the floors - but now that I see there is Nothing there, I am more upset at the LL than I was before. But I see my only solution is to Move, or spend a small fortune suing the LL.
UNLESS THIS IS A FIRE CODE VIOLATION??? Make the Town force him to insulate between floors.
This is a large apartment building - not in NYC.
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Postby lofter1 » Thu Jan 08, 2009 2:18 pm

What you describe is not a building or fire code violation. This is what exists in most older buildings with floor joists / beams covered in a sub-floor and then, on top of that, wood or other type flooring.
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Re: Empty space between ceiling and floor above

Postby WEXTCHEXT » Wed Feb 25, 2009 9:08 pm

coachgns wrote:I noticed that there is absolutely NOTHING between my Drywall ceiling and the floor of the apartment above me.
Isn't this a fire code violation?
I tried reading the Code, but I couldn't figure that out.

I have complained to my LL about the noise from the Tenant above me from walking on bare floors. These people wake up at 5:30 every morning, and the clomp clomp jolts me awake. They DO try to keep quiet, but there is only so much they can do with a shoe hitting right on hardwood with nothing to absorb the sound.


I have lived in many different apartment situations in Westchester and I have experienced exactly the same thing.

In one situation, which was actually an apartment in a private house, there was just a thin layer for the ceiling.. a little bit of space, and then the above neighbors' floor. And the tenant above me was very inconsiderate hitting the floor constantly and I mean constantly...and into the late night; i.e. 3 a.m..

The landlord became furious that I was complaining, yet refused to send anyone over to witness it.

I tried to address it with the buildings department in the city where I live and they told me that insulation was not required. I forget what the details were exactly; but there was a cutoff point; a certain year when a building was originally built that would or not require insulation in between the floors and ceilings. The house I lived in didn't qualify.

When I moved to where I am now, I made sure that I lived on the top floor to avoid this. I discovered that this apartment, in an apartment building, is completely devoid of any insulation at all.
Similar to your situation, a neighbor wakes up at 5:30 a.m. and, of course, slams things around as everything reverberates through the empty floors and walls.

The most profound aspect of this is that they are constantly talking and I can hear almost every moronic word or inflection emanating from their moronic conversations (bit annoyed, can't you tell?). Right now I'm wearing headphones and listening to loud music; occasionally the music will stop due to a part of a song or brief disconnect from the internet stream and, during that brief space, I hear blah-blah-blah... just constantly, not capable of thought just streaming of the mouth...

Anytime one of them comes home, they slam things against the wall... like "Duh, I'm home!"(What is that?)


Anyway...
The truth is that landlords don't care; they will get the money irregardless of your suffering.

If you are ever consider moving to a private house, thinking you will be getting away from this kind of thing; try to find something where it's just the owner and maybe just one other person living with the owner and they want to rent to you the only apartment they have for rent.

If you go into a situation where they have multiple apartments, they probably have a lot of turnover. This kind of thing would probably entail kids running around - who, of course, generate noise.

You want something predictable, not different people moving in and out.
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