Do you have acoustical privacy? Just don't blame your neighbor's chickens! This week's stories also include a great roundup of products from last week's Kitchen and Bath Industry Show...
- The Dream of Absolute Quiet. This "Quest for Quiet" is lucrative! We like city noise — it's part of living in the city! When the story moves from city apartment dwellers attempting to drown out traffic, to McMansion dwellers trying to drown out the sound of their hometheaters, kickboxing studios, Ping-Pong rooms, model train rooms, shooting galleries, fencing rooms and bowling alleys we're weary. What do these people expect when their entire home is a city? There is an informative graphic explaining soundproofing techniques. What do you do to dampen the noise?
- Kitchen and Bath Forecast: High, Low and in Between. A look at the Kitchen and Bath Industry Show, held last week in Las Vegas. Most notable is the powerful Chinese presence (nearly 50 percent more Chinese companies this year) which means more products to choose from with lower price points. In addition to the many photos contained within the article, don't miss the extensive slide show of new products.
- In the Garden: Danger: Plant Sales Ahead. Can you resist a Nicotiana sylvestris?
- All Cooped Up in a Manhattan Co-op. Living with chickens. A fun read.
- Room to Improve: How can I minimize the risk of lead poisoning from old painted furniture?
- Personal Shopper: Outdoor Lighting.
(Photo Illustration by Josef Astor. Photographs by Hiroko Masuike, Steve Legato, John Lei, Tony Cenicola )
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Comments (7)
"Nature can be noisy, too. Years ago Jeffrey Collé, another contractor who works on Long Island, was asked if he could eliminate the sound of the ocean in the house he was renovating in East Hampton."
That is what I call having STUPID money. If you have enough money that you buy a fancy Each Hampton beach house and then hire and pay someone to eliminate the sound of the ocean??? Stupid.
That jumped out at me too...but I forgot to include it. Thanks Marie!
"What do you do to dampen the noise?"
--Turn up my stereo. ;)
Does anyone know of an affordable way to soundproof a door? The noise from my stairwell can be deafening (children screaming, folks on cell phones, people running up and down) and really grates on my nerves at night. I'm in a studio so any noise in the stairwell might as well be right in my apartment. Any ideas? Thanks
Bettey, I am dealing with the same issue, with noise reverberating over marble stairs and hallway. I've installed a little door strip with bristles - does that even make sense? I think it's called a door sweeper - and that has helped a little, blocking noise from coming in under my door.
My company hired Steve Haas of SH Acoustics. The issues we were and are still contending with were not resolved after two attempts. We were very surprised to see him featured in the Times article.
I think that at a certain point, if you're really as noise-sensitive as this comedian person sounds like he is (unless he's just being hyperbolic for the sake of comedy), he might want to have that looked at. And I mean, ask his doctor if he has some kind of hyper-sensitivity that's some kind of side-effect of a medication or something.
Otherwise, take some kind of medication for it. Or some herbal thing. Because there really is kind of a limit to how much control one can exert over one's environment, and this way lies madness, no kiddin'.