Posted by
Julie44
15 yrs ago
Hi,
I have a nice flat, but I can not enjoy it because I have a piano teacher living on the floor below and someone who likes to play piano on the flat next to us! We tried to talk to the tenants in both flats but they explained us that the way it is and that in HK people like to play musical instruments (they are chinese).
It is more than really noisy, and we really have enough of the noise. We can not enjoy a lunch or dinner, or some tv and my baby is always been woke up by the piano...
To be honest, the isolation in this building is really bad...so does not help...but I don't understand how people can not care about the complaints from their neighbours???? they just don't care about the noise.
We called the police who told us that the isolation in the building is bad, that they understand the problem...that it is not nice to live close to people playing piano...but explained us that all they can do is to talk to the tenants...who of course did not stop playing...
so what is the solution? is there is any building in HK where playing an instrument is forbidden?
thanks
Julie
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CF
15 yrs ago
That really is a tough one - I can only imagine how annoying it must be! I have lived in apartments before and am staggered at how inconsiderate people can be, and not just in HK i might add. I would be inclined to get out of there, and spend a good amount of time in any potential new home...visit at different times of the day to gauge the noise....often a good idea to visit at night when everyone is home.
Madtown mentions that there is not really anywhere in HK without noise pollution....I have a suggestion - you could live on a boat - like us! We are located in Pak Sha Wan on a swing mooring and it is the most peaceful, serene living environment you will ever find! The neighbours are all friendly and quiet (no pianos out here!) the fish and the birds are the best neighbours ever! :)
It is possible to find a little slice of (quiet) heaven in HK......that does not break the bank!
Good luck finding your little bit of quiet....
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Check the seal on your main door. You can try to install a rubber gasket to see how that goes. Keep windows closed.
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Town houses are fairly good for noise pollution but you still get some from the sides.
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Hi everyone,
Thank you very much for your answers.
Philly cheese: thanks for the tips, I will try to install a ruber on my main door!
Madtown, I agree with you, it is very surprising how chinese people can block outside noise out! The noise is so important that it is scaring my baby and the poor little baby is crying very often because of that!
I could never make this kind of noise because I will feel ashamed of myself to be that selfish! I know that it is a different culture but I still don't understand how can they have no consideration for their neighbours!
Anyway I have contacted the management team of the building and they told me that even if it is very loud, they can play piano from 12pm to 9pm...so not really helping!
Do you really think that I can break my lease earlier because of that? Is there any procedure to follow?
CF and axptguy, thank you for your advices...I may look at town houses in the futur.
Julie
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I pass an old man playing some sort of Chinese bag pipe every morning and boy is it a horrific noise, even when he removes the bag which he does.
There is obviously some sort of local etiquette as far as noise is concerned because he lives in a densely populated apartment area but sits under the fly-over to practise.
I think the simple answer would be to enforce piano players (unless incredibly good lol) to insulate the room where the piano is in. That would work well, and it cant be too expensive to do that for one room even egg boxes would do?
I dont think that is too much to ask my self.
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As a rule, HK buildings have no insulation. Wood flooring is glued directly to the concrete below instead of being mounted on a mat as it should be. Walls are just concrete. No air spaces, not even a sliver of insulating material.
Apart from dramatically decreasing noise, even an inch of insulation in walls and floors (plus double glazing) would probably halve most people's electrical bills. But of course the landlords and developers don't care.
The government whines about electrical costs being high in HK (in summer, 50% of electricity goes to air conditioning), but they don't do a thing to encourage the simplest of solutions.
But I digress.
"And why do taxi drivers insist on blowing their horns whenever the traffic has topped ahead of them? Do they think it serves any purpose?"
A pet peeve of mine as well. And it's not just taxi drivers! What the heck is up with that?
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"And why do taxi drivers insist on blowing their horns whenever the traffic has topped ahead of them? Do they think it serves any purpose?"
A pet peeve of mine as well. And it's not just taxi drivers! What the heck is up with that?
The most irritating kind of hooting imaginable. It is so completely an unnecessary ear pollution.
I love the way they hoot in Bali its like a friendly "jeep jeep" just to let others know what you are doing but here its like a sounding of general impatience annoyance and aggression. Nasty nasty nasty dog eats dog.
I've alsp noticed if you dont wind down your window and flap your hand you have no way of ever changing lanes, I wonder why they they think they have indicators at all?
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Here's a thought - if she is running a tutor service, can that not be considered a commercial endeavour? If so, many leases of residential properties prohibit commercial activities from being completed. Keep complaining to the management company.
No matter how nice the flat, if it bothers you that much, I would move and not deal with the stress of bad neighbours.
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Julie,
Just a word of warning - apart from the annoying piano noise if you actually like where you are living and it ticks all the boxes then think very carefully before you decide to give it up.
My son & his girlfriend had the same problem with their neighbours who had their piano against the adjoining wall - it drove them mad especially when they started playing really early in the morning at the weekends.
He tried all the usual avenues of complaint to management and tried politely to reason with them but as said earlier, they really couldn't understand the problem and just looked completely blank.
Eventually they decided they couldn't hack it any longer and even though they loved the apartment & the building etc. they decided to move out.
This time before signing up they did quite a bit of research on their potential new neighbours (well, as much as they could) and all turned out great, peace at last.........for about 3 months when the lovely quiet neighbours moved out and a new family moved in, Mum, Dad, 2 kids in with, yes you guessed it not only a piano but both kids learning the violin.........arrgghhh!
Sometimes you really can't win!
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While I agree that stricter noise rules should be in place, I would say that only noisy dogs should be included. If a dog doesn't bark, there is no disturbance.
But we've had this discussion before. ;)
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190k
15 yrs ago
Move out to the New Territories. I live in a three bedroom house with garden and it is only 25 minutes bus ride to Central. No one lives above or below me. A good hedge blocks noise from neighbours but I have never had that problem as we all get along well and share the fruits form our fruit trees and herb gardens, watch each others property when away on holidays etc.
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Most dog breeds can quite easily be trained not to bark. A dog owner who lives in an apartment is, in my opinion, morally obligated to perform such training. So now we have a quiet dog who doesn't disturb.
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I agree with inkpot......when the environment and culture itself has made the people totally impervious to the plight of others you need to get drastic and show them that neighbours can either play neighbourly or nasty.....
One observation I have made in HK that kind of fits in with the prevailing attitude expressed by your neighbours is this, to a person in HK you are either someone or a nobody. If you are a nobody to them they can be rude as all buggery, and you are for all intents and purposes invisible, but if you happen to be someone (perhaps they know, would like to know) the extreme politeness comes out of the woodwork!
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The issue today is that there is no real consequence for the disturbance. If the owner had to pay a fine, and for repeated offenses have the dog removed, the problem would go away. Today the owners just ignore the complainers, and many people don't complain because they feel there is no consequence.
This would of course work for piano playing as well.
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We'll have to agree to disagree.
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I feel like I'm stating the obvious but noise doesn't travel upwards as well because pianos, subwoofers, people with clogs and barking dogs are on the floor so there is direct conductivity. The air above these things insulates the sound partially from the floor above.
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Have to agree with madtown on this one
fines, repeat offenses etc. are just idle threats in Hong Kong. Hong Kongers have trouble enforcing/policing anything.......lots of ordinances, policies, laws, blah blah blah and zero enforcement until something really nasty happens and then the law makers/police ect say that the 'rogue' person has violated the law.....which was never monitored for in the first place.
secondly, I'm sure segregating the noise makers/quiet ones would start to take the sheen off the ardent piano playing, the desire to keep 4 dogs in one apartment and perhaps they could either come to some nice arrangement or else just become that little bit more deaf and live in perfect harmony.
The other issue I have with dogs in a dense urban location is that the only place these poor animals have to relieve themselves is on the footpaths, and although helpers and owners do for the most part collect the animal's stools, the urine is a different issue, and the random swish from the water bottle still leaves the streets reeking.
Without the above scenario likely to happen, being a total nuisance to your noisy neighbour is your only recourse.....lower yourself to their standard and make a total pest of yourself so perhaps they can understand what you might be going through.....hard with a baby in the house though.
btw I don't have noisy neighbours now but when I first came to HK the people above me had children whose favourite piano piece was 'my heart will go on' by Celine Dion, played badly!!!!
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People who grew up in a crowded, noisy, environment like Hong Kong have a much higher tolerance for noise. Plus, they learn to sleep anywhere (even standing up!)
Sad to say, the majority rules. And in this case, the majority do not care about noise. Sorry, if you cannot join them, you certainly cannot beat them.
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Devon
15 yrs ago
axpatguy - noise certainly does travel upwards because I have put up with scraping furniture (and I mean SCRAPING!), kids fighting (and I mean FIGHTING), parents arguing (with each other and with kids) and slamming doors (and I mean SLAMMING) from the flat below for the last 3 years. I tried to talk to them about it and basically got "attacked" for daring to suggest they were the ones making all the bloody noise! The problem will be solved for me when I leave HK and God help the next tenants! BTW, these people are not local Chinese.
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"axpatguy - noise certainly does travel upwards because I have put up with scraping furniture (and I mean SCRAPING!), kids fighting (and I mean FIGHTING), parents arguing (with each other and with kids) and slamming doors (and I mean SLAMMING) from the flat below for the last 3 years. "
I didn't say noise doesn't travel upwards. I said it doesn't travel upwards as well.
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