I’m currently living in an older RC (reinforced concrete) building in Tokyo, on the second floor, and I almost never hear anything from the unit above me. It’s been surprisingly quiet.
In the past, though, I’ve had some pretty bad experiences with noise from upstairs neighbours (footsteps, heavy walking, dropping things, etc.), so I’ve limited my current apartment search to top-floor units only.
The issue is that good apartments disappear extremely fast, and restricting to top floor makes the search much harder. I went to two different agents today who told me as much.
For people who live in RC buildings (not wood or steel frame), if you would like to help:
- Can you hear your upstairs neighbours?
- If so, what kind of noise? (footsteps, impact sounds, voices, plumbing?)
- Would you say it’s mild, tolerable, or genuinely disruptive?
- How old is your building?
I’m trying to figure out whether “RC = generally safe from upstairs noise” or if it’s still a gamble, as I'm running out of time. Thanks 🙏
by sarah-smiling