When Renovating Your Home, Also Consider Noise from Other Apartments

Apartment replanning where a room is built in place of the old kitchen and a kitchenette is created in the living room is becoming increasingly common. However, I would like to point out one nuance that should be considered in such cases.

When discussing such topics, the usual advice is that all work must be done according to a project, coordinated with authorities, and later a usage permit is needed.

Much less discussed, however, is the fact that when changing the layout, you must also take into account that the original spatial solution of the apartment was designed according to certain principles, and replanning can bring surprises that you might not have initially paid attention to. Quite often, these surprises relate to noise.

If you are building a kitchenette in the living room and converting the old kitchen into a bedroom, you should be aware that apartments above and below you may still have kitchens in the same location. This means that noise and activity can occur even when you would like to go to sleep. Moreover, people like to spend time with friends in kitchens, which means that on some nights you might also hear chatter and music.

Secondly, ventilation openings are located in the old kitchen, and water and sewage pipes run behind the walls. Since ventilation openings cannot be closed, you should know that in older buildings ventilation is not autonomous in each apartment, and sounds can travel into the room and odors can seep in. Similarly, water can rush through the pipes behind the walls.

It is worth noting that many apartments are designed so that the so-called living zone is at the front and the bedrooms are at the back. This way, noise coming from, for example, the stairwell, does not reach the bedrooms.

I recommend considering all these possible nuances when replanning your home and researching what options exist for moving pipes within the apartment and improving sound insulation when planning the construction work. For the new kitchen hood, you do not have to use a local carbon filter, but you could consider redirecting ventilation from the old kitchen.

However, if you are buying a larger apartment where there is also a room in place of the old kitchen, I recommend planning a home office there if possible.