Korean Job Discussion Forums

[bassexpander]

We now live in an expensive brand-name apartment building. It's one of the brands that Koreans want because of its name. We're only renting -- thank goodness we didn't invest half a billion won in this place. For all of the time and effort they put into building up thick walls to keep it quiet (and bragging about it while renting/selling) they built the floors paper-thin. It's one of those name brands you probably hear about or see in ads, and is built by a Chaebol.

Noiseproofing between the floors is non-existent. We hear every footstep from above, every door opening, conversations, and worse -- the upstairs neighbors let their kids run and jump on the floor until midnight every night. It's just insane how they let their kids run around the house from one end to the other in circles for an hour until they run out of energy. They have a screaming baby, and we hear that too.

We love the place, but are severely disappointed in the obvious corner-cutting on floor/ceiling soundproofing. I thought they built these places with cement between the floors... apparently not. I don't see how that is possible.

Knowing this, I will never purchase an apartment from this company in Korea. I'd hate to be stuck with owning such a noisy home. Here we thought we'd enjoy some peace and quiet if we spent a little more money and lived in a nicer home. Wrong.

Some things about Korea really suck.

[Return Jones]

Why are you scared to say the name of the builder?

[aquaponics08]

I hear the guy upstairs stumble out of bed, cough his ass off (I assume as he's lighting a cigarrette), then take a leak all at 5:45 am!

[Thewhiteyalbum]

I think this is where my problems with this country stem from. My neighbours get home at 3am every morning (they are night workers) and stay up drinking until 7 or 8am. I can hear every turn in the bed, every fart, every sneeze. I haven't had a decent nights sleep for 3 months!

I have actively tried to resolve this (talking to my co - teacher, getting him to speak to the 'house mother') last night I knocked on their door at 4am to ask them to be quiet.
The problem is they aren't being exceptionally noisy. It's the fact that the walls are paper thin that is the problem. They are not screaming or yelling, just speaking normally - and it still keeps me awake. I have tried earplugs, sleeping pills...

Yes, I could've moved out, but with 3 months to go I thought '*beep* it, I can resolve this'.

My mistake..

(looks like another night in my g.f's single bed tonight )

[bassexpander]

[Teelo]

[Xuanzang]

I'm not surprised. It's build them fast and cheaply but sell high. I bet the big L Castles are probably not much better.

[bassexpander]

[GwangjuParents]

We bought (not rent) a brand new Jai (Xii) Apt; it's one of those brand new so-called "brand name"apartments, too.

To avoid noise issues, we got the top floor. I certainly recommend getting the top floor if you can do so to avoid any possible noise issue (not only that you'll probably get vaulted ceilings too which is a huge plus). Currently we have absolutely no noise issues, but I suspect the person below us may hate us with our two kids!

I would somewhat agree with your point on the general quality... it's good, but it could be better.

Basically my understanding is that, in Korea, when you buy a new place, the typical Korean will go out and then spend 30,000,000 + million Won renovating the place and making it the way they want (extensions, etc).

Even though the place is brand new.

What was also a shock to me is that when you buy a new apartment, you have to pay to have it cleaned before you move in.

Imagine buying a brand new car, and they deliver it to you dirty. Well, in the apartment game in Korea, that's just the standard practice it seems.

[Xuanzang]

Here it's like buying a brand new car and having to clean it and redo a lot of major work. I would recommend sound dampening insulation and carpets but those wouldnt mesh well with the ondol.

[bassexpander]

Interesting.

I lived in the Royal Palace Houseville in Sunae/Bundang about 4 years ago, and moved in when it was new. I had to pull the cardboard off of everything (floors, walls, fixtures) but never had to pay. Did you mean you may as well pay someone to clean it, as it's so much work? I could see that, but we paid an ajumma to "clean" my wife's old apartment and she did virtually NOTHING, left the bathroom untouched, and demanded 60,000 won. It was a joke. Given that experience, and a similar experience of a friend, I'll never trust a Korean to clean my place ever again. I'd rather hire a filipina or do it myself.

Cleaning the new place in the Royal Palace was a royal pain in the butt, though. THAT place was GREAT about sound issues. The only problem was that the door didn't block much sound. The ceiling and walls were excellent, although I was surrounded by officetells without rowdy kids.

We spent about 1 million on wallpaper, I've painted/am painting the entry and terraces, and the place looks really great -- the sound issues suck, though. As someone else said, there isn't much that can be done, given how it was built. I do think the people above could control their kids better.

[KYC]

Well, thank god it's not just MY apartment. My walls are paper thin and to make things worse my apartment is RIGHT by the stairs. I hear every step and stomp. Man, some Korean neighbors are inconsiderate SOB's. I've put up with it for 6 months without complaints, cuz whatever...

But last week, I had just returned from a week long vacation. I was sleep deprived for about 2 days. My next door neighbor (two Korean women) were giggling like teenage girls during the wee hours. At around 5 am i got extremely pissed off, opened my door and yelled SHUT THE F***K UP and slammed my door.

I love my apartment, but hate my neighbors.

[PRagic]

Agreed. We live in one of those fancy named apartments. Good size, pretty new, killer views, and a lot of buzzes and whistles, but like any of the decent apartments, it's like a Volvo at best: boxy, but good.

But the family upstairs are complete aholes. It's either grandman doing the heel to toe shuffule, grandpa doing the flat foot tromp, dad having at the marathon beer piss, or mom partakig in the day-long 3-year old run. Enough is enough. We're out of here in August unless the owner knocks 50 million off of our chunsae.

Actually, we didn't even want to move in! We were looking for one of the top floor units in a building, not an apartment, but there weren't any available in the neighborhoods we like. There is no way were were going to buy, so we just paid chunsae for our current slice of heaven.

I guess the upside to apartments is that they tend to be warmer than regular buildings, and the decent ones have controlled entry and are well it. The cons far outweigh the pros in my book though, and luckily my wife has seen the light of day. Oh, and the 'management fee'? Don't even get me started!

[Xuanzang]

[bassexpander]

Yeah, we've got the speaker. It only squaks during the day when I'm not home, though.

They also cut serious corners on the flooring -- cheap fake plywood veneer that peels up and breaks at the corners. They did this in the Royal Palace as well, and it only grows gradually worse over time. I'd hate to know what it costs to replace that.

Next time I will ask for a top-floor apartment, but had always assumed they were more pricey.