Korean Job Discussion Forums

[coffeeman]

Running the guy who lives above you's laundry water pipe through your apartment. I "love" this one. Every time the tenant above me does his laundry (in this case, tonight it's 1:30am ) I get to hear his dirty water drain through my apartment. This annoyance seems to be standard in many Korean apartments. It was in my last apartment too.

Now I don't know how things are designed in apartments in other countries , but when I have lived in them, I never once heard the sound of water splattering through the pipes. This is just another example of poor Korean engineering and another reason why I will reconsider ever buying a Korean car or a major appliance.

[dreamscape]

You're only at #5?

[pet lover]

Where I live now, it sounds like something broke and a waterfall is gushing down. When I first moved in, I panicked and searched the place sure I was getting flooded. I'm used to it now. Anytime they run water for anything...washing dishes, flushing the toilet, doing laundry....the waterfall sound-effects kick in. I've gotten used to it. At least they don't stamp their feet, chop food on the floor for hours, have screaming arguments, etc. etc.

[coffeeman]

[seoulsucker]

Speed vs. quality is the major issue in construction here. I have a friend who does some contracting work, and he's mentioned that the schedules/deadlines set for them are so unreasonable that they have to cut corners all the time to keep the investors happy.

I saw a 50 lbs. lighting fixture come crashing down on during a house-warming party at a brand new apartment in Dogok-dong, in one of the nicest apartment buildings in Seoul. They didn't bother to anchor the thing, and it could have easily injured or possible killed someone.

That's what happens when you do things ppalli-ppalli.

[laogaiguk]

I love Korea and I tend to blast people who put it down for no reason. This would most definitely not be one of those times. The building standards here suck!

[seoulsucker]

[pet lover]

Coffeeman,

I have the same situation. My little washing machine sized laundry room is in the room where I sleep. But, I've lived here since December 2004 and have luckily always been a heavy sleeper. It does sometimes still take me by surprise, and more embarrassingly, sometimes hearing the water gush down really makes me have to pee.

[mindmetoo]

That's a minor annoyance, IMHO. The sound of falling water can't be all that bad. I just find it funny they can't generally design elevators big enough to move furniture. So they need to have little trucks with telescoping lifts to move things up to apartments from the outside. Seems terribly dangerous.

[coffeeman]

[the eye]

Coffeeman, i think you've misdiagnosed the design flaw.

It's not the fact that the plumming from above units is attached to yours. This type of construction is used in the the west as well...er, at least in canada. The only difference is that the plumbing back home uses a different type of 'doohickey' (forgot the name) that prevents smells and materials from backing up into another branch of the system.

The reason you don't hear the noise back home, is because the walls are constructed better. Insulation and thicker walls are the key, i think.

this link, even though it's for a house, shows the same design used for apartments.
http://www.hometips.com/hyhw/plumbing/plumbing1.html

JongnoGuru, where are you on this one?


Speaking of the noise, though...i can't tell you how many times i've been awaken by the drunk guy upstairs relieving his bladder. Only it's not the flush... I can hear the piss hitting the water in the bowl as if it were happening in my own bathroom. The worst part is the end, when he's obviously trying to shake out the remaining trickle of pee. I hope that doesn't happen to me when i get older....dribble.....dribble.....
Very aggravating.

[pet lover]

Every time I hear my neighbors pee, I'm reminded that they can probably hear ME pee.