My old house was built in 1905. Rock solid brick construction with heavy plaster walls. I could sit in the living room, watch TV and talk on the phone, and no one upstairs would hear a thing.
I have moved to a house 24 years younger than that one. Still solid brick construction (three courses of red brick--the outer walls are byzantine thick). Still plaster on the inside. But something changed. I am typing this in the quiet living room, and I can hear one daughter downstairs talking to the dog and watching TV, and the other daughter upstairs doing aerobics (or whatever it is nowadays) to a video. I could literally do the exercises along with her, it's so clear. And I know what episode of M*A*S*H Sophia is rewatching.
Paper thin ceilings and floors. I don't get it, how much could change in 25 years in one city's construction patterns.
So I tiptoe through my own house and whisper into my phone.
That *is* odd. Different materials, perhaps?
ReplyDeleteThe outer walls are exactly the same. The inside walls, too. I think the major differences are:
Delete1. The second floor was a wood floored attic, not really living space, originally, and so I have a feeling the space between the wood floor and the first floor ceiling is small.
2. the 1905 house has 10-11 foot ceilings. Here they are 8.5 feet.
I like that Sophia watches M*A*S*H... I have fond memories of Hawkeye and BJ.
ReplyDeleteFascinating. And bummer.
ReplyDeleteBut in my 1892 house, I can pretty much hear everything.
ReplyDeleteWas your old house at any time reinsulated? Maybe that explains some of it?
ReplyDeleteBeautiful. Last line is perfect.
ReplyDelete