Condo above garages - is it loud?

R

rkp

Well-known member
We looked at Esplanade in woodbury a couple days ago and noticed that some of the floorplans were above other peoples garages.  Its one thing to deal with the noise of your own garage door but to deal with your neighbors seems really bad.  Any one live above someone elses garage?  Are those garages doors audible and annoying? 

The house I grew up in was 1 story so we never had the garage noise issue.  My in-laws is the typical OC 3CWG house and every single person in the house knows when the garage door opens and closes.  Trying to gauge how bad these Esplanade units would be.
 
rkp said:
We looked at Esplanade in woodbury a couple days ago and noticed that some of the floorplans were above other peoples garages.  Its one thing to deal with the noise of your own garage door but to deal with your neighbors seems really bad.  Any one live above someone elses garage?  Are those garages doors audible and annoying? 

The house I grew up in was 1 story so we never had the garage noise issue.  My in-laws is the typical OC 3CWG house and every single person in the house knows when the garage door opens and closes.  Trying to gauge how bad these Esplanade units would be.
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Most people interested in carriage units (homes above a garage) have this same question. The sales staff at Esplanade should be able to let you see for yourself. You can stand in several different rooms as another staff member operates the garage door below.

-IR2
 
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They will all tell you the typical lies like concrete floor and silent garage opener will not transmit noise. If you really want to hear the effect keep the windows open like a normal house and they will tell you the windows are screwed shut in the models? Make sure to use a SUV for demonstration pulling in and out of the garage. As those cheap screw drive openers get old it will get noisier and I am sure all those handyman Asian owners will certainly keep up with greasing the shafts, gear and the tension loaded spring coils in all those garages.
 
Take my advice. Don't share walls, ceiling, floor, zero lot, garages, corridor, driveways, motorcourt, and easements. Everyone of those is a deduction from your future resale price. This was why Ave One was the cheapest crap in all of Irvine. If you have to walk from a parking structure to your motel you are just one step above a homeless.
 
Yes it will get noisier. We had a unit 2 stories above our own garage - garage, interior staircase - living unit - and I could always tell when the door was opened. Another consideration: high density housing always has parking shortages. Why is that? Because most owners don't keep their cars in their garage. They keep their junk. No guarantee that someone won't start a woodshop or drum circle practice room in their garage once you close on your purchase. If you can avoid being over someone else's garage, your chance of having noise issues is of course far lower.

My .02c
 
I lived in a carriage unit. The issue is not so much just the garage door as it is getting used to someone else's schedule. The guy who parked below me seemed to work graveyard shift. The slamming car doors would wake me up when he got home. Music pumping loud as he pulled in and out. He would sit there with the car in idle listening to the last couple minutes of his song. Expect to smell exhaust fumes from your window above the parking area. True, this could happen in your own garage - however you choose to live with that person and hopefully they are courteous of you just a little bit. You don't choose to live with your neighbor for better or for worse. Also, you never know what they store in the garage below you - flammable things. Or if they're going to do work on their car. It could be against HOA rules for them to do it but people do anyway. If they work on the car - again, engine may idle inside the parking area. (I know what you're going to say, IHS. Asian men don't work on their cars.  :p Some white men do, though.) Also, my neighbor would remove the car on Saturday nights and turn it into a party hang-out / card room. They'd be hanging in there smoking, drinking, playing music. The noise in the garage echoes. I had to go down once and ask them if they could keep it down a little since it was past 11 p.m. Thankfully, he was super nice about it but not everyone is. I would not live in this type of unit again if I had any other choices.
 
IrvineRealtor said:
rkp said:
We looked at Esplanade in woodbury a couple days ago and noticed that some of the floorplans were above other peoples garages.  Its one thing to deal with the noise of your own garage door but to deal with your neighbors seems really bad.  Any one live above someone elses garage?  Are those garages doors audible and annoying? 

The house I grew up in was 1 story so we never had the garage noise issue.  My in-laws is the typical OC 3CWG house and every single person in the house knows when the garage door opens and closes.  Trying to gauge how bad these Esplanade units would be.
Click to expand...

Most people interested in carriage units (homes above a garage) have this same question. The sales staff at Esplanade should be able to let you see for yourself. You can stand in several different rooms as another staff member operates the garage door below.

-IR2
Click to expand...

Make them bring a Bose stereo and a pack of smokes.
 
Thank you all.  We have been looking at SFH exclusively for all the reasons you mentioned but on a whim, looked at Esplanade for the possibility of a 2-3 year hold and use it as a rental property.

I think I will skip the test and just avoid the carriage units.  The corner units at Esplanade arent above garages but you still share a wall and have 6 garages in a very tight U so the pollution and noise would be an issue.
 
even in some SFR's, there are rooms built over garages - you will deal with some of the same noise..    I did visit a house that must have had an expensive opener, because it was pretty silent.  even with that, you can tell when a car comes home. 
 
akim997 said:
even in some SFR's, there are rooms built over garages - you will deal with some of the same noise..    I did visit a house that must have had an expensive opener, because it was pretty silent.  even with that, you can tell when a car comes home. 
Click to expand...

I get that but as SoCal78 said,  "you choose to live with that person and hopefully they are courteous of you just a little bit".  Its one thing to deal with your own family's schedule but to deal with a neighbors is completely different. 
 
The ideal solution is not to build over thr garage or keep the garage separate from the house. To the developers that is like seeing a Benjamin on the ground and not picking it up.
 
rkp said:
akim997 said:
even in some SFR's, there are rooms built over garages - you will deal with some of the same noise..    I did visit a house that must have had an expensive opener, because it was pretty silent.  even with that, you can tell when a car comes home. 
Click to expand...

I get that but as SoCal78 said,  "you choose to live with that person and hopefully they are courteous of you just a little bit".  Its one thing to deal with your own family's schedule but to deal with a neighbors is completely different.
Click to expand...

The noise from a garage would be the least of my concerns.
You should worry more about being inundated with the piano, flute, sax, violin and tuba practice that will be coming from your neighbors.
 
Not really, check out Camellia plan 1 at NWii.
Model-A-Plan-1-1765-sqft.pdf

rkp said:
irvinehomeshopper said:
Single level Family detached home with a front yard, 2 side yards and a back yard for the win!
Click to expand...

not in irvine unless its either very old or you have indie level incomes...
Click to expand...
 
rkp said:
akim997 said:
even in some SFR's, there are rooms built over garages - you will deal with some of the same noise..    I did visit a house that must have had an expensive opener, because it was pretty silent.  even with that, you can tell when a car comes home. 
Click to expand...

I get that but as SoCal78 said,  "you choose to live with that person and hopefully they are courteous of you just a little bit".  Its one thing to deal with your own family's schedule but to deal with a neighbors is completely different. 
Click to expand...

Yup, yup. You can pick your spouse. You can pick your friends. You can pick your nose. But, you can't pick your neighbors.
 
My daughter's room is above our neighbor's garage.  Our units have the super duper quiet kind of garage door openers and we can't feel the vibrations or hear the motor of the garage door.  We can, however, hear the rails make some sort of rattling sound.  It sounds like marbles dropping on the ground and it's loud enough to wake my daughter from her nap sometimes.  Oh, and we can also hear him rockin' out on his guitar(s)...and hear him watching concert videos on the huge tv he installed in his garage.  I don't understand why his garage is his man cave...they live in a three bedroom place and it's just him and his wife.  Sorry OP, you clearly hit a nerve!  :-\ Back to your question, we never had a problem with our living space over someone else's garage until we had a baby and the garage now interrupts her sleep occasionally.  Now we wish the setup was different.
 
irvinehomeshopper said:
The ideal solution is not to build over thr garage or keep the garage separate from the house. To the developers that is like seeing a Benjamin on the ground and not picking it up.
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The more I read IHS... BK, is that you?  Why do People & Cars have to live together?  SFR, with set-back, front yard, side-yards, and back-yard and a detached garage (in back with Alley access) with studio on top... FTW, again not in Irvine...
 
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