House Acoustics Traumatize Liveaboards

[Hudson Force]

This might sound absurd, but hear me out! Have you ever noticed how the corners where the walls and ceiling meet within a house simulate the reflective nature of a radar reflector? As a very long term liveaboard I'm off visiting friends at their home. It's a "house" with a tiled floor, masonary walls and a vaulted ceiling and and I'm having difficulty adapting. I'll confess that I feel as though I'm losing my hearing. Everyone is so loud and yelling from unusual distances with a mix of sounds reverberating about. I'm caught in a giant "radar" reflector. Kitchenware is on it's way to the grill while the tv is singing backup and two or three conversations are in play. I miss my small curved walls where no one is more than a few feet away and soft phrases suffice. I've retreated to the back room to post this message, but everything is bouncing back here too. I'll go back into the fray and try to remain calm. These people are truly my friends, but I'll need to get away soon. Am I becomming unable to cope with these houses? Do other liveaboards sense this too? How do you cope? ....can't wait to be home where the sounds drift away across the water or they are softly muted in my curved walled cave!

[daddle]

It is not only the construction. It's the lifestyle. Adapting to the uncontrolled mayhem ashore will be difficult. My opinion, don't do it. "What were you thinking..."

[sww914]

I really don't enjoy being inside buildings at all anymore. Even looking at apartments for rent on craigslist freaks me out bad. Square walls just suck. Hang stupid sheet on stupid white walls and try to fill all the rooms with stuff that doesn't do anything. Maybe somebody will come over and be impressed with your $800.00 picture frame? I'll take the sky instead.

[Kettlewell]

There's a nice restaurant around the corner that has good food, live music, and a friendly atmosphere, but I can't stand the acoustics in the place. It has a tile floor, a metal ceiling, and lots of hard surfaced tables. When there I feel like I'm inside a teenager's first drum set. I've been in boats that were bad too. A lot of multis are really loud compared to monos, and monos tend to be loud compared to a heavy old woody. Our old Aage Nielsen woody was like a cocoon down below no matter what the weather. I have read that noise level on a boat is big contributor to fatigue and even seasickness.

[FSMike]

More than just sound can bother people. I had a friend who rented an apartment once while doing a lot of work on his boat. He had to move the bed over against the wall to sleep because he was so used to touching the hull while in his berth.

[Astrid]

Originally Posted by FSMike

More than just sound can bother people. I had a friend who rented an apartment once while doing a lot of work on his boat. He had to move the bed over against the wall to sleep because he was so used to touching the hull while in his berth.

That's a relief to know someone else has this problem. I do too.

[Hudson Force]

Hmmm... 'moving the bed against the wall. This reminds me that my daughter, who had been raised aboard from infancy, had hung sheets around her bed in the college dorm room because she could not sleep in the huge space. She's 36 now and fully adapted to her house.

[senormechanico]

We've got a great nearby restaurant which is located in a remodeled house.
They opened up the walls, finished vaulted ceilings and polished the concrete floor.
Unfortunately it made the whole place quite acoustically loud.
Their solution was to hang decorative sound absorbent panels just below the ceilings and install sound absorbent pads on the bottoms of all tables and chairs.

It helped a lot, but it's still a bit live in there.

[zeehag]

the acoustics were just fine in my bludi castle.
these modern style things you all call homes are pathetic and poorly made issue of drunkennes and nightmares from hades.

also--ye cannot have a grand party featuring the rolling stones in these damnable modern things. too many neighbors complain about the noise..ingrates....

they keep telling me to bring in carlos and his sexy latino hippie friends....funny--those boys are even louder than mick and his pals...lol,,,mebbe i should.......ye think??!!!

[Sea Frog]

That's why I have invested in acoustic ceilings and sound absorbtion in my previous house. The living room with a stereo (acoustic treatment was actually done to enchance the sound quality) sinse has become the most popular place in the house because it was so nice, quiet and cozy. Everybody tends to spend time there even without music. In the boat that I will be building, I will be using sound absorbtion and insulation, too. It is nice to have a quiet place

[barnakiel]

It is also about the age. Older man experience hearing issues way more often than ageing women.

Aside from a hearing check, I must say some people are eh so noisy and some buildings suck acoustically. True.

I am glad to hear I am not the only one around who perceives noise and people making it as pollution - something best avoided.

b.

[zeehag]

i made my joke because i noticed as a kid that my grandparents home that was built in 1621 was a lot more comfortable, acoustically, than our 1950s built house on long island.
what used to be considered for show and considered to be too difficult difficult to dust were actually beneficial to acoustics of the rooms. no pain, all gain...no pun intended.

[Geoduck]

We recently moved to a fancy (for us) house on the hill overlooking the marina where I keep the boat.
We lived in a log cabin in the mountains for the previous 10 years. Prior to that, off and on in a 70' sailboat and a 45' troller - both heavy wood boats.
Thank God I still have a heavy wood sailboat to go hang out in!
I cant stand the noise of living in a house! I hate yard work!
The house we now live in was built in the 60's and is very well built but it doesnt hold a candle to the boat!
I'm thinking about buying a hand troll permit and going back fishing for salmon in AK so I can maintain whatever sanity I have left! Not that I need a job - I just miss the lifestyle.
By the way, the house is for sale!