Property adjoining supermarket cold storage

[Rua13]

We want to buy an apartment that has an adjoining wall to a supermarket refrigeration unit.During the day there is a low humming sound in the main bedroom but have been advised that this would be amplified at night.
I really love this property and want to know if anyone has been in a similar situation and if soundproofing works.

Sorry I don't have specific experience of this but I'd be more concerned with the noise and pollution of lorry deliveries coming to the supermarket all the time. It also sounds like it'd be hard to re-sell (sorry, I know you're only just moving in).

A friend bought a property partly backing onto a butchers shop - so not a supermarket but a similarly refrigerated room. The humming was worst in the early hours - they tried various means to soundproof but to no avail. It had thick walls, but had been a commercial property pre conversion so no one had been bothered by night time noise before.

Also, my DD rented a flat next to a supermarket and the noise of early hours deliveries really carried. A cold room would have frequent movement of heavy boxes in and out.

Thanks for the advice.My head knows not to buy but I'm still sad as I felt the property was perfect for us.

I lived opposite the loading bay to a supermarket once and it was hell. I had to sleep with ear plugs for two years before I could finally move out.

No.

It could get way worse in future as the unit gets older or the mounts get worn.

I live 300m away from care home, their extraction unit was on the blink for 3 months. Every night between midnight and 3am there was a 40db throbbing oscillating buzz. At the source it was 70db, The frequency of the sound went through walls like a hot knife through butter. Any other 70db sound would be inaudible 100m away. I give this example as it’s industrial fan similar to what will be creating the hum in the flat.

Also as it’s refrigeration on hot summer nights it could be louder than usual as the kit will struggle keeping everything cool. There will also be compressor click when the unit kicks in and out, which could wake you up.

As the wall adjoins the source of the noise. I assume the plant is mounted on the adjoining wall which will make the sound structure bourne. You’d struggle to get meaningful results for structure based noise without decoupling the walls. And if your joists run into this wall they’d transfer the sound.

If you read any soundproofing websites they’ll tell you a decibel figure for airborne reduction and usually say it will reduce structure borne sounds. But they won’t put a figure on it due to the problematic nature of these sounds.

Sounds like a terrible property! Do not buy it!

Noise disturbance from the humming fridge. Traffic and noise from deliveries. Heat generated, where is it being pumped ti?

Thank you all for great advice.we are not going to buy this apartment.It's in a sunny climate so those refrigerators will be working very hard six months of the year.We will rent in the area and look around for somewhere else to buy.

Thr thing is, the price likely reflects its location as this is a major downside, it's like buying next to a busy main road.

So I'd manage my expectations as it may be a much much better property than you would otherwise get in budget, meaning all others don't come close.