Is being under a dentist an issue?

[for30daysonly]

We are hoping to go and view what looks to be our dream flat. It looks beautifully done up, home report is fine, very spacious, lovely area and reasonably priced for the area. However, it has been on the market for a relatively long time now compared to others in the area. We'd only be staying 3-4 years so do not want to buy something it will be hard to sell on. It might be nothing and just slow market / CoL or it might be that things have fallen through before or there might be something obvious on viewing so we will go in with an open mind. However, the flat is underneath a dentist. Is this the kind of thing other buyers might bother about? It wouldn't bother us but we are just thinking about resale. TIA!

Do you have completely different entrance? As I imagine if it's shared people won't at a lot of people coming and going through the day, however at least you know evenings and probably weekends will be quiet with no loud music or parties

Daisypod it has its own front door (which is pretty rare for our area and another selling point!). We will visit in working hours and listen out for footfall to see how noisy it is, but yes no noise at evenings / weekends (and less need to worry about our own noise...) all seem like selling points.

It wouldn't bother me but I believe it bothers mortgage lenders. I don't really know why. I guess it could always become a chip shop and be a fire risk. Or that ASB often happens around shops. Not certain what their reasons are.

Anyway, it may decrease your pool of lenders.

I suspect it would be noisy in the daytime and Saturdays with people in and out and maybe the sound of the instruments they use; especially if they have hard floors which they most likely do so the noise travels. I’d make sure you view it in the middle of the day to make a judgment on that and consider how you’d find it at weekends

I read the title and took it a completely different way!

Is there enough parking for both you and all the patients who will be coming and going ?

The biggest noise for me would be the early morning waste collection, and where they store their clinical waste.
In the summer that will humm.

Me too! 🤣🤣

I think dentist drills are noisy, or is that just if you have one in your mouth?

I’ve lived under a dentist a few years ago.

The issues we had was never being able to have a lie in on a Saturday (or weekdays on leave) the noise wasn’t loud just you aware! Parking - we had two private spaces but that seemingly ignored by patients. & the random knocks at the door asking for help with tooth ache at odd hours!

Is the dentist trucked away in a quiet residential area? Only I’m picturing a ground floor flat that looks out on to a street of shops.

Is “your” flat converted from a commerical premises, or is it that the dentist is in the upper floor of a residential building (eg a Victorian villa type thing?).

I’d be concerned about parking.

Glad it wasn't just me. Took too long to realise why it was in the property section.

Closer to the latter. It is on the ground floor of a traditional tenement and the flat is on the lower ground floor. There are a few cafes and shops scattered around but ultimately it is a quiet residential area within the city.

Thank you for all the comments - really useful to see what other people would think. Our next move will be a big cross-country move so I really don't want to end up with something that might be difficult to sell on so weighing everything up.

about the thread name!

Sounds like parking is not a factor then as it’s not a dentist that people would drive to?

The problems may be from the piping that drains all the equipment , can be prone to leaks that need repair.
The compressor that runs equipment can be noisy , especially if not sound insulated .
when dental equipment like chairs replaced or repaired the cabling etc runs underneath floor boards so may cause damage when replaced.

It would put me off as a buyer because of the noise - I have a bit of a fear of dentists and hearing the drill noise, no matter how quietly, would put me on edge all day! I don’t think such feelings are uncommon so you need to keep that in mind.

On the noise side obviously the whine of the drills.

I used to have a dentist pump/compressor to supply airflow for something. It was pretty quiet and you could buy a special enclosure for it, but it still made a noise and rattled - that might translate through the floor.

Power supplies and the effect of transients, both from the pumps and things like imaging equipment which can use a lot of power. I doubt whether the xrays would be a problem because they would mostly go in a horizontal direction. I can't think of any specific/increased fire risks.

Other building risks might be stuff like floor reinforcement. I would be surprised if a normal building could take the weight of a dentists chair on the second floor, so there may have been some modification to the building structure.

Stuff like disposal of medial waste and amalgams these days are probably dealt with very carefully.

As other people have said parking. Weekends might be ok, but make sure no emergency work is done then.

You could probably go on the web and google some template risk assessments for dental surgeries that may help get you an idea of things that may pose issues.

Oh and deliveries. As well as patients, they will probabaly get lots and lots of deliveries of stuff.

I did immediately think well it depends whose husband they are!

Otherwise, I don't think I can contribute more than the PPs except to say that personally I'd never buy it as I have a deep seated phobia of dentists.

What about the sound of the drill etc. Can you hear it through the walls?