What floor of a condo/apt...

[yk2366]

Hi everyone,

I currently live on the 35th floor with living room facing north, and benefit from constant cool breeze and no direct sun rays, though the condo is still very bright throughout the day. Therefore we save a lot on air conditioning and the apt never feels humid, contrary to what I've been told prior to moving to Singapore.

From my experience: High floor = dry, bright, cool

Most importantly, I can leave the windows and balcony door wide open at night and we rarely have any bugs flying in. (except two incidences where I found two giant queen ants). I am extremely scared of bugs and this was the most important factor in looking for our new home.

My question is, how low can one go in terms of floors, to enjoy the same benefit as I do now? For instance, my friend who lives on the 16th floor says she still has pest problems here and there. She certainly cannot open the windows at night.

Please share your experiences! Thank you.

[nakatago]

Depends on terrain.

For what it's worth, you can get a UV bug-zapper.

[beppi]

I never closed any window, even when I lived on ground floor.
Bug density depends more on the surroundings than height.

[yk2366]

I never closed any window, even when I lived on ground floor.
Bug density depends more on the surroundings than height.

What type of surroundings are you referring to? is it by location? central vs. outer areas?

I've been told by agents to avoid landed homes and ground floors if I don't like bugs because pest control is a MUST in singapore, and even with the best care, the pest gets out of hand sometimes.

[x9200]

If pests = cockroaches then there is some dependence on the floor level. It shows mostly during the anti roach spraying time when the roaches try to escape to the higher floors. When we lived on 5-7th floor it was more than evident when the extermination was going on, now on 16/17th nothing at all, but for normal circumstances they still show up from time to time with similar frequency.

[beppi]

I referred to my time in landed (terrace) houses - when this was still affordable (nobody sprayed anything there - ever!). But I have actually never closed windows anywhere I lived in Singapore (highest was fifth floor).
Cockroaches can be controlled by keeping the kitchen clean (of course that includes all kitchens in the surroundings - bad luck if there is a messy neighbour or even a hwker centre!).
Some mosquitoes will always be there (don't come to Singapore if you cannot tolerate them!). Not having any standing water (incl. flower pots, buckets and other containers that got rained on) in the neighbourhood helps tremendously.
Ants are a fact of life in any floor here. The amount of poison you need to get rid of them will kill you first. So learn to accept them! A clean kitchen and no food scraps will keep numbers low (bad luck if you have a baby!).
Geckos are also everywhere, and should be welcome since they eat the abovementioned. (Poisoning the prey will kill Geckos too!)
Snails, snakes and rats don't usually enter homes, and the stray cats only come if there's food. Monkeys only exist near the nature reserve (but can climb to higher floors).
Did I forget any?

Edit to add: Termites are only a concern to your landlord (provided you rent furnished, otherwise they might eat your furniture too).

[the lynx]

Hi everyone,

I currently live on the 35th floor with living room facing north, and benefit from constant cool breeze and no direct sun rays, though the condo is still very bright throughout the day. Therefore we save a lot on air conditioning and the apt never feels humid, contrary to what I've been told prior to moving to Singapore.

From my experience: High floor = dry, bright, cool

Most importantly, I can leave the windows and balcony door wide open at night and we rarely have any bugs flying in. (except two incidences where I found two giant queen ants). I am extremely scared of bugs and this was the most important factor in looking for our new home.

My question is, how low can one go in terms of floors, to enjoy the same benefit as I do now? For instance, my friend who lives on the 16th floor says she still has pest problems here and there. She certainly cannot open the windows at night.

Please share your experiences! Thank you.

Honest answer? No difference. It really depends on your surroundings, rather than your floor.

1. If your building is new and well-maintained, you will have lower chance of seeing those pests (that doesn't mean zero though!)

2. Like what beppi said, if you practise good housekeeping, you will not attract flies, cockroaches and ants as much as you would have otherwise.

3. Termites are something inevitable. Unless you live in buildings made entirely of steel and glass, and use only plastic furniture!

4. Flying insects will always be attracted to your lamps at night if you leave the windows open, regardless how high up you live. I live on 13th floor on top of a hill and I still have the occasional beetles, moths etc paying me visits.

5. If you have an individual bin chute inside your unit, good luck in keeping the roaches/ants away! Roaches are able to form clusters along the entire chute and ants are able to form nests in any crack, crevice and void space inside buildings.

[yk2366]

Thanks everyone for your reply.

I guess it's all case by case. I am aware that if you keep the house spotless clean all the time, you'd have less bugs (or none). I try to keep my house clean but it may not be the case every time (i wash the dishes the next day sometimes) and that's why I thought I'd ask, for a normal average person, down to what floor would be ideal because right now, it's great.

As I have stated above, I don't get any cockroaches, ants, mosquitoes, flying insects or any of others mentioned at my current home, and I don't keep it spotless clean. I only saw two flying insects twice in the duration of my stay. I'm wondering if it's because I'm staying 30+ up or whether 20+ would be okay too, from everyone's experience.

based on your replies, I'd need a home like mine where: 1. I don't keep it spotless clean at all times and there's still no bugs, and 2. there is never a "I 'sometimes' get bugs." or "flying insects get attracted to light at whichever floor," because mine doesn't. anyone living on the 20+ floors willing to share their experiences? anyway thanks everyone! I know I'm being overly sensitive with the whole bug issue but as long as it's not in my home, I'm okay.

[sundaymorningstaple]

Definitely in the wrong country.

[x9200]

based on your replies, I'd need a home like mine where: 1. I don't keep it spotless clean at all times and there's still no bugs, and 2. there is never a "I 'sometimes' get bugs." or "flying insects get attracted to light at whichever floor," because mine doesn't. anyone living on the 20+ floors willing to share their experiences? anyway thanks everyone! I know I'm being overly sensitive with the whole bug issue but as long as it's not in my home, I'm okay.

Maybe you just don't see them? Cockroaches are mostly nocturnal, other insects are pretty small. A friend of mine lives and lived above the 20th floor and I recall seeing the mosquito repellent stuff in his place.

[nakatago]

Maybe you just don't see them? Cockroaches are mostly nocturnal, other insects are pretty small. A friend of mine lives and lived above the 20th floor and I recall seeing the mosquito repellent stuff in his place.

http://youtu.be/eTHIA8cMBRA

[yk2366]

Definitely in the wrong country.

yes, I'm aware. But this isn't Africa or some untamed jungle where bugs would be a huge factor in deciding the move to a new country, and it's been okay so far.

x9200: maybe and if that's the case, I hope they keep themselves well hidden! thanks for your reply

I'll be sure to keep the areas clean as much as possible and it's good to know that cockroaches are only occasionally seen on the 10s floors verses 4~5.

I'm moving down to a 25th floor unit at a new condo and I just wasn't sure if we'd be able to enjoy our dinner outdoors occasionally on our balcony bc of buys flying around, as we do now on the 35th. The one's I've talked to that had this problem all lived in the 10s so hopefully 20+ would be okay with few occasional bugs only.

[stiwi]

I lived on the 10th floor at Caribbean at Keppel Bay and the only issue were ants due to not keeping the kitchen sterile. No cockroaches, no mosquitos, some gekons occasionally as we had plants on the balcony so they managed to sneak in from time to time, but I have nothing against them

So it looks like it comes down to condo, quality and maintenance of common areas. I have rarely seen cockroaches in the common areas of this condo as well.

[the lynx]

I lived on the 10th floor at Caribbean at Keppel Bay and the only issue were ants due to not keeping the kitchen sterile. No cockroaches, no mosquitos, some gekons occasionally as we had plants on the balcony so they managed to sneak in from time to time, but I have nothing against them

So it looks like it comes down to condo, quality and maintenance of common areas. I have rarely seen cockroaches in the common areas of this condo as well.

Caribbean @ Keppel Bay has one of the best management around. Plus it is a new-ish condominium (in the last 5 years or so) and it is located closer to the coastline, rather than to the green lung of Singapore so you will see less of the 'tropical' nuisance. Consider yourself lucky.