What kind of apartment is considered a corner apartment?

A corner apartment is located at the end of a building: that is, part of its walls do not adjoin the neighbors, but are external partitions of the house.

There can be one apartment on a corner landing – it occupies the entire end of the house, also called a end apartment. Or two – the windows of one overlook the street, the second – the yard. Depends on the plan of the building, the layout of the premises.

There is also a “separate caste” – housing with walls in expansion joints. Such “gaps” between entrances are usually made in multi-story buildings, the main task of the created unit is to break up the deformation forces during the shrinkage of the building, in case of emergencies. The pros and cons of corner apartments at the seam are slightly different from standard apartments with an exit to the street – we will pay special attention to this topic in the last section.

room with two windows

What’s bad about it?

It is customary to start with the bad news, first of all, we will discuss the disadvantages of a corner apartment.

Temperature

Since 2-3 sides of the room are outside, in winter they are 3-5C colder, and in summer, on the contrary, hotter. Especially if the end of the house heats up in the sun. In some cases, the difference reaches 10C – but such a difference is unacceptable, it indicates problems on the outside of the house – most likely, you will have to contact the management company, asking (or forcing) them to fulfill their direct responsibilities, to seal the cracks that have formed.

A corner apartment in a brick house with thick walls is more comfortable. It is not subject to such risks – the thickness of the wall acts as a buffer, preventing overheating and overcooling.

insulation of a corner apartment

Dampness

When only one wall in a room is connected to the street, the room’s heat is usually enough to prevent freezing and condensation. But when there are 2 street partitions, and they are adjacent, there is a high probability of freezing of the corner, formation of condensation in it, and consequently – mold, fungus. Their spores not only spoil the appearance of the room, but lead to the emergence, complication of many serious diseases.

Important! The problems of corner arrangement are complicated when the factors are related – too low temperature from heating batteries coupled with dampness are guaranteed to lead to mold on the walls.

Noise

If in the center the noise level depends on the neighbors, then in the corner the sounds from the street are 100% provided. Especially if the house is located in the city center, and its walls/windows overlook a busy highway. In residential areas and park areas, this drawback is not too significant.

View

Apartments in buildings with internal corners deserve special attention – instead of a pleasant view of the park, yard, or a tolerable view of the road, here you have an excellent view of the neighbors’ rooms.

Everything would be fine, but keep in mind – the neighbors have the same excellent view of your square meters. There is only one way out – blinds, tulle, curtains, roller blinds, other “window closers”.

What the view from the corner inside the house looks like is not the only drawback. There is often a lack of sunlight here. And if you add to this the need for curtains, you get doubly darkened rooms.

apartment in the inner corner of the house

What are the advantages?

Unfortunately, there are fewer advantages, but among them there are weighty arguments in favor of buying.

Low price

The most important advantage of a corner apartment, because of which they are still bought, despite the disadvantages, low demand – is the cost. Savings can reach 15-20%, which is extremely profitable when calculated on the price of the residential premises.

Even if you spend part of the proceeds on improvements in the apartment (replacing windows, laying insulation), at least half will still remain in your pocket.

High humidity

If you learn to control the dampness that we talked about in the disadvantages, the minus turns into a plus. Residents of apartment buildings often complain about excessively dry air – because of this, many develop problems with the respiratory system.

But in a corner apartment, even at the height of the heating season, the air humidity will be higher, which means you will not have to buy a humidifier, air conditioner.

Fewer neighbors

For many potential owners, this advantage is even more important than the low price: you have only 1 neighbor on the landing, 2 on the floor. And if you choose a corner apartment on the first/last floor, the number will be reduced to 1 on the landing, 1 on the floor.

For comparison: residents of a standard central apartment have neighbors above, below, on both sides – a total of 4 versus 3 or 2. Sometimes this fact really plays a major role.

corner apartment inside

How are things in new buildings?

A corner apartment in an old panel house has its main disadvantages. In the USSR, especially after the war, the task was not to do it well, but to do it quickly – after all, a large number of people needed to be provided with housing. As a result, today apartments in the corner of old houses have more disadvantages than advantages.

If we talk about new buildings, there are 2 points of view.

  • On the one hand, the materials, rules, and construction technologies have changed: if used correctly, they neutralize all the negative aspects of corner apartments.
  • On the other hand, unscrupulous developers save on insulation from cold and noise, there is no guarantee that your new apartment, which is located in the corner, will not freeze.

Finally, as promised, we will consider the advantages and disadvantages of corner apartments with expansion joints. Their main advantage is that there are fewer neighbors on the side. 2 slabs + air gap do their job. As for noise, dampness, cold – oddly enough, everything again depends on the developer. If the seam is closed, insulated, you will not feel the difference compared to the central location. Otherwise, the draft will cause cold, damp walls.

corner apartment in a new house

Whether to buy a corner apartment depends only on you. Evaluate all its positive and negative aspects, make an informed decision. Then you can be sure that the new house will be a source of joy, not problems.