Hello All,
We have been offered top floor(14th) in multi story building in Fribourg. The building is OLD, but they have renovated the kitchen and washrooms. But will there be any issues in heating of the apartment during winters? Is there any other issue associated with top most apartment of the building ?
Also the rent of this apartment is lesser then the one in 9th floor.



Any suggestions are welcome.



Thanks in advance

Sabrina.

i'd be more worried about it being unbearable in summer...

I agree, it could be unpleasantly warm in summer.

I'd go for it. We live in a top floor (duplex) apartment and since the Swiss like to heat to Sahara temperatures, despite having the largest flat we have the lowest heating bills thanks to all that heat rising up.

In summer you will be hot whichever floor you're on, but perhaps by not being "boxed in" your flat may be a bit cooler, so unless you have a/c I wouldn't worry too much about for what is usually just 4 - 6 weeks of very hot weather.

One other advantage is you won't risk noisy neighbours or children running above you, people dropping things on your balcony and less lift noise as you're on the last floor.

Heat rises, so the top floor apartment is often the warmest in winter, sometimes even unpleasantly so. Building heating systems, even with individual room thermostats, are often unable to properly cope with variations in difrerent rooms.

The flat we had in Engleberg used underfloor heatingin the main living area throughout, but was always too hot until I replaced the living room carpet with cork-backed wood laminate flooring. the extra insulation was perfectly matched to stop the heat penetrating too much.

Around that time I also converted the attic into a third bedroom with no heating in it at all, but that was always pleasantly warm just from rising heat from the rest of the building.

as it's already said:
- heating can be
- in summer it's more prone to overheating
Everything else you should see / hear when visiting apartment:

- leaking roof: stains

- bad isolation: mold
- old, poorly isolated elevator machine room: noise when elevator is moving
Otherwise, I would always go for it, it's special feeling living in top floor.

Does it have windows in the ceiling like some "attic" flats? If so, don't do it unless you enjoy feeling like you are baking in the oven during the Summer.

.


Nope. No windows on the ceiling. But I am worried that building is old.

How shall I check about the stains and mold ?

Age of the building is usually not a problem at all, if it is well maintained. Otherwise it's all on the landlord, not you.

Uppermost floor can be a bit of a magnet for burglars. Once you're not at home, they can work on your locks, undisturbed as no-one else walks by on the staircase.

I don't know how old is OLD. But if it is really old, then the only thing I'd be worried about is the elevator. If it breaks down on a hot summer day, it can be a bit of a drag to haul your groceries up to the 14th.

Tl;dr: No problem!

Not really, burglars tend to go for flats on the ground or first floor. They want a quick way out through a back window or door in case you come home, and from the 14th floor that can be problematic!

The Zurich cantonal police disagrees with you there
If you take the guided tour of their crime museum, they will explain the stats to you, which definitely indicate that top floor apartments are at higher risk for burglary. Not quite as high as ground floor ones but still more so than other floors. And they were adamant that you should lock the door when you are at home or if you "just quickly pop into the cellar".

nope they go straight to the top for reasons already stated.

As for concerns? Fire, what are the fire escape routes like?

Do people really leave their doors unlocked? For me, it’s just a habit to lock it.

I do, I used to live in a house (Slovenia), we were all the time around it and we were never locking the main or the other doors, So I have similar behavior here, I never lock it going to cellar, to washing room or to pick up stuff from outside. It helped me few times that I forgot my keys in washing room, on top of washing machine.

I am living in ground floor and I really love living in a country where it is not necessary to do lock things all the time. I sometimes forget to lock my bicycle. I know it's not 100% sure something is not going to be stolen but frankly, chances are still low enough that I do not have to worry too much.


btw. why I cannot quote your post?

Fribourg is not Chicago, there should be enough water pressure. The reservoir is at Bois-de-Belle-Croix. It might be an issue for the top floors of the hospital building. Other wise it looks like all of Fribourg should be fine.

This depends on whether you are content to cover the possible costs of so doing.

And you are right to do so, even though we generally live in safe country.

The agent at the insurance company where I have my household insurance told me that if you leave a window open, and go out, or if you leave a door unlocked, even if you are just going down to the cellar, up into the attic, or into the laundry in your own building, or working outside on fixing your bicycle, or visiting a neighbour, and during that time someone enters your home and steals or damages something, or causes some damage (such as a fire or water damage), the household insurance will not pay anything at all.

Put another way, leaving one's home unlocked renders one's household insurance void.

I don't know, sorry.

Goodness, I hope that doesn't apply for cracked windows when I am home/sleeping.

You could ask to see the "NebenKostenAbrechnung" of the previous year or two, if the insulation is generally poor it will make for high heating costs (though you may be unlucky and only the roof poorly insulated).

That's generally a good idea because the "Nebenkosten" may be artificially low to make the monthly rent look more attractive, in which case there'll be a heavy year-end bill waiting for you.
No, it doesn't.

The Swiss criminal code does not know burglary as such. Burglary is the combination of theft (Art. 139) + trespassing (Art. 186) + property damage (Art. 144 Criminal Code).

If you are at home chances are high you are being threatened which means it is no longer theft but robbery (Art. 140) Unlike theft robbery is usually always covered.