Noise Insulation Advice - Apartment

bungeewalker11

Hello,

I am new to this website and was hoping someone may be able to offer advise to me as I am getting desperate at this stage.

Myself and my partner bought a ground floor apartment a few years ago. We are having really bad noise problems. This noise is from the sound of people walking upstairs, talking, tv and toilet flushing etc. The people who living above us only go to bed at about 3 so we can constantly hear them walking about and the noise travels down through 'wooden jousts' that they apartments were built from.

The neighbours above are actually nice people and we have a good relationship. It's not their fault, it was poor building and cutting corners that caused this.

At present, we had to move out and the apartment is sitting empty. I was told that I could maybe get my own insulation done in the property to the walls and ceiling to hopefully mean we could move back in.

So the advise I was hoping for was if anyone has had this insulation done themselves. Is it worth it? Does it help to dampen the noise significantly? I imagine its very expensive but If I got to move home with my partner to the place we picked together, it would make us both overjoyed. And, if you have had it done, could you advise a company to do this?

Many Thanks in advance for any advise people give.

magneticimpulse

Hi
I cant give much advice as im not a builder etc. I just imagine its not completely possible to remove the noise. Every appartment I have rented the landlords told me that they carried out work on the floors to prevent noise...but everywhere I live I have heard noise.

I think its better to live on top floor flat. That way I think its not as noisey as there is no one above you. I sympathise as I am someone who regulary stays up til 3am and make noise everynight. Im sure the neighbours downstairs dont like it, but wait to do. Thats all part and parcel of living in shared flats. It pays to rent in a flat for a few years before buying (not saying it to you, but anyone who considers buying a flat in future...its good to live in them and you soon realise lots of negatives that dont exist with a house).

Sorry I cant be of much help. But you might be better off selling it rather then wasting money on something which might not even work out and prevent the noise??

athtrasna

Does the first floor apartment have wooden floors? They would be explicitly banned in almost all upper floor apartments?

We have a 1st/2nd floor duplex and our downstairs neighbours have never heard any noise from our apartment in 7 year of living here. We have carpets on the ground floor bar tiles with thick insulation in the kitchen. If your neighbours have wooden floors or tiles without insulation then the problem is theirs for breach of lease rather than yours.

magneticimpulse

Every flat ive lived in has had wooden floors. Im not a landlord, but I never heard of a law saying that an upstairs appartment has to have carpet. What if someone has asthma? Not everybody finds carpets hygenic or can have carpets due to health reasons etc.

Also, surely there is only so much you can do to a floor? I assume there must be some amount of pipes/ wires within a floor? Again not an expert in this field, but if you needed access to cables/water/gas pipes it might be difficult to completely seal this sort of thing in just in case maintenance work needs to be carried out in future?

athtrasna

It's a lease clause that's in most modern developments. There have been cases detailed on here of successful prosecutions of noise complaints where apartments owners have had wooden floors fitted.

It's not the law, just a condition owners signed up to at purchase.

magneticimpulse

athtrasna wrote: »

It's a lease clause that's in most modern developments. There have been cases detailed on here of successful prosecutions of noise complaints where apartments owners have had wooden floors fitted.

It's not the law, just a condition owners signed up to at purchase.

Ive never seen a modern appartment fitted with carpet. None of the appartments my friends rent have carpets and they all have wooden floors and tenents in the flats below.

pinkypinky

I wish that was it was in the lease of my apartment block that wooden floors were not allowed on upper floors, but it isn't. My upstairs neighbours are not noisy, per se, but they have a small child who runs everywhere, with shoes on...very annoying at times.

bungeewalker11

Hi

Thank you for all the replies.

Our lease agreement stated no wooden floors. The owner above did not comply with them so we issued them a solicitors letter and a deadline and every piece of wooden floor was taken out and replaced with carpet. They had no choice as in our lease and theirs, it clearly stated it. That's just what happened for me so I said I'd let you know.

Again, if anyone has experience of doing this insulation, please let me know.

CJ1

Im interested in this too, I'm guessing nobody has done it (sound insulation) or would recommend it??