Flat Above Has Noisy Laminate Flooring - Any Advice

barnaby-bear

Greenr wrote: »

Yes, you can hear a penny drop etc! I'd never dream of putting wooden flooring down with someone living below me... I'll highlight the clause in the lease once the buyers solicitor contacts me and hopefully that should solve the problem.

thanks for your advice

I'd send a letter to the vendor now, sellers have to declare issues so they have a huge incentive to resolve the issue in order to have an uninterrupted sale.... yes laminate in flats above you is unfeasibly unbearably noisy hence why leases prohibityit unless designed with appropriate insulation.

Greenr

Alan_M wrote: »

I once lived below a flat that was renovated with laminate flooring. Living there became unbearable, their 2 year old child was flat footed, and we couldn't hear the TV when she decided to walk anywhere. It really was intolerable and we moved solely for that reason.

did you try speaking to the owners to make them aware of the problem or did you just move?

Greenr

barnaby-bear wrote: »

I'd send a letter to the vendor now, sellers have to declare issues so they have a huge incentive to resolve the issue in order to have an uninterrupted sale.... yes laminate in flats above you is unfeasibly unbearably noisy hence why leases prohibityit unless designed with appropriate insulation.

It's hard to know what to do. I'm thinking that I should at least let the sellers know the issue (this will have to be by letter as they don't live there anymore) before I contact the buyers solicitor or the estate agent so that the problem doesn't just pop up out of the blue... at least that way, the sellers will have time to sort it out if they choose to?

neverdespairgirl

Greenr wrote: »

I'd never dream of putting wooden flooring down with someone living below me...

It depends how it is done. We have wooden floors, and so does the flat above us, and there is no noise at all. Ours had some kind of soundproofing put down first.

PasturesNew

I hear everything from upstairs. I know her life. I know when she has visitors and how many, I know when she's er ... having a bit. I know she comes in at 2.52 when she's working the night shift.

I think she's got down a rug, so it's just the non-rugged areas.. but at nearly 3am when she creeps in until she gets in her flat, then walks about, she's not on the rugged part.

It's rented upstairs, this one's not as bad as the last one (last tenant was a noisy couple that would get up and clomp about from 5-8am and have visitors with 2-3 toddlers most weekends). Just hoping when this one goes he can't rent it again.

Easier than trying to solve it by contacting the landlord and getting them to do something. Although I might contact the agent when the tenant above moves out. I love a bit of problem avoidance. So much easier.

But the noise is unbelievable from an upstairs wooden floor. This is Barrett-built, late 80s.

EdInvestor

I would suggest that the managment committee sends a circular to ALL leaseholders reminding them of this clause in the lease.The problem is easily solved - you just lay carpet or rugs over the laminate.It shouldn't affect any sale.

Should really have been dealt with as soon as the noise problem became apparent.
This is the way things usually work in leasehold flats - the lease always bans everything in sight, eg no pets, no pot plants, no noisy floors, no cluttering up common parts etc.

Breaking the rules is however often tolerated, unless it is annoying other leaseholders, at which time the lease can be invoked if there is no cooperation.

Debt_Free_Chick

If the Management Committee is to do anything, then that decision must be made by the Committee at a proper meeting. You cannot act "on behalf of the MC" just because you're one member of it.

So .... you either act on your own, as a resident. Or take the issue to the MC and let them decide what to do. Ed's suggestion is a good one - that the MC write to all leaseholders to remind them of the clause in the lease. Even better if they can find another similar clause "to remind" them about too

Personally, I wouldn't bother doing anything with the sellers, EAs etc. Any new buyer will be advised on the lease by their solicitor and they should read it themselves anyway. Also, it would be far easier to raise this issue with a new owner in a "Oh, by the way .... " kind of way.

Or the MC could point it out when the buyer's solicitor makes enquiries about the lease e.g. "the flat currently has laminate flooring, in breach of clause xxx of the lease. We shall require your client to rectify this and lay xyz flooring, as stated in the lease".

esc_2

Hello,

I am the noisy (not in the terms of loud music and lots of guests over)neighbour and feel so bad about it. I live in a Barrats new appartment building- laminate all over. I thought ideal because we have a two year old, and thought the noise was because we were all wearing shoes. So i signed up and gave the agency the £1, 500 in advance so we could move in. We wanted to live somewhere nice for a change, i knew it would skint us, but having a nice place especially when you spend a lot of time in it makes a big difference. I am not working and my partner works all hours- we just about make ends meet financially.

It has been hell for us aswell since living here, we can hear every sound we make, the floor creaks (live in middle floor of appartment), neighbour below us is always complaining and when he isnt complaining i know he is annoyed due to the volume of the TV. This is understandable. My landlord suggestions- buy rugs, slippers n don't wear shoes in the appartment.

I have a rug in my living room and in my sons bedroom, but at the moment money is tight and i can't afford to buy any more rugs. Slippers when i was wearing them didn't make much different, but my son wears his. And has for wearing shoes in the appartment i daren't.


I really want to move out- we were moved in on the false pretence that that appartment is suitable for children and the laminate wouldn't be a problem. Most other renting places want a lot of money up front, we just can't afford that. At my wits ends and feel so guilty about walking around a place thats suppose to be home, a place i am paying £495 a month for.

Getting very stressed out! and feel like walking on egg shells all time and have no idea what to do about it.

morg_monster

esc - have you tried freecycle for rugs? I see a LOT of rugs and carpet remnants on my local group. They may not be exactly to your taste but you sound pretty desparate so they would probably be better than nothing. it is shameful that companies build these flats in such a way that the everyday routine of normal life creates such a disturbance for those living below.

pop a christmas card through your neighbours door and write that you are sorry for the ongoing noise and you are trying to minimise it as best you can. keeping things friendly with the neighbours - or at least civil - is priceless.

Also something else I thought of - if part of the prob is that your toddler watches childrens tv during the day, maybe you could get some headphones with a decent lead and plug him into those! he might think it's fun and it would also give you peace and quiet, as well as giving the neighbour a bit of respite.

puddy

well surely its your landlords repsonsiblity to put down appropriate flooring to stop upsetting the other people in the flats? is there proper stuff under the laminate? cant he come along and carpet the main areas?