sound proofing in conversion flats

pigeonpie

I've seen a nice flat on the ground floor of a Georgian conversion - well the shell is Georgian but developers redid the building about 10 years ago - it was a ruin so the floors and ceilings are under 10yrs old. The builders did not soundproof the floors or ceilings so it's quite noisy.

Is it true that when doing up conversion flats building regs require the builders to put in suspended flooring or some other soundproofing and if they haven't, have you got any remedy with the council? (the same owner did the flats above and below). There is currently carpet and I would like to put in wooden, suspended floors (budget?? high??) which would look nice and presumably help sound from below.

Technically, is there any way to soundproof from above ie how much would a false ceiling help? The building's communal stairs go right above the bedroom Normally I would say find another flat but it is big and a good price & the owner needs to sell fast.

Other q for a friend: if a flat has a roof terrace (not listed in the freehold, so presumably in the lease) are you responsible for just the terrace or the common areas roof - flat, bitumen, lasts about 25 yrs maybe - below it if it leaks?

thank you for any advice.

Sapphire

pigeonpie wrote:

Technically, is there any way to soundproof from above ie how much would a false ceiling help? The building's communal stairs go right above the bedroom Normally I would say find another flat but it is big and a good price & the owner needs to sell fast.

Other q for a friend: if a flat has a roof terrace (not listed in the freehold, so presumably in the lease) are you responsible for just the terrace or the common areas roof - flat, bitumen, lasts about 25 yrs maybe - below it if it leaks?

thank you for any advice.

Regarding the roof terrace, I think you would be responsible for the terrace roof and the common areas roof, though you should check the lease, which should have all the relevant details. I would be quite wary of having a place with a flat roof. I had one in my last place and it needed fixing every few years to prevent leaks.

Regarding your question about soundproofing the ceiling, you could do this, but would loose height from the room. It's also quite expensive to do, I believe, though not sure. I don't know how effective it is, particularly if the upstairs people decide to have wooden floors! :mad:

pigeonpie

They have got wooden floors

I believe he was supposed to suspend the flooring throughout ha ha. He put in double glazing (sash windows: they are big and fall on your head ie done on the cheap) and the skirtings are skew. Losing height would be ok but how much would you have to lose to make a substantial difference? Do you know approx how much per m2 (we are talking London).

Sapphire

pigeonpie wrote:

They have got wooden floors

I believe he was supposed to suspend the flooring throughout ha ha. He put in double glazing (sash windows: they are big and fall on your head ie done on the cheap) and the skirtings are skew. Losing height would be ok but how much would you have to lose to make a substantial difference? Do you know approx how much per m2 (we are talking London).

The wooden floors are bad news - some leases have it written in them that the occupants of the upper floors are not allowed to have wooden floors. It's something that should be covered by the law, since the noise can be unbearable.

Regarding losing height, I am not sure - probably best to consult an expert. Around a foot perhaps? :eek:

mi-key

In a former life I used to build rehearsal and recording studios so have done a lot of soundproofing in various types of buildings.

Suspended floors are very expensive to fit, but will make a difference to the noise transmitted - they wont stop much noise from coming up from below, but will stop your noise going to your downstairs neighbours.

Soundproofing ceilings isnt easy as it will depend on the construction of the building, and you can still get noise transferring through the walls from one flat to another ( particularly low frequency noise like bass from TV's and Stereos ).

To do the ceiling the proper way, which would cut down most of the noise from wooden floors from above, you'd lose a minimum of 8" height, but 12" would be better.

Price really depends on who you get in to do it, but based on what we used to do you'd be looking at around £200 minimum per sq/m - any less than this and they wouldnt be using the proper materials and the soundproofing wouldnt be that good.

The main problem is that its very hard to completely soundproof buildings that are already built or converted. If you install soundproofing as you are building, then its much easier to make it work effectively.

pigeonpie

Hmm yes they were supposed to do that when rebuilding but of course they didn't. Thanks for the idea of price though :eek:
As far as you know, is the cost of suspended floors the same? Presumably once suspended, can then put down wooden floors without making it noisy?
Don't know about the lease as until you put in an offer, the shifty b that owns the whole block has it well hidden away!

Pity modern p.b flats are generally so ugly and for some weird reason (money?!) very few have outside space, balconies etc.
I'm a maniac for quiet at night but I like converted flats

Sapphire

pigeonpie wrote:

Pity modern p.b flats are generally so ugly and for some weird reason (money?!) very few have outside space, balconies etc.
I'm a maniac for quiet at night but I like converted flats

Newbuild p.b. flats and houses are ugly, despite the spin that's generated around them these days - although I suppose it's all subjective.

Period purpose-built maisonettes, e.g., Edwardian and Victorian, can be lovely, as can some period p.b. flats. I live in a Victorian three-bedroom maisonette with front and small back garden and am really pleased with it - it has period features, and is very solidly built, so that you get very little noise from upstairs (the only other maisonette in the building). There's also more space than you would get in a lot of small houses.

I also hate noise and need peace and quite. The last place I lived in was a Victorian conversion and the noise level was really very high. In fact the whole (large, 4-flat) house would shake if someone walked around too heavily upstairs. Then someone also moved in a baby next door to my bedroom. The walls were paper-thin and this brat would scream out loud in the middle of the night, as well as driving me crazy during the day, often accompanied by yelling from the parent. It was terrible - but in the end I escaped to a much better place. :T

mi-key

#6 - to be honest, I wouldnt even consider buying the flat unless it is really cheap - the amount its going to cost to get it soundproofed ( and with an existing building, you never know how effective its going to be until its done, so the cost can easily escalate ! ) you'd be better off looking somewhere else.

Unfortunately, unless ALL the flats were soundproofed, then whatever you do to yours isnt going to make that much difference.

If you want peace and quiet the only real option is to buy somewhere detatched !