Impact Noise Reduction

magicc

Hi All,

My downstairs neighbor complaint about impact noise being transferred from my place to his such as foot steps while walking etc. I want to be able to help him and reduce the noise.

My living room and hallway is wooden floor. I am planning to include a acoustic underlay beneath the flooring to reduce the impact noise. i dont know how effective this will be but looks like this is the only way to maintain the wooden floor and losing less height.

Any other suggestion or recommendation?

Best

Slithery

Acoustic underlay is your only option if you want to keep your wooden floor, but it may be worth checking your lease first as a lot of flat leases tend to state that you aren't allowed a wooden floor in the first place.

G_M

Fitted carpets is the way to go.

In fact if you have a lease it may well require this. Have you checked?

magicc

Thank you. It is a leasehold but it doesn’t require carpeting. I had triple checked. In fact everyone including my downstair neighbour has wooden flooring.

Hopefully accoustic underlay coupled with maintenance of the existing wooden floor should reduce the noise sufficiently.

Bossypants

Having been in your situation, I doubt that underlay beneath the floorboards is going to have any impact (no pun intended). The boards will be connected to the fabric of the house, and the noise travels along their length and transfers in that way. Insulation between your floor and his ceiling may help with transference of ambient noise such as conversation, music, etc, but to stop impact noise you need to catch it at the point of impact. I know this isn't what you wanted to hear, but your best bet is to put down acoustic underlay with Amtico or something on top (if you want to keep the wood-appearance).

Norman_Castle

Acoustic underlay under the flooring should reduce impact noise but is unlikely to stop all noise. When refitting the floor make sure it is not touching the walls. Acoustic insulation between the floor and ceiling is likely to help but fitting involves more work.
Reducing the noise you make will have the biggest impact. Avoid wearing hard sole shoes and insulate any items that are regularly moved.

Please keep this thread updated after making any changes to the floor as this is a common problem.