Soundproofing flat

stevoh

We live in a upper floor purpose built, 50's flat. The flat below is rented out, and there's a non conveyor belt of tenants coming and going, some incredibly noisy, some bearable and some quiet. We never know what we'll get, but there's one constant, and that is that we always have to put up with more noise coming through the floor that you would expect, due to poor soundproofing.
We do have wooden floors down, and I know that carpets will be a quick win. However how effective is professional soundproofing against noise from below? Within reason, I'm happy to pay for this to be done properly (assuming it a few thousand rather than tens of thousands), however I don't want to waste money if its going to have a minimal effect.

Any advice would be much appreciated.

Jimmy_Boy

I live downstairs and have issues (see other threads). I believe its far easier to soundproof upstairs as apposed to downstairs (like me). You can research product / prices at https://www.soundproofingstore.co.uk/floors.

You need to keep the bigger picture in mind though, if you get to the point where I am... you have become SO sensitive to the noise that essentially nothing will work, your brain has tuned into it... if your at that point, my suggestion (based on my experience) is prioritise moving property. As harsh as it sounds, it can have a severe affect on your mental health if you let it continue for years (like me), dont put yourself through it.

If however you are not at the point of dispair and just want things to be quieter then conisder your options, but just bear in mind you are not not sound proofing, you are sound reducing. Things like people banging doors, you will never be able to fully guard against, the sound goes through the structure of the property, your fighting a loosing battle if that is something your trying to eliminate.

You can use an SPL meter app on your phone, such as https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/decibel-x-db-sound-level-meter/id448155923 to get an idea of the noise levels your dealing with, in turn giving you an idea of the scale of your problem, and in turn how effective a solution will be for you.

Best of luck in your quest, but put your health first... if you know in your heart of hearts the problem cannot be fixed seriously consider moving.

clueless_but_curious

You can get acoustic underlay for your wood flooring which will absorb some of the noise coming up through their ceiling.  That will help with ambient noise (e.g. TV), it wont help with doors slamming or screaming etc as noted above

Norman_Castle

Replacing your wooden floor with carpet is likely to reduce the noise downstairs from you but is unlikely to reduce the noise travelling up through the floor.

Homer_home

Getting insulation put under your floorboards will help , big job but it is something you can do yourself though but nothing you do will effectively soundproof your flat 

stevoh

KeithSussex said:

Fitting sound reduction material in the room where sound is generated is a good approach.

Have you informed the downstairs landlord ?

I have and I offered to pay half towards any solution. They said they're not prepared to do this. They basically don't care.

stevoh

Hi All,

Many thanks for all your valuable insight. We've been in the place for over 7 years and used to a certain amount of noise. Its more about minimising it than eliminating it. At present we can clearly hear their conversations. Infact when they're on the phone, we can sometimes hear the others person they're speaking to, its that bad!

puzzlecat

It's not quite the same situation but we've had horrendous noisy neighbours for the past two years and were finally able to soundproof the party wall in our living room towards the end of last year. It hasn't completely solved the issue but it deadens the noise to the point that I no longer feel they're living in our house! The huge change in how much less stressed & anxious I feel in my own home was worth every penny. We used rockwool sound insulation and when we were researching the materials I'm pretty sure I read that some people had used it in between the floor joists (if that's the right word?) too. If you can get under your floorboards easily it's not too expensive (you can get it in Wickes) and has to be worth a try! Good luck.

stevoh

Quick update. I spoke to one of the other owners of the flats, who is an ex builder. He said he's 99% sure that the floors are concrete not wood. Thats strange, as I always thought concrete was pretty soundproofed. We also used to rent of the flats in our block prior to buying it, and at the time a waterpipe burst and the water went straight through to the below flat. My understanding was this wouldn't have happened so quickly with a concrete floor.

With a concrete floor with wood flooring, would it be normal to be able to clearly hear people's conversations below?

If it is concrete, that could mean we have an easier solution, in that the noise could be due to our wooden flooring, and if replaced by carpet, we could solve the issue. 

Grenage

No, it's not normal with concrete.

I once lived in a flat of concrete construction and I wouldn't have heard a neighbour being murdered with an axe.  The closest thing to noise was a big thump when their 50" plasma fell off the wall.

stevoh

Grenage said:

No, it's not normal with concrete.

I once lived in a flat of concrete construction and I wouldn't have heard a neighbour being murdered with an axe.  The closest thing to noise was a big thump when their 50" plasma fell off the wall.

Yeah I thought the same. Did you have wooden floors?