Hello everyone,
After reading several posts and doing some research online, I would like to share my concerns and problems here, hoping that one of you can offer some advice.
I live on the ground floor of a self-built two-family house, and I rent out the apartment above me. For some time now, I have been noticing various, more or less annoying noises coming from the upper apartment, including:
- Impact noise (dull thudding sound) from footsteps in almost every room [the floor is laminate, and tiles in the kitchen and bathroom]
- Noise transmission through the wall when the windows upstairs are opened or closed
- Even the opening and closing of the curtains in the bedroom can be heard in the morning [the tenant has mounted the curtain rods to the wall]
- Occasionally, also the switching of the light and the opening and closing of a drawer in the bedroom wardrobe [the wardrobe is against the wall]
The laminate flooring has an integrated impact sound insulation of 2mm (0.08 inches), and there is approximately a 1 cm (0.4 inches) gap between the wall and the floor.
Especially in the mornings in the bedroom and in the evenings in the living room, these sounds are quite disturbing and unbearable over time.
Do you have any tips on
a.) what might be causing the problems or which factors contribute to the noise
b.) what can be done about it?
For the impact noise, I see the options as either removing the floor upstairs and adding better impact sound insulation underneath or installing a suspended ceiling in my ground floor apartment. Which solution is more effective or still feasible?
What can be done about the noise transmission through the wall from the curtain and wardrobe?
Additionally, when I am in the living room and bedroom, I can hear the opening and closing of the entrance door in the stairwell – do you have any suggestions for this issue?
I really don’t know what to do – you invest a lot of money and time into a new build, and then you have problems like this...
Thank you in advance for your answers!
Good luck
mcmon
After reading several posts and doing some research online, I would like to share my concerns and problems here, hoping that one of you can offer some advice.
I live on the ground floor of a self-built two-family house, and I rent out the apartment above me. For some time now, I have been noticing various, more or less annoying noises coming from the upper apartment, including:
- Impact noise (dull thudding sound) from footsteps in almost every room [the floor is laminate, and tiles in the kitchen and bathroom]
- Noise transmission through the wall when the windows upstairs are opened or closed
- Even the opening and closing of the curtains in the bedroom can be heard in the morning [the tenant has mounted the curtain rods to the wall]
- Occasionally, also the switching of the light and the opening and closing of a drawer in the bedroom wardrobe [the wardrobe is against the wall]
The laminate flooring has an integrated impact sound insulation of 2mm (0.08 inches), and there is approximately a 1 cm (0.4 inches) gap between the wall and the floor.
Especially in the mornings in the bedroom and in the evenings in the living room, these sounds are quite disturbing and unbearable over time.
Do you have any tips on
a.) what might be causing the problems or which factors contribute to the noise
b.) what can be done about it?
For the impact noise, I see the options as either removing the floor upstairs and adding better impact sound insulation underneath or installing a suspended ceiling in my ground floor apartment. Which solution is more effective or still feasible?
What can be done about the noise transmission through the wall from the curtain and wardrobe?
Additionally, when I am in the living room and bedroom, I can hear the opening and closing of the entrance door in the stairwell – do you have any suggestions for this issue?
I really don’t know what to do – you invest a lot of money and time into a new build, and then you have problems like this...
Thank you in advance for your answers!
Good luck
mcmon
This all suggests that no attention was paid to sound insulation between the two residential units during construction. Not only should the floor have impact sound insulation, but the screed should also be decoupled from the wall. In our case, this was done using a blue foam strip installed all around.
Then 2 mm (0.08 inches) of impact sound insulation is almost negligible, especially with laminate flooring. I think a cork floor would be more suitable here.
There isn’t much you can do unless you want it to get very expensive. This should have been considered during the shell construction phase.
How was the building constructed? How long ago was it done? Was anything agreed upon regarding soundproofing? Can the construction company still be held liable?
You will hardly be able to forbid your tenant from closing curtains or using the light switch. They will also have to continue using drawers.
What you can try:
Avoid direct contact with the wall, possibly by installing rubber spacers. The same applies under the cabinet feet.
If someone is that sensitive to noise, I wonder why a two-family house was built in the first place...
Then 2 mm (0.08 inches) of impact sound insulation is almost negligible, especially with laminate flooring. I think a cork floor would be more suitable here.
There isn’t much you can do unless you want it to get very expensive. This should have been considered during the shell construction phase.
How was the building constructed? How long ago was it done? Was anything agreed upon regarding soundproofing? Can the construction company still be held liable?
You will hardly be able to forbid your tenant from closing curtains or using the light switch. They will also have to continue using drawers.
What you can try:
Avoid direct contact with the wall, possibly by installing rubber spacers. The same applies under the cabinet feet.
If someone is that sensitive to noise, I wonder why a two-family house was built in the first place...
The screed was decoupled using blue foam, and the construction was done with Poroton. Of course, I can’t forbid installing light switches or other fixtures, that’s clear – a first step would definitely be to install rubber-mounted gaps at the walls and ceiling. But putting price aside, what would the options be?
- New floor on the upper floor?
- Lower the ceiling and add sound insulation?
Could the sound transmission possibly be passed on through the baseboards despite the insulating strips?
Normally, I am not sensitive to noise – I previously lived in a multi-family building where it was significantly quieter, or not...
Thanks for your answers!
- New floor on the upper floor?
- Lower the ceiling and add sound insulation?
Could the sound transmission possibly be passed on through the baseboards despite the insulating strips?
Normally, I am not sensitive to noise – I previously lived in a multi-family building where it was significantly quieter, or not...
Thanks for your answers!
Well, if the work was done sloppily, even one missed spot is enough to cause structure-borne sound transmission. In semi-detached houses, this often happens with staircases anchored inside the wall... that’s where sound insulation between the houses is usually omitted. And suddenly it sounds like a herd of elephants is stomping through the house when the neighbor rushes down the stairs.
I’m not an expert, so it might be a good idea to hire a building surveyor or inspector. They either know what can be done or can identify poor workmanship, if it’s still possible to detect it.
I’m not an expert, so it might be a good idea to hire a building surveyor or inspector. They either know what can be done or can identify poor workmanship, if it’s still possible to detect it.
Similar topics