soundproofing ceiling

[tracey04]

I have very noisy upstairs neihbours with laminate flooring. I would like to sound proof my ceiling but dont have the money to get a big company in (i'm ok with basic DIY). Another problem is that my ceilings are very low at 2.09 meters.
Any advice will be greatly appreciated.

 

[Diyisfun]

You may find that the lease (if your neighbours are lease hold) are not permitted laminate flooring. Might be worth checking first.

 

[tracey04]

thanks for the reply but i already checked
the flat above is still under the council and apparently council tenants can do what they like to their flooring

 

[D J Fryer]

Don't accept that as a reasonable justification. If the Council are the 'owners' of the flat upstairs and owners of the freehold of the building (which is likely) then if you have within your own lease a term relating to what floor coverings are permitted then the Council should be likewise obliged to ensure that their tenants comply. The fact that the Council may not restrict their tenants does not mean you may not have a case against the Council themselves and not the tenant.

Look at it another way - if the current tenants bought the flat from the Council they would do so under a lease in similar terms to your own and would therefore be restricted as you maybe.

I would check it out and kick up a fuss with the Council. As in any case of noise being a nuisance you should keep a diary - a pain in the ass but necessary to demonstrate times etc. Also try and find a friend who is into Home Cinema who may have a sound pressure meter so you can measure the volume of the disturbance.

 

[murraysnudge]

The first step is to contact is the Environmental Health Dept of the Council.If you can convince them that the noise is a statutory nuisance they are required to take action under Part III of the Environmental Protection Act 1990. This could mean serving a Noise Abatement Notice on the person(s) causing the noise nuisance. This can be the actual person causing the noise or any person who is allowing the noise nuisance to occur, for example the landlord of a property with noisy tenants. The abatement notice would require the statutory nuisance to be stopped and/or prevented from occurring again.
This is easier if the problem is loud music or barking dogs especially late at night. If the problem is footsteps on the laminate floor it may be more difficult and they are likely to reply that everyone has to tolerate a certain amount of noise.
Before the 1990 Act the individual had to take the person making the noise to court ,which is what I once did when a neighbour had a cockerel that regularly woke me up at 3am, especially if it was a full moon when the thing thought it was dawn. I took some legal advice from a solicitor, and was told I had an excellent case as it was in the middle of the town. I prosecuted the case in court myself but I lost and had to pay costs.
I later had some unreasonable neighbours on the other side, who also woke me up at 3am with loud music after they had returned home from a night club. I had a wood burning stove and had a Sandvik axe that I used to chop wood with. I went round next door with the axe, and told them to switch it off or I would smash it up. Within a week their house was for sale. I did get into trouble from the police over it but I solved the problem.
The law says you have the right to a reasonable amount of peace and quiet but it is not so easy to enforce those rights using the law.
Anyway, I think the first step is to contact Environmental Health which I expect is what DJ is saying when he refers to the Council.

 

[D J Fryer]

Just to clarify - I meant contacting the Council as the presumed owner of the freehold of the apartment block in which tracey04 lives. I made this assumption because for their to be a 'council tenant' above would imply they are renting from the Council and that over the years some of the apartments have been bought from the Council.

Environmental Health is one option but, as you rightly identify, the noise being caused may not, per se, be something that Environmental Health would consider as being a statutory nuisanc. In fact I would go so far as to guess they won't consider it to be.

Instead I think you would have more luck looking at your own lease and trying to enforce the Council to impose the covenants that you are subject to (of quite enjoyment, floor coverings etc) upon their renting tenants. Ultimately it will depend on the terms of your lease and whether the landlord is obliged to enforce upon others those convenants.

 

[murraysnudge]

I am a private landlord myself and there is a clause in my tenancy agreements that says 'not to do anything which is a nuisance to neighbours etc' I do have a problem at the moment with one of the neighbours compaining that my tenant is making too much noise. I am trying to solve it by discussion, but the only other option is to terminate the tenancy. Landlords are reluctant to do this to an otherwise good tenant who pays the rent regularly and looks after the house.
It's not easy to solve but I agree with your advice DJ.

 

[TexMex]

Tracy.
Just to address the more structural methods available. You could put in a false ceiling. This would have to be fairly substantial and not supported from the original ceiling. Instead it would be fixed onto the walls only.

This would probably loose you a minimum of 6" in the height of your room. It would still not totally cure the problem as sound would still be transmitted through the walls.

Anything less substantial than this would probably be very dissapointing in it's performance.

 

[sha0066]

I am an upstairs council tenant, I am aware how easy the noise passes between floors, neither of us are noisy neighbours, but I go around my home on egg shells. Floor boards creak (lots), light switches can be heard, conversations and tv etc just every day life. Its so difficult. I have approached the council but they have said they wont do anything because if they do my flat they have to do all the others.

The tenant from downstairs moved out because of it, I love where I am but I don't like that I cant relax in my home, and I am not noisy if anything I am the opposite, the slightest noise just carries.

Where do I go from here?

 

[ste8459]

lots of law stuff going on here! fix soundproof plaster boards to your existing ceiling and then simply skim and paint over, job done!

 

[breezer]

your comments will fall on deaf ears, the post was made in june, its now almost november

 

[Nicos]

Hi There I really understand , I'm in the same boat, and it is very stressful and in some ways damageing if the noise is impact boom explosive noise which it what I have everyday and at night, after a while the body become worn out, form constant vibration, which is recieved as a threat by the body, I believe the council on the issue of sound proofing have really let its own people down,,, all this 'decent homes standard', to improve the superficial look of a home, but if there is no privacy and if the building is making amplifying noise, ambient noise they shoud go all out to help people to lead settled lives, all this contributes to stress, i,e, the news today,, Lease holder often convert and it leaves council tenants vulnerbale not only what appears to be illegal offers to buy their home ( even though they don't own it) , but possibly making alterations without permission and adding wood flooring, I can not see why they flooring is not legally banned it amplifies sound in some cases more than 4 times, empathsises low frequenctcy sounds like bass, or annoying bassey tones of voice into a very lould boom drown, the affect is like a horror film surrouned by spooky sound which goes up into the walls and fill the space with unwanted noise, people must push the councils on this issues once and for all to gain a decent standard of life, maybe less money on unwanted policitcal moves and more on all of the people would'nt go a miss, its all very well trendy taps and nice modern bothroom, but.,,,,,,,,,,,,

Why has a manic person appeared under tony blair, who seems to want, 'what were just dumpy old flats years ago' and still are, there seems to be a manic person out there, who seems obsessed with these flats (buying them), what about the communities welfare, what about how those cheap, naff conversion affect other peoples lives ever thought about that. this part is just my own rambling I do think it is true, and the housing crash will do us all a favour. Peoples homes and communities are not commodities to be broght and sold, shame on certain desperate people,

I am an upstairs council tenant, I am aware how easy the noise passes between floors, neither of us are noisy neighbours, but I go around my home on egg shells. Floor boards creak (lots), light switches can be heard, conversations and tv etc just every day life. Its so difficult. I have approached the council but they have said they wont do anything because if they do my flat they have to do all the others.

The tenant from downstairs moved out because of it, I love where I am but I don't like that I cant relax in my home, and I am not noisy if anything I am the opposite, the slightest noise just carries.

Where do I go from here?