noise insulation on first floor flat

Hello,

I live on the first floor flat of a converted Victorian house. I would like to remove the carpet and and expose the wooden floorboards. I am concerned about two issues:
1) noise transmissione.g walking, talking to the flat below
2) which is the material to use keep noise level to a minimum-should I use acoustic underlay or the foam used in loft-need to be economical.
Are carpets the most effective noise reducers for a first floor flat?

Any suggestions helpful as the floor boards will have to be lifted and sanded.
Many thanks.

That will really upset the people below unless you spend a lot on a fully noise insulated floating floor.

Someone else should be along to give you the specifics for the insulation.
I live in a 1930's flat and the noise transmission is far worse for the people living on the bottom.

I'm in the process of doing my 1st floor flat. I have used 100mm Rockwool RW3 slabs in the joists to prevent air borne noise into the floors below - very effective - but have yet to choose an option to insulate from impact noise that falls short of being a full on mdf type floating floor. There is a solution by a company called sound stop that creates a floating floor by installing strips on top of the joists then refixing the board down. It's costly, and of course raises the floor level by about 7mm from memory so you'll neeed to replace your skirting and that could cause damage to walls if you've still got lathe and plaster. The reason I'm still stuck on a desicion is that I know a floating floor will prevent some impact noise, but there is still a lot of noise created by simply stepping onto a floor board - say by the plastic soled flat shoes my wife wears, or my leather soled work shoes - and I don't think a floating floor system as described above will address that. We are now mostly considering laying rugs on the majority of the rooms and using stair runner carpet in the hallway in order to find a balance between keeping the look of timber floors and control noise.

in my research I've also discovered that you'll never be able to achieve noise control soltion to current building regs with a victorian floor construction without being able to replace the ceiling of the flat below.

The reason Ive done and are considering this type of work is that we suffered in a ground floor flat from bare boards above. I also think the sound insulation slabs are a great idea in any event, as we could hear the upstairs occupiers take a pee on a quiet Sunday morning

good luck, this is a very technical area and it really started doing my head in when I begun, but there are some helpful people out there who can put it into lay speak. Regrettably for us, it seems we are seeking a nirvana that cannot be achieved without substantial investment and upheaval.

Most noise travels through pipes etc, so if you install wood flooring (on top of extra sound-insulating underlayment like Timbermate) make sure you leave plenty of expansion gaps around all pipes too.

well the question is when was the flat converted?Mine was done in 1994 and current building regs at the time stated acoustic baffles were required. Not just for sound but also to act as a 1 hour firestop.The beauty of Victorian houses is the high ceilings,which are normally lost on the conversion as they under sling another ceiling under the existing plaster and lathe this gives you an effective barrier of over 500mm between your ceiling and there carpet.

Dear Radharding, I was very interested to read about your discovery, i.e,


"in my research I've also discovered that you'll never be able to achieve noise control soltion to current building regs with a victorian floor construction without being able to replace the ceiling of the flat below"

Currently I am having work done in my flat, but not living there - the owners of the flat below are demanding access to take up my floorboards and underlay my floor, from underneath, using a misinterpretation of a lease clause. I intend to re insulate my floor fully following the completion of my work and am unwilling to have all the disruption that they are proposing.

Could you possibly share your evidence with us? as I too have been informed that the better way to achieve a good effect would be for them to replace their ceiling - your experience and research just might help us to resolve the issue. thank you.