Noise from the "above" (?) aparmtents

GalwayBmw

Can the noise reason be investigated? we have noise at late times during the day after 11PM. The management company say it could come from any level above us thanks to a mix of steel and concrete - carrying it over. The noise is really bad as it's coupled with the vibration so it really gets us. The building isn't old - our big hope is that flooring hasn't been done properly in the above apts - but how do we ivestigate the source of it??

management company isn't reacting - another question is who should be doing that? The noise seems to be produced just be some innocent life activities such as walking - definitely nothing abnormal/antisocial, so not really a fault of the folks upstairs... Any help appreciated.

Michael D Not Higgins

Are you a tenant or an owner?

If you're a tenant, I'd say go to your landlord, but ultimately if you can't live with it I'd suggest moving.

If you're an owner, then you'll have to press the management company more on it. Speak to your neighbours, see if they also have problems. Try and find out where the noise is coming from. Get additional noise protection fitted, e.g. thick carpets in the flat where the noise comes from (most leases don't allow wooden floors in apartments these days).

SarahMollie

Hi OP,

Having dealt with noise issues in my own home I can empathise, but theres no easy fix here.

As MDNH has said, if your a tenant, I'd suggest your likelihood of persuading other owners to do something about this are slim, but if you're an owner and therefore a member of your OMC, then you need to ask around.

In my case, the noise was more to do whats called airborne noise, ie TV, Radio, people talking. I had my walls taken down and extra insulation fitted (as I was redecorating anyway). From what the company who insulated my home told me, the type of noise you describe is a harder fix, and its not possible to address the problem from the confines of your apartment, it needs to be remedied at source.

Without the OMC on side, you won't achieve anything IMO.

Cuddlesworth

Michael D Not Higgins wrote: »

(most leases don't allow wooden floors in apartments these days).

And yet nearly every apartment I've been in, has had wooden flooring.

Michael D Not Higgins

Cuddlesworth wrote: »

And yet nearly every apartment I've been in, has had wooden flooring.

And this is the fault of the management company not enforcing the leases. If it is wooden floors that are causing the noise, the OP will have to be persistent to get them to do something about it.

GalwayBmw

Thanks guys I'm the owner. Having read a bit on the potential causes of the problem - being bad insulation or even holes left by plumbers etc. - I was surprised by Management co. representative ruling out such possibly outright. I asked him if this needs to be at least checked - he said no which didn't sound right. He suggested a friendly letter to be sent to the people who might walk without realizing the damage they cause by this, which makes little sense to me.

Which is why I want to understand

a. If I can rule out involvement of the constructional issues - maybe by calling an experienced surveyor. One thing is the noise seem to come from one particular side of the apts which may imply structural issue.

b. Worse case scenario - What's our standing point if we manage to prove that the problem caused by a construction issue/defect?

Royale with Cheese

I bought an apartment about 18 months ago with similar issues, it was my worry about buying an apartment in the first place as I don't think you can really find out what living there will be like until you've done it for a few months. In my case it was fine for the first six month until somebody moved in both upstairs and next door, I then quickly realised just how poor the build quality and sound proofing was.

At first I couldn't fathom how the people upstairs could possibly make that much noise from just walking around, it was insanely loud at times. I was about to start the process of doing something about it and they suddenly moved out. Eventually someone else moved in and while you can still hear them the odd time they appear to be far more normal and nowhere near as loud. I'm not sure what can really be done though aside from explaining the issue and hoping your upstairs neighbour can attempt to be a little quieter. If it's just noise from walking around that's a result of poor build quality then that might be unlikely. Things are mostly fine now but I'm kind of living in fear that the current people upstairs will move on eventually and be replaced by somebody much louder, it appears to be the luck of the draw. My plan is to just trade up as soon as I can afford to (possibly another 3 years), I'm not sure there's much else to do aside from having someone tear the building down and build it properly this time. Also I think some people are just more bothered by this than others, my housemate didn't notice the original loud neighbour half the time.

SarahMollie

GalwayBmw wrote: »

Thanks guys I'm the owner. Having read a bit on the potential causes of the problem - being bad insulation or even holes left by plumbers etc. - I was surprised by Management co. representative ruling out such possibly outright. I asked him if this needs to be at least checked - he said no which didn't sound right. He suggested a friendly letter to be sent to the people who might walk without realizing the damage they cause by this, which makes little sense to me.

Which is why I want to understand

a. If I can rule out involvement of the constructional issues - maybe by calling an experienced surveyor. One thing is the noise seem to come from one particular side of the apts which may imply structural issue.

b. Worse case scenario - What's our standing point if we manage to prove that the problem caused by a construction issue/defect?

Is this the Management Agent or a member of the OMC?

If its the former I'd say he's looking for the path of least resistance.

In my development, an owner who was getting some internal work done found an issue that had firestopping implications. She duly reported it to the MA, who informed Board, and they employed a firm of experts to assess. I'm sure no one actually wanted to do this, but the directors have a responsibility to investigate anything with a possible safely implication, and to ignore it could have potentially voided our insurance.

Now obviously this is an example of an issue being dealt with properly, but no good deed goes unpunished. The issue related to the original construction and due to the builder "self regulating" as was the norm at the time, we had no recourse from our block insurance.

We ended up having to levy the members to get the works done. Not popular, but really we had no choice.

I'm sure your MA/OMC doesnt want to go looking for problems. If you'd like to take it further, I'd suggest you put your request in writing and if that doesnt work, you might consider getting in a specialist sound company to take a look.

SarahMollie

Michael D Not Higgins wrote: »

And this is the fault of the management company not enforcing the leases. If it is wooden floors that are causing the noise, the OP will have to be persistent to get them to do something about it.

I know the OMC can write this into the rules for the development but is this actually a regulation?

I put down laminate in my hall and kitchen, and any of my neighbours units that I've been in are the same.

There is a regulation to put down a certain type of black lining underneath any flooring to reduce noise for the neighbours below. That said, our places are 15+ years old now so may have been sufficient at the time.

GalwayBmw

you might consider getting in a specialist sound company to take a look.

Could you advice on company doing this? We've little choice other than trying to get it fixed.

SarahMollie

GalwayBmw wrote: »

Could you advice on company doing this? We've little choice other than trying to get it fixed.

Honestly I wouldnt like to recommend who I used as I ended up pretty unhappy with them by the end of the process. Might be worth seeing if anyone can PM a recommendation.

athtrasna

SarahMollie wrote: »

I know the OMC can write this into the rules for the development but is this actually a regulation?

I put down laminate in my hall and kitchen, and any of my neighbours units that I've been in are the same.

There is a regulation to put down a certain type of black lining underneath any flooring to reduce noise for the neighbours below. That said, our places are 15+ years old now so may have been sufficient at the time.

It was in our purchase agreement, so legally enforceable afaik.

There was a poster on here a few years back who had trouble with wooden floors above and took it all the way to court iirc.

4ensic15

Are there storage heaters? Some of them are noisy when they kick in.

Cuddlesworth

SarahMollie wrote: »

I know the OMC can write this into the rules for the development but is this actually a regulation?

I put down laminate in my hall and kitchen, and any of my neighbours units that I've been in are the same.

There is a regulation to put down a certain type of black lining underneath any flooring to reduce noise for the neighbours below. That said, our places are 15+ years old now so may have been sufficient at the time.

A properly fitted wooden floor with good underlay can work. Its nowhere close to thick carpet with think underlay in terms of noise insulation though.

The thing about wooden floors is that they are rarely fitted properly and the noise they produce affects the apartment below far more then it does your own. In other words, if it causes a problem you will not be aware of it but your neighbours have to live with it.

It also depends on the person living with the wooden floor on both sides. My mother likes heels and she loves to use them. A elephant would be quieter moving around. Yet if you liked to walk barefoot with a mid sole strike, your neighbours would probably not hear anything. And to be Frank, some people move into apartments from detached houses in the country and find it impossible to live with the noise. I on the other hand have slept through fire alarms so I've never had a issue with apartment living.

Cuddlesworth

GalwayBmw wrote: »

Thanks guys I'm the owner. Having read a bit on the potential causes of the problem - being bad insulation or even holes left by plumbers etc. - I was surprised by Management co. representative ruling out such possibly outright. I asked him if this needs to be at least checked - he said no which didn't sound right. He suggested a friendly letter to be sent to the people who might walk without realizing the damage they cause by this, which makes little sense to me.

Which is why I want to understand

a. If I can rule out involvement of the constructional issues - maybe by calling an experienced surveyor. One thing is the noise seem to come from one particular side of the apts which may imply structural issue.

b. Worse case scenario - What's our standing point if we manage to prove that the problem caused by a construction issue/defect?

Best option would be to talk to the neighbour above to try find out whats happening after 11pm. Could be a washing machine, water pump etc. Your only going to be guessing since your only getting the vibration rather then the entire sound.

TheDoc

Cuddlesworth wrote: »

And yet nearly every apartment I've been in, has had wooden flooring.

Our first apartment had a woman upstairs who just LOVED her heels. Her room was just above our bedroom, and she was clearly a nightowl, getting ready to hit the town at all hours and the most random times during the week.

Put it down to the build and couldn't really hassle someone going about their life. I could sleep through a bombing raid, but know the O/H was always getting woken by it.

Plus she was incredibly attractive, and didn't want me misses getting the wrong ideas. "I'll be back in a bit just popping upstairs to talk to your wan about her high heels"