Upstairs Noise from walking around - Ways to reduce?

dionsiseire

So I'm looking at buying a house at the moment. First time buyer.

One of the houses I'm looking at is mostly wooden floor up and downstairs. The stairs is creaky walking up and you can hear someone walking around even in runners.

I'm wondering is there a simple solution to that to reduce the noise and make the stairs more silent? And what kind of costs would be involved.

Any guidance or suggestions massively appreciated.

Paulw

dionsiseire wrote: »

I'm wondering is there a simple solution to that to reduce the noise and make the stairs more silent?

If it's wooden flooring, then get carpet. It will remove the sound. Same on the stairs.

Other than that, you could replace the wood on the stairs to stop it creaking.

Kintarō Hattori

Paulw wrote: »

If it's wooden flooring, then get carpet. It will remove the sound. Same on the stairs.

Other than that, you could replace the wood on the stairs to stop it creaking.

Oooh not always. I have a timber frame house and put down some good quality carpet. It still creaks in certain spots which isn't ideal but it's livable.

D_D

Creaks are usually from moving floor boards... Having a carpenter in to assess the floor and screwing down any boards that can potentially move to prevent further movement can reduce creaks. Or taking up the floor boards, putting down a stiff plywood layer and then carpet can also potentially reduce creeks. Each will have a different cost associated...

LirW

Is the floor basically the floorboards sanded? If yes, there are 2 things to do: put carpet on it with insulation, but that's not a guarantee to remove it, or you replace the floorboards.
If you want to re-do the floors anyway and get laminate or whatever on top of it, you can get sound insulating underlay. I have it and it works pretty well.

Valentin_N

On a related note, since I'm not from around here -- how common are cement / concrete floors? I know they're quite common in other parts of Europe. The reason I'm asking is because they don't creak and are pretty good at isolating noises.

mloc123

Screws. Floorboards and stairs squeak from movement, the nails have loosened over the years etc..screw the boards down tight and they will not move/squeak. To dampen the sound you'll need underlay and carpet tho.

jlm29

If you're asking about rooms upstairs, as well as the stairs, we put laminate over the existing floorboards, and used the underlay stuff with the foil backing on it upstairs, and the reduction in noise was significant!

aujopimur

Shake talcum powder into the joints of the stairs to eliminate squeeks.

Tigger

aujopimur wrote: »

Shake talcum powder into the joints of the stairs to eliminate squeeks.

this is the correct answer

Cunning Stunt

Tigger wrote: »

this is the correct answer

Er - what is meant by joints on the stairs? Would also like to try this...

L1011

bkraptor wrote: »

On a related note, since I'm not from around here -- how common are cement / concrete floors? I know they're quite common in other parts of Europe. The reason I'm asking is because they don't creak and are pretty good at isolating noises.

Upstairs in normal houses? Unheard of.

Downstairs floors are normally concrete in houses less than 40 years old; before that they would usually be suspended wooden floors except in cottage style developments.