Oh it's a long one.... never mind, hope some of you can get to the end!
We own a top floor flat, part of a block of 4. As per the rules of the leasehold, all areas of our flat are carpeted aside from the kitchen and bathrooms. It's just me, DH and DS (2), and I promise we live very boring quiet lives, in bed by 10pm.
Our downstairs neighbour has recently taken to sleeping in her small back bedroom, which is situated immediately under our kitchen (laminate floor). She used to sleep in her other larger bedroom - and tells me that she can hear no noise throughout the rest of her flat, so she did not have this problem when she slept there - but is renting this out currently. She has complained several times that us walking on the kitchen floor "is like bombs going off by my ears" and that it wakes her up all the time. I don't know when she's sleeping as we don't use the kitchen after we go to bed I suppose we do go in there in the morning from 7am - and yes, there will be some people still asleep at this time, but we aren't stomping, simply going in the kitchen to make breakfast etc.
She has now said we need to install soundproofing in our floor. She won't do it from her end as the job is much harder to do from the ceiling side, apparently, and she will lose a lot of ceiling height.
She has offered to pay for the soundproofing but only on the condition that it is laid on top of the current floor (when it would be better to lift up the current floor and put it underneath - but that would be too much money as far as she is concerned). Laying soundproofing and a new floor would raise our kitchen floor 3cm, we'd have to cut bits off our kickboards, might not be able to fit back all the units that are currently there, would create a step into the kitchen and the floor on top would not be the floor of our choosing - just one that fits with her budget. I think it will all be very unsightly as well as a trip hazard, not to mention the risks of it being done badly/damaging our kitchen, and I just don't want to do it.
She is kicking up such a fuss and behaving as if we are the unreasonable party. The alternative she is offering is to go halves on the much more expensive approach of lifting up the current floor - but I don't see why I should have to pay for soundproofing in my flat when we are being very considerate and it's not a legal requirement. Our nextdoor neighbours often play music late at night so that we can't sleep - we have had to use earplugs and/or go and sleep on the sofa when it's bad. It's just London living.
Thoughts/suggestions? We are about to rent the whole flat, as it turns out, and I am paranoid that our neighbour will ruin our relationship with our tenants.
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downstairs neighbour insisting I install soundproofing in my flat
52 replies
Popskipiekin · 29/09/2016 13:01
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MalcolmTuckersEyebrows ·
29/09/2016 13:39
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