Flooring for flat? Are floorboards really that noisy?

[jennyblonde82]

Hey everyone,
We're in the process of moving into a 2nd story flat that comes as part of my husband's job. It is currently floored in quite deep pile brown carpet but I'm not really a carpet fan. I love the style and ease of floorboards (we have 2 gorgeous but messy DC that are 3 and 1).
However, it may prove a bit controversial to whip up all the carpet and sand floorboards as I'm guessing it would be a lot noisier downstairs (the people underneath will be DHs colleagues)? We don't even know if there are floorboards there that can be renovated...
So I was wondering if anyone has any suggestions? Any lovely minimalist non- bedroom feeling carpet out there? Maybe something more straw like? Are floorboards really a lot more noisy? We may not be in the property more than 4/5 years so something cost effective would be helpful.

[Cinnamoncookie]

Yes, I'm afraid floorboards really are that noisy in a flat. If your flat is leasehold it may be against the terms of the lease to not have carpet. My downstairs neighbour has laminate floor, I hear all everything. It isn't just direct footsteps etc, carpet generally dampens sound waves in a room.

[Acopyofacopy]

If you want floorboards you need £££ soundproofing.

[KP86]

Please don't do it! We can hear everything our upstairs neighbours do. Every chair scraping, each time they move from one room to another.

Thank goodness they don't have DC of their own.

[jennyblonde82]

Thanks for the info everyone. More carpet searching for me I guess!

[jennyblonde82]

Anyone any experience of sisal flooring?

[Cliffdiver]

Before you do anything I would check the terms of the Lease. Most flats do not allow floorboards. And if they do there will need to be some kind of underlay to minimise noise.

[wowfudge]

Sisal has to be stuck to the subfloor, is tricky to keep clean, especially if something is spilled on it, and not very comfortable to kneel on.