Soundproofing - does anyone know anything about this?

[lowrib]

My tenant is asking for soundproofing between the floors.

The flat is the basement of a victorian house and there is nothing between the floors so you can hear the upstairs neighbours' movements. The floor above is floorboards.

I agree soundproofing is a good idea, but I know nothing about it.

Have any of you done this? How do you go about it? How much does it cost?

If any one could shed any light on this I'd be very grateful!

TIA

[Chippychop]

As far as I'm aware you can soundproof between floors. A) having concrete floors...I doubt this is an option or b) you can buy stuff, sorry not sure of the name, to go between the joists. We've done this in our new build and it's not too expensive and ther are lots of different types but what may cost is removing the floorboards or ceiling. I'm guessing you'd need the upstairs neighbours permission ( as you do with party wall agreements)
As a starter for ten I'd speak to the neighbours and ask if carpets, rugs can be fitted...doubtful but worth an ask. Food for thought at least. Hope it helps

[barbarapym]

I have done it and it worked well- in a Georgian conversion flat about ten years ago. The people downstairs in the basement organised it and I agreed to pay for some of it as we were all driven mad by the lack of soundproofing so both flats benefited. We had to lift all the floorboards of my flat and lay the soundproofing between the joists. It wasn't quite as bad as it sounds, but obviously quite disruptive for a few days. If the people above you won't co-operate I suppose you could go in from underneath, but taking ceilings down is incredibly messy especially if they're original lathe and plaster. A less drastic option is an acoustic underlay to the carpets, which again requires cooperation from the flat above...Agree that the soundproofing itself doesn't cost much, as always it's the labour and the finishing off and making good. Carpets and underlay alone can make a huge difference if there are currently wooden floors, but it's really difficult to make people do that, even if it's in their lease.

[cornonthecob]

We had it done in our bedroom we have high ceilings and lost 9 inches and was the best money spent! It was expensive and messy but the best solution overall we had 3 layers of soundproofing installed. As it related to our sanity we wanted to do a full job iykwim rather than not then still suffer.

We used "these guys and this system" would recommend hope that's ok on here!

[sugarlake]

Soundcel I think this is blown in to your ceiling so only a small hole where it is put in.

[lowrib]

Brilliant, thanks for the advice

Luckily they are planning to lift the floorboards upstairs anyway for another reason, which is kind of how this discussion came up.

My tenant reckons it's the upstairs landlord's responsibility to provide soundproofing does anyone know if this is true?

Although even if it is, I have a good relationship with the other landlord (we share the freehold of the house with another flat) and I don't want to go in all gung ho and say he has to do it, I'd much rather suggest splitting the costs I think.

cornonthecob AFAIK, it's fine to recommend products - unless you actually work for them and your whole mumsnet persona is a cover, and really you were just waiting for an opportunity to promote soundproofing systems

[cornonthecob]

lowrib no i don't work for them ha! we are lower ground garden flat and we paid for our soundproofing the flat above (her open plan living room built above our bedroom stupid developers, we're in an old converted victorian villa) she didn't think it was her responsibility and putting down a thick rug did nothing, she said she had the right to "live" (from 2am onwards it seemed) but we caved as we needed to sleep in quiet and deal with our sanity...

my friend had soundproofing done on her floors but made little difference to the neighbour below. plus check as you may have to raise anything fitted (units etc), as our neighbour had open plan living it would mean her kitchen units would have to be lifted!

over and out! lol

[sugarlake]

I don't work for Soundcel either but saw Warmcel on Grand Designs.

[chicaN]

Hi all,
I love mumsnet and often look at it for advice and info, but I have never got around to joining.

I have joined today to warn you about taking cornonthecob's advice. I used the company recommended and I had the maximum sound instalment you could have for impact noise, took off about 8/9 inches of my ceiling, cost me thousands and it did absolutely nothing for impact noise. Nada , zero , nothing.

Instead I really advice getting as much info as possible but not from the people who sell you the products and their services. Independent organisations including government advice is your best bet.

After much detailed research I believe the success of soundproofing between floors depends on the construction and date of the building, wood or concrete floors and expertise of soundproofers (workmanship is all - no point doing anything unless all the edges round floor/ceiling are properly sealed. if the building is liable to bit of movement, those edges will open up and undermine the whole effort)

Most recommended sound insulation for impact noise is 'floating floors or ceilings', however again it is up for question how successful they are- depending on some of what I have shared!

I hope this may be of help to someone in the future.