My neighbours have wooden floors

[BadAmbassador]

Next door neighbours, we share a wall which includes my living room.

They are absolutely lovely people, so so nice, and they’re just living their lives but agh those wooden floors mean we hear everything that happens in the downstairs rooms (and some scraping of furniture from upstairs too).

They have a toddler who is now two - it reminds me of Billy Goats Gruff as I hear him trip trapping all over the house 🤦🏻‍♀️ Every little footstep!

They are lovely parents and we hear them singing, whooping and playing all the time - I would just rather not 🤣

They also put their tv on the shared chimney wall - it’s often quite loud.

I can’t think of any way to address this with them - I wouldn’t want to, since they’re not doing anything wrong. It was the neighbours before them that sanded the floors down but those people were SO QUIET!! Hardly knew they were there!

I have inbuilt bookshelves either side of the fire place.
is there anything budget friendly I can do to sound proof?

We have some hard floors on this side but we’re pretty quiet - the tv is not on the chimney breast.

What has helped or worked others?

My living room used to be so peaceful and calm! I would like to restore that somewhat if possible - I end up playing white noise on my phone but that doesn’t deaden the vibrations, it’s not just noise 😭

I’d certainly ask them to move the tv off the shared wall even if you didn’t want to say much else

Perhaps that’s the only place they can put it!

Realistically, as the child grows the more noise he'll make, so that's something to consider.

If you have a good relationship with your neighbours they may make some changes once they're aware of the problem. That would be the most cost effective solution for both parties.

You could make a racket in return and ask if they can hear you - they may be shocked but they not care.

Soundproofing is expensive but worth it in my experience because disturbances of any kind can have a significant impact on health and wellbeing.

Yes they would have to rearrange the room if they moved the tv - and to be honest, the tv is the least of it, as white noise can cover it. That’s why I haven’t said anything up till now.
It’s the little feet that are more annoying! And the scraping chairs/vacuuming etc.

From a swift google, soundproofing the living room wall would cost at least £1500+, so not an option sadly.

Just reviving this old thread of mine because as a pp pointed out, the problem is indeed getting worse. They haven’t added any rugs and there is a new addition (still too small for trip trapping).
I don’t even know how to bring it up - I’m terrible at this kind of thing.

But maybe people have more ideas about inexpensive solutions on my side of the wall?

Would filling the chimney cavity make any difference?
I don’t have curtains, only blinds - would curtains help absorb noise?

I already have bookshelves either side full of books.

Little bump

Our neighbours asked us to move our alarm clock radio

You have my sympathy Op, ours is a barking dog in a tiled fully open ground floor and that, along with kids running up and down and using pogo sticks indoors etc drives us insane. They were moving but I see the house is back on the market. Have you considered a boat? 🤨

I think you should try having a friendly, non-accusatory chat with them. When we lived in NY, we were your neighbours, but it was an above/below situation rather than next door. As soon as they told us, we got lots of rugs and carpeting, with as much soundproofing underlay as possible, which they said made a huge difference.

I'd ask them to consider putting some rugs down or soft squares down - and perhaps say you understand they want bare floorboards and you aren't wanting to be difficut and that you understand that any young children will be noisy and you don't object to it - but request they be sensitive to the fact that the hard surfaces that are ampifying the sound, or if they can come up with any other ways they might be able to help dampen it. I don't think bringing it up is unreasonable if you approach with a gentle and understanding manner?

@PrincessofWells that sounds like a nightmare 🤦🏻‍♀️
My situation definitely isn’t that bad but enough for me to be thinking about it way too much!
A boat sounds quite nice 🤣

@randomnamegenerated and @FMLpassthegin You’re both right, these are sensible and grown up ways to deal with the situation but I am such a chronic people pleaser, I’d sooner scoop out my eyeballs with a rusty spoon before I’d actually confront someone I’m going to be living next door to for years 🤦🏻‍♀️
But that’s what I’m going to have to do isn’t it? No way round it! 🤣
Not the eyeballs, the other thing!

I know it's not always easy, but, honestly, I was so glad they told us! I would have been mortified if I'd found out later they'd put up with something that made their life a misery. And once we knew how much they could hear, we were very aware of things like not letting the kids run around the apartment at 6am etc.

I’d find that really difficult too. Little things like taking their shoes off in the house and putting felt on the bottom of chair legs would help a bit - it’s how to suggest these things… a bit passive aggressive to buy them all slippers I guess 😬

Sorry OP but I think when your home is attached to someone else's then you're going to hear noises. I don't blame them for having wooden floors with children.

Of course, it’s not their fault.

I posted to get ideas about sound proofing on my side.

There are a few videos on YouTube if you search for 'budget soundproofing' that might give you a few ideas.

Would it be possible to take off the bookshelves and put soundproofing panels behind them and then remount them? Alternatively you could cut some thin soundproofing material to size and put it along the back of the bookshelves then put the books back in front. You might be able clad the chimney breast without it adding much bulk, plus more soft furnishings in your own room will help deaden the sound a bit. So, for example, textile art on the chimney breast instead of a picture or mirror, heavy curtains and more cushions.